Animal welfare protesters clash with police at Wisconsin beagle facility
BLUE MOUNDS, Wis. (AP) — About 1,000 animal welfare activists who tried to enter a beagle breeding and research center in Wisconsin on Saturday were turned back by police who fired rubber bullets and pepper spray into the crowd and arrested the group’s leader.
It was the second attempt in as many months by protesters to take beagles to the Ridglan Farms facility in Blue Mounds, a small town about 25 miles (about 40 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Madison.
Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said in a video statement that 300 to 400 protesters were “violently attempting to break into the property” and assaulting officers. He said protesters ignored areas designated for peaceful protest and blocked roads to prevent emergency vehicles from entering.
“This is not a peaceful protest,” Barrett said.
The sheriff’s department said a “significant” number of people were arrested out of about 1,000 protesters at the site, but did not give an exact number because their investigation was still ongoing as of the afternoon.
Protesters attempted to break through the barricades which included a manure-filled trench, bales of hay and a barbed wire fence. Some protesters managed to climb over the fence but were unable to enter the facility, where about 2,000 beagles are held, the ministry said. The Wisconsin State Journal reported.
“I just feel defeated,” activist Julie Vrzeski told the newspaper about three hours after the operation began, when no dogs had been successfully seized.
Activists then left the Ridglan facility to protest outside the jail in downtown Madison.
The Ridglan Save the Dogs Coalition group announced plans to seize the dogs on Sunday, but launched its operation a day earlier. The X-rated story of the group’s leader, Wayne Hsiung, posted a photo of his arrest.
The sheriff’s department said a person who “recklessly” drove a pickup truck through the front gate of the property was arrested, “avoiding a potentially deadly outcome.”
Protesters broke into the facility in March and took 30 dogs. Twenty-seven people were arrested on trespassing and other charges.
Ridglan has denied mistreating animals, but agreed in October to give up his state breeding license effective July 1 as part of a deal to avoid prosecution for animal abuse.
On his website it states that “no credible evidence of abuse, cruelty, mistreatment or neglect of animals at Ridglan Farms has ever been presented or substantiated.”
