A Dog was Taken from My Arms

Now I Face a Felony Charge

Me at the March 15 Ridglan Open Rescue. Image credit: Unknown.

Note: This post was initially written in jail with pencil and paper. It was published around a week after my release. Also, thank you to everyone who took the images in this post! Please let me know if you took these and I’m happy to name you in the image credit. 🙏🏽

My adrenaline must have been quite high as I don’t remember feeling any pain. I just learned I was injured when my arresting officer told me that my right hand was bleeding. I must have cut myself as I jumped through the hole in the wall where a vent fan used to be. There were metal rods sticking out of the sides and I could feel my skin scratching up against them. But I had no choice. I had to just push through even if it meant tearing through my flesh. There were lives at stake and I had to move fast. Whether or not I would succeed was far from clear, but I had to try.

I was at Ridglan Farms, a dog testing and breeding facility near Madison, Wisconsin. I joined close to 100 activists as we walked onto Ridglan’s property to rescue these dogs. For decades, Ridglan has engaged in the worst forms of animal cruelty, including performing surgery on these innocent dogs without anesthesia. Even Wisconsin’s state government has found hundreds of instances of animal cruelty at Ridglan, and yet, accountability has been little to none.

After exhausting all traditional pathways to change Ridglan’s behavior, we felt our only remaining option was to engage in nonviolent direct action and exercise our right to rescue those being tortured for profit. Just as I would be willing to smash a window to rescue a dog in a hot car, I am willing to crowbar down a door to rescue a dog from a lifetime in a tiny metal cage.

My team had been struggling to crowbar down one door. It didn’t matter that we had a massive sledgehammer or even an angle grinder, because the door we were working on had been reinforced. Thankfully, another team broke down a vent fan, crawled through it, and then unlocked the door from the inside.

As soon as we were told of this opening over walkie-talkie, all the teams converged on this one building. We all rushed in to save as many lives as we could. I put my slip lead leash over a beagle and wrapped them in a towel (it was 32°F outside and rainy). I carried them out and walked as fast as I could to our vans without running. I slipped and fell on my butt, but thankfully did not drop them. I got back up and kept moving. The police had already arrived and I got scared that my beagle would be taken away from me. I tried to exit out of the hole in the fence we had cut earlier but a Ridglan employee was blocking it. Thankfully, a side gate had been opened so I got through.

Running out with the my first rescued dog. Image credit: Unknown.

Then came the pickup truck. As we walked across a large field that was muddy and smelled of manure, a pickup truck started menacingly driving near us. I began to fear for my life. The pickup truck swerved so close to one of us that the muddy manure was kicked upon us by its wheel. Despite the risk of getting run over, we kept moving. The vans were in sight.

Unfortunately, by the time we arrived, the pickup truck had blocked the front-most van and police had blocked the van in the back. We were trapped. I tried to get to the van closest to me to put the beagle in but a Ridglan employee blocked the van door. I found another van, opened its door, and rushed my beagle into a crate.

Now that the vans had some dogs, we next had to figure out how to help get them out.

This is what the front of the van caravan looked like. I approached the drivers to suggest the following maneuver:

I thought that the one pickup couldn’t block all of us if we coordinated. If Van 2 went off-road, then the pickup would have no choice but to move forward to block. This would give Van 3 the opening they needed to escape.

The drivers agreed to carry out the plan, so Van 2 went off-road, but quickly got stuck in the mud. However, the pickup driver saw this movement from Van 2 and reacted by driving forward to block. This gave Van 3 just enough clearance to escape. Van 3 took the opportunity and started speeding forward. The pickup saw this and started backing up again, this time at full speed. They weren’t able to completely block Van 3, but they smashed into Van 3’s right side. While the pickup was focused on Van 3, Van 1 took the opportunity to drive off. After some struggle with the pickup, Van 3 managed to escape too. We managed to then push Van 2 out of the mud, surround the pickup’s front with our bodies so it couldn’t move forward, and thereby gave space for Van 2 to escape. Unfortunately, we moved away from the pickup too quickly and they drove off to tail the last van.

I then turned around to find another one of our vans with a flat tire (which I later learned had been slashed). Some team members then told me there were two dogs stuck in that car. I tried to unlock the van doors to free the dogs and transport them to a nearby car willing to take them. I contacted the drivers who might have the key to see who could unlock it. Someone then recommended I smash the window to save the dogs. Hypocritically, I felt some reluctance to do that because it was our rental van. Thankfully, the problem resolved itself when the driver showed up and unlocked the doors. We quickly transported the dogs to the car which then drove away.

Helping move the beagles from the van to the car. Image credit: Unchained TV.

After that, there was not much left to do at the roadside, so we decided to go back in to tell the police that they could either arrest us or they can help us save the rest of the dogs. We walked towards the building we initially breached and I reached for the door handle. A Ridglan employee quickly blocked me. I then noticed that the vent fan hole was still unblocked, so I jumped through, unfortunately cutting myself in the process.

Convinced someone had seen me, I frantically rescued the closest dog I could find. I then rushed to find the closest exit and soon did. I then ran out the doors and tried to run around the back of the building to avoid being seen. Unfortunately, an employee and a cop saw me and soon caught me. I felt the officer’s grip tighten around my right shoulder as he caught up to me. “Stop! You’re under arrest!” At the same time, the employee rushed to my left side. Terrified, I quickly put the beagle down. The officer then grabbed both of my hands, pulled them behind me, and put me in handcuffs. I pleaded with the cop as he took me away from my beagle who was now with the employee: “How would you feel if they were doing this to your dog?” He was silent. I was then put in the back of a police car and I never saw that beagle again. I cried more than I expected to.

Despite having that dog and seven others taken back from us, I’m happy to say that we did rescue 22 dogs from a life of suffering. We also managed to have 27 activists get arrested. 22 of them have been released on the equivalent of a traffic ticket (“a citation”). The remaining 5 of us have been charged with misdemeanors, except for me, who was charged with felony burglary. I think this may be because I entered the building a second time to save another beagle while police were standing nearby.

While normally one may feel concerned about being charged with a felony, I personally see it as an opportunity. With this charge, we have a higher probability of going to trial. And if that were to happen, while it may seem like I’m on trial, in reality, it’ll be Ridglan that’s on trial. And the more we can bring to light the crimes perpetrated by Ridglan, the closer we can get to freeing the remaining 2,000 dogs.

And so, even as I sit in jail with the prospect of becoming a convicted felon, I am hopeful, admittedly fearful for myself, but for the most part hopeful for the dogs.

Thanks for reading! If you’d like to support our legal defense fund, consider making a donation at savethedogs.io.

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Here are some more interesting jail-related photos (and there’s a surprise after that):

My mugshot. Image credit: Dane County Jail

Even the toothpaste in jail is very secure. Image credit: Me.

I ended up spending two nights in jail. Since being released from jail, a lot has happened.

Moments after being released. Alexandra Paul at right. Image credit: Unknown.

We have made the decision to go back! Would you like to help us save all 2,000 beagles at Ridglan? If so, then join us for our next rescue effort scheduled for Sunday, April 19th. Please note that to join the effort, we ask that you arrive no later than Friday, April 17th and join us for an important briefing/training in nonviolence at 6 PM. To join us, please go to savethedogs.io to sign up! I look forward to you joining us in Wisconsin soon.

Have questions? Leave a comment, message me on Substack, or reply to this email.