Hi John,

The dogs of Ridglan Farms got their day in court yesterday. For seven hours, witnesses testified to Judge Rhonda Lanford about the extreme cruelty and abuse happening at Ridglan Farms, a massive beagle breeding facility in Wisconsin. This included testimony about non-veterinarian employees cutting dogs’ vocal cords with scissors and performing cherry eye removal surgeries on dogs without anesthesia beforehand or pain medicine afterward. Their aim was to show Judge Lanford that she must appoint a special prosecutor to prosecute Ridglan Farms for animal cruelty.

You can watch the entire hearing on UnchainedTV here. The hearing involved compelling and harrowing testimony from:
  • Wayne Hsiung, animal rights attorney and investigator
  • Scott Gilbertson and Matthew Reich, former employees of Ridglan Farms
  • Marc Bekoff, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
  • Dr. Lowell Wickman and Dr. Sherstin Rosenberg, veterinarians
Read some of the press from yesterday’s hearing in The Isthmus.

At the conclusion of the hearing, Judge Lanford ordered the attorneys to submit written briefings detailing all the evidence that was presented during the hearing, including evidence of the alleged crimes and evidence of the repeated attempts that had been made to bring these crimes to the attention of law enforcement. These briefs are due November 8th, and Judge Lanford indicated she will make her decision regarding appointing a special prosecutor shortly after that.

The request for post-trial briefings is quite standard. It doesn’t tell us how the judge is leaning, but it’s hard to imagine how she couldn’t side with us after hearing what the witnesses shared yesterday. While we wait, please continue to call on Wisconsin Governor Evers to help the dogs at Ridglan Farms. This document has instructions and sample language for tagging him on social media.

We must keep speaking up for animals until every cage is empty.

Thank you,
Cassie

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