The first beagles removed from a Wisconsin dog breeding and research facility, which was the site of recent protests, appeared to recognise immediately that they were safe.
“They started within an hour or so coming up to us, wanting attention. Some crawled in people’s laps. Every single one of them are super sweet,” said Lauree Simmons, president and founder of Big Dog Ranch Rescue, on Sunday. “I think they are loving the attention. I just know they know they’re safe.”
Big Dog Ranch Rescue and the Center for a Humane Economy negotiated a confidential agreement to purchase the 1,500 dogs for an undisclosed price from Ridglan Farms. At this facility, police had previously used teargas and pepper spray to repel activists attempting to take beagles last month. Protesters also broke into the facility in March, taking 30 dogs. The sheriff’s department referred 63 people to the district attorney for potential charges related to that break-in.
Talks to purchase the animals began months before the April disturbance, and Simmons emphasised that her group was not connected to the protests. Now, Big Dog Ranch Rescue is collaborating with partners across the country to find homes for 1,000 of the dogs, while the Center for a Humane Economy will take the remainder.
Simmons reported that her group has received more than 700 adoption applications, but it may take some time before the hounds are ready for their new homes. The organisation is screening potential dog parents, moving the animals to shelters around the country, and ensuring the beagles are housebroken.
The first 300 dogs were removed from Ridglan on Friday, with more scheduled for removal over the next week. The animal groups have established a staging area with play yards in Wisconsin, where the dogs are being vaccinated, microchipped, spayed or neutered, and prepared for transport. Big Dog Ranch Rescue has already begun moving dogs to its location in western Palm Beach County, Florida.
“The younger dogs will adjust quicker, and the older dogs will take time,” Simmons said. “A lot of them are more willing to accept love and want to 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 due to their smaller size and gentle temperament, Simmons explained. “A Belgian malinois is not going to put up with being tested on, being confined in a kennel their whole life,” she said of the athletic shepherd dogs commonly used by police and the military. “Beagles are just so trusting and docile and calm and forgiving, so they are the most chosen dogs for animal testing. And so we’re going to take one of the sweetest, kindest, most trusting breeds and abuse them? This is wrong. This needs to stop.”
Ridglan Farms agreed in October to give up its state breeding license as of 1 July as part of a deal to avoid prosecution on felony animal mistreatment charges. The firm has denied mistreating animals, but a special prosecutor determined that Ridglan Farms was performing eye procedures that violated state veterinary standards.
About 1,000 activists from across the country gathered at Ridglan Farms in the rural village of Blue Mounds, about 25 miles (40km) south-west of Madison, on 18 April in an attempt to take the beagles. They were met by police who used teargas, rubber bullets, and pepper spray. The Dane County Sheriff’s Department reported that 29 people were arrested and five face felony burglary charges.
Activists have filed a federal lawsuit in Wisconsin, alleging that police used unnecessary force. Ridglan has stated that those who tried to break in were a “violent mob” who launched “an assault on a federally licensed research facility.”
