On Sunday, more than 2,000 people plan to enter the Ridglan Farms biomedical research facility to free thousands of beagles bred in Dane County under conditions prosecutors last year said violated state animal cruelty laws. Self-described rescuers from across the country have been preparing for Sunday’s non-violent direct action, building on the momentum that started with a smaller rescue last month.
Wayne Hsiung, an attorney and organizer of the rescues, posted on social media that rescue participants will “use every non-violent means to breach the facility walls and rescue the dogs.” Hsiung continued, “if police illegally attempt to stop us, we will shield one another from their attempts to hurt the dogs, and pressure them to enforce the law and protect the dogs. Nothing will stop us from getting all 2,000 beagles out of cages into the sunlight for the first time.”
In 2024, animal rights groups including Dane4Dogs and the Alliance for Animals filed a court complaint against Ridglan, following years of activism drawing attention to the breeding operation. Ridglan has bred beagles for 60 years to be sold and used in biomedical research, while also maintaining its own research area separate from where the dogs are kept. The controversial but legal experiments are a separate issue from the living conditions of the beagles.
Activists allege that the dogs are being housed inhumanely, had been subjected to the removal of eyelids and vocal cords without anesthesia, and were experiencing deteriorating health as a result. A special prosecutor, La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke, was appointed after a Dane County judge found that there was probable cause that Ridglan was violating Wisconsin’s animal cruelty laws…