Last week, in a stunning development, the State of Wisconsin moved to dismiss charges against three animal rights activists accused of rescuing three beagles from Ridglan Farms, one of the last two remaining large breeders of dogs for vivisection in the country. Judge Mario White granted the dismissal at a hearing on Friday morning.
The activists were slated to begin trial on March 18th. They were facing two felonies, up to 16 years in prison, and $35,000 in fines. The rescue occurred during a 2017 investigation, where activists from Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) documented conditions so deplorable, they called Ridglan a “factory farm for dogs.” After removing three dogs who were in particular distress, the activists got them emergency veterinary care and ultimately found them permanent homes, where all three live happily today.
“This is a stunning admission by the prosecution–that it prefers to let the defendants walk free than allow the world to see the dire conditions of dogs at Ridglan, and the state trying to jail activists for a heroic act of compassion,” said Chris Carraway, Staff Attorney at the Animal Activist Legal Defense Project, who represents defendant Paul Darwin Picklesimer. “Each time an open rescue case goes to court, the public can clearly see that the real crime is animal cruelty, not animal rescue.”
Direct Action Everywhere uses a tactic called “open rescue,” in which activists enter places where animals are suffering, including animal agriculture and animal experimentation facilities. They document the conditions of these factory farms, and after discovering animals in extreme distress, remove those animals and nurse them back to health. The activists do not hide their identities, instead, they publicize their actions, seeking to force a moral confrontation over the recognition that animals can suffer and the fact that we imprison, torture, and kill billions of them for food, clothing, experimentation, and entertainment each year.
Remarkably, the majority of these cases have resulted in jury acquittals or dismissal by the prosecution, often on the eve of trial. In a motion filed last week, the prosecution sought to prevent defendants from asserting a “defense of others” defense, arguing that the statute does not provide protection from liability for preventing death or bodily injury to “things”–i.e. the rescued dogs.
“The state and Ridglan are acknowledging what we knew to be true: we have the right to rescue suffering animals from abuse because they are sentient beings, not things,” said Wayne Hsiung, a pro se defendant in the case and the co-founder of The Simple Heart. “Just this past December, the government’s own inspectors once again noted that Ridglan has left puppies in unsafe conditions. Given the Dane County prosecutor’s blatant abuse of power in this case, a special prosecutor must be appointed to investigate Ridglan. This legal battle has just begun.”
During its investigation at Ridglan, DxE documented dogs crammed into small cages, often alone, with no access to the outdoors; apparent continuous 24-hour lighting; noxious air and feces building up beneath the cages; dogs with red and swollen feet from standing on wire cage floors; and extreme psychological torment.
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defense motion filed in the case detailed conditions at Ridglan Farms in the years leading up to the 2017 rescue. It describes lack of outdoor access and exercise, potential violations of federal law. In 2016, state inspectors issued an official warning over improper caging conditions that could cause leg and foot injuries to dogs at Ridglan. Though Ridglan promised to correct the problem, as recently as December 2023, federal inspectors found that it persisted. Indeed, the three rescued dogs required emergency medical intervention to treat infected and swollen feet.
The defense opposed the prosecution’s motion to dismiss the charges, arguing that the defendants’ actions were legal and they were entitled to prove this to a trier of fact.
