The Ridglan Regression

I’ve been somewhat reluctant to discuss the anti-vivisection campaign against Ridglan Farms led by Wayne Hsiung. For those who don’t know, activists engaged in an open rescue on March 15, saving 22 dogs from a beagle-breeding facility in Wisconsin. Twenty-seven people were arrested as Hsiung vowed to return and rescue the rest of the animals. On April 18, campaigners attempted precisely that, but were repelled with tear gas and rubber bullets from a significant police and security presence that was waiting for them. No dogs made it out and at least 26 campaigners were arrested.

I’ve been reluctant to discuss the matter for a number of reasons. First of all, I wasn’t there. I don’t mean to suggest the only people who can critique an action are those who directly participated in it. However, the facts on the ground are not immediately clear to me. For instance, YouTuber and Pro-Animal Future activist Natalie Fulton suggested on a video stream that campaigners had received little guidance on how to deal with a heavy-handed police response, which seems like a mistake in retrospect. I’m interested to hear more from activists who attended about whether they view this as negligent.

Beyond this, I’ve made my criticism of open rescue known previously. I view allowing yourself to be arrested in the hopes of saving a handful of animals to be a largely symbolic act, primarily aimed at generating media attention, which isn’t the best use of movement resources at this particular moment. That said, my own chosen method of advancing animal freedom, accelerating the development of cellular agriculture through the political process, has stalled out for the time being. This has added to my reticence. After all, who am I to give strategic advice to anyone, when I’m spinning my wheels?

Finally, I’m very aware of the emotional power of joining together with like-minded people and making a sacrifice on behalf of a larger cause. For example, I was arrested as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement during the clearing of Zuccotti Park and it was one of the most energizing experiences of my life. If I lived in Wisconsin, and didn’t have the kind of obligations I do now, there’s a good chance I would have taken part in the Ridglan actions, despite my tactical disagreements with them. As a campaigner, once you experience the kind of political high I’m talking about, there’s not much that compares.

Still, I do have criticisms, beyond the general critique of open rescue I’ve mentioned before. I should note these criticisms, which I intend to be comradely, aren’t directed at everyone who participated in the Ridglan actions. My understanding is Hsiung has assembled a very broad coalition of campaigners, which includes dog enthusiasts and omnivores who have no interest in animal right writ large. Rather these criticisms are directed at some of the most vocal and dedicated participants who, so far as I can tell, have emerged from the effective-altruism movement.

I agree with many critiques of effective altruism. But one intervention from proponents of this view I appreciate is the push to look at the totality of animal exploitation. To speak in blunt terms, anyone interested in reducing nonhuman suffering and premature death, who is primarily dedicated to fighting vivisection, is focused in the wrong place. The overwhelming majority of our exploitation of other creatures occurs in the food system. Using similar logic, one might argue activists should focus on the plight of wild animals, but I’ve yet to see realistic policy proposals that could meaningfully address this.

The effective altruists I’m talking about know all that. Some have even written convincingly about how public concern for dogs isn’t transferable to pigs, chickens or fish. Nevertheless, they flew across the country multiple times to participate in these events.  Maybe they view the Ridglan rescues as a brief interlude between more potentially impactful forms of activism. I wouldn’t begrudge them this. Again, I probably would go too if I could. However, if these activists settle into a long-term campaign against the beagle breeder, as Hsiung seems intent on, I think it would be a disappointing regression.

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