The March 2026 Ridglan Open Rescue & #Ridglan8 Campaign

Roughly 100 people arrived at Ridglan Farms in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin. Organizers said 50–60 entered the property or facility. The action was planned and publicly telegraphed — not covert. Pre-event coverage described a planned protest and rescue attempt including “mandatory training in nonviolence,” connected to an animal-rights conference in Madison.

Organizers said 31 dogs were taken, with 8 intercepted by police. The remaining 22–23 (accounts vary) stayed with activists. Law enforcement said deputies responded to a report of 50–60 protesters illegally entering private property. The facility described forced entry and use of tools.

Arrest counts were reported variably: some outlets said about 20, later reporting settled on 27. Publicly identified among those arrested were Wayne Hsiung(DxE co-founder), Alexandra Paul (actress and animal-rights activist), and campaign organizer Aditya Aswani.

As of March 20, 2026, the district attorney's office had not received charge referrals for those arrested — keeping the story in a high-attention “charges pending” limbo during the peak national-pickup period. Where tentative charges were discussed, reporting stated Aswani faced a tentative burglary charge while Hsiung and another participant faced tentative criminal trespass.

The hashtag branding #Ridglan8 was formally consolidated in organizer messaging on March 18, 2026, describing a scene where eight dogs were “dragged from the back of a rescue van” and “brought back” to the facility. The post asserted police actions were illegal and demanded return of the dogs.

Organizer-authored legal messaging presented a “right to rescue” claim as central to both movement strategy and potential courtroom defense. Arguments included animals as more than property, Wisconsin legal provisions, and lack of criminal intent.

This was not a new argument for the Ridglan context. The campaign page documents earlier Ridglan-related felony burglary/theft charges tied to a prior beagle rescue case and emphasizes a “Right to Rescue” trial that was scheduled for March 2024. March 2026 coverage sometimes treated the open rescue as part of a longer-running legal strategy rather than an isolated protest.

National pickup came through three pathways:

A March 21 organizer post called for 2,000 people to take action at the facility on Sunday, April 12, tying “2,000 rescuers” to “roughly 2,000” puppies and dogs still inside — “one person for every puppy still trapped in a cage.”

The post offered an enforcement-capacity argument: it cited the number of deputies and jail beds in the county to argue that law enforcement “can't arrest and jail us all” if 2,000 arrive. Organizing infrastructure included 200 planned teams of 10, Zoom-based preparation, and travel/housing coordination beginning April 10.