The incident marks the second confrontation in two months between animal welfare activists and law enforcement at the facility. Activists have accused Ridglan Farms of mistreating the animals; the facility has denied the allegations and agreed to end its breeding operations by July 1.
Saturday’s Protest
About 1,000 animal welfare activists attempted to storm Ridglan Farms, a beagle breeding and research facility in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, on Saturday. Police fired rubber bullets and pepper spray into the crowd to repel the protesters. The facility, located about 25 miles southwest of Madison, houses an estimated 2,000 beagles.
The Coalition to Save the Ridglan Dogs had publicized plans to seize the dogs, though the group’s leader, Wayne Hsiung, was arrested during the operation. Activists encountered multiple barriers designed to prevent entry: a manure-filled trench, hay bales, and a barbed-wire fence. Some protesters breached the fence but were unable to reach the facility itself.
Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said 300 to 400 protesters were “violently trying to break into the property.” Barrett said protesters had blocked roads needed by emergency vehicles to access the area. “This is not a peaceful protest,” Barrett said in a video statement. The sheriff’s department reported that one person drove a pickup truck “recklessly” through the front gate, which it said was “preventing a potentially deadly outcome.”
The sheriff’s department said a “significant” number of arrests were made, though final figures were still being processed that afternoon.
Activist Response
Activist Julie Vrzeski expressed her disappointment about the failed operation. “I just feel defeated,” she told the Wisconsin State Journal about three hours into the action, after no beagles had been seized.
Protesters later moved from the facility to demonstrate outside the jail in downtown Madison, where Hsiung was being held.
The March Incident
This was the second attempt in two months by activists to seize animals from the facility. In March, protesters successfully breached Ridglan Farms, removed 30 beagles, and escaped with them. Twenty-seven people were arrested on trespassing and other charges in that operation.
The Facility’s Position
Ridglan Farms has denied mistreating animals. The facility states on its website that “no credible evidence of animal abuse, cruelty, mistreatment or neglect at Ridglan Farms has ever been presented or substantiated.”
In October, Ridglan Farms agreed to give up its state breeding license effective July 1 as part of a settlement to avoid prosecution on animal mistreatment charges.