Northwoods Animal Shelter takes in 12 Ridglan beagles for rescue
Six Ridglan beagles are staying in Iron River for rehab as Northwoods Animal Shelter joins a 1,500-dog rescue effort reaching beyond Wisconsin.
Twelve beagles from Ridglan Farms arrived overnight at Northwoods Animal Shelter in Iron River on May 4, and six of them are now staying in town to start rehabilitation before adoption. The other six were moved on to the Copper Country, putting a small Iron County shelter into the middle of a much larger Midwest relocation effort.
The dogs came from a breeding and research facility in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, about 40 minutes southwest of Madison. On April 30, the Center for a Humane Economy and Big Dog Ranch Rescue announced an agreement to transfer 1,500 beagles from Ridglan Farms and place them with partner organizations for treatment, socialization and adoption. Big Dog Ranch Rescue said it would take responsibility for about 1,000 dogs, while the Center for a Humane Economy and its partners would handle about 500, including the Dane County Humane Society, Wisconsin Puppy Mill Project, Wisconsin Federated Humane Societies and Beagle Freedom Project.
The Center for a Humane Economy said several hundred of the beagles were expected to remain in Wisconsin and more than 1,000 would eventually go to homes in other states. For Iron River, that means Northwoods Animal Shelter is not just receiving animals, it is helping carry out the next step in a regional rescue pipeline, one that depends on local space, local care and local residents willing to adopt once the dogs are ready.
The transfer also comes after a turbulent stretch around Ridglan Farms. In April, protests escalated into a scene that Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said required pepper spray and tear gas against a crowd of 300 to 400 people. Four activists were later charged with felony burglary. A Dane County judge had previously found probable cause that Ridglan Farms violated state animal cruelty laws, and the company is now required to surrender its dog-breeding license to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection by July 1, 2026.
For Iron County, the immediate story is not the conflict in Dane County but what happens next in Iron River. Six beagles need time, care and rehabilitation before they can be placed, and Northwoods Animal Shelter has become one of the places where that recovery will begin.
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