{"id":775093,"date":"2024-03-11T08:34:23","date_gmt":"2024-03-11T12:34:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/animalrightswatch.us\/?p=775093"},"modified":"2024-03-11T08:49:21","modified_gmt":"2024-03-11T12:49:21","slug":"ridglan-farms-beagle-rescue-case-dismissed-days-before-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/animalrightswatch.us\/?p=775093","title":{"rendered":"DIS-MISSING IN ACTION: Ridglan Farms beagle rescue case dismissed days before trial"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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The public still does not know what is happening in research facilities like Ridglan, which the trial may have shed light on. The dismissal left unaddressed some incredibly important legal and moral issues, including whether people have the freedom of conscience to help animals when they\u2019re suffering. That has to change.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\n

BILL LUEDERS:<\/strong> Dane County Judge Mario White today dismissed all charges against three animal rights activists who in April 2017 broke into a dog breeding and research facility near Mount Horeb and left with three beagles, heading off what had been scheduled to be a five-day trial beginning March 18 that was certain to draw national attention.<\/em><\/p>\n

The dismissal was requested by the Dane County District Attorney\u2019s Office, which in 2021 charged Paul Darwin Picklesimer, Wayne Hsiung and Eva Hamer with felony burglary and theft, for which they faced up to 16 years in prison. The office\u2019s motion, from assistant DA Alexandra Keyes, was filed late on March 7, the same day that an article on the case was published in Isthmus.<\/em><\/p>\n

The motion states that \u201cthe victims in this case,\u201d the dog-breeding and research facility Ridglan Farms, had \u201cindicated a desire to no longer have this case proceed to trial.\u201d It said the victims had expressed \u201cconcerns for their physical safety, as well as for their business.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

At what had been scheduled as a final pretrial conference early Friday, two of the three defendants opposed the motion to dismiss. Chris Carraway, staff attorney with the Colorado-based Animal Activist Legal Defense Project, representing Picklesimer, and Hsiung, representing himself, argued that the defendants had suffered significant financial and emotional harm from being charged with crimes in connection with the removal of the three dogs from Ridglan Farms…<\/em><\/p>\n

Carraway, in his comments to the court, said the Dane County District Attorney\u2019s Office had \u201ca track record\u201d of not taking animal cruelty cases seriously. He cited two instances in which the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sought the appointment of a special prosecutor after the DA\u2019s office declined to bring requested charges for animal cruelty. (Judges in both cases declined to do so, despite finding probable cause to believe that violations of the law occurred.) He said this was just another instance of the office \u201cturning a blind eye\u201d to credible allegations of animal cruelty.<\/em><\/p>\n

Had the case gone to trial, Carraway argued, what would have been made clear is that what is happening inside Ridglan Farms \u201cis unlawful animal cruelty beyond the pale\u201d of what regulations permit. He said the dismissal shielded Ridglan Farms from this accountability so that it can \u201ccontinue to harm animals and violate the law.\u201d…<\/em><\/p>\n

Hsiung, in his comments to the court, said he was disappointed by the motion to dismiss, after enduring an \u201cenormous expense in time and emotional toil”… He expressed his frustration that \u201cthe public still does not know what is happening in research facilities like Ridglan,\u201d which the trial may have shed light on. He said the dismissal left unaddressed some \u201cincredibly important legal and moral issues,\u201d including whether \u201cpeople have the freedom of conscience to help animals when they\u2019re suffering.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

As Hsiung stated: \u201cWe did what we did because the government is not acting to protect the most vulnerable beings on this planet. And that has to change. That has to change.\u201d He urged Judge White to appoint a special prosecutor to look into allegations of animal cruelty at Ridglan Farms, or, alternately, \u201cto prosecute us”…<\/em><\/p>\n

Hsiung, in an interview, said the dismissal affirmed \u201cwhat we always knew to be true \u2014 which is that if a jury of our peers heard testimony and saw the videos from inside Ridglan Farms, they would revolt against the notion that we\u2019re the ones who have committed crimes, rather than the company”. <\/em>SOURCE…<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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