‘They know they’re safe’: beagles saved from US research facility after protests | Wisconsin
The first beagles removed from the dog breeding and research facility in Wisconsin, where the recent protests took place, seemed to immediately know they were safe.
“After about an hour, they started coming towards us, demanding attention. Some were crawling on people’s laps. Every single one of them was so cute,” Lauree Simmons, president and founder of Big Dog Ranch Rescue, said Sunday. “I think they like the attention. I just know they know they’re safe.”
Big Dog Ranch Rescue and the Center for Humane Economics signed a confidential agreement to buy 1,500 dogs for an undisclosed price from Ridglan Farms, where police used tear gas and pepper spray to repel activists who tried to take the beagles from the facility last month. Protesters raided the facility in March and took 30 dogs. Sixty-three people were referred by the sheriff’s department to the district attorney for possible charges related to this break-in.
Negotiations to purchase the animals began months before the April incident, and Simmons said his group had no connection to the protests. Now Big Dog Ranch Rescue is working with partners across the country to find homes for 1,000 dogs, while the Center for Humane Economics is doing the rest.
Simmons said her group has received more than 700 adoption applications, but it may take some time for the beagles to be ready for their new homes as the organization screens potential dog parents, transports animals to shelters across the country and ensures the beagles don’t stay home.
The first 300 dogs were removed from Ridglan on Friday, with more planned to be removed next week. Animal groups have set up a staging area in Wisconsin with play yards where dogs are vaccinated, microchipped, spayed or neutered and prepared for transport, Simmons said. Big Dog Ranch Rescue has already begun transporting dogs to its location in western Palm Beach County, Florida.
“Young dogs will adapt faster, and older dogs will need time,” said Simmons. “Many are more willing to accept love and be with people.”
Ridglan Farms did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Beagles are the most common breed of dog used for animal testing, primarily because of their small size and gentle temperament, Simmons said.
“A Belgian malinois wouldn’t stand to be tested on, wouldn’t stand to be locked in a kennel for the rest of his life,” Simmons said of athletic sheepdogs commonly used by police and the military. “Beagles are extremely trustworthy, docile, calm and forgiving, which is why they are the dogs most often chosen for animal testing. Are we going to take one of the sweetest, gentlest, most trustworthy breeds and abuse them? This is wrong. This needs to stop.”
Ridglan Farms agreed in October to give up its state cultivation license as of July 1 as part of a deal to avoid prosecution on animal abuse charges. The firm denied mistreating animals, but a special prosecutor determined that Ridglan Farms performed eye procedures that violated state veterinary standards.
About 1,000 activists from around the country arrived at Ridglan Farms in the rural village of Blue Mounds, about 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Madison, to pick up the beagles on April 18. They were met by police who used tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray. The Denmark County Sheriff’s Department said 29 people were arrested and five are facing felony theft charges.
Activists have filed a federal lawsuit alleging police used unnecessary force in Wisconsin. Ridglan said those trying to break in were a “violent mob” who had launched an “assault on a federally licensed research facility.”
