Hundreds of activists face pepper spray in violent clash with deputies at Wisconsin beagle research facility
Hundreds of animal welfare activists converged Saturday on a Wisconsin beagle breeding and research facility, forcing local law enforcement – prepared for the planned event – to use tear gas, pepper balls and rubber bullets 'to keep and maintain peace in the community."
"It was clear from the beginning that this was not going to be a peaceful protest," Dane Country Sheriff Kalvin Barrett wrote in a statement shared on Facebook.
"The DCSO response to the active break-in attempts by hundreds of protesters was appropriate and proportionate to the behaviors observed. With the assistance of our partner agencies, we were able to maintain order without anyone being seriously injured."
Wayne Hsiung, the activist organizer tied to the Coalition to Save the Ridglan Dogs, was arrested within minutes of arriving at the property on probable cause for conspiracy to commit burglary, the sheriff’s office said. Earlier this week, Hsiung previewed the protest on the "Tomi Lahren Is Fearless" video podcast.
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"This is a peaceful compassion movement, but we've decided if the government is not going to protect the dogs, we will," Hsiung told Lahren.
Deputies were ready.
"The Sheriff’s Office pre-planned a tiered response to resistance, should it be necessary," the department posted on Facebook. "The response was strategic and appropriate to the activists' actions."
The confrontation began around 8:52 a.m. local time at Ridglan Farms in the town of Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, where about 1,000 activists gathered after organizers abruptly moved up a previously publicized Sunday protest, according to authorities. Deputies said protesters were warned through a Long Range Acoustic Device that anyone crossing onto clearly marked private property would be arrested.
But authorities said hundreds soon tried to break through barriers and fencing at the farm while others blocked nearby roads to slow law enforcement and emergency responders.
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Hsiung, an animal welfare lawyer, was being held Saturday in the Dane County Jail.
"I am in tears hearing these stories about what is unfolding at Ridglan Farms," Hsiung shared in an X message "from jail" on Saturday. "This is the kind of bravery from ordinary people that changes the world. We cannot give up on the dogs. If we stay focused on this purpose, the repression will backfire."
Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., represents this district and called out President Donald Trump's Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. just this week on this topic.
"In my district, a beagle breeding facility called Ridglan Farms has hundreds of code violations, including serious harm to the health of the dogs, yet the NIH is still giving funding to groups that use the beagles from this facility," Pocan wrote on X, sharing video of his House hearing questioning.
"I urged Secretary Kennedy to stop this practice."
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At the hearing, Kennedy questioned Pocan's claims that NIH is still getting beagles from this facility. The use of beagles in animal testing had long been under fire from former President Joe Biden's administration.
"I believe you, but I have a hard time believing that," he responded. "I need to look into this."
"We've done more than any other administration has to end animal testing," Kennedy continued, claiming that "we’ve ended most of it."
"What you're describing should not be happening," he added.
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The White Coat Waste Project (WCWP) has been actively pressing the Trump administration on the beagles testing, claiming "RFK literally lied to Congress about" continued to fund animal testing, according to WCWP Senior Vice President Justin Goodman.
"In truth, they doled out over $126 million in new funding to dog and cat labs since RFK took office," Goodman wrote on X. "Since day one of RFK‘s tenure, he has had the authority to cut funding for these grants overnight. He has even admitted this. But instead, he has kept them alive.
"Senior NIH and HHS officials reached out to us and told us to shut up, and even abused their authority (and federal ethics rules) by reaching out to our board and urging them to disavow us for criticizing the agency’s continued funding for dog and cat testing.
"We have a long list of receipts proving all of this."
Fox News Digital reached out to HHS, NIH, and Pocan's office, and Goodman for comment, but they did not immediately respond.
The activists took matters into their own hands on Saturday.
Barrett said 300 to 400 protesters were "violently trying to break into the property" and assault officers.
"This is not a peaceful protest," Barrett said in a video statement shared to social media, accusing demonstrators of ignoring designated protest areas and blocking roads needed for emergency access.
Officials said some protesters remained peaceful, but those who ignored repeated warnings and continued trying to enter the property were first met with tear gas as a deterrent. As the confrontation intensified, deputies deployed less-lethal 40mm munitions and pepper balls, according to the sheriff’s office.
Authorities also said a driver was arrested after recklessly driving a vehicle through the property before law enforcement stopped it, calling the incident a potentially deadly threat.
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A significant number of arrests were made, though authorities had not yet released a final count by Saturday evening.
"Only a deeply corrupt system will use tear gas and rubber bullets against peaceful activists saving dogs," Hsuing's X account posted in a statement, announcing his arrest.
"We are seeing the worst in humanity today. But, in the courage of the rescuers, also the best."
Deputies, however, said investigators recovered what they described as burglary tools including saws, fence cutters and sledgehammers, along with handcuff keys and tear gas allegedly carried by activists.
The sheriff’s office said activists also tried to divert law enforcement resources during the attempted breach by overwhelming Dane County’s 911 center and flooding the department with phone calls.
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Saturday’s clash marked the second high-profile protest at Ridglan Farms in recent weeks. In March, activists broke into the facility and removed 30 dogs, leading to the arrests of 27 people on trespassing and related charges.
Ridglan Farms, which houses an estimated 2,000 beagles, has denied mistreating animals. The facility agreed last year to surrender its state breeding license effective July 1 under a deal to avoid prosecution on animal mistreatment charges, while continuing to deny abuse or neglect.
On its website, the company says that no credible evidence of abuse, cruelty, mistreatment or neglect at Ridglan Farms has been substantiated.
The clash marked the second effort to remove dogs from the facility, which has become a flashpoint in the fight over animal testing and breeding conditions. Protesters on Saturday tried to overcome barriers that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and barbed-wire fencing.
Some made it through the outer fence but were unable to get inside the facility itself.
The protest had been publicized in advance, with announced plans to seize dogs from the property Sunday before launching the action a day earlier. As the effort stalled, some activists expressed frustration that no animals had been removed.
"I just feel defeated," activist Julie Vrzeski told the Wisconsin State Journal roughly three hours into the operation.
After being pushed back from the facility, demonstrators later shifted their protest to outside the jail in downtown Madison.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.