Ald. Lindsay Lemmer has introduced an ordinance to ban facilities that breed animals for the purpose of medical, surgical or chemical experimentation.
“This is a preventive measure. Currently, there are no such breeding facilities in Madison. The ordinance would not impact UW-Madison because city ordinances do not apply to state employees working on state property,” Lemmer tells Isthmus. “I felt this was important particularly to keep beagle breeders for animal experimentation from opening up in Madison.”
In 2019, a referendum in Spring Green was approved by voters banning animal breeding for research. An ordinance in Richland Center, similar to what’s being proposed by Lemmer, was passed that same year. In 2015, Isthmus published a cover story detailing a beagle breeding operation in Blue Mounds where the dogs are primarily sold to research institutions — including UW-Madison.
Lemmer’s proposed ordinance won’t be up for a final vote until February, at the earliest. But alders are already being barraged with dozens of emails in opposition, the vast majority of which are coming from Madison employees of Labcorp — formerly known as Covance. The language in these emails is identical.
“I am one of almost 2,000 people employed at Labcorp Drug Development’s location in Madison. Research performed at our Madison site has contributed to the development of new treatments for various forms of cancer, COVID-19, Alzheimer’s, and other diseases; but the proposed ordinance threatens to prevent such contributions in the future,” states the form email. “Banning research animal breeding and sales will hinder this biomedical research and stop medical advancement. It would also send a chilling message to any organizations considering investing in Madison as a location for science and innovation, threatening the city’s potential for economic development.”
Labcorp did not respond to calls or emails requesting comment.
Lemmer is surprised that her ordinance has garnered such attention from the research company. “I feel like there must be some misunderstanding about the ordinance because Madison doesn’t have any of these animal breeding operations,” says Lemmer. “So I’m mostly just confused by the opposition.”
Lemmer is confident she can persuade her colleagues to adopt the ordinance.
“Most of the dogs used in research are beagles due to their convenient size and docile nature. The same reasons they make great pets. Most of the dogs are killed after they have been used for research, rather than being adopted out, especially dogs used in chemical and drug testing,” says Lemmer. “Like I said, these breeding facilities don’t currently exist in Madison. And I don’t think they ever should.”
