Activists charged after taking dogs from Ridglan Farms argue actions were legally justified
MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) — The court proceedings continue after hundreds of people went into Ridglan Farms this spring to take dogs they say were being treated cruelly at the dog breeding and research facility.
Both sides presented their pre-trial motions on Sep. 28 before it goes to a jury trial.
What the defense is arguing is essentially that if it's legal in Wisconsin for you to rescue a dog from a hot car, it's legal for these activists to take 2,000 dogs from Ridglan Farms, as they "reasonably believed" the beagles "were being subjected to ongoing unlawful treatment."
"This was an emergency. There was dogs who were suffering, and not only were they suffering, but they were suffering unlawfully.... and in emergency situations, the law generally recognizes that you're allowed to take emergency action," said Steffen Seitz, a litigation fellow with the Animal Activist Legal Defense Project. He is arguing on behalf of 51 people charged in what he calls the "open rescue" of beagles from Ridglan Farms.
Four people are charged with four felonies each — burglary, theft, attempted theft, and criminal damage to property. They could each spend 51 years behind bars. An additional 47 people face felony burglary charges and 12.5 years in prison. Steitz noted this is "more extreme" than what they've seen in other similar cases around the country.
The activists are using an "affirmative defense," noting Wisconsin laws "permit otherwise unlawful conduct to prevent the risk or reality of worse harm." Seitz said, "There's no alternative. There's an emergency that's ongoing, in which dogs are suffering every single day, unlawfully. I think if a jury's allowed to hear that, they would also understand."
The state, however, is asking the judge not to allow jurors to "put themselves in defendant's shoes," also noting, "raising beagles for research purposes [is] not an imminent public disaster and beagles are not humans."
That's a large basis of the state's argument, noting what the defense plans to use applies "only to the need to protect people." Seitz stated, "The judge here is sort of in uncharted territory. And we think if you look at other contexts, if you sort of think logically about the situation itself, of course you should be allowed to intervene to prevent someone from unlawfully abusing a dog, for example. And we're just asking for that principle to be recognized."
Ridglan ultimately closed July 1, denying any wrongdoing. The dogs have since been adopted.
In November, the defense expects to hear from a judge as to whether they can present these affirmative defenses to a jury.
Then, a trial is set to begin in late January.