Members of an Iowa animal sanctuary were a part of an attempted raid on a Wisconsin beagle breeding facility on April 18.
Thousands of animal rights activists converged on April 18 at Ridglan Farms near Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, about 30 miles southwest of Madison. The protests followed a settlement reached last fall that required Ridglan, one of the largest beagle breeding facilities in the country, to surrender its state breeding license by July 1 after a special prosecutor found that certain eye procedures performed on dogs violated state veterinary standards.
State regulators have documented hundreds of violations at the facility, though Ridglan has denied abusing or mistreating animals. Ridglan may continue breeding beagles for its own internal research, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
At least 25 people were arrested on April 18 at Ridglan Farms, where between 300 and 400 activists attempted to breach the facility and free the dogs, according to the Dane County Sheriff’s Office.
Iowa Farm Sanctuary founder was ‘willing to be arrested’ to free Ridglan Farms beagles
Shawn Camp, founder of the Iowa Farm Sanctuary, said she was among the activists.
Camp said she first heard about Ridglan Farms after speaking with friends who were part of a previous break-in there on March 15, during which 23 dogs were removed and 27 arrests were made.
“And as I was chatting with them, I was like, I want to get involved. This seems like my type of activism,” she said. “As it kind of gained momentum, and people from the rescue knew that it was happening, more of our staff and volunteers wanted to go and be involved as well.”
She connected with Wayne Hsiung, an animal-rights lawyer and lead organizer of the raid. With an estimated 2,000 beagles at the facility, Hsiung sought to recruit 2,000 activists — one per beagle.
The operation divided activists into three teams: one stationed at the entrance to protest and prepare vehicles for rescued dogs; one responsible for logistics and support; and the red team, outfitted in hazmat suits, who physically entered the facility to remove dogs from their cages, Camp said.
Camp signed up for the red team, fully prepared for the legal consequences of trespassing.
“My framework was that I was ready to go in and get whatever dogs I could,” she said. “I was willing to be arrested if that’s what it took to get dogs out.”
With everyone’s responsibilities planned, Camp carpooled with eight other members of the Iowa Farm Sanctuary and made the roughly 3-hour drive from Oxford, Iowa, to Blue Mounds on Friday, April 17.
Ridglan Farms scene was ‘chaotic’ as activists tried to free beagles
The raid was originally planned for Sunday, April 19th, but plans shifted after Hsiung was arrested early Saturday. Hsiung was attempting to serve Ridglan officials with a lawsuit on the farm’s property. Others have described the shift in the schedule as “deliberate misdirection.”
“From the moment he was arrested, the mass texts went out — ‘we need boots on the ground, everybody show [to Ridglan] now,” she said.
She said without Hsiung, things got “chaotic, pretty fast.”
“With people being arrested before activists even got there, there was a clear lack of direction, and so everybody was kind of taking it upon themselves to do what they felt was best.”
Some remained peaceful outside the perimeter while others breached the property. One individual drove a pickup truck through the front gate.
A Ridglan Farms spokesperson accused activists of “repeatedly” tossing smoke and tear gas canisters over the fence at police and security guards. The sheriff’s office confirmed it seized tear gas from protesters, along with saws, fence cutters, sledgehammers and handcuff keys.
Video taken by Camp and posted to the Iowa Farm Sanctuary’s Instagram shows tear gas and pepper spray being deployed by law enforcement. Other clips show sheriffs’ deputies shooting protesters with rubber bullets and pushing them to the ground before arresting them.
“There was tear gas everywhere. Rubber bullets were being fired, and it was pretty obvious that anybody who did breach the fence wasn’t getting past the armed police that were there,” she said.
Upon realizing it was impossible to reach the dogs, she abandoned her assignment and held back to attempt to negotiate with state troopers.
In the end, no dogs were removed from the facility. Camp said things ended after activists exhausted all options, and the group eventually reconvened at the Dane County Courthouse in Madison, Wisconsin.
Camp said no one from Iowa Farm Sanctuary was arrested. Hsiung and four co-defendants are each charged with felony burglary as a party to a crime, a Class F felony carrying a maximum penalty of 12 years and six months in prison and a $25,000 fine.
“I certainly understand Mr. Hsiung’s passion and concern for animals,” Dane County Court Commissioner Brian Asmus said at his bail hearing on April 21. “That said, you don’t get to take the law in your own hands.”
Ridglan Farm protest ends with no clear next steps to remove beagles
There are no current plans to stage further raids at Ridglan, according to organizers.
Since the April 18 raid, the Dane County Sheriff’s Office announced plans for a coordinated walkthrough inspection of the facility with state agriculture and animal control officials, though that request was later denied by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
Two members of the Dane County Board of Supervisors, on April 20, called for a third‑party investigation into the sheriff’s office’s response, including whether the use of tear gas and force was justified.
“Looking back on the videos I took, I’m like, ‘Wow, this is wild.'” Camp said. “And, you know, the day after, the come down from it all was like super intense. But while you’re there, it’s just go time, and you’re not thinking about yourself.”
Camp said there are many critiques of how the raid went down, both from the activists’ perspective and from law enforcement. Still, she said she and the Iowa Farm Sanctuary will continue their involvement seeking the removal of dogs from Ridglan Farms.
“If they said there is a raid tomorrow, and I was available, I would certainly pack up and go,” she said.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter 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: ‘I was willing to be arrested,’ said Iowan at Ridglan Farms protest
Reporting by Cooper Worth, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
