Dozens of people were charged with felonies after trying to steal thousands of beagles from a Wisconsin research facility — a major development in a case that has drawn increased attention to animal testing practices.
The facility, Ridglan Farms, outside Madison, breeds the beagles for research intended to improve veterinary medicine, but is now winding down operations. Protesters have tried on separate occasions in recent months to steal beagles from the facility in response to allegations of animal mistreatment, and in one case succeeded. The company has denied that it abuses animals.
Prosecutors in Dane County, Wisconsin, filed charges on Friday against at least 47 people they believe participated in a March break-in that ended with the removal of 22 dogs. The people, including members of a national animal welfare group, have each been charged with burglary, according to a criminal complaint. Four other individuals who authorities believe played a large role in the incident face additional charges, filed in April.
For all but those four individuals, the maximum sentence for this latest round of charges is 12.5 years. Members of the group include residents of 19 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and Canada.
On March 15, the group, wearing a mix of white lab jumpsuits and all-black outfits, piled out of vans parked near Ridglan Farms. Some used hammers, crowbars and other tools to cut through fencing surrounding the facility and to break at least one window, according to the complaint. A few carried portable radios with attached earpieces. Others livestreamed their actions on Facebook, the complaint said.
Weeks of planning predated the incident, according to the complaint. Organizers recruited participants, created a travel guide, held a training session, scoped out the facility and purchased materials, including protective gear, saws and mallets. Local authorities arrested dozens of participants at the scene.
“Roads were blocked,” Kalvin Barrett, the Dane County sheriff, said. “Drones were used.”
About a month later, the police used tear gas and rubber bullets to halt another attempt by a group of more than 1,000 activists, and several more were arrested.
Wayne Hsiung, founder of Direct Action Everywhere, a national animal welfare group, was among those arrested. “Only a deeply corrupt system” would deploy tear gas and rubber bullets against “peaceful activists,” Hsiung previously said in a statement from jail.
Law enforcement officials were “just trying to protect the property and uphold the law,” Barrett said.
Charges filed last week in Dane County concern the theft of beagles in March. But the sheriff’s office has also recommended charges related to the April incident to the Dane County District Attorney’s Office, Barrett said.
It could not be reached for comment.
All individuals charged thus far are expected to appear in court in August, a Dane County official confirmed. Meanwhile, Ridglan Farms is winding down its operations.
Last fall — after former employees testified that dogs at the center had undergone eye surgeries without general anesthesia — a special prosecutor found that Ridglan Farms performed procedures that constituted animal mistreatment.
The highly publicized beagle theft attempts prompted increased scrutiny of Ridglan Farms’ operations this year. In response to public concerns about the welfare of dogs at the facility, the sheriff’s office in April requested to accompany state officials on an unannounced walk-through of Ridglan Farms. That request was denied, Barrett said. Ridglan Farms could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
“Law enforcement cannot just go in there and shut it down because we don’t agree with what we’re seeing or what’s happening there,” Barrett said.
Ridglan Farms previously bred beagles for experiments done on site and sold the dogs to other research labs. The company was expected to surrender its breeding license this summer, ending its ability to sell dogs to outside labs — a consequence of a state investigation. The facility would have maintained permission to perform experiments on its own beagles.
Now, though, Ridglan Farms is on track to close in August, said Lauree Simmons, president and founder of Big Dog Ranch Rescue.
After purchasing dogs from Ridglan Farms in May, Big Dog Ranch Rescue, which has campuses in Florida and Alabama, reached a deal with the company: Ridglan Farms will close its Wisconsin center, and Big Dog Ranch Rescue will purchase the remaining beagles, Simmons said.
Other rescue groups across the country have also purchased dogs from Ridglan Farms. Currently, nearly 500 beagles remain there, Simmons said.
“I think with all of the activists’ actions that brought this really to the world’s attention, I think they may have had enough,” Simmons said. The beagles that Big Dog Ranch Rescue has purchased from Ridglan Farms range from puppies to 10-year-olds, Simmons said. Many were scared and shy when they first arrived, she added, but “have really rebounded.”
“This facility had a long history of violations, and they’re not the only one,” Simmons said. “Animal testing in this country, especially on dogs, is cruel and unnecessary.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.