Updated April 15, 2026, 4:32 p.m. ET
Animal rights activists are preparing to attempt a controversial raid at a beagle breeding facility, breaking in and taking thousands of dogs they say are being abused. The operation won’t be in the dead of night, but in the broad daylight, and is being planned out in the open for all to see.
The planned April 19 mission at Ridglan Farms comes after a much smaller action in March that prompted the Wisconsin facility to ramp up its security measures: Wire fencing, hay bales and trenches now line the property, reported the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network.
In March, dozens of activists entered the property and took 23 dogs, resulting in 27 people being arrested. They haven’t yet been formally charged, according to the local district attorney. Ridglan Farms, which has been embroiled in years of accusations it denies, has agreed to stop breeding dogs for outside sale by this summer to avoid prosecution, but the activists say dogs are suffering in the meantime.
This time around, organizers have posted full details online, including timing, team structures and a public signup form that has drawn over 1,700 people planning to participate in an operation they say will be strictly nonviolent. Ridglan Farms said the action could cause millions in damage.
“We’re inviting the police to help us,” Lisa Castagnozzi, a Milwaukee animal advocate leading a support team for the operation, told the Journal Sentinel. “The concept behind open rescue is that we have a legal and moral obligation to go in when no one else has acted to protect these animals.”
The organizers have warned participants that they may be arrested and even charged with felonies, but they believe they are acting lawfully to prevent harm to the beagles, a claim the facility rejects.
What is Ridglan Farms? Facility breeds beagles for research
Ridglan Farms is a facility about 30 miles outside Madison, Wisconsin, in Blue Mounds and licensed by the state as a dog breeding operation. It breeds thousands of beagles and sells them to laboratories for medical and scientific research and has operated for nearly 60 years.
The facility holds federal licenses both as a dog breeder and as a research facility, and is accredited by AAALAC International, an organization that sets standards for the care of research animals.
Last year, a Dane County judge appointed a special prosecutor to investigate Ridglan Farms after former employees testified that dogs were being mistreated, including having eye surgeries performed on them without general anesthesia.
The special prosecutor determined the eye procedures violated state veterinary standards and constituted animal mistreatment.
In exchange for the state not prosecuting, Ridglan agreed to surrender its state breeding license by July 1, 2026, according to the special prosecutor’s report, ending its practice of selling dogs to outside researchers. It can continue breeding dogs for its own internal research.
The facility told the Journal Sentinel in a statement that it is complying with the settlement agreement and that its studies lead to new vaccines and veterinary treatments for animals.
“No credible evidence of animal abuse, cruelty, mistreatment or neglect at Ridglan Farms has ever been presented or substantiated,” Ridglan Farms says on its website.
Activists say they plan to take all 2,000 beagles using ‘every nonviolent means’
The organizers of the April 19 “Ridglan Rescue” say they will require all participants to act without violence. Castagnozzi said her team has been training via Zoom on nonviolence protocols and legal risks.
“Everyone is to remain nonviolent,” she said. “There’s no weapons allowed. Not even pepper spray.”
When signing up to participate, volunteers are asked to indicate the level of risk they want to assume in the operation. Green team-level risk involves standing on public property, according to a strategy document posted online. Yellow means there is a potential for misdemeanor trespassing charges, and participants will be “on property to bear witness, support, de-escalate.” Red teams sign up for potential felony charges and will enter buildings and “directly rescue animals.”
“On April 19, the 2,000 rescuers will descend on Ridglan Farms from all directions and use every nonviolent means to breach the facility walls and rescue the dogs. If the police illegally attempt to stop us, we will shield one another from their attempts to hurt the dogs, and pressure them to enforce the law and protect the dogs,” wrote organizer attorney Wayne Hsiung in a blog post. “Nothing will stop us from getting all 2,000 beagles out of cages….”
Castagnozzi, who participated in the action in March, described approaching the windowless sheds where dogs are housed and hearing “a wall of screaming” from roughly 1,500 beagles.
Ridglan Farms prepares for ‘unlawful’ break-in
In a statement, Ridglan Farms characterized the April 19 operation as an illegal break-in that could cause up to $6 million in damage and put staff, law enforcement, activists and animals at risk.
The company said activists are recruiting “otherwise well-meaning individuals to join them in dangerous and unlawful actions that will likely lead to jail time.”
Ridglan has built new barriers since March, according to photos reviewed by the Journal Sentinel. Hay bales stacked 5 to 6 feet tall now line the property, along with a trench filled with rocks and what appears to be manure. Additional wire also appears to have been added to existing fencing.
Ridglan declined to discuss security measures, citing safety concerns.
The company previously told the Journal Sentinel the facility was “relying on state and federal authorities” to retrieve the 23 dogs taken in March and that “individuals who took them should face the appropriate penalties.”
More than 100 Wisconsin animal rescues and humane societies have signed a letter supporting the operation and offering to shelter the dogs, Castagnozzi said. A placement team has also been coordinating adoptions for weeks.
Is it legal to ‘rescue’ animals from a facility?
The organizers of the operations at Ridglan have argued in writings online that regular citizens have a legal and moral obligation to rescue the dogs, because, they say, nobody else will; the organizers accuse government officials of failing to protect the animals.
They say they have the “right to rescue” animals at imminent risk of abuse or death.
Kristen Stilt, a Harvard Law professor and director of the Animal Law and Policy Program, wrote an amicus brief in support of a defendant charged in a 2017 break-in at Ridglan Farms (those charges were later dropped). She said in the brief that a person’s otherwise criminal conduct, such as trespass, is legally defensible if the action was necessary to prevent harm to someone else, and argued that “someone else” can include animals.
But the legal defense likely hasn’t been tested before an American jury, Stilt said. Hsiung acknowledged they may be rejected by judges. Participants in the April 19 action who sign up online have to acknowledge the risk of arrest, criminal charges, jail time and other legal consequences. But they are also told the chances of certain legal punishment are low.
Sheer numbers are also in the activists’ favor, according to Hsiung.
“If we can mobilize 2,000 rescuers, they can’t arrest and jail us all,” Hsiung wrote in a post.
What are police doing about the raid?
The Dane County Sheriff’s Office told the Journal Sentinel it is aware of the activists’ plans, but wouldn’t comment on its response strategy. The sheriff’s office and the district attorney did not respond to requests for more information from USA TODAY.
In a recorded March 26 call shared with the Journal Sentinel, Hsiung told Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett about the plans for the second operation.
On the call, Barrett acknowledged the activists’ First Amendment right to peaceful protest but said law enforcement would intervene if they broke the law by breaking and entering. He said his priority was maintaining peace on April 19.
Once the activists do break laws to execute their goals, they are no longer merely expressing their rights to free speech, said Timothy Zick, a professor at the William and Mary Law School and author of “Managed Dissent: The Law of Public Protest.”
“Whether violent or not, conduct that violates the law is not protected expression. One has no First Amendment right to ignore trespass or property laws,” Zick told USA TODAY in an email.
Castagnozzi said she’s concerned law enforcement won’t protect activists on April 19, leaving the situation potentially chaotic. But she and others plan to proceed regardless.
“We’re as prepared as we can be,” she said. “We’re there peacefully and we’re doing what we feel is legal.”
Quinn Clark is a Public Investigator reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She can be emailed at QClark@gannett.com.
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