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BLUE MOUNDS, Wis. (AP) — A significant gathering of roughly 1,000 animal rights activists faced resistance from law enforcement on Saturday when they attempted to enter a beagle breeding and research center in Wisconsin. Police responded with rubber bullets and pepper spray to disperse the crowd, also arresting the leader of the demonstration.
This marked the second attempt in two months by protesters aiming to liberate beagles from Ridglan Farms, located in Blue Mounds, a small community roughly 25 miles southwest of Madison.
In a video update, Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett reported that between 300 and 400 demonstrators were “aggressively trying to breach the premises” and assault law enforcement officers. He noted that protesters had disregarded designated areas for peaceful assembly and obstructed roads, hindering access for emergency vehicles.
“These actions do not constitute a peaceful protest,” Barrett asserted.
The sheriff’s department indicated that a “substantial” number of arrests were made among the approximately 1,000 demonstrators, although an exact figure was unavailable as the processing of those detained was still ongoing as of Saturday afternoon.
Protesters tried to overcome barricades that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence. Some protesters did get through the fence, but they were unable to get into the facility where an estimated 2,000 beagles are kept, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
“I just feel defeated,” activist Julie Vrzeski told the newspaper about three hours into the operation after no dogs had been successfully seized. Activists moved from the Ridglan facility to protest outside of the jail in downtown Madison later Saturday.
The group Coalition to Save the Ridglan Dogs had publicized their plans to seize the dogs on Sunday, but launched their operation a day earlier. The X account of the group’s leader, Wayne Hsiung, posted a picture of him being arrested on the scene.
The sheriff’s department said that a person who “recklessly” drove a pickup truck through the front gate of the property was arrested, “preventing a potentially deadly outcome.”
In March, protesters broke into the facility and took 30 dogs. Twenty-seven people were arrested on trespassing and other charges.
Ridglan has denied that it mistreats the animals, but in October agreed to give up its state breeding license as of July 1 as part of a deal to avoid prosecution on animal mistreatment charges.
On its website, Ridglan says “no credible evidence of animal abuse, cruelty, mistreatment or neglect at Ridglan Farms has ever been presented or substantiated.”