Big Dog Ranch Rescue and the Center for a Humane Economy said they have entered into a confidential agreement with Ridglan Farms to buy 1,500 of the facility’s roughly 2,000 beagles for an undisclosed price. It’s unclear what the plans are for the remaining dogs. The 1,500 dogs will be transported later this week from Ridglan to partner agencies as well as to Big Dog Ranch Rescue facilities in Florida and Alabama.
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Animal refuge groups said Wednesday that they have agreed to buy nearly 1,500 beagles at a Wisconsin dog breeding and research business that was the site of a violent clash earlier this month between activists trying to break in and police who repelled them with tear gas and pepper spray.
Big Dog Ranch Rescue and the Center for a Humane Economy said they have entered into a confidential agreement with Ridglan Farms to buy 1,500 of the facility’s roughly 2,000 beagles for an undisclosed price. It’s unclear what the plans are for the remaining dogs…
“It’s a very big win and I am ecstatic to have these dogs out and get them into loving homes,” Lauree Simmons, president and founder of Big Dog Ranch Rescue, told The Associated Press. Simmons said she could not discuss the payment for the dogs, how long the deal had been in the works or how many beagles remain at Ridglan after the deal.
The 1,500 dogs will be transported later this week from Ridglan to partner agencies as well as to Big Dog Ranch Rescue facilities in Florida and Alabama, Simmons said. They will receive medical exams, microchips and vaccinations before they are assessed for adoption, she said…
Animal activists have been pushing for 10 years to have the dogs at Ridglan Farms adopted, not sold to other research facilities… About 1,000 activists from across the country came to Ridglan Farms in rural Blue Mounds in an attempt on April 18 to take the beagles kept there about 25 miles (about 40 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Madison. They were met by police who repelled them with tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray. The Dane County Sheriff’s Department said 29 people were arrested and five face felony burglary charges.
Activists filed a federal lawsuit in Wisconsin last week alleging that police used unnecessary force to repel those trying to break into the facility and take the dogs. Ridglan has said those who tried to break in were a “violent mob” who launched “an assault on a federally licensed research facility”. SOURCE
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