MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Animal welfare activists converged outside of Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers' Capitol office on Monday, chanting “Free the dogs!” and demanding that the governor and attorney general do what they can to shut down a beagle breeding and research facility where many of the protesters clashed with police two days earlier.
An estimated 1,000 activists from around the country came to Ridglan Farms in rural Blue Mounds in an attempt Saturday to free an estimated 2,000 beagles kept there about 25 miles (about 40 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Madison. They were met by police who repelled them with tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray. The Dane County Sheriff's Department said 29 people were arrested.
Many of those who were at the facility on Saturday returned to the Capitol on Monday to decry law enforcement's reaction. Some of them showed off bruises they said were caused by rubber bullets.
More than 100 protesters were met outside of the Capitol hallway that leads to the offices of Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul by police officers who handed out constituent contact forms for Wisconsin residents to complete.
Evers and Kaul did not immediately return messages seeking comment. No one from their offices spoke directly to the protesters, some of whom carried pictures of Evers, Kaul and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin interacting with dogs.
Aidan Kankyoku, a co-leader of the Coalition to Save the Ridglan Dogs that organized the effort, said they were hoping that both Evers and Kaul would break their silence about the dog breeder. Kankyoku said activists also wanted Kaul to execute a search warrant on the facility to investigate allegations of ongoing animal cruelty.
“We just want the dogs out,” he said.
Ridglan has denied mistreating animals but agreed in October to give up its state breeding license as of July 1 as part of a deal to avoid prosecution on animal mistreatment charges. On its website it says “no credible evidence of animal abuse, cruelty, mistreatment or neglect at Ridglan Farms has ever been presented or substantiated.”
Ridglan says it has served as a biomedical research facility “that supports health studies benefitting both humans and animals” for more than 60 years. Nearly all of its current research is aimed at improving veterinary medicine, according to its website.
Ridglan did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Monday.
Activists said they were acting peacefully Saturday in an attempt to rescue the dogs from the facility when they were repelled by police.
Protesters broke into the facility in March and took 30 dogs. Twenty-seven people were arrested on trespassing and other charges.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, in a social media post on Monday, called on state officials to work with Ridglan on a plan for releasing the dogs that won't overwhelm placement groups and prevent the beagles from being euthanized. Pocan last week questioned U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. during a House Appropriations Committee hearing about federal grants going to organizations that use beagles from Ridglan Farms.
Kennedy said he had a hard time believing what Pocan was telling him but that he would look into it.
