OAN Staff Lillian Mann
5:11 PM – Monday, June 15, 2026
A beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin that has been operating for nearly 60 years, will permanently close following an agreement with a Florida-based rescue group that will transfer the remaining 475 dogs from the site.
The agreement marks the completion of a rescue and relocation effort that has moved 2,110 beagles since April 29th. The Center for a Humane Economy identified Ridglan Farms as the nation’s second-largest supplier of beagles to research laboratories.
According to ABC News, the dogs are being moved to Big Dog Ranch Rescue’s campuses in Florida and Alabama, as well as being distributed to various partner rescue groups across the country to be spayed, neutered, and vetted for adoption.
Big Dog Ranch Rescue (BDRR), in Loxahatchee Groves, Florida, is set to relocate the first 125 beagles June 15th and 16th with the remaining 150 to be released by the beginning of August, as they are still puppies.
BDRR reportedly bought roughly 1,500 out of the 2,010 beagles in April for an unknown price.
In a news conference on Monday, BDRR founder and CEO Lauree Simmons explained the situation at hand.
“It is in our binding legal contract [that] they are permanently closing. All of the dogs by Mid-August will be released to us. Not one dog left behind. No more breeding, no more testing,” Simmons said. “Our focus now should be on supporting these dogs as they transition into their new lives. These dogs will get to experience safety and a normal life for the first time.”
Simmons emphasized that her organization is also “working closely” with the Trump administration to end federal funding for studies that subject dogs to “invasive and painful experimentation.”
Ridglan Farms has denied mistreating animals. However, a special prosecutor found that the facility had performed eye procedures on dogs in ways that violated state veterinary standards.
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called the development a “major win for animal welfare” in an X post on Monday.
In April, police used tear gas and pepper spray to repel a large group of animal welfare activists who entered the farm in an attempt to remove beagles.
The confrontation came weeks after protesters took 30 dogs from the site during a March break-in, leading to dozens of arrests.
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