Although our placement rate exceeds the 90 percent benchmark often used to qualify a shelter as no-kill, we prefer to be identified as a lifesaving organization verse the words no-kill.

MAPS has an open admission philosophy, which means we accept every animal that is brought to us regardless of health, age, breed, or behavior.

Every animal in our care receives a medical and behavioral evaluation upon admission. Many animals can be placed in our adoption program immediately, but we provide behavior modification, medical treatment, and foster care to many others, ensuring that even the most difficult-to-place animals have a chance at adoption. There is no time limit placed on animals in our adoption program. Due to severe or untreatable illnesses or untreatable behavior issues, we sometimes face the difficult decision to euthanize an animal — but only when we’ve exhausted all other options.

We continue to make great strides in increasing our placement rate and reducing our length of stay every year. We work hard to ensure the animals entrusted to our care get adopted into new homes, get reunited with their owners, or placed with another animal welfare organization.

MAPS is an independent nonprofit organization that serves Marshfield and the surrounding areas. We are not affiliated with or funded by any other national group and we do not receive any financial aid from the city, state, or federal government.

We rely on generous public donations to make up for two-thirds of the $250,000 needed every year to operate our organization.

Other generated revenue is through our fundraisers, our municipal service contracts to house stray animals, our adoption and surrender fees, and some merchandise sales.

MAPS is a 501(c)(3) organization. Donations are tax deductible.

The primary goal of our facility is to serve our community’s needs. At this time there are more stray and/or homeless cats in the community than dogs. We do have dogs come into the shelter as strays pretty frequently, but they get returned home 86% of the time where as cats only get returned home 12% of the time. There are also just a massively larger number of cats in the community than dogs. In the year 2020 we took in 427 stray cats and only 77 stray dogs. This doesn’t mean that we never have dogs for adoption, so definitely follow our website and Facebook page and get your applications in early.

Unfortunately we do not have a vet on staff so we cannot offer public vaccinations. The Clark County Humane Society in Neilsville does provide these services.