MILWAUKEE — Hundreds of beagles from a Dane County research facility are being placed with foster families and shelters across Wisconsin after the facility decided to sell 1,500 dogs.
Ridglan Farms, a breeding and research facility in Blue Mounds, has been the subject of multiple protests this year as activists pushed to remove the dogs. Just weeks after the last protest, Ridglan decided to sell 1,500 beagles, sending them to several different rescue shelters and organizations.
That's how the Wisconsin Humane Society got involved.
On Monday, the organization welcomed 20 beagles each at both their Milwaukee location and their Green Bay location. Ten were fostered that night, with the other 10 staying for additional care in Milwaukee.
Watch: Beagles from Ridglan Farms research facility find new homes through Wisconsin Humane Society, other shelters
Stacy Oatman of the Wisconsin Humane Society said the process will take time.
"It's going to be a process, each dog is an individual and whether or not they come from the same situation everyone's going to handle it differently," Oatman said.
"It's just wonderful, it's wonderful to see the dogs here and it's wonderful to see our community step up, everyone was so eager to," Oatman said.
By the end of the week, the Wisconsin Humane Society will have taken in well over 100 beagles, connecting them with foster families.
Jazmin Kropp was among the activists who protested at Ridglan Farms and is now fostering one of the beagles.
"Just seeing the passion these people had, and just the dogs coming out and looking up when it was raining and opening their mouths and seeing outside for the first time and knowing this was their first everything," Kropp said.
"Just being there for the first everything is just something we're just so looking forward to yeah it's going to be hard it's going to take a long time," Kropp said.
Kropp hopes her foster will become permanent.
"Adopt it hopefully, if everything goes well," Kropp said.
"It's amazing to see how resilient these dogs are," Kropp said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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