GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The humane officer for the Green Bay Police Department is receiving threats after some people are claiming she was insensitive while removing an apparent exotic animal from its home.
“She’s received a barrage of negative, just nasty emails, phone calls, postings on Facebook about her,” said Chief Andrew Smith of the Green Bay Police Department.
The comments are in response to pictures, now spread across the internet, that show the officer smiling with what is believed to be an exotic animal.
The owner’s son and girlfriend told officers it is a wolf-dog hybrid.
The officer took the wolf-dog from its owner, not only because exotic animals are illegal to keep as pets in Green Bay, but it’s also accused of biting a young child, unprovoked.
Smith tells FOX 11 the police department shared the pictures earlier this week to educate the public that exotic animals are illegal in the city.
“The fact that she’s smiling in a photograph is just what people do when they get their picture taken.”
People aren’t happy about the smiling, however.
Here are the contents of a message a Racine woman left on the humane officer’s voicemail:
“You are the worst human I have ever seen. I just saw your smiling face after the hybrid wolf bit a child, which is not the dog’s fault and your seen smiling left and right. You have no sympathy or empathy for this poor animal.”
Even with the threats, Chief Smith says the humane officer will continue her duties as she normally would.
“She is a really dedicated individual and she loves what she does and she’s a fantastic humane officer, so she’s going to continue on doing exactly what she has been doing.”
As for the animal’s owner, Brian Schoen, he received $1,630 in fines.
Police say Schoen has a history of having exotic or dangerous animals in the city, which dates back to 2004.
The Wisconsin Humane Society is monitoring the animal for rabies and is testing to confirm whether it is part wolf.
If the animal has rabies, state law requires it be euthanized.
The Humane Society is evaluating all options if it is part wolf and does not have rabies.
If it’s just a dog, it could be returned to its owner.
