Police Repel Attempted Activist Raid of Beagle Breeding Facility, Arrest 26

On Saturday, police made arrests at a protest of 1,000 animal welfare activists who were attempting to gain entry to the Ridglan Farms beagle breeding and research facility in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin.

The Details: Police fired pepper spray and rubber bullets into the crowd and arrested 26 people, including Wayne Hsiung, the activist organizer tied to the Coalition to Save the Ridglan Dogs. Protesters were warned through a Long Range Acoustic Device not to cross onto private property, but hundreds reportedly broke through the barriers and blocked nearby roads to slow emergency responders and law enforcement. Activists maintain that the protest was peaceful.

Key Quotes: "It was clear from the beginning that this was not going to be a peaceful protest," Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett wrote in a statement shared on Facebook. Hsiung said, "This is a peaceful compassion movement, but we've decided if the government is not going to protect the dogs, we will."

For Context: No dogs were removed from the facility on Saturday, but donors reportedly offered $1 million that day for the release of all 2,000 dogs at the Wisconsin facility. The facility breeds beagles and sells them to labs for scientific and medical testing. It holds federal licenses both as a research facility and a dog breeder but receives no funds from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

How the Media Covered It: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Center bias) reported that Dane County, Wisconsin, judge Rhonda Lanford had appointed a special prosecutor last January to investigate after finding probable cause of animal cruelty violations. Both Fox News (Right) and the Associated Press (Left) mentioned pepper spray in their headlines, and sources across the political spectrum reported that this was the second attempt in recent weeks by protesters to break into the facility and remove dogs.

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