“We have dogs!” yelled Amy Van Aartsen, as one by one, volunteers in white bio-protective gear appeared over the windy ridge, holding beagles. “… six, seven, eight, nine, ten…I think there’s more…!”
Van Aartsen, co-founder of The Marty Project, was on-site at Blue Mounds, Wisconsin in the United States early Sunday March 15. She was reporting for vegan news network UnChainedTV.
They livestreamed the rescue of 23 beagles from Ridglan Farms, a factory that breeds and sells thousands of beagles worldwide for poison testing and maximum pain experiments.
I promised that if the government wouldn't rescue the Ridglan dogs, *we* would.
— Wayne Hsiung (@waynehhsiung) March 18, 2026
I kept my promise. pic.twitter.com/evYytOxU2J
Last Sunday’s rescue was the brainchild of Wayne Hsiung. He is a former law professor, animal rights activist and student of social justice movements. It was Hsiung’s second time in the facility.
His first was in April 2017. Hsiung and two members of the animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere documented conditions inside the facility. They reported piles of feces, dogs with infected feet and dogs frantically spinning.
Three dogs in urgent need of medical care were removed from Ridglan that night. Later, they discovered one spinning dog, Julie, is blind.
Settlement with Ridglan Farms
Photos and videos taken during that “open rescue”, plus courtroom testimony of former Ridglan employees, veterinarians and canine behaviorists, prompted Wisconsin Judge Lanford to find “probable cause” that Wisconsin’s animal cruelty laws were violated.
Lanford appointed a special prosecutor to investigate further.
That special prosecutor, Tim Gruenke, issued a report stating that although there was enough evidence to support a charge of criminal animal abuse, Guenke was not confident that a local jury would convict Ridglan Farms, a business with a 60-year history in the community.
So Gruenke negotiated a settlement with Ridglan. To avoid public prosecution for animal cruelty violations, Ridglan would stop breeding and selling dogs, and surrender its breeding license on July 1, 2026.
The settlement “did more than I could have done, had I charged it,” Gruenke said.
In a related action, Wisconsin’s State Veterinary Board suspended the license of Ridglan’s veterinarian and facility manager Richard Van Domelen, for repeatedly tasking non-veterinarian employees to perform “cage-side” surgery on unanesthetized dogs, including alleged devocalization and cherry eye removal.
What has not happened, is a removal of the dogs themselves. Even though animal sanctuary Kindness Ranch has offered to take the dogs, Ridglan so far has refused to discuss sending the animals to a sanctuary.
When Ridglan last experienced a decrease in sales and a beagle surplus, their biggest buyer became NASCO, an educational supplier who ordered 1,022 dead beagles in 2019 and 714 dead beagles in 2020. NASCO then resold dog cadavers to schools for dissection.
As long as schools demand dog cadavers for dissection, Ridglan makes more money killing healthy beagles and selling their bodies for dissection, than surrendering live dogs to sanctuary and then loving homes.
New operation to rescue remaining dogs
The clock is ticking. As Ridglan’s July 1 deadline to surrender their breeding license approaches, the question “what will happen to 2000 dogs?” becomes urgent.
With the lives of 2,000 beagles at stake, Wayne Hsiung organized about 100 people into three teams. A green team, who do nothing illegal but stay on public property, peacefully protesting. A yellow team who trespass to videotape the action and provide tactical support. And 50-60 red team members who entered the facility, opened cages and carried out beagles.
In total, 27 people were arrested, 5 jailed overnight and 23 dogs are now playing in an undisclosed safe house. Hearing dates for the arrestees are in April and mid-May.
Like his wife Rose Patterson of UK’s Animal Rising, Hsiung is undaunted by two nights in jail.
In fact, he plans a second action on April 19 and is calling for 2,000 volunteers. One for every remaining Ridglan dog.
