Animal rescue groups said Wednesday they have agreed to buy nearly 1,500 beagles from Ridglan Farms, a Wisconsin dog breeding and research business that drew international attention earlier this month after a violent clash involving activists and police.
Big Dog Ranch Rescue and the Center for a Humane Economy said they entered into a confidential agreement with Ridglan Farms to purchase 1,500 of the facility’s roughly 2,000 beagles. The groups said the price is undisclosed, and they said it was unclear what plans exist for the remaining dogs.
Ridglan Farms did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Lauree Simmons, president and founder of Big Dog Ranch Rescue, told The Associated Press that the deal was “a very big win” and that she was “ecstatic” to get the dogs into homes.
Simmons said she could not discuss the payment terms, how long the deal had been in the works, or how many beagles remain at Ridglan after the agreement. She said the 1,500 dogs will be transported later this week from Ridglan to partner agencies and to Big Dog Ranch Rescue facilities in Florida and Alabama.
Simmons said the dogs will receive medical exams, microchips and vaccinations before staff assess them for adoption. She also said the animals’ learning and recovery would be part of the process, saying, “These dogs need to learn to walk on a leash,” and adding that they need to be housebroken as well as spayed and neutered.
Simmons said that even if some dogs are not adopted through the rescue’s assessment process, they could return to Big Dog Ranch Rescue. She said the rescue’s facility in Loxahatchee, Florida, is its largest cage-free, no-kill operation.
The announcement comes amid an ongoing dispute between activists and animal researchers over the purpose and treatment of the beagles at Ridglan Farms. Animal activists have said for about 10 years that they want the dogs at the Wisconsin facility adopted rather than sold to other research facilities.
Simmons said she was not involved in the protests that brought increased attention to Ridglan, but she credited activists with spreading the message. “What they did was put the message out,” Simmons said of the activists, while she said Big Dog Ranch Rescue sought “legally and in the best way and for the best outcome of these dogs for the future.”
About 1,000 activists from across the country came to Ridglan Farms in rural Blue Mounds on April 18 in an attempt to take beagles stored there about 25 miles (about 40 kilometers) southwest of Madison. Police repelled the effort using tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray, and the Dane County Sheriff’s Department said 29 people were arrested and five face felony burglary charges.
Activists later filed a federal lawsuit in Wisconsin alleging police used unnecessary force to repel those trying to break into the facility and take the dogs. Ridglan, in turn, has said those who tried to break in were a “violent mob” that launched “an assault on a federally licensed research facility.” The case and other legal actions reflect the broader conflict over what activists describe as harm to the animals and what Ridglan says is legitimate research activity.
In March, activists broke into Ridglan Farms and left with 30 beagles, and the sheriff’s department said 63 people were referred to the district attorney for potential charges related to that earlier break-in. Separately, Ridglan agreed in October to give up its state breeding license effective July 1 as part of a deal to avoid prosecution on felony animal mistreatment charges. Ridglan has denied mistreating animals, and a special prosecutor determined that Ridglan was performing eye procedures on the dogs that violated state veterinary standards.