The animal rights activists who plan to return to Ridglan Farms in Dane County this weekend have hit their goal. They now have more than 2,000 people signed up to join them on Sunday, April 19.
“We’re a non-violent movement. We want to be really clear that we’re not going to harm anyone,” animal activist Abie Brauner explained.
The group says they’re going back this time to rescue all the dogs.
Ridglan Farms in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin currently has about 2,000 dogs at its facility. The company breeds beagles for biomedical research. It’s been in business in Dane County for 60 years.
The animal rights activists call these operations “open rescues.”
Wayne Hsiung is a longtime animal rights activist and attorney. He organized the group that took more than 20 beagles from Ridglan Farms on Sunday, March 15.
“There’s no party in our country today more powerless than a puppy inside a research facility at a place like Ridglan Farms,” Hsiung told Wisconsin’s Midday News.
Hsiung believes they’re saving the dogs from abuse.
Ridglan Farms says no abuse happens at their facility.
Eric McLeod of Husch Blackwell is the company’s attorney. He says the dogs at Ridglan Farms are well taken care of and subject to strict standards under state and federal law.
“Regulators routinely inspect Ridglan Farms facilities to ensure they’re complying with those very strict animal welfare standards. And if the government, whether it be state or federal, had concerns that Ridglan Farms was engaged in animal cruelty, you can be sure that those government entities would take action against them,” McLeod said.
The Dane County Sheriff’s Office arrested about 20 people during the break-in at Ridglan Farms on March 15.
A preschool teacher who flew in from Denver, Colorado was one of them.
Jennifer Tourkin had never done anything like this before.
“So I got inside and I saw these sweet puppies and I reached into a cage and this little girl just melted into me,” she said.
Tourkin spent time in the Dane County Jail that day but was quickly released. She says the arrest was worth it.
“My new friends and I did what’s legally and, for me, morally right to get this to court to save these puppies,” Tourkin said.
She rushed out of Ridglan Farms that Sunday morning with her glasses on top of her head and a beagle in her arms.
“I just kept kissing her head and sniffing her puppy smell and telling her I loved her and that she was going to be safe soon,” Tourkin recalled.
Actress Alexandra Paul was also among the activists.
Dressed in a white bio-hazard suit with her hair pulled back in a ponytail, the woman best known for her role as Lieutenant Stephanie Holden on Baywatch took one of the dogs out of Ridglan Farms and quickly walked the pup to an awaiting vehicle.
“We’re excited to go back and finish the job so that these dogs that are held at Ridglan Farms are no longer held there,” Paul said.
The group took more than 20 beagles the first time. The Dane County Sheriff’s Office recovered some of those dogs and returned them to the breeding facility.
The other beagles are being cared for by people who agreed to take them into their homes. Videos posted online just a few days later show the dogs snuggled up on blankets, playing with tennis balls, and checking out fresh snow outside.
Law enforcement calls what the group did trespassing, criminal damage to property, and burglary.
Hsiung, the leader of the group, spent three days in the Dane County Jail. He joined Wisconsin’s Midday News on 620 WTMJ Radio upon his release.
“So why should the public accept your definition over the law’s,” WTMJ Host Jessica Tighe asked him.
“Partly because some of the most distinguished legal scholars in the nation agree with our theory. The reality is if an animal is being abused, or is suffering, say a dog in a hot car, you do have the right to break the window and care for that animal. And the same is true if thousands of animals are being tortured in cages,” Hsiung said.
The attorney for Ridglan Farms says the activists are telling a story that is simply false.
“Wayne Hsiung has said repeatedly that these dogs are tortured and that they are subject to animal cruelty. If you look at the photographs of the dogs that are being carried out of that facility (on Sunday, March 15), those dogs are healthy. They’re well adjusted. They do not look like animals who have been subject to any mistreatment, let alone abuse or torture,” McLeod said.
He also reminds the public that Ridglan Farms has never been charged with a crime.
In 2025, in response to citizen complaints, Judge Rhonda Lanford appointed a special prosecutor to investigate allegations against Ridglan Farms.
That man was La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke. He spent months investigating whether any claims crossed the line into criminal behavior.
“I found that most of (the claims) did not have any evidence to go forward. The only one I did find there was some evidence that I could charge was the cherry eye procedures found to be done to dogs without proper veterinary service,” Gruenke explained.
But there was no guarantee a jury would convict and soon there would be a resolution to the case: a deal.
Ridglan Farms agreed to shut down its breeding-for-sale operations in exchange for the State of Wisconsin not prosecuting the company for the alleged violation.
That means starting in July of 2026 the company will no longer breed beagles to sell to other research companies. It will, however, continue to breed dogs for its own research.
Jim Newman, a spokesperson for Ridglan Farms, says 95% of the research is focused on improving veterinary medicine. That includes new vaccines and treatments for pets.
The break-in at the controversial breeding facility has reignited a national debate over animal rights, activism, and the rule of law.
It also has some people questioning why dogs are still being used for research in 2026.
“Yeah, that’s a fair question,” Dr. Naomi Charalambakis with Americans for Medical Progress told Wisconsin’s Midday News.
AMP is a non-profit organization that works to keep medical advances moving forward.
“It’s important to understand that dogs are not used broadly or casually in biomedical research. They’re used in very targeted situations where their physiology– like their cardiovascular function, their metabolism, how their immune system responds to cancer– closely mirrors what scientists need to study, and only when there simply just isn’t another model that can provide the same information,” Dr. Charalambakis said.
While technology is quickly advancing, she says it’s not a replacement yet.
In the meantime, Ridglan Farms is preparing for the activists to return this weekend.
“We are aware of proposals by animal extremists to return to Ridglan Farms and commit another mass break-in by outnumbering and overwhelming law enforcement, breaking into buildings and taking animals involved in veterinary research that benefits our pet animals,” the company said in an email to WTMJ.
The Dane County Sheriff’s Office declined our request for an interview, but Sheriff Kalvin Barrett later released the following statement:
“While I empathize with the perspectives of all involved in this emotionally charged issue, breaking into and stealing property from a private, state, and federally licensed facility is not the appropriate response. We encourage everyone to pursue their concerns through lawful and constructive channels. This includes state and federal legislators and licensing departments.”
Sheriff Barrett also announced his office is coordinating a walkthrough visit at Ridglan Farms. DCSO investigators, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP), and animal control officials will be involved.
“If any violations are observed during this visit or through our ongoing work, a fair and impartial investigation will be conducted,” Sheriff Barrett said.
Court appearances are scheduled in the coming weeks for the activists involved in the March break-in. Exactly one month after the raid, Sheriff Barrett referred charges to the Dane County District Attorney against 62 people.
Charges include burglary, party to a crime, conspiracy to commit burglary, possession of burglary tools, receiving/possession of stolen property, trespassing, and criminal damage to property. A neighbor who tried to intervene is tentatively charged with reckless driving and criminal damage to property.
Hsiung, Tourkin, and Brauner are among the activists who plan to return to Ridglan Farms this weekend.
