Police Use Tear Gas And Arrest Leader At Wisconsin Beagle Lab Protest
Police used tear gas and arrested a protest leader recently at a Wisconsin lab after demonstrators tried to storm the facility housing beagles.
Officers also used pepper spray and detained several people as the crowd attempted to breach gates and enter animal housing areas, authorities said. A leader of the protest was taken into custody; police described the scene as chaotic and said they acted to protect staff and animals.
The demonstrators were aligned with animal-rights causes and have for years targeted labs that breed beagles for medical research, arguing such experiments are cruel and unnecessary. Video and images from the scene circulated online and spurred debate over police crowd tactics and the ethics of animal testing, with commentators polarized between public safety and animal welfare concerns.
đ Key Facts
- Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said 300 to 400 protesters tried to break into Ridglan Farms in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, on April 18, 2026
- Police used tear gas and pepper spray and arrested protest leader Wayne Hsiung, whose account later posted an arrest photo
- Ridglan says a pickup truck drove through its front gate and nearly ran over officers and staff before the driver was arrested
- In March, protesters stole 30 dogs from the same facility and 27 people were arrested
- Ridglan previously agreed to give up its state breeding license as of July 1 to avoid prosecution on animal mistreatment charges
đ° Source Timeline (1)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time