Ridglan Farms — Blue Mounds, Wisconsin
The Evidence.
A judge declared these dogs victims of felony cruelty. The state cut a deal that frees zero of them. Approximately 2,000 beagles remain inside — they have never seen sunlight, never felt grass, never been loved.
Accepted by the Court
- •Surgery on conscious dogs without anesthesia by unlicensed staff
- •Solitary confinement in 2' x 4' metal cages — never outside, no sunlight
- •Wire flooring causing chronic foot infections, cysts, inability to walk
- •Failure to provide adequate shelter under Wisconsin cruelty statutes
- •Nauseating conditions from accumulated feces and urine
Documented but Never Charged
- •Vocal cords cut from 30-40 dogs/month using paralytic agents instead of anesthesia
- •Dying puppies thrown in garbage bags rather than given vet care or humane euthanasia
- •Mass burning of dead dogs in pyres on the property (earliest complaint: 2005)
- •Psychological torment — endless spinning, pacing, wall-bouncing described as 'off the scale'
April 2017 — Undercover footage admitted as Exhibits 6-13 at the October 2024 evidentiary hearing.
What Inspectors Found
311 violations. Click each category for details and evidence.
Devocalization
Workers cut the vocal cords of 30-40 dogs per month using a paralytic agent — no anesthesia. The dogs were fully conscious.
- •Succinylcholine (paralytic) used instead of anesthesia — dogs could feel everything but could not move or scream
- •30 to 40 dogs devocalized per month, tracked on a whiteboard
- •Performed by unlicensed workers (Hiltbrandt, Olson), not veterinarians
- •After the procedure, dogs could only make a hoarse whisper
- •AVMA formally discourages devocalization as a 'convenience procedure'
- •Purpose: reduce barking noise in the facility — performed entirely for human convenience
Evidence exhibit D2-9 — footage documenting devocalization procedures at Ridglan Farms.
“Performing ventriculocordectomy using a paralytic agent and no anesthesia is an act of cruelty regardless of the setting. This is mutilation.”
Dr. Sherstin Rosenberg — Veterinarian — sworn testimony, October 2024
Dane County Circuit Court — Case No. 2024JD000001
From the Court's Findings of Fact
Sworn testimony from the October 2024 evidentiary hearing and Judge Lanford's January 2025 order.
“Any reasonably prudent prosecutor would issue charges.”
Investigations & Deep Dives
“Key Research Beagle Breeder Faces Potential Criminal Probe”
How a facility with 311 state violations passed federal inspections for decades.
Can Dogs Be Considered “Persons” Under the Law?
The habeas corpus case and the legal framework for animal personhood.
Beagle Breeding Facility Agreed to Give Up Its License. What Happens Next?
The license surrender, cherry eye dispute, and what it means for the dogs still inside.
Jane Goodall: “No Way to Treat Friends”
The world's most famous primatologist on why Ridglan must be shut down.
The Right to Rescue
311 violations. A USDA inspector who found nothing 25 times. A DA who ignored 983 emails for six years. Every institution designed to protect these dogs failed.
When the legal system will not act, citizens must. We are asking people to look at the evidence and decide whether following the law is more important than ending this.