The release of 1,500 beagles from Ridglan Farms is an extraordinary and hard-won moment for animals.
Bred for research and treated as inventory, these dogs are now beginning the lives that should always have been theirs—as companions, not commodities. Individuals, not inventory. Family members, not research products.
Their rescue was made possible by the collective efforts of advocates, organizations, and community members across our animal rights movement. We are grateful to all who brought urgency, persistence, and courage to this work. We are proud to stand among those who refused to accept that these animals would remain trapped.
“We celebrate every animal’s freedom,” said Ed Butler, Executive Director of Rise for Animals. “It is a moral outrage that these dogs were there in the first place. They were caged, cut open, and sold into laboratories. Now they’re finally getting the lives they always deserved.”
For the first time, many of these dogs are experiencing simple freedoms—standing on grass, resting in safety, and receiving care from people who will not harm them.
Their healing will be a testament to the power of sustained advocacy. Investigations, public pressure, and persistent organizing helped bring long-overdue scrutiny to Ridglan Farms and created the conditions for the dogs’ release.
This moment also exposes deeper failure. The systems that claim to protect animals did not free these dogs. Compassionate people did.
But no activist should have to wade through tear gas, fend off violent assaults, and risk their freedom to liberate animals. No organization should have to financially incentivize a known perpetrator to release its victims.
This moment is both a milestone and an indictment. Dogs represent less than one percent of animals used in research in the United States. Millions of others remain in similar conditions.
Every one of them deserves freedom.
We will continue working with partners across the movement until that becomes reality.