Tear gas, pepper spray and arrests as protesters try to storm a Wisconsin beagle lab
BLUE MUNDS, Wisconsin — Hundreds of animal rights activists trying to enter a beagle breeding and research center in Wisconsin on Saturday were turned back by police who fired tear gas and pepper spray into the crowd and arrested the group’s leader.
It was the second attempt in as many months by protesters to remove beagles from the Ridglan Farms facility in Blue Mounds, a small town about 25 miles southwest of the capital Madison.
Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said in a video statement that between 300 and 400 protesters were “violently attempting to break into the property” and assault 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.
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 get over the fence, but they were unable to enter the facility where about 2,000 beagles are kept, 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 left the Ridglan facility to protest outside the downtown Madison jail later Saturday.
The Ridglan Save the Dogs Coalition group announced plans to seize the dogs on Sunday, but launched its operation a day earlier. The group’s leader Wayne Hsiung’s X account posted a photo of his arrest at the scene.
Ridglan said in a statement that a person who drove a van 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 mistreating the 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 its website, Ridglan claims that “no credible evidence of animal abuse, cruelty, mistreatment or neglect at Ridglan Farms has ever been presented or substantiated.”
