A busload of beagles recently rescued from a research lab in Wisconsin have arrived in California looking for their forever home, as an animal activist in San Francisco faces felony charges for rescuing some of them before they were legally allowed to.
Out of 1,500 beagles that were rescued from Ridglan Farms, a research lab that doubles as a beagle mill, a total of 50 arrived in the Bay Area in a school bus on Mother’s Day, after making the nearly 2,000 mile trek to start their life as free pups.
Video captured the moment volunteers with the Northern California Beagle Rescue took the pups off the bus for their first chance to touch grass and be real dogs outside of concrete and steel cages.
One of the volunteers, Wendy Lansdon, recalled walking on to the bus and seeing the pooches for the first time.
“Walking into the bus…I don’t want to start crying again. It was very emotional,” Lansdon told ABC 7. “And some of them, they’re really quiet.”
The pups will soon be adopted in homes across Northern California including, San Francisco, San Jose, and Sacramento.
“As the Ridglan Farms beagles arrived yesterday on Mother’s Day, applications for BOTH fostering and adoption are now officially CLOSED,” a post on social media from the group read.
“In just days, we received THOUSANDS of applications and secured enough loving homes for these deserving dogs.”
The organization said the rescue is now pivoting to focus on donations to help cover all the vet care the dogs are going to need, as some are underweight and many have bad dental problems.
“These beagles are arriving after lives spent in research facilities, and the road ahead will require extensive veterinary care, patience, decompression, and support.”
Another volunteer shared her experience so far with one of the pups, and how her new dog, “Bandit,” was fitting in “wonderfully” with their own dog Baxter.
“As we watch Bandit take his first tentative steps on grass and explore his new surroundings, every moment is a testament to the resilience of love and hope. Although it’s bittersweet to see him adjust to a world he’s never known, the joy far surpasses the challenges.”
In April, Big Dog Ranch Rescue and the Center for a Humane Economy negotiated a confidential agreement to purchase the 1,500 beagles for an undisclosed price tag from Ridglan Farms in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin.
It came following chaotic protests that led to the arrest of several activists. One of those activists is San Francisco resident Dean Guzman Wyrzykowski, SFIst reported.
Wyrzykowski wrote in a post on Instagram celebrating that the Ridglan dogs were going free, but said that “freedom is still at stake” for him and other animal activists.
“Four of us are facing felony charges for rescuing beagles before they were released to adoption groups last week.”
“The district attorney says I stole ‘property.’ But does she look like property to you?”Guzman added, as he held up a little brown and white beagle.
“Thousands of dogs like her are still trapped in labs across the country. We’ll fight for them all at trial — and force courts to ask whether animals are ‘something’ or ‘someone.’”
Ridglan has denied that it mistreats the animals, but in October agreed to give up its state breeding license as of July 1 as part of a deal to avoid prosecution on animal mistreatment charges.
On its website, Ridglan says “no credible evidence of animal abuse, cruelty, mistreatment or neglect at Ridglan Farms has ever been presented or substantiated.”
In a recent statement following last month’s attack, Ridglan hit back and said that “false and highly misleading claims” have been spread about their research and our “deep commitment to animal welfare.”
Ridglan Farms told the New York Times that “the decision to sell the dogs is not related to any specific event.”
“As the dogs sold last week leave our veterinary research facility, we hope they will continue to live happy lives in their new adopted homes.”