From Tear Gas to A Facility Closed For Good
On 18 April 2026 Wisconsin police fired tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets at a crowd of around 1,000 people who had come to take the beagles out of Ridglan Farms. By 12 August 2026 Ridglan had closed for good and more than 2,100 beagles had left for rescue. A judge, a special prosecutor, a crowd, Congress and the rescues all pushed in the same direction. This is how the model works. This is what it looks like when a campaign wins.
The Facility Is Closing For Good
Ridglan Farms, which had bred beagles for research in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, since 1966, has closed for good. In April 2026 Big Dog Ranch Rescue and the Center for a Humane Economy agreed to take 1,500 beagles, with transfers starting on 1 May 2026. On 16 June 2026 the closure of the whole facility was announced, and the last 155 dogs (14 adults and 141 puppies) left on 12 August 2026. More than 2,100 dogs in total. The facility will breed no more.
The Beagle Freedom Project, the Wisconsin Puppy Mill Project and Dane County Humane Society helped place the dogs. In Congress, Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI 2) won an amendment in the House Appropriations Committee to the FY27 agriculture funding bill, directing the USDA to review dog breeders whose state licences have been relinquished. In May 2026 Pocan said the USDA had told Ridglan to surrender its federal breeding licence by 1 July. Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI 3) backed the pressure across the aisle.
Every dog leaving the building was put there by tear-gassed citizens, a judge’s probable-cause finding, federal pressure, and rescues who refused to walk away. That is the playbook — and it ended in a permanent closure.
MBR Acres is next. Two thousand beagles in Cambridgeshire are waiting for the same outcome. The model is proven. The route is now visible.
The Breeding Licence Surrender
In January 2025 Dane County Judge Rhonda Lanford found probable cause to believe Ridglan Farms had committed multiple criminal animal-cruelty violations, after the Dane County District Attorney had declined to act, and appointed La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke as special prosecutor. On 28 October 2025, after an eight-month investigation, Gruenke announced a settlement: instead of facing criminal charges, Ridglan agreed to surrender its Wisconsin licence to breed and sell dogs by 1 July 2026. It kept its USDA research licence. A breeding operation that dated back to 1966 was ending.
That deal was the breakthrough. What followed went further: with the breeding licence going and public pressure not letting up, Ridglan released its dogs to rescue in 2026 and then closed altogether.
What Happened at Ridglan Farms
The Facility
Ridglan Farms bred beagles for research in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, from 1966, and was one of the two largest suppliers of research beagles in the United States. It held around 3,000 beagles in October 2025. In January 2025 a judge found probable cause that it had committed animal-cruelty crimes.
15 March 2026 — Open Rescue
Activists led by attorney Wayne Hsiung entered Ridglan and removed 22 beagles. Hsiung, Aditya Aswani, Dean Wyrzykowski and Michelle Lunsky were each charged with four felony counts (burglary, criminal damage to property, theft and attempted theft) and pleaded not guilty in May 2026.
18 April 2026 — The Gathering
On 18 April 2026 around 1,000 people converged on Ridglan, having said openly that they meant to take the dogs out. Many brought water, food and veterinary supplies for the dogs. They did not bring weapons.
Officers from more than 17 agencies, led by the Dane County Sheriff’s Office, used tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets and Stinger ball grenades against unarmed civilians.
29 people were arrested. Wayne Hsiung was arrested within minutes of arriving, on probable cause for conspiracy to commit burglary, and spent three days in jail. No dogs were taken out that day — but within two weeks Ridglan had agreed to release 1,500 beagles, and by August it had closed for good.
24 April 2026 — Federal Class Action Filed
Six days after the protest, attorney Susan Chana Lask filed a federal class action in the US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin against Ridglan Farms, the Dane County Sheriff and the Dane County Executive, alleging excessive force. As of October 2026 we have not seen a ruling reported. The civil case runs alongside the criminal cases and the release of the dogs.
Who Was There
The people met with tear gas were not masked agitators. They were ordinary people who refused to look away.
Teachers
Doctors
Nurses
Students
Pensioners
Families
Veterinarians
Faith leaders
Parents with children
“They tear-gassed grandmothers. They fired rubber bullets at people holding water for dogs. This is what the state will do to defend a facility where a judge had already found probable cause of animal cruelty.”
The Court Finding That Led to No Charges
January 2025
Judge Rhonda Lanford found probable cause that Ridglan Farms had committed felony mutilation of animals — removing dogs’ “cherry eye” glands without anaesthetic and cutting their vocal cords — and had failed to give the dogs adequate space, sanitation and ventilation. The Dane County District Attorney had declined to bring charges.
No charges ever followed. The special prosecutor found only the cherry-eye surgeries met the threshold for prosecution, and settled for the surrender of the breeding licence instead. In July 2026 Wisconsin permanently revoked the veterinary licence of Ridglan’s lead veterinarian for unprofessional conduct. Meanwhile the state spent heavily policing the people who tried to take the dogs out themselves.
A judge found probable cause. No one at Ridglan was ever charged.
The Same Pattern. The Same State. The Same Choice.
In Wisconsin, police spent hundreds of thousands of dollars protecting Ridglan. In Cambridgeshire, police have spent millions protecting MBR Acres. The institution is the same, the industry is the same, and the cost is borne by the public.
£2.1m+
Spent by Cambridgeshire Police policing peaceful vigils at MBR Acres since 2021
£165,166
Spent between 27 June and 14 September 2021 alone policing the gates of MBR Acres
Cambridgeshire Police have deployed officers, horses, dogs and surveillance teams against peaceful people holding candles at a gate. They have arrested vigil-holders for standing on verges. They have not once investigated the licensed killing of beagles happening a few hundred metres away.
Wisconsin, 2026. Cambridgeshire, every week for five years. Two countries. One pattern.
UK Policing Is Different
British police do not deploy tear gas, rubber bullets, or flashbang grenades at peaceful protests. The scenes from Wisconsin on 18 April 2026 are not what peaceful action in the UK looks like. UK police operate under different rules, different oversight, and a different culture of engagement.
What happens here is more subtle: heavy policing costs passed to the public, arrests for minor offences like standing on a verge, and civil injunctions used to restrict protest. It is serious, but it is not what you see in the photographs below.
Peaceful action in the UK is safe. We organise openly, lawfully, and in public. Two UK juries have already acquitted rescuers.
Wisconsin, 18 April 2026 — Photos: Lizzy Larson
1,000+ peaceful activists gathered
Tear gas deployed on peaceful protest
Police firing on unarmed civilians
Medics treating the injuredThis Is Why We Organise
Regulators will not enforce the law. A judge finds probable cause of cruelty and no charge follows. Police protect the facility, not the animals inside.
The Ridglan action proved, once again, that peaceful assembly at the gates is not enough on its own. Around 1,000 people came on 18 April and were met with tear gas and rubber bullets. Not a single dog walked out that day.
The state protects the abusers. Both countries. That is why we organise. That is why open rescue is necessary.
In the UK, two juries have already acquitted rescuers who removed beagles from MBR Acres. Ordinary people, sat in judgement, refused to call it theft. The law is catching up with the conscience of the public.
In short
Ridglan, in short
Is Ridglan Farms closed?
How many beagles were released from Ridglan Farms?
Why did Ridglan Farms give up its breeding licence?
What happened at Ridglan Farms on 18 April 2026?
Was anyone charged over Ridglan Farms?
What does the Ridglan Farms closure mean for MBR Acres?
Stand With the Rescuers
Solidarity is action. If you were appalled by what happened at Ridglan, do not let it end there. The same state is standing guard at MBR Acres right now.
On Both Sides of the Atlantic
Same fight, two countries. Imagery from the UK side of the campaign — what the Save the Dogs USA model looks like adapted to MBR Acres.