Mass Protest at Wisconsin Beagle Research Facility Leads to Arrests After Activists Try to Break In
About 1,000 animal welfare activists tried to storm a beagle research facility in Wisconsin on Saturday. They were met with rubber bullets and pepper spray. Multiple people were arrested, including the group’s leader. And despite all of it, not a single dog was removed.
Here’s what actually happened at Ridglan Farms in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin — about 25 miles southwest of Madison — and why this was the second attempt in two months.
A Saturday Surprise
The group behind the effort, the Coalition to Save the Ridglan Dogs, had publicly announced plans to seize dogs on Sunday, April 20. Instead, they launched the operation a day early, on Saturday, April 18.
It didn’t go as planned.
Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said in a video statement, per the AP, that 300 to 400 protesters were “violently trying to break into the property.” He accused demonstrators of assaulting officers, ignoring designated protest areas and blocking roads for emergency vehicles.
“This is not a peaceful protest,” Barrett said.
Law enforcement responded with rubber bullets and pepper spray. A “significant” number of arrests were made out of the roughly 1,000 protesters, though an exact total was not confirmed.
The Leader Was Arrested
Among those taken into custody was Wayne Hsiung, the group’s leader, who posted an image of his arrest on his X account.
Another person was arrested after “recklessly” driving a pickup truck through the front gate. Authorities said the arrest prevented “a potentially deadly outcome.”
The facility itself was protected by barricades that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence. Some protesters managed to breach the fence but did not reach the facility’s interior, where an estimated 2,000 beagles are housed, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.
Julie Vrzeski, an activist, told the Wisconsin State Journal: “I just feel defeated.”
Activists later protested outside the jail in downtown Madison.
Sunday Was a Different Story
The day after the chaotic standoff, around 200 people assembled outside the farm. The Dane County Sheriff’s Office said the situation was “significantly calmer and more peaceful.” The group dispersed after about two hours.
“We’re pleased with the group’s cooperation today, and their willingness to remain peaceful, while still sending their message of concern for the dogs at Ridglan Farms,” Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said in a statement. “We are happy to support anyone who wants to exercise the right to protest, as long as they do so lawfully.”
In March, protesters actually entered the facility and removed 30 dogs. Twenty-seven people were arrested on trespassing and other charges during that incident.
Saturday’s confrontation marked the second attempt in two months to take beagles from Ridglan Farms.
What Ridglan Farms Says
The facility denies animal mistreatment. On its website, Ridglan Farms states that “no credible evidence of animal abuse, cruelty, mistreatment or neglect at Ridglan Farms has ever been presented or substantiated.”
However, under an agreement reached in October, the facility will surrender its state breeding license effective July 1 to avoid prosecution on animal mistreatment charges.
That detail — agreeing to give up a license to avoid prosecution while simultaneously denying any wrongdoing — is at the center of why activists keep showing up. And it’s the part of this story that tends to get lost in the dramatic footage of rubber bullets and breached fences.
This article was created by content specialists using various tools, including AI.
