An Iowa animal shelter is taking in dozens of puppies as part of a multistate rescue from a controversial Wisconsin beagle breeding facility.
Weeks after animal rights activists attempted to raid its facility near Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, Ridglan Farms announced April 29 that it had agreed to sell 1,500 beagles to rescue organizations. Ridglan Farms has been embroiled in years of accusations of animal mistreatment, which it denies, but agreed to surrender its state breeding license by July 1 to avoid criminal prosecution.
The agreement was reached with Florida-based Big Dog Ranch Rescue and the Washington, D.C.–based Center for a Humane Economy. Dogs began leaving the facility on May 1, with transfers expected to last about a week and a half, according to USA TODAY.
Under the agreement — which does not cover all the dogs at the facility — 500 dogs will remain in Wisconsin, 300 will be sent to Big Dog Ranch Rescue locations in Florida and Alabama, and the rest will be placed with partner organizations nationwide, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
One of those organizations is the Animal Rescue League of Iowa, which announced in a May 1 Facebook post that it will take in beagles from the Ridglan Farms transfer. Here’s what to know.
Why the ARL joined the Ridglan Farm beagle rescue
The ARL was contacted directly by the Center for a Humane Economy because of its track record of handling complex rescue cases and dogs with medical and behavioral needs, said CEO Tom Colvin.
“We knew that those beagles needed to be elsewhere. They needed to be out of their current situation and hopefully into homes,” he said. “So when we were called upon and asked to help, we immediately said yes.”
The ARL will receive 40 beagles. Colvin said Big Dog Ranch Rescue is the one coordinating the on-the-ground rescue efforts, ensuring the dogs have the health certificates required to move the beagles across state lines. ARL’s veterinarians will take over spaying and neutering and other medical care once the dogs arrive in Iowa, he said.
“We also have a behavior team on staff because we anticipate, and are told to anticipate, that the dogs are going to need probably quite a bit of work before entering a different life in someone’s home,” he said.
When will the Ridglan Farm beagles be up for adoption?
Colvin said he expects the ARL to be in possession of the beagles by mid-May. He said staff won’t know when the dogs will be up for adoption until after they’ve had time to assess and work with them.
“Even though it’s going to be great when they’re sleeping on somebody’s couch instead of living in a cage, we don’t want to rush that process and cause more difficulty for the dogs,” he said. “At the same time, we don’t want to keep them here any longer than necessary. So we need to see them, work with them and then go from there.”
How to donate to the Animal Rescue League of Iowa
He said the ARL is positioned to handle the influx of dogs thanks to its recently completed large‑scale rescue facility. Still, Colvin said the organization needs ongoing public support and donations to sustain the effort.
He encourages community members who want to contribute to the ARL’s Transforming the Future of Animal Rescue campaign, which aims to raise $6 million to expand and renovate ARL’s rescue facilities. To learn more, visit ARL-Iowa.org/Transform.
USA TODAY Network reporters Jeanine Santucci and Quinn Clark contributed to this report.
Cooper Worth is a service/trending reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at cworth@gannett.com or follow him on X @CooperAWorth.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: ARL of Iowa to take in dozens of Ridglan Farms beagles
Reporting by Cooper Worth, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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