Spring Green voters support ban on breeding dogs for medical research in referendum

The majority of voters in the Village of Spring Green decided in a referendum on April 7 that they support banning the breeding of cats and dogs for medical research or experimentation.

The 340-304 vote comes almost a year after Dr. Jill Janssen Kane and Clinton Kane

just outside the village of Spring Green as a dog breeding place.

As a Sauk County committee unanimously approved a conditional use permit for a dog-breeding facility, village residents concerned about nearby breeding facilities submitted a petition to get a referendum on the issue.

They were successful, and Spring Green residents voted last Tuesday to approve the referendum, which calls for banning research on cats and dogs and breeding cats and dogs for sale to research companies.

Spring Green Village board member Joel Marcus told NBC15 News Monday night that the referendum is “more symbolic in nature, as the existing kennel is outside the village boundary” and that it does not There are currently no livestock operations in the village.

“We don’t have general order powers, so it wouldn’t prohibit the Kanes from operating their kennel in any way. However, I think it makes a strong moral statement about the values ​​that Spring Green residents hold,” Marcus says.

The Kanes filed suit in November against the Spring Green Village Zoning Appeal Board and its planning commission for the denial of the conditional use permit. This case is still pending. NBC15 has reached out to Kane’s attorney, Michael Curran. Curran said they are not commenting on the order because it has no direct effect on their operations in the city of Spring Green.