“Open rescuers” lick wounds; Ridglan Farms cited for deep do-do

Dane County Sheriff’s Office response on April 18,  2026 was most violent in history of U.S. animal advocacy

            MADISON,  Wisconsin––Two days after about 200 animal advocates on April 18,  2026 attempted an open rescue of 1,500 to 2,000 beagles at the Ridglan Farms laboratory research beagle breeding facility near Blue Mounds,  Wisconsin,  the most evident takeaway is that the response of Ridglan Farms,  the Dane County Sheriff’s Office,  and allied law enforcement agencies appears to have been the most violent and indiscriminate in the use of force in the last half century of U.S. animal advocacy protests.

Protests including individual activists breaching police lines and being tackled by law enforcement have occurred since the mid-1970s.  Protests involving mass arrests have been underway for almost as long.

First use of rubber bullets

But animal advocacy protests at which law enforcement personnel tear-gassed entire demonstrations and pepper-sprayed everyone within reach of the spray cans have not previously occurred within the U.S.,  the ANIMALS 24-7 files indicate.

Never before in U.S. animal advocacy history––or world animal advocacy history,  for that matter––has there been any record of rubber bullets being fired at animal advocacy protesters.

Certainly there is no previous record of multiple rubber bullets being fired at close range at animal advocates who had their backs turned.

Tear gas

Extensive video and photographic documentation of the April 18,  2026 attempted open rescue at Ridglan Farms,  posted to social media by participants,  by journalists covering the events,  and by law enforcement in the first 60 hours after the confrontation began has yet to show any instance of the would-be open rescuers doing anything more dangerous to anyone than breaching a chain link fence and––in just a very few instances––throwing tear gas canisters back over the fence toward but not directly at law enforcement.

This must be noted in the context that throwing the tear gas canisters in any other direction would have been toward many more people,  and that open rescue organizers almost immediately asked via bull-horns that the tear gas canisters not be thrown back.

Multiple penetrating contusions

On the morning of April 20,  2026,  freelance journalist Jessica Tighe reported from Madison,  Wisconsin,  “Animal rights activists are at the state capitol demanding the dogs at Ridglan Farms in Dane County, Wisconsin be freed.

“About 150 activists are inside the capitol in Madison right now, ” Tighe said.  “Some are showing off injuries they received during the clash with law enforcement,”  including multiple penetrating contusions from what appeared to be a variety of rubber bullets of various types and calibers.

Most seriously injured appeared to be Nicholas Dickman,  who “lost multiple teeth after officers beat him after Dickman crawled through a hole activists made in the fence around the facility,  according to a press release prepared by the Coalition to Save the Ridglan Dogs,”  reported Isiah Holmes for the Wisconsin Examiner.

Live-streaming video of the incident indicated that Dickman was unconscious for approximately 14 minutes.

“Raises serious concerns”

“What I witnessed yesterday at the Ridglan Farms protest,”  testified Madison,  Wisconsin photographer Dan Shields on Facebook,  “raises serious concerns about the use of force by the Dane County Sheriff’s Department and Wisconsin State Patrol.

“Escalation appeared to occur without clear warning before force was deployed,”  Shields recounted.  “Multiple individuals were struck by 40mm projectiles,  and chemical agents were used against the crowd while officers remained positioned behind a fence.

“The images I captured,”  said Shields,  “show a range of conduct from demonstrators that was overwhelmingly peaceful,  individuals holding signs of support,  standing together,  and even praying in the roadway in front of police vehicles.”

Shields said he photographed “one individual detained while speaking into a megaphone and another taken into custody while holding bolt cutters.  I also captured scenes of people on the ground following the use of chemical agents.”

Shields called for “a thorough and transparent review of crowd control tactics,  escalation procedures,  and use-of-force decisions made during this incident.”

“We were there for a dog rescue”

Offered Cathy Cooney Millar,  of Grayslake, Illinois,  also via Facebook,  “I was at Ridglan Farms yesterday,  and I’m still trying to process what I witnessed.

“We were there for a dog rescue — it started as a peaceful protest.  People gathered,  voices raised,  energy building.  But something shifted,  and it happened fast.

“You could hear the popping sounds,  and then the air changed.  Tear gas grenades were being thrown into the crowd.  Bear spray and pepper spray were used.  Suddenly people were coughing,  eyes burning,  struggling just to breathe.

“People were being shot with large rubber bullets.  I saw people get hit.  I saw people go down.

“There was confusion everywhere,”  Millar described.  “People weren’t just standing their ground anymore — they were trying to get out,  trying to help each other,  trying to make sense of what was happening.

“I saw people stumble.  I saw fear — real fear — move through the crowd.

“Militarized,  SWAT-style police were on the ground,”  Millar recounted,  “and people were pleading for medical attention.  It felt like those pleas were being ignored.

“It didn’t feel controlled.  It didn’t feel like there was space or time to safely leave.  It felt overwhelming,  chaotic,  and honestly,  hard to process even now.”

“My role quickly changed to field nurse”

Seconded Allison Woods,  Center Point,  Iowa,  in another Facebook posting,  “I went to Ridglan Farms as a peaceful protester hoping to help free 2,000 beagles who are being abused and tested on.  In this role as peaceful protester I was supposed to stay on public property.

“My role quickly changed to field nurse out of necessity,”  Woods said,  “brought on by Ridglan tear gas,  pepper spray and rubber bullets.  I lost count of how many people I treated who were gassed or shot with the rubber bullets.

“All I had at the start of the day were two small bottles of saline solution,”  Woods said.  “At first all I could do was wash out their eyes.

“It quickly came apparent I needed more supplies and hands to help me.  Thank you to the two other nurses who stepped up!  Thank you to all of the protesters for bringing me SO many supplies––including more saline solution,  albuterol inhalers,  bandages,  and water,  after realizing the need.

“Someone was unconscious”

“Part way through the day,”  Woods remembered,  “a woman came running to our make-shift medical area. Yelling they needed help by the fence where the red team was trying to break through.  Someone was unconscious,”  apparently Dickman.

“I took off running to help.  I had to navigate the hay bales and trenches Ridglan positioned.  When I got to the fence,  I begged the Ridglan officers to let me look at this man,”  Woods said.  “He was clearly not okay and no one was helping him.  But he was on the other side of the fence.  They wouldn’t let me through.

“I was tear gassed for being up there by the fence trying to help.  Huge thank you to my co-nurse Karla who followed me.  She was able to get saline into my eyes and because I was temporarily blinded,  get me back to our medical area.  I’m fine,”  Woods finished.  “I was able to recover and continue helping others throughout the day.”

“I spent the majority of the day providing aid”

Woods’ experience echoed that of 26-year activist Suzanne Gates,  who describes herself as a “vegan digital creator.”

Posted Gates to Facebook,  “I spent the majority of the day providing aid to the more than 40 rescuers – everyday people like you and me – who had been tear gassed,  shot with rubber bullets,  shoved and kicked to the ground,  and hit with police batons.  The 40 were just the ones who required immediate medical attention;  hundreds were tear gassed.

“Police on scene shot dozens of cans of tear gas into the crowd,”  Gates summarized,  “sprayed bear and pepper spray mace directly into people’s eyes at close range,  threw protestors to the ground and kicked them,  shot people with rubber bullets at close range so that some could not even walk,  broke at least two noses,  ignored two who passed out completely,  ran one person’s foot over with an ATV,  shouted insults at us including one who laughed loudly after he sprayed a grandma with mace and another who shouted that he wanted to see our ‘boobies.’

“Only ONE officer that I saw even stopped by our medical triage area to ask if people were okay,”  Gates said.

The most shocking part of Gates’ testimony is that almost all of it was captured on video,  and not just by one person.

“We were first time rescue women”

“Like hundreds of others who were there,”  posted Julie Rizzo of Crete,  Illinois,  “we were first time rescue women who were trying to get the dogs out of harm’s way.  We never knew what to expect,  since we’d never experienced this before.  I’m 62,”  Rizzo said,  “and have never been arrested or felt tear gas or pepper spray in my life.

“I’d venture to say 98% of the people there were the same,”  Rizzo continued.  “Not a single person had a weapon.  In fact,  we were holding flowers as tear gas was being thrown at us.

“Have you seen the videos of law enforcement kicking a guy in the face,  knocking his teeth out?  Or, the woman with the broken nose?

“They were literally shoving senior citizens to the ground,”  Rizzo said.

“Saw what she saw was smoke”

Lisa Castagnozzi, a resident of Milwaukee County,  Wisconsin,  described her experience during the Ridglan Farms attempted open rescue to Isiah Holmes of the Wisconsin  Examiner.

“When they arrived at Ridglan,”  Holmes paraphrased,  “Castagnozzi said she saw what she thought was smoke in the air as the police fired tear gas and people tried  to get through the gates. Castagnozzi’s team decided to keep their distance,  and then people started coming down the hill toward them with injuries.”

Said Castagnozzi,  “One man had been pepper-sprayed in the eyes,  like brutally.  People were shot with rubber bullets.  People went to the hospital.  Knee injuries.  A professor from Sheboygan I know,  she was shot in the chest and she had to go to the hospital to make sure it wasn’t a broken rib.  A lot of injuries,  and tons of people with serious chemical,  you know,  in the eyes,  in the face,  in the skin,  in their lungs,  I mean people were just passing out.”

Reported Holmes,  “Castagnozzi also said that she saw people who identified themselves as neighbors and supporters of Ridglan blocking roads with their vehicles and not allowing people to pass.”

Manure-filled trench

That was the only account alleging vigilante action against the attempted open rescue that ANIMALS 24-7 found in the first two days afterward,  but Associated Press reported that the would-be beagle rescuers “tried to overcome barricades that included a manure-filled trench,  hay bales,  and a barbed-wire fence,”  all allegedly positioned by Ridglan Farms.

The manure-filled trench may cost Ridglan Farms more than all the reported 311 citations Ridglan Farms has received since 2017 for alleged violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act in their care and handling of beagles.

Farmers are allowed to spread manure on their fields,  and Ridglan Farms is legally defined as a farm,  but there are seasonal restrictions on manure application,  to limit manure runoff into water sources,  and are restrictions on what species the manure can be from:  cattle,  pig,  and poultry manure may be applied to crop land,  but not dog poop.

Ridglan Farms cited for manure violation

Exulted New York City attorney Susan Chana Lask on Facebook around noon on April 20,  2026,  “It was just reported from the protestors now at the Wisconsin state capital,”  who posted documentation, ” that the [Dane County] district attorney,”  Ismael Ozanne,  “will prosecute Ridglan Farms for filling moats with manure to prevent protestors from reaching the property.”

Lask posted “pictures of the manure-filled moats and hay bales placed above as an extra deterrent,”  then commented that the manure might have posed “a health hazard to the protestors.”

The Dane County citation issued to Ridglan Farms mentions only “Construct/Alter Manure Storage Facility without permit.”

The charge,  however,  could become considerably more severe if pollution from the manure reaches a regulated waterway.  The potential penalty for manure pollution of a waterway in Wisconsin is up to $10,000 for each day the pollution continues.

The Dane County Sheriff’s Office Special Events Team

As to the Dane County Sheriff’s Office response to the April 18,  2026 attempted open rescuers,  a sheriff’s office website boasts that,  “The Dane County Sheriff’s Office Special Events Team has been successfully deployed to large gatherings, protests, and disturbances since the 1960s. As a matter of fact,  the Special Events Team gained national recognition during the Vietnam [anti-war] protests for its innovation in formalizing procedures for mass arrests.”

The Dane County Sheriff’s Office Policy & Procedures Manual states,  Section 200:520,  under the subheading “Response to resistance,”  that,  “Deputies have the responsibility to use force when it becomes necessary in the performance of their official duties.  The Dane County Sheriff’s Office recognizes and respects the value and special integrity of each human life.  In giving deputies the lawful authority to use force to protect the public welfare,  a careful balance of human interests is required.

“Therefore, deputies shall use only that amount of force that is reasonable in a given situation to effectively bring an incident under control.

Did they read their own manual?

“In determining the level of force that is reasonably necessary to control a subject,”  the Dane County Sheriff’s Office Policy & Procedures Manual continues,  “a deputy should consider the following factors:

1. The nature of the encounter.
2. The actions of the person.
3. Existence of alternative methods of control.
4. Physical size,  age,  relative strength,  skill level,  and weaponry of the person as compared to the deputy.
5. Subject’s ability to escalate force rapidly.”

Whether any of the Dane County Sheriff’s Office deputies present at Ridglan Farms on April 18,  2026 have actually read the Policy & Procedures Manual is likely to come out in court,  in response to probable lawsuits from some of the injured activists.

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