The Best Marshfield, WI Dog Rescues & Shelters in 2026

Marshfield Area Pet Shelter

Marshfield Area Pet Shelter, Inc is a private non-profit animal welfare organization with a seven member Board of Directors. The Board of Directors serves as the governing body for the organization. All members are volunteers. The board reviews and approves operational policies, oversees fundraisers and the distributions of shelter funds, and supports staff to fulfill the mission of the organization. MAPS has only four full-time employees who manage to cover 7 day a week shifts from 7am to 8pm. Other shelters comparable to the size of our shelter generally have approximately 10-13 employees. But thanks to the dedication of 40+ volunteers, we are able to provide daily care to more than 700 animals every year. We rely solely on private donations, fundraising events, municipal service contracts to house stray animals, and adoption fees to generate revenue to sustain our day-to-day operations. Approximately, $300,000 is needed annually to keep our doors open. MAPS was founded in 2011 when concerned citizens realized the need for an animal shelter in Marshfield, Wisconsin. They worked tirelessly to generate awareness for the cause. They walked in parades, sat in booths at the fair, hosted brat fries, and attended any community event they could to gain support. Volunteers began housing homeless animals in their homes to save them, then started hosting fundraisers to pay other humane societies to take in Marshfield’s unclaimed pets so they wouldn’t be euthanized. But this was far from a permanent solution. MAPS first fundraiser in 2012 was attended by over 800 people and generated more than $10,000. This solidified the belief that our community of 20,000 people were eagerly awaiting its first humane organization to serve homeless pets. Eventually, MAPS established its first physical location at the local mall as their credibility and reputation began to build in the community. City officials committed a $250,000 donation toward the construction of a new facility. Others rallied around the cause and in August 2020, animals were moved into a brand new state of the art facility at 3500 Downwind Drive. The majority of animals entering our facility are strays. We have contracts with local municipalities to house stray dogs and cats while we attempt to locate their owners. The following municipalities pay us to provide this service: City of Marshfield, Village of Spencer, Townships of McMillan, Richfield, Lincoln and Rock. If an owner does not come forward to reclaim their pet, the animal is then spayed/neutered, vaccinated, microchipped and place up for adoption. Other animal intakes include pets taken into custody by law enforcement, stray dogs and cats from non-contracted areas, owner pet surrenders and pets transferred in from other organizations. Animal intakes other than our contracted areas are dependent on the amount of space we have available at our facility. We proudly follow the Shelter Medicine’s guidance for Capacity for Care. A waitlist is available for when space opens up. All animal shelters are overwhelmed and overcrowded. The number of pet surrender requests continues to increase and hundreds of strays are found every year. Pet overpopulation has increased significantly. The only solution to this dilemma is to facilitate more low cost spay and neuter options, implement TNR efforts and educate people on the importance of spaying and neutering! As Marshfield’s first animal welfare organization, we are transforming the way our community views animals and animal welfare. Our future goals include innovative education programs for the public and investments in outreach, advocacy and affordable spay/neuter options for the Marshfield area. Our History September 2011 MAPS began our lifesaving mission when a small group of concerned citizens took the time to review the current process for handling stray animals for the City of Marshfield. In reviewing the process, a necessity was realized; our community desperately needed a humane pet shelter and more importantly, our animals deserved a higher quality of care than they had been afforded for many years. February 2012 The Marshfield Area Pet Shelter, Inc was determined a tax-exempt 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization. Our first fundraiser was attended by 800 people, solidifying our belief that our community was eager to embrace a pet shelter for the Marshfield area. January 2013 MAPS acquired a parcel of land in the Air Business Park on Marshfield’s south side at the end of the cul-de-sac on Downwind Drive. Our new facility is located there today. October 2013 Volunteers renovated an empty space inside Marshfield Mall which served as MAPS first physical location. Adoptable cats were housed at this location from Feb 2014 to March 2020. The space was known as our Adoption Center. June 2015 Volunteers retrofitted an old airport terminal building at 210 W 29th Street to serve as an animal shelter. We took over the stray cat contract for the City of Marshfield on Oct 1, 2015 and dog contract on July 1, 2017. We operated within two separate locations: our intake shelter on 29th Street and our Adoption Center inside Marshfield Mall for 5 years. July 2016 MAPS hired our first staff member, Kaitlin Loberg as Shelter Manager to oversee our day-to-day operations. More than 60 dedicated volunteers provided daily animal care at our two locations. August 2019 A groundbreaking ceremony was held and construction of our new facility began in Sept 2019. August 20, 2020 Our new facility was completed and we moved all our animals to our new location. Community members contributed $1.2 million dollars to build the first humane animal shelter for the Marshfield area.