{"id":351691,"date":"2026-04-20T22:06:49","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T03:06:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/animal-welfare-protesters-converge-on-wisconsin-govs-office-seeking-beagles-release"},"modified":"2026-04-20T22:06:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T03:06:54","slug":"animal-welfare-protesters-converge-on-wisconsin-govs-office-seeking-beagles-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/animal-welfare-protesters-converge-on-wisconsin-govs-office-seeking-beagles-release","title":{"rendered":"Animal welfare protesters converge on Wisconsin gov&#8217;s workplace searching for beagles&#8217; launch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \"><span class=\"oyrPY qlwaB AGxeB \">MADISON, Wis. &#8212; <\/span>Animal welfare activists converged outside of Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers&#8217; Capitol office on Monday, chanting \u201cFree the dogs!\u201d and demanding that the governor and attorney general do what they can to shut down a beagle breeding and research facility where many of the protesters <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/animal-rights-beagles-protest-tear-gas-wisconsin-e65e2b473a19f7eda559394340403cba\">clashed with police<\/a> two days earlier.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">An estimated 1,000 activists from around the country came to <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ridglan.net\/faq\/\">Ridglan Farms<\/a> in rural Blue Mounds in an attempt Saturday to free an estimated 2,000 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&#8217;s Department said <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/wisconsin-animal-rights-protests-arrests-beagles-535d2b62a411201afd6382deac845351\">29 people were arrested<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">More than 100 protesters were met outside of the Capitol hallway that leads to the offices of Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul by police officers who handed out constituent contact forms for Wisconsin residents to complete. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Evers and Kaul did not immediately return messages seeking comment. No one from their offices spoke directly to the protesters, some of whom carried pictures of Evers, Kaul and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin interacting with dogs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Aidan Kankyoku, a co-leader of the Coalition to Save the Ridglan Dogs that organized the effort, said they were hoping that both Evers and Kaul would break their silence about the dog breeder. Kankyoku said activists also wanted Kaul to execute a search warrant on the facility to investigate allegations of ongoing animal cruelty.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cWe just want the dogs out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Ridglan has denied mistreating animals but agreed in October to give up its state breeding license as of July 1 as part of a deal to avoid prosecution on animal mistreatment charges. <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ridglan.net\/faq\/\">On its website<\/a> it says \u201cno credible evidence of animal abuse, cruelty, mistreatment or neglect at Ridglan Farms has ever been presented or substantiated.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Ridglan says it has served as a biomedical research facility \u201cthat supports health studies benefitting both humans and animals\u201d for more than 60 years. Nearly all of its current research is aimed at improving veterinary medicine, according to its website.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Ridglan said in a statement Monday that activists \u201chave spread false and highly misleading claims about our research and our deep commitment to animal welfare, fueling dangerous levels of anger and hatred.\u201d Ridglan said staff members have been threatened and followed as they leave the facility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Ridglan said it hoped that those arrested Saturday are held \u201cfully accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Many of those who were at the facility on Saturday returned to the Capitol on Monday to decry law enforcement\u2019s reaction. Some of them showed off bruises they said were caused by rubber bullets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett defended the actions of his officers, telling The Associated Press on Monday that their response was \u201cappropriate and decisive\u201d to the risk posed by between 300 and 400 protesters who attempted to break into the facility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cWe were outnumbered,\u201d Barrett said of the 26 officers on scene.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The activists were organized into three groups, with one willing to commit felony breaking and entering, another willing to be arrested for trespassing, while others were there to peacefully protest, the sheriff said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The sheriff&#8217;s department released a video that showed a truck driving through Ridglan&#8217;s gate, which Barrett said put officers and Ridglan staff who were in its path at risk. Barrett said another video released Monday showed an activist taking a baton away from an officer as protesters tried to rush the gate to the facility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Protesters previously broke into the facility in March and took 30 dogs. Twenty-seven people were arrested on trespassing and other charges.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, in a social media post on Monday, called on state officials to work with Ridglan on a plan for releasing the dogs that won&#8217;t overwhelm placement groups and prevent the beagles from being euthanized. Pocan last week questioned U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. during a House Appropriations Committee hearing about federal grants going to organizations that use beagles from Ridglan Farms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">Kennedy said he had a hard time believing what Pocan was telling him but that he would look into it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.com\/US\/wireStory\/animal-welfare-protesters-converge-wisconsin-governors-office-seeking-132212835\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MADISON, Wis. &#8212; Animal welfare activists converged outside of Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers&#8217; Capitol office on Monday, chanting \u201cFree the dogs!\u201d and demanding that the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":351694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[28270,28268,2697,11208,7891,21362,28269,13076,7442,156,9827],"class_list":["post-351691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-aidan-kankyoku","tag-co-leader","tag-governor","tag-home-appropriations-committee","tag-human-companies-secretary","tag-josh-kaul","tag-kalvin-barrett","tag-kennedy","tag-madison","tag-social-media","tag-tammy-baldwin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351691"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":351693,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351691\/revisions\/351693"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/351694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}