172.08 Rams may be taken up; liability.

(1) If the owner of any ram permits the ram to go at large or out of the ram's enclosure between July 15 and December 1 in the same year, the owner shall forfeit $10 for each time that the ram is found at large and taken up, 50 percent of which shall be paid to the prosecutor. The owner shall also be liable for any damages sustained by any person in consequence of the ram running at large.

(2) Any person may take up a ram described in sub. (1), and shall within 24 hours after taking up the ram do one of the following:

(a) If the owner of the ram is known, notify the owner that the ram has been taken up and of the place where the ram is secured.

(b) If the owner of the ram is unknown, file with the town clerk a notice of the taking up, describing the marks of the ram, natural and artificial, if any, and also post copies of the notice in 3 public places in the town.

(3) The owner of a ram taken up under this section may, within 6 days after the filing and posting of the notices under sub. (2), pay or tender to the town clerk the forfeiture under sub. (1) and 50 cents for the town clerk's fees. Upon payment of the forfeiture and fees, the ram shall be restored to the owner and the clerk shall immediately pay one-half of the forfeiture to the person who took the ram up and the other half to the county treasurer. If the ram's owner fails to pay the forfeiture and fees in the 6-day period under this subsection, the ram shall become the property of the person who took up the ram.

History: 1993 a. 482; 1997 a. 254.