This undated photo provided by Big Dog Ranch Rescue in Loxahatchee, Fla., shows Daisy, one of about 1,500 beagles being removed from Ridglan Farms, a Wisconsin dog breeding and research business.
1,500 beagles will get new lives, warm laps after release from research facility
The first of 1,500 beagles being removed from a Wisconsin dog breeding and research business are adjusting to their new lives as animal welfare groups move them to shelters to prepare them for adoption
This undated photo provided by Big Dog Ranch Rescue in Loxahatchee, Fla., shows Daisy, one of about 1,500 beagles being removed from Ridglan Farms, a Wisconsin dog breeding and research business.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The first beagles removed from a Wisconsin dog breeding and research facility that was the site of recent seemed to know right away that they were safe.
“They started within an hour or so coming up to us, wanting attention. Some crawled in people’s laps. Every single one of them are super sweet,” Lauree Simmons, president and founder of Big Dog Ranch Rescue, said Sunday. “I think they are loving the attention. I just know they know they’re safe.”
and the negotiated a confidential agreement to purchase the for an undisclosed price from Ridglan Farms, where police used tear gas and pepper spray to repel trying to take beagles from the facility last month. Protesters also broke into the facility in March and took 30 dogs.
Talks to purchase the animals began months before the April disturbance, and Simmons said her group wasn’t connected to the protests. Now, Big Dog Ranch Rescue is working with partners all over the country to find homes for 1,000 of the dogs, while the Center for a Humane Economy is taking the rest.
Simmons said her group has received over 700 adoption applications, but it might take some time before the hounds are ready for their new homes as the organization screens potential dog parents, moves the animals to shelters around the country and ensures the beagles are housebroken.
The first 300 dogs were taken from Ridglan on Friday, with more scheduled for removal over the next week. The animal groups have set up a staging area with play yards in Wisconsin, where the dogs are being vaccinated, microchipped, spayed or neutered and prepared for transport, Simmons said. Big Dog Ranch Rescue has already started moving dogs to its location in western Palm Beach County, Florida.
“The younger dogs will adjust quicker, and the older dogs will take time,” Simmons said. “A lot of them are more willing to accept love and want to be with people.”
Ridglan Farms didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Beagles are the most common breed of dog used for animal testing, primarily because of their smaller size and gentle temperament, Simmons said.
Ridglan Farms agreed in October to give up its state breeding license as of July 1 as part of a deal to avoid prosecution on felony animal mistreatment charges. The firm has denied mistreating animals, but a special prosecutor determined that Ridglan Farms was performing eye procedures that violated state veterinary standards.
About 1,000 activists from across the country came to Ridglan Farms in the rural village of Blue Mounds on April 18 in an attempt to take the beagles. They were met by police who used tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray. The Dane County Sheriff’s Department said and five face felony burglary charges.
Activists have filed a federal lawsuit in Wisconsin alleging that police used unnecessary force. Ridglan has said those who tried to break in were a “violent mob” who launched “an assault on a federally licensed research facility.”
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
