Hundreds trying to storm Wisconsin beagle research facility met with rubber bullets, pepper spray

Key Points:

• Around 1,000 animal welfare activists attempted to enter Ridglan Farms, a beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin, but were repelled by police using rubber bullets and pepper spray; the group's leader was arrested.
• Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett described the protesters as violent, accusing them of trying to break into the property, assault officers, and blocking emergency vehicle access, stating the event was not a peaceful protest.
• Protesters tried to breach barricades including a manure-filled trench and barbed-wire fence; some entered the fence area but could not access the facility housing about 2,000 beagles.
• The Coalition to Save the Ridglan Dogs had planned a dog seizure for Sunday but launched the operation a day early; the sheriff's department arrested a person who drove a pickup through the front gate, preventing a potential deadly incident.
• Ridglan Farms denies animal mistreatment but agreed to relinquish its state breeding license by July 1 to avoid prosecution, following a March incident when protesters took 30 dogs and 27 people were arrested.