How to Enter Pet Product Giveaways in Madison, Wisconsin Without Scams

Enter pet product giveaways in Madison the same way residents anywhere else do: through the sponsor's own entry page or app, never by paying a fee to claim a prize. The giveaways open to Wisconsin residents are run by national pet brands and retailers, and the surest way to avoid losing money to a fake prize claim is to know what a real sponsor will never ask for. Madison shoppers have at least two active paths into legitimate pet-product sweepstakes right now, plus a state law that specifically protects them if a prize offer turns out to be something else.

The sections below cover both the entry options and the red flags.

Verification note: Program terms and availability can change. This page was checked against linked sources on October 21, 2026.

Which pet giveaways can Madison residents actually enter?

Nestlé Purina's "October Free Year of Friskies Sweepstakes" runs October 1–31, 2026, and is open to legal U.S. residents 18 and older in all 50 states and D.C., which covers Wisconsin and Madison specifically. Entry runs through the free myPurina app, and Purina's official rules confirm no purchase is required.

Chewy also runs an ongoing series of pet-product giveaways under one standing rules document. Its Giveaway Sweepstakes Official Rules limit entry to legal residents of the 48 contiguous states and D.C. who are 18 or older, cap entries at one person per promotion, and set the eligibility and entry steps that apply to every individual Chewy giveaway, including any Madison residents enter.

Both documents are the place to check before entering anything branded as a Chewy or Purina giveaway: they list current entry windows, prize details, and exactly how an alternate free entry method works when one is offered.

What Wisconsin law requires before anyone can collect a prize fee

Wisconsin has a specific statute aimed at prize promotions that ask winners to pay something first. Under Wis. Stat.

§ 100.171, anyone offering a prize promotion is barred from requesting or accepting any payment until the entrant has first received written notice disclosing the prize's retail value, the odds of winning, and any fee that's actually required, according to the Wisconsin DATCP's prize offers advisory. That sequence matters: a legitimate promoter discloses value and odds in writing before any money changes hands, not after. If a caller or email asks for payment first and promises disclosure later, that order is backward.

Warning signs that a "pet prize" message isn't what it claims

The Federal Trade Commission states plainly that a legitimate sweepstakes never charges "taxes," "shipping and handling," or "processing fees" to release a prize a winner has already been awarded. Any request for payment to claim winnings — by wire transfer, gift card, or cryptocurrency — is itself the warning sign, according to the FTC's guidance on fake prize offers. The FTC also notes there's no legitimate reason a prize claim requires a winner's bank account number, credit card number, or Social Security number.

Real sponsors don't need that information to deliver winnings that were already earned through a free entry, per the same FTC advisory. Wisconsin's own consumer protection agency echoes this for residents specifically. The Wisconsin DATCP consumer alert advises anyone who gets an unsolicited call, text, or letter claiming a pet-product or other prize to never wire money, load a prepaid debit card, or share banking details, and to independently verify the sponsor before responding at all.

• Payment requested before any prize is disclosed in writing: against Wisconsin law.
• Payment requested by wire, gift card, or cryptocurrency to "release" a prize: a sign the message isn't from the actual sponsor.
• A request for a bank account, credit card, or Social Security number to "claim" winnings: not something a real sponsor needs.
• Contact that arrives unsolicited, before any entry was made: verify the sponsor directly through its own website before responding.

Why a true giveaway never charges an entry fee

U.S. sweepstakes law explains why legitimate pet-brand giveaways are structured the way they are. A promotion that both charges an entry fee and awards a prize by chance is an illegal lottery unless it's run by an authorized state lottery.

That's the reason giveaways like Chewy's and Purina's explicitly state "no purchase necessary" and include a free, mail-in alternate entry method, per Chewy's Giveaway Sweepstakes Official Rules. In practice, that means a genuine pet-product giveaway should always have a cost-free way to enter, spelled out in its own rules. If a promotion skips that detail or treats a fee as mandatory, it isn't built the way the law requires a sweepstakes to be built.

A no-entry, no-fee option for Madison pet owners

Not every way to benefit local pets is a sweepstakes. Dane County Humane Society, which serves Madison, partners with Mounds Pet Food Warehouse each February on "People for Pets": shoppers round up their purchases at Dane County Mounds locations, and Mounds matches the donations up to $20,000, according to Dane County Humane Society. This is a charitable promotion, not a prize drawing, so no winner payment is ever requested — there's no prize to "claim" and therefore nothing for a fraudulent message to imitate.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does entering a national pet-brand sweepstakes cost anything?

No. Both the Purina and Chewy promotions described above require no purchase, per their own official rules linked in Section 1.

What should a Madison resident do if someone demands payment to release a pet-product prize?

Don't send money, a gift card, or banking details, and verify the sponsor independently before responding, per the Wisconsin DATCP consumer alert cited in Section 3.