II. The Conditions

Wire Mesh Flooring

The dogs at Ridglan live on wire mesh flooring. The mesh causes systematic foot injuries — interdigital cysts, lacerations, and infections. Dogs walk gingerly. Their paws are inflamed. Between their toes, blisters and ulcers grow — sometimes to the size of golf balls.

This has been documented by every source: investigators (2017), former employees (2006-2010, 2021-22), DATCP inspectors (2016, 2022, 2023, 2024), and USDA inspectors (2023). Despite being cited repeatedly, Ridglan has never replaced the cages or fixed the flooring.

In five years at Ridglan, Matthew Reich never saw anyone remove or replace a cage.

Ammonia

The ammonia levels inside Ridglan's buildings are so high that a DATCP inspector in July 2022 reported experiencing nausea and throat irritation that lasted for hours after leaving. Dogs live in this atmosphere 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Dr. Patricia McConnell, an ethologist, stated that "ammonia from large amounts of excrement can also potentially burn the nasal passages of dogs, which can cause suffering, such as discomfort with breathing."

Dr. Rosenberg testified that gaseous ammonia injures the mucus lining of the dogs' airways and can cause tissue to die, resulting in extreme discomfort, pain, and long-term impaired lung functioning.

Solitary Confinement and Stereotypic Behaviors

Dogs at Ridglan are housed alone in small cages stacked atop one another. When Wayne Hsiung entered the facility in April 2017, several dogs were spinning endlessly in their cages.

Professor Marc Bekoff, one of the world's leading experts on canine behavior, reviewed footage and testified that the dogs were "extremely stressed to the point where they were behaving in a very abnormal way." The manic barking and spinning were "off scale" and "way beyond anything I've ever seen in what I would consider to be a normal dog."

Dr. Stacy Lopresti-Goodman concluded that many dogs are suffering from "chronic psychological distress," including canine Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Sanitation

The facility's drainage systems do not rapidly eliminate animal waste. Feces accumulate in catch pans beneath cages. Decomposing feces remain for days. With 3,200 dogs and 16 employees, one person assigned to cleaning faces hundreds of cages — a near impossible task.