A dramatic confrontation unfolded on Saturday as law enforcement clashed with hundreds of animal rights activists attempting to breach a beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin. The police responded with tear gas and pepper spray, ultimately detaining the leader of the protest.
This incident marks the second such effort by demonstrators within the past two months to rescue beagles from Ridglan Farms, located in the quaint town of Blue Mounds, roughly 25 miles southwest of Madison.
Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett addressed the public in a video statement, describing how the crowd of 300 to 400 activists aggressively tried to invade the property and assaulted officers. He emphasized the disruption caused by the demonstrators, who disregarded designated areas for peaceful protests and obstructed roads, hindering emergency vehicle access.
“This is not a peaceful protest,” Barrett asserted, underscoring the severity of the situation.
In their attempt to reach the facility, protesters encountered significant obstacles, including a trench filled with manure, hay bales, and a barbed-wire fence, all intended to deter their advance.
Protesters tried to overcome barricades that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence.
Some protesters did get through the fence, but they were unable to get into the facility where an estimated 2,000 beagles are kept, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
“I just feel defeated,” activist Julie Vrzeski told the newspaper about three hours into the operation after no dogs had been successfully seized.
Activists moved from the Ridglan facility to protest outside of the jail in downtown Madison later Saturday.
The group Coalition to Save the Ridglan Dogs had publicized their plans to seize the dogs on Sunday, but launched their operation a day earlier.
The X account of the group’s leader, Wayne Hsiung, posted a picture of him being arrested on the scene.
Ridglan said in a statement that a person who drove a pickup truck through the front gate of the property, nearly running over police officers and staff, was also arrested.
In March, protesters broke into the facility and took 30 dogs.
Twenty-seven people were arrested on trespassing and other charges.
Ridglan has denied that it mistreats the animals, but in October agreed to give up its state breeding license as of July 1 as part of a deal to avoid prosecution on animal mistreatment charges.
On its website, Ridglan says “no credible evidence of animal abuse, cruelty, mistreatment or neglect at Ridglan Farms has ever been presented or substantiated.”
