Wisconsin Beagle Farm Closes: 475 Dogs Head to Florida Rescue

Ridglan Farms Shuts Down After Years of Protests and a 2025 Legal Settlement

The Wisconsin beagle farm closes its doors for good this summer, ending years of controversy and sending the last 475 beagles to safety at a Florida rescue organization. Ridglan Farms, a Dane County breeding facility that supplied dogs for laboratory testing, announced Monday that it has reached a permanent closure agreement with Big Dog Ranch Rescue of Loxahatchee Groves, Florida. The news marks a turning point in a long and painful chapter for animal welfare advocates across the country, and it raises urgent questions about the future of animal testing in American research labs.

What Led to the Ridglan Farms Closure

Ridglan Farms did not close quietly or willingly. The facility faced felony animal mistreatment charges after investigators found that staff had performed eye gland surgeries on dogs without anesthesia. That finding shocked animal welfare groups and drew national attention to the facility’s practices.

In October 2025, Ridglan reached a legal settlement to avoid prosecution. As part of that agreement, the farm agreed to surrender its state breeding license by July 1, 2026. The closure announcement on Monday, June 15, 2026, confirmed the facility is following through on that commitment.

The road to this moment was not peaceful. Fortune magazine reported that police used tear gas and pepper spray to repel a large group of animal welfare activists during protests at the farm. Demonstrations drew national media coverage and put sustained pressure on the facility, its owners, and state regulators in Wisconsin.

How Big Dog Ranch Rescue Is Moving 475 Beagles

Big Dog Ranch Rescue began transferring the first 325 beagles on Monday. The remaining 150 dogs are scheduled for release by August 2026. According to the organization, this final transfer completes the relocation of more than 2,000 dogs from Ridglan Farms since April.

Lauree Simmons, founder and CEO of Big Dog Ranch Rescue, issued a direct message to supporters and protesters as the process moves forward.

“We are asking the public to cease protests against the facility, its owners, and employees as operations wind down,” Simmons said, urging calm and cooperation during the final transition period.

Some of the beagles will go directly to Big Dog Ranch Rescue’s Florida campus, while others will be distributed to partner rescue organizations. The group has not yet released a full list of placement partners, but the scale of the operation is significant. Moving more than 2,000 dogs over a matter of months requires extensive coordination, veterinary resources, and foster networks.

Why Beagles Are Used in Laboratory Testing

To understand why this story matters beyond Wisconsin, it helps to know why beagles became the breed of choice for laboratory research in the first place. Beagles are small, docile, and easy to handle. They rarely bite even under stress, and their size makes them practical for pharmaceutical and chemical testing protocols. The U.S. has used beagles in research settings for decades, and facilities like Ridglan Farms existed specifically to breed dogs that met laboratory standards.

Animal welfare advocates argue that this system causes unnecessary suffering and that modern science has developed alternatives that are more reliable and more humane. That argument is now gaining traction in policy circles.

The Push to End Animal Testing in the United States

The Center for a Humane Economy, a nonprofit advocacy organization, responded to the Ridglan closure with a statement expressing hope that this moment accelerates the end of animal testing in the U.S. The group specifically called for a transition to what it describes as human-relevant testing methods, which use cell cultures, organ-on-a-chip technology, and computer modeling instead of live animals.

This is not a fringe position. In 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act 2.0 was signed into law, removing the federal requirement that new drugs be tested on animals before human trials. That law did not ban animal testing, but it opened the door for drug companies to use alternative methods. Advocates say the Ridglan closure is a sign that market and legal pressure is now pushing the industry in the same direction.

Key Facts About Animal Testing Reform

• The FDA Modernization Act 2.0, signed in December 2022, ended the mandatory animal testing requirement for new drug applications.
• The National Institutes of Health has invested in developing alternative testing platforms, including organoids and microphysiological systems.
• Several major pharmaceutical companies have publicly committed to reducing animal testing as alternative methods improve.
• Beagles remain one of the most commonly used animals in toxicology testing in the United States and Europe.

What This Means for Animal Welfare Advocates in the Mohawk Valley

The Mohawk Valley region has a strong tradition of community activism and a growing network of animal rescue volunteers. While Ridglan Farms is located more than 1,000 miles away in Wisconsin, the issues it raises are not distant ones. Research institutions, pharmaceutical suppliers, and contract testing laboratories operate throughout New York State, including facilities connected to major universities and medical centers in the broader upstate region.

Local animal welfare organizations in Utica, Rome, and the surrounding communities have long advocated for stronger protections for animals used in research. The Ridglan closure offers a concrete example of what sustained advocacy, legal pressure, and public attention can accomplish.

If you want to support beagle rescue efforts directly, Big Dog Ranch Rescue is accepting donations and adoption applications through its website. For those interested in the policy side, the Center for a Humane Economy tracks federal and state legislation on animal testing and offers tools for contacting elected representatives.

A Story Still Unfolding

The transfer of 475 beagles is a logistical challenge that will play out over the coming weeks. Each dog will need veterinary screening, behavioral assessment, and careful placement. Many of these animals have spent their entire lives in a laboratory breeding environment and have never lived in a home. Rescue organizations describe the process of socializing former lab dogs as rewarding but time-intensive work.

Simmons and her team at Big Dog Ranch Rescue have done this before. The organization has handled large-scale rescues in the past and has the infrastructure to manage a transfer of this size. Still, the public’s role does not end with the protests. Adoption demand, foster commitments, and financial donations will determine how smoothly these dogs transition to permanent homes.

How You Can Help the Rescued Beagles

• Apply to adopt or foster through Big Dog Ranch Rescue at bigdogranch.org
• Donate to cover veterinary and transport costs for the relocated dogs
• Contact your U.S. Representative to support continued funding for non-animal testing alternatives at the NIH and FDA
• Share verified information about the rescue to help find placement partners and foster homes

The Bigger Picture: Animal Testing and American Law

The Ridglan Farms story is part of a larger national conversation about how the United States treats animals in commercial and scientific settings. The felony charges that triggered the 2025 settlement were possible because Wisconsin has animal cruelty statutes that apply to licensed breeding facilities. Not every state does.

Animal welfare advocates argue that federal law needs to catch up. The Animal Welfare Act, which governs the treatment of animals in research, has not been comprehensively updated in decades. Bills to strengthen protections for dogs in laboratory settings have been introduced in Congress but have not yet passed.

The closure of Ridglan Farms will not end animal testing in America overnight. But it demonstrates that legal accountability, organized advocacy, and public pressure can change outcomes even for facilities that have operated for years without consequence.

Conclusion: A Win for Animal Welfare, a Warning for the Industry

The permanent closure of Ridglan Farms and the rescue of more than 2,000 beagles is a genuine victory for animal welfare advocates. It took felony charges, a legal settlement, years of protests, and the coordinated effort of a major rescue organization to make it happen. That is a high bar, and it should not have to be that high.

For residents of the Mohawk Valley and across New York State, this story is a reminder that advocacy works. It also raises a question worth sitting with: if this is what it takes to close one facility in one state, what will it take to reform a system that still relies on millions of animals every year?

The beagles heading to Florida deserve their second chance. So do the animals still waiting in facilities that have not yet faced the same scrutiny as Ridglan Farms. Stay informed, stay engaged, and consider what role you can play in pushing for a more humane standard in American science and law.

Originally reported by Ground News, with additional context from Fortune, the Sun-Sentinel, and the Orlando Sentinel.