April 18, 2026 · Blue Mounds, Wisconsin
On Saturday, law enforcement personnel from multiple agencies used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse over 1,000 concerned citizens — teachers, doctors, nurses, students, families, Democrats, and Republicans — who came together out of concern for animal welfare.
The group demonstrated a shared commitment to non-violence during their attempt to rescue approximately 2,000 beagles from Ridglan Farms, a facility currently under intense scrutiny for documented animal cruelty.
Only a deeply corrupt system will use tear gas and rubber bullets against peaceful rescuers saving dogs. We are seeing the worst in humanity today. But, in the courage of the rescuers, also the best.
Despite a state court judge finding probable cause for felony cruelty charges in January 2025, the government has declined to seize the beagles, leading everyday citizens to take direct action to prevent further abuse.
See what Wisconsin chose to spend insteadThe Footage
Tear gas. Rubber bullets at close range. Pepper spray. Flashbang grenades. Officers and balaclava-clad private security. Unedited footage from April 18.
The Scene
Wisconsin met unarmed civilians with riot police, military-grade munitions, and a perimeter that protected a facility a state court judge already ruled showed probable cause for felony animal cruelty.
What rescuers reported
In the days after April 18, hundreds of rescuers submitted accounts of what they experienced at the perimeter. Read together, the pattern across them is the same.
The escalation
Most accounts describe more than one form of force in a single encounter — chemical exposure followed by projectiles, followed by tackling, dragging, and shoving. A smaller number describe flashbangs and pepper-ball munitions.
Bruises and contusions. Chemical burns. Respiratory injuries. Eye and vision damage. Cuts and abrasions. Numbness and nerve issues that lingered for days. In the most severe accounts: fractures, internal bleeding, seizures, prolonged respiratory distress.
More than half of the accounts describe psychological aftermath — anxiety and panic, flashbacks and nightmares, sleep that won’t come, hypervigilance, intrusive memories, guilt. These are first-person descriptions, not clinical diagnoses.
Cost. No insurance. Logistical barriers. Fear of follow-up scrutiny. The number of injuries quietly absorbed is larger than the number that turned into medical records.
Despite legal risk and the threat of further scrutiny, the overwhelming majority of rescuers said they were willing to be identified. They want what happened on April 18 to be known.
In specific cases
These are not isolated outliers. They are representative of accounts where multiple forms of force converged on a single person.
Synthesized from voluntary, anonymized accounts submitted by participants in the days after April 18. Identifying details were removed before analysis. Figures across the accounts should be read as conservative — accounts using non-clinical language were undercounted by category, and severe injuries were undercounted across the dataset.
Voices
“It truly saddens me that I am the only voice standing here... I am so sorry. This should have never happened.”
Supervisor Rose, who represents over 15,000 constituents, also stated that the official narrative provided by the Sheriff is not always the truth, and issued an apology to the rescuers.
Rep. Pocan has elevated the crisis to the federal level, challenging the government to explain why it continues to support a facility in his own district with hundreds of health violations that very seriously harm
the dogs in its care.
Dr. Goodall, alongside more than 110 vetted animal shelters, has signed an open letter demanding the Ridglan beagles be moved to loving homes.
Dr. McConnell has called the conditions inside Ridglan Farms immoral
.
Legal scholars from Harvard Law School have publicly supported the right to rescue animals in imminent danger.
Why this is happening
Our goal is simple: to ensure these beagles finally touch grass, feel the sun, and know a kind hand for the first time in their lives. We have the homes; they just need their freedom.
Over 110 vetted shelters and hundreds of foster homes are standing by, ready to transform 2,000 research subjects into beloved family dogs.
We are calling on Wisconsin authorities to:
Photographs by Yash Mangalick (ymangalick.com) and additional contributors.