Victory! Ridglan Farms Closing and All Beagles Saved!
Update (June 15, 2026): In April, 1,500 beagles imprisoned at Ridglan Farms were spared from being sold to laboratories after Big Dog Ranch Rescue and the Center for a Humane Economy negotiated an agreement with Ridglan to secure custody of the dogs. Today’s announcement that Ridglan Farms will release the dogs remaining at its facility and shut down both its beagle-breeding and beagle-testing operations marks a major step forward for animals. This victory is the culmination of years of pressure from PETA and other animal protection organizations—notably, Alliance for Animals, the Animal Activist Legal Defense Project, Dane4Dogs, Direct Action Everywhere, The Marty Project, and The Simple Heart—who challenged a system that breeds dogs and other animals only to be confined, mutilated, poisoned, and killed in laboratories. We’re grateful to those groups and all the activists, organizations, donors, and whistleblowers who helped make this day possible. PETA will build on this momentum by continuing to work to end the use of dogs, primates, and other animals in experiments altogether and replace these cruel, scientifically flawed practices with cutting-edge, superior methods that offer real promise for treatments and cures.
With Ridglan’s closure, Marshall Farms is now the last major U.S. breeder supplying dogs to laboratories. Let’s shut that pipeline down, too. Join PETA in calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture to revoke Marshall Farms’ breeding license.
Original post:
Ridglan Farms is a dog factory farm that for decades profited off misery as it bred and sold thousands of beagles to the highest bidder: experimenters who poisoned, mutilated, and killed them in cruel tests. But now, this perverse puppy pipeline has leapt closer to shutting down.
The massive Wisconsin facility has agreed to surrender its state breeding license by July 1, 2026, to avoid charges of criminal cruelty to animals. This monumental news—which comes following years of pressure from Alliance for Animals, the Animal Activist Legal Defense Project, Dane4Dogs, Direct Action Everywhere, PETA, The Simple Heart, and other groups—means the second-largest U.S. breeder of beagle puppies for experimentation will no longer be able to breed dogs for laboratories.
It’s huge progress that will help curb a deadly cycle of dog abuse. But Ridglan Farms is still permitted to sell beagles to laboratories until that deadline—and thousands of dogs remain trapped there. We need your help to demand that universities that purchased dogs from Ridglan cut ties with this disreputable supplier, commit to never buying dogs for experiments again, and invest in state-of-the-art, non-animal research methods.
Profiting Off Puppy Pain
Animal advocates documented abysmal conditions at Ridglan Farms, including dogs confined to tiny metal cages stacked inside a windowless shed. Beagles were kept in filth, suffered from untreated wounds, and had swollen feet from standing on wire floors.
In 2024, a former Ridglan employee testified that staff cut off dogs’ swollen eyelid glands with scissors, without pain relief or a veterinary license. Witnesses described dogs crying out, thrashing, and bleeding before being returned to cages without treatment.
Multiple authorities—a Wisconsin circuit court judge, two state agencies, licensed veterinarians, and independent experts—confirmed that Ridglan repeatedly performed invasive surgeries on dogs without pain relief, violating state law, veterinary standards, and norms of basic decency.
A special prosecutor, La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke, was appointed to investigate the company’s apparent cruelty to animals. Rather than face charges, Ridglan copped a deal and surrendered its breeding license.
Many dogs didn’t make it out of Ridglan Farms alive. Records show nearly 275 puppies born each year at its facility died while still there. Those who did survive were sold to laboratories for a short life of misery, isolation, and torment in pointless experiments.
