Animal activists take protests over Ridglan Farms beagles to Capitol

MADISON – Shouts of “free the dogs” rang out through the state Capitol on April 20 as protesters advocating on behalf of beagles at a Wisconsin dog breeding facility demanded a meeting with Gov. Tony Evers.

Hundreds of protesters gathered at the Capitol building to ask the governor and state lawmakers to take notice of the situation at Ridglan Farms and force the release of the remaining 1,900 beagles in the facility.

Activist Aidan Kankyoku said after a clash between law enforcement, security guards and animal rights activists over the weekend at the Ridglan facility in Blue Mounds, an anonymous donor pledged $1 million to purchase the remaining beagles. Ridglan has not publicly responded to the offer.

“There’s no question that if these dogs are released, there are homes, there are rescues, there are vets who want to do the work pro bono,” Kankyoku said. There are donors and benefactors who want to cover all these costs, it can happen. We just need Governor Evers and Josh Kaul to make it happen.”

Kankyoku said people felt compelled to break into the facility because the plight of the dogs still housed there isn’t being heard. Instead of protecting the farm on Saturday, law enforcement should have been taking stock of the condition of the animals inside, Kankyoku said.

“It makes absolutely no sense. The police should have been turned around,” he said. “They were facing the wrong way.”

Hundreds of people stormed Ridglan Farms on Saturday, with videos and photos showing law enforcement tear-gassing several people and one person driving a vehicle through a fence and into the facility. Around 25 people were arrested, according to the Dane County Sheriff’s Office. No dogs were removed from the facility.

In March, dozens of activists managed to get into the facility and removed 23 dogs. Twenty-seven people were arrested in relation to that break-in.

Ridglan Farms, in a statement, pushed back on the allegations of animal mistreatment within the facility, and said employees and owners are being threatened and harassed.

“Those individuals and their followers have spread false and highly misleading claims about our research and our deep commitment to animal welfare, fueling dangerous levels of anger and hatred,” the facility said in a statement.

The Dane County Sheriff’s Office has said it is coordinating a walkthrough inspection of the facility with investigators from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and animal control officials.

Evers’ office previously told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the state has exercised its authority over Ridglan through a legal settlement requiring the facility to surrender its breeding license by July 1.

Kankyoku said the governor needs to get involved.

“This is a huge, unhinged situation right on Governor Evers’ doorstep, 30 minutes from the state Capitol,” he said. “He needs to address this. He needs to break his silence. He needs to talk to us.”

Legal settlement allows Ridglan to continue research on beagles

The October settlement requires Ridglan to halt breeding and sales of dogs by July 1, but the facility will still be permitted to conduct its own internal research on the remaining beagles.

The settlement came after a Dane County judge appointed a special prosecutor last year to examine evidence against Ridglan Farms gathered by several animal rights groups. Former employees testified that dogs were being mistreated, including having eye surgeries performed on them without general anesthesia.

Scott Gilbertson, who once worked at the facility, said he witnessed the procedures and was asked to perform them, despite having no formal training.

“I was thinking, you know, had I stayed there months more, what else would they have roped me into?” he said. “And I wasn’t even in the research buildings. I was just in one of the breeding barns.”

The special prosecutor, La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke, determined the eye procedures violated state veterinary standards and constituted animal mistreatment. In exchange for the state not prosecuting, Ridglan agreed to give up its state breeding license, which ends its practice of selling dogs to outside researchers.

Gruenke concluded that other allegations from the animal rights groups were not prosecutable.

The facility said in a media release at the time that operations going forward would be focused on “supporting new and better health interventions for pet dogs.”

“Despite the challenges of the past few months, we are tremendously proud of the outstanding care we provide to our animals, which play a pivotal role in ensuring the safety and effectiveness of cutting-edge veterinary and medical treatments,” the release says.

Laura Schulte can be reached at [email protected] and on X @SchulteLaura.

(This story has been updated to add information.)

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Animal activists take protests over Ridglan Farms beagles to Capitol

Reporting by Laura Schulte, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect