Sauk County, WI Animal Ordinances: Veterinary Clinic Zoning (2026)

Section 7.085 of the Sauk County Code of Ordinances sets the secondary standard for 'Animal grooming, veterinary clinic' uses in unincorporated Sauk County. The rule is a single, narrow restriction: in the Exclusive Agriculture zoning district, a veterinary clinic or animal-grooming business is only allowed if it cares primarily for livestock. That means a small-animal or companion-pet veterinary practice cannot rely on the Exclusive Agriculture district's use allowance; it has to locate where the use table in Section 7.039(1) permits a general veterinary clinic, and it still needs a land use permit from the Zoning Administrator under Section 7.153 before opening.

Every clinic, wherever it locates, also has to meet the county's parking standard. Section 7.092(5)(b) classifies 'Animal grooming, veterinary clinic' as a moderate-parking use, one of eight use types, alongside agriculture-related businesses, art galleries, libraries, museums, and bed and breakfast establishments, that must provide 4.5 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of floor area, or one space per four beds or chairs if that is more restrictive. Fractional space totals round up to the next whole number under Section 7.092(2). Because the veterinary-clinic use sits in the Retail Sales and Service Uses table alongside kennels and other animal-care businesses, a clinic that also boards or grooms animals commercially may separately trigger the county's kennel standards under Section 7.064 if it houses more than the threshold number of animals overnight.