Illegal hugging? Madison, Wisconsin’s Snuggle House offers cuddling for $60/hr.  The city, however,  is not feeling the love, believing that touching leads to….well, more than touching.  So they’re trying to close ‘em down.

Cuddling has evidently been a cottage industry for years.  Rochester, NY’s Snuggery offers overnight cuddling.  San Francisco and Boulder, Colorado have thriving cuddle businesses.  Alabama’s Cuddle Party has group snuggle sessions.  Cuddle providers say that (apologies to Streisand) people who need people crave the connection and intimacy of cuddling, and if they don’t have a significant other… well, where there’s a need, there’s a niche business.

So, the Madison  city fathers, (are the city mothers on board?), want to stop all this pay-for-play.  In a statement that will undoubtedly come back to haunt her, Assistant City Attorney Jennifer Zilavy says “…I don’t know any man who just wants to snuggle”.  Can’t wait to see the next mayoral campaign, and its focus on incumbents who “hate hugs”.  No word on whether Governor Scott Walker has weighed in.  Probably doesn’t want to touch that one.