Madison, Wisconsin.. Animal welfare activists gathered outside Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ office at the Capitol on Monday, chanting “Release the dogs!” And to demand that the Governor and Attorney General do everything in their power to close the Beagle Breeding and Research Facility where many protesters are present. She clashed with the police Two days ago.
An estimated 1,000 activists from across the country attended Ridgelan Farms in the rural Blue Mounds area in an effort Saturday to free an estimated 2,000 beagles found there about 25 miles (about 40 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Madison. They were confronted by police, who responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray. The Dane County Police Department said 29 people were arrested.
More than 100 protesters were greeted outside the Capitol entrance leading to the offices of Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul by police officers who distributed incorporation contact forms for Wisconsin residents to complete.
Evers and Cowell did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. No one from their offices spoke directly to the protesters, some of whom carried photos of Evers, Cowell and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin interacting with the dogs.
Aidan Kankyoko, co-leader of the Ridgelan Dog Rescue Coalition, which organized the effort, said they were hoping both Evers and Cowell would break their silence about the dog breeders. Activists also wanted Cowell to execute a search warrant for the facility to investigate allegations of ongoing animal cruelty, Kankyoko said.
“We just want the dogs out,” he said.
Ridglan denied abusing the animals but agreed in October to give up his state breeding license effective July 1 as part of a deal to avoid prosecution on animal cruelty charges. On its website “No credible evidence of animal abuse, cruelty, abuse or neglect at Ridgelan Farms has been presented or proven,” it says.
Ridglan says it has served as a biomedical research facility “supporting health studies that benefit both humans and animals” for more than 60 years. Almost all of its current research is aimed at improving veterinary medicine, according to its website.
Activists “spread false and deeply misleading claims about our research and deep commitment to animal welfare, fueling dangerous levels of anger and hatred,” Ridglan said in a statement on Monday. Ridglan said employees were threatened and followed as they left the facility.
Ridglan expressed his hope that those arrested on Saturday would be “fully held accountable.”
Many who were at the facility on Saturday returned to the Capitol on Monday to denounce law enforcement’s response. Some of them showed bruises that they said were caused by rubber bullets.
Dane County Sheriff Calvin Barrett defended his officers’ actions, telling The Associated Press on Monday that their response was “appropriate and decisive” to the danger posed by between 300 and 400 protesters who tried to storm the facility.
“We were outnumbered,” Barrett said of the 26 officers on the scene.
Al-Sharif said the activists were organized into three groups, one willing to commit breaking and entering, one willing to be arrested for trespassing, while the others were there to peacefully protest.
The Sheriff’s Department released a video showing a truck driving through the Ridgelan Gate, which Barrett said put officers and Ridgelan employees in its path in danger. Another video posted Monday showed an activist taking a baton from an officer as protesters tried to storm the gate to the facility, Barrett said.
Protesters previously stormed 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 Monday, called on state officials to work with Ridglan on a plan to release dogs that will not overwhelm placement groups and prevent euthanasia of beagles. Pocan last week questioned U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. during a House Appropriations Committee hearing about federal grants allocated to organizations that use bagels from Ridglan Farms.
Kennedy said he had a hard time believing what Buchan told him but would look into it.