Animal rights activists score ‘big win’ in Ridglan Farms case

Settlement will force facility to shutter much of its beagle-breeding operation

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For Rebekah Robinson, it was the result of years of effort. On Tuesday, the controversial Madison-area dog breeding operation Ridglan Farms agreed to suspend the lion’s share of its operations by July in exchange for a special prosecutor not moving forward with criminal charges. It was the culmination of an investigation she helped initiate.

“I mostly feel relieved that finally, after 60 years, this business is going to stop selling dogs for experimentation,” says Robinson, the president of Dane4Dogs, an activist group that has worked ardently over the last several years to expose and shut down the facility in southwestern Dane County. “I think it’s a big win, and I’m excited that this chapter is coming to an end.”

A settlement agreement between Ridglan Farms and special prosecutor Tim Gruenke, the district attorney of La Crosse County, calls for the facility to surrender its license to operate as a dog breeder that sells purpose bred beagles to outside researchers by July 1, 2026. U.S. Department of Agriculture reports from a September inspection found nearly 2,300 dogs in this category. It will retain its license to breed dogs for research conducted at Ridglan Farms; the USDA, in its inspection, placed the number of beagles in this category at 84.

“Alliance for Animals is relieved knowing that this facility will no longer be allowed to mistreat beagles,” attorney Kristin Schrank, representing Dane4Dogs, said in a statement. “The fact that this facility was allowed to remain open while accumulating countless violations of state law and code is shocking. We again thank our local and national partners for their support as we sought to protect the beagles.”

But the activists are disappointed that the settlement agreement allows Ridglan Farms to keep selling dogs, as Robinson puts it, “until they have no dogs left.” She would like Ridglan Farms’ dogs to be made available for adoption. Steffen Seitz, litigation fellow at the Colorado-based Animal Activist Legal Defense Project, which represented Dane4Dogs in the special prosecutor petition, agrees.

“We are thrilled that this hell hole will be shuttered, and we hope this is merely the next domino to fall on the way to ending all experiments on dogs,” Seitz said in a news release. “However, it is unacceptable that the stipulation allows Ridglan to continue to sell dogs until July. Those dogs should be released immediately.” 

The settlement agreement says “dogs that have not been sold or cannot be used consistent with Ridglan Farms’ USDA licenses will be offered for adoption as appropriate or otherwise handled consistent with the requirements and limitations of State law.”

But it’s unclear whether that will happen. Ridglan Farms, in a statement on the settlement, says “groups opposed to animal studies have repeatedly sought to obtain Ridglan Farms’ dogs. Is this being considered or planned?” It then ducks its own question, saying dogs at the facility “are well-cared for, disease free animals purposefully bred to take part in biomedical research, which benefits our pet animals and improves human medicine as well.”

The statement, from K Harvey Brand Partners of San Antonio, Texas, a PR firm hired by Ridglan Farms, goes on to say: “At the current time, alternatives do not yet exist which can replace all animal-based studies. Until this occurs, Ridglan Farms will continue to support the biomedical research process while ensuring that the dogs in our care live happy and healthy lives, featuring daily interactions with humans and other dogs, along with immediate access to veterinary treatments whenever the need arises.”

Gruenke, in his report on the case, said there were “legal questions” as to whether Ridglan Farms could be charged with a felony. But given the facility’s “willingness to close (its) business (and) end the conduct that gave rise to this inquiry without the expense and uncertainty of a prosecution,” he concluded that it was appropriate that charges not be filed as “the best resolution available to all concerned.”

Ridglan Farms, which in recent years has had as many as 3,200 dogs at the same time, is the nation’s second largest breeder of beagles for experimentation. The largest is Marshall BioResources in upstate New York, which currently has about 18,000 beagles. Another major facility, Envigo in Cumberland, Virginia, was shuttered in 2022 by federal authorities after years of documented violations and reports of mistreatment. The company was forced to surrender all of its 4,000-plus dogs for adoption and ultimately agreed to pay a $35 million fine — the largest ever for an animal welfare enforcement action.

A new book, Lab Dog: A Beagle and His Human Investigate the Surprising World of Animal Research, by Melanie D.G. Kaplan, describes all three facilities, and explores the various alternatives to the use of animals in research, some of which are actually cheaper and better. 

The settlement agreement comes a year and five days after Dane County Judge Rhonda Lanford held an all-day hearing about whether a special prosecutor should be appointed. Evidence was presented regarding recurring violations at Ridglan Farms. Former employees testified to taking part in gruesome surgeries including lopping off dogs’ eyelids and cutting their vocal cords so they can’t bark as loud. Attorney and animal rights activist Wayne Hsiung and others testified about their repeated unsuccessful efforts to get Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne to look into the filing of criminal charges. (Ridglan Farms says the devocalization surgeries were discontinued in 2018.)

In her January 2024 ruling, Lanford found that the petitioners, including Dane4Dogs, had established “probable cause to believe that Ridglan has committed crimes under Wisconsin’s animal cruelty laws, and the district attorney has failed to issue a complaint or commence an investigation into Ridglan’s conduct.” She subsequently appointed Gruenke to serve as a special prosecutor.

On Oct. 23, the one-year anniversary of the hearing, Hsiung and others sent an email urging him “in the strongest possible terms to take meaningful action against Ridglan Farms.” It said “the evidence of cruelty, neglect, and unlawful conduct at Ridglan is overwhelming and has been documented over many years by inspectors, whistleblowers, and former employees.… Ridglan’s violations of law are not technical oversights but acts of cruelty that inflict excruciating pain, permanent disability, and profound psychological trauma on sentient beings.”

Also on Oct. 23, the Dane County Board voted 30-5 to pass a resolution calling on the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to revoke Ridglan Farms’ dog breeder license and place its animals in custodial care.

This week’s settlement puts all potential criminal charges against Ridglan Farms on hold, unless it fails to comply with the terms of the agreement. In a news release, Wayne Pacelle, president of the Center for a Humane Economy and Animal Wellness Action, said the settlement “mercifully starts the unwinding of the second largest beagle breeding confinement operation in the nation.” He called it “one more important step in our nation turning away from inhumane animal tests that are less reliable and more costly than 21st-century methods grounded on human biology.”

Ridglan Farms has been in business since 1966, coincidentally the year the federal Animal Welfare Act was passed. It is located in the town of Blue Mounds in southwestern Dane County. The “purpose-bred” beagles are housed in several large windowless buildings. A constant cacophony of barking can be heard from the road in front of the facility.

In 2017, Hsiung and two other activists with the group Direct Action Everywhere entered Ridglan Farms overnight, leaving with three beagles and video footage of row upon row of obviously distressed dogs barking and running in circles in their tiny cages stacked two deep. The activists were charged by Ozanne’s office with felonies, but just days before a scheduled trial, Ridglan asked that the charges be dismissed, denying the activists their chance to present evidence in court. The activists then set about trying to get authorities to prosecute Ridglan Farms criminally. 

In recent weeks, Ridglan’s PR firm has been trying to change the narrative. K Harvey Brand Partners released video of dogs at the facility in less cramped quarters than in the 2017 video, and who got manic only after intruders appeared. It also hyped USDA inspection reports that failed to identify any violations.

But while the federal authorities were finding nothing, the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) identified more than 300 counts of animal mistreatment at Ridglan Farms since 2022. It proposed that Ridglan Farms pay a $55,148 fine, which it refused to do. The matter was referred for possible prosecution. 

In late September, the state’s Veterinary Licensing Board, part of DATCP, suspended the license of Ridglan Farm’s head veterinarian, Richard Van Domelen, a decision Ridglan has vowed to fight. It found that he had allowed staff without the required licenses to perform surgical procedures, usually without anesthesia or pain mitigation, and that he had largely failed to take corrective action, as he was earlier ordered to do.

Robinson stresses that the settlement agreement will have no effect on the ongoing proceedings against Van Domelen, or on a new complaint against Ridglan Farms filed by Dane4Dogs last month alleging the facility sold dogs under one month old in violation of the law. It also will have no impact on the lawsuit that Ridglan Farms filed against Dane4Dogs and Robinson, alleging torturous interference with contract. A hearing was recently heard on the case.

“We’re continuing to keep up the pressure,” says Robinson. “We’re going to do everything that we can to try and get those dogs out safely and adopted into loving homes.”