The Last 155 Beagles Have Left Ridglan Farms

The last 155 beagles have left Ridglan Farms, bringing a months-long transfer operation at the Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, facility to a close. The final group departed on Wednesday, August 12, and Big Dog Ranch Rescue says 141 of those dogs are puppies around four months old.

Their exit marks the end of a months-long sequence that began in late April, when more than 2,000 beagles were still part of the wider transfer effort.
Since then, dogs have left Ridglan in repeated waves, moving through veterinary intake, rescue organizations and foster networks across the country. With the final bus gone, no dogs remain at the facility.

The large-scale transfers started in April, when Big Dog Ranch Rescue and the Center for a Humane Economy reached a confidential agreement with Ridglan Farms to acquire roughly 1,500 beagles.

The first dogs began leaving on April 29. From there, groups were moved through veterinary checks and distributed among rescue partners that would eventually prepare them for foster care or adoption. At that stage, however, hundreds of beagles were still expected to remain at Ridglan.

That changed in June, when a second agreement covered the dogs still on the property and included what rescue organizations described as the permanent end of Ridglan’s dog breeding, sales, research and testing operations. Most of those remaining beagles left during the summer, while the youngest group was scheduled for the final phase of the transfer.

That final phase happened this week.

Of the 155 beagles transferred on Wednesday, 141 are believed to be around four months old, making this final group much younger than many of the dogs moved earlier in the year.

Big Dog Ranch Rescue documented the last departure as its team prepared to leave Wisconsin. Founder Lauree Simmons carried the final beagle out of Ridglan before the last bus left the property.

By the time that bus pulled away, Big Dog Ranch Rescue said a total of 2,115 beagles had been secured through the operation.

The latest update came after the dogs reached Big Dog Ranch Rescue safely. The organization says all 155 arrived together and spent their first night there after leaving Ridglan.

That means the story has already moved beyond the gates of the Wisconsin facility. The dogs are now entering the next stage: veterinary care, evaluation and preparation for eventual placement in foster or permanent homes.

For some former Ridglan beagles, that adjustment has required time.

Earlier this summer, The Fetch followed Pebbles, Milo and Stella, three former Ridglan beagles learning how to live outside the facility. Their first weeks included unfamiliar stairs, toys, household routines and the gradual process of becoming comfortable around people.

The final 155 are now beginning that same transition, only days after leaving the place where most of their lives had so far been spent.

The Ridglan transfer operation is now complete, but the work surrounding the dogs is not. Some former Ridglan beagles are already living in permanent homes, while others are still moving through rescue and foster networks. The newest group has only just arrived at Big Dog Ranch Rescue and is beginning veterinary care and assessment.

What changed this week is simpler and more immediate: there are no dogs left at Ridglan.

After six decades of breeding beagles for research, the facility now has none.