BREAKING: This is an initial statement from Rise for Animals. The story is still unfolding. We’ll keep digging and sharing updates as we learn more.
For nearly 60 years, Ridglan Farms has bred beagles for torture and death in labs—shipping thousands of dogs across the country to suffer and die in research and testing. Today, that pipeline is finally beginning to close.
Under a new agreement with the State of Wisconsin, Ridglan—the nation’s second-largest supplier of dogs to laboratories—will surrender its breeding license and stop selling beagles for experimentation by July 1, 2026.
This moment follows a special prosecutor’s investigation and years of relentless work by the animal rights community, including Rise for Animals supporters, investigators, lawyers, and partners. It shows what’s possible when people refuse to stay silent, stand up to cruelty, and expose the ugly truth behind the animal research industry.
“Ridglan’s decision to stop selling dogs for experimentation is a victory, but it doesn’t end the cruelty,” said Ed Butler, Executive Director at Rise for Animals. “Ridglan can still experiment on the dogs it breeds, and other facilities will keep profiting from the same system of suffering. Forcing this change took relentless pressure from animal lovers who refused to stay silent—and we won’t stop until the industry that treats living, feeling beings as disposable tools is gone for good.”
See the Evidence
Rise for Animals has obtained the official report from Wisconsin’s Special Prosecutor, confirming that Ridglan agreed to give up its breeding license rather than face prosecution.
According to the report, the Special Prosecutor found evidence that, for years, Ridglan staff performed painful “cherry eye” surgeries on dogs, removing part of their eye glands without anesthesia and by non-veterinarians. The State determined these procedures met the legal definition of felony mistreatment to animals.
Said the Special Prosecutor in his report, the closure of Ridglan’s dog-breeding operation “will end the mass breeding and sale of thousands of Beagles for research.”
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