A massive facility that churned out thousands of beagles annually for use in laboratory experiments has been ordered to shut down most of its breeding operations following an investigation into alleged animal cruelty, according to Wisconsin Public Radio.
Ridglan Farms in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, was investigated by a court-appointed special prosecutor and will be required to stop breeding beagles who are then sold to other research facilities under a settlement that allows it to avoid prosecution. The settlement gives the facility until July 1, 2026, to place its remaining dogs, at which time its state breeding license will also be revoked.
However, a separate division of the facility that conducts animal experiments holds its own license and will remain in operation, enabling the company to continue breeding for its own research. In addition, Ridglan Farms will be permitted to sell its roughly 2,500 remaining beagles, according to Animal Activist Legal Defense Project Litigation Fellow Steffen Seitz.
“We are thrilled that this hell hole will be shuttered, and we hope this is merely the next domino to fall on the way to ending all experiments on dogs,” said Seitz, who helped bring complaints against Ridglan Farms. “However, it is unacceptable that the stipulation allows Ridglan to continue to sell dogs until July. Those dogs should be released immediately.”
Still, after years of campaigning by animal rights activists against the notorious facility — where dogs allegedly had their eye glands and vocal cords severed without anesthesia, were confined in tiny cages filled with feces, and kept in isolation — the settlement marks another major blow to a fading industry.
In 2017, the animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere entered Ridglan Farms and filmed the conditions the dogs were living in, revealing thousands of beagles stacked in small wire cages. Some of the dogs were shown spinning around in their enclosures, which veterinarians cite as an indicator of isolation and anxiety.
Following the closure of Ridglan Farms’ and Envigo’s breeding operations, Marshall Farms in New York is now reportedly the last remaining commercial breeder of beagles for experimentation in the U.S.
Lady Freethinker is grateful to everyone who helped shut down Ridglan Farms’ cruel for-profit beagle-breeding operations, and will continue working toward a world free from animal testing.
