Criminal Justice
Attorney will stand trial for leading break-in at beagle breeding farm
Wisconsin police arrested 20 people after protesters broke into a beagle breeding farm and stole 22 dogs. (Stock photo from Getty Images)
A Wisconsin judge has found enough evidence to move a criminal case forward against a California attorney accused of leading a break-in at a beagle breeding facility outside Madison, Wisconsin, last month.
A court commissioner found substantial information to continue the case against lawyer Wayne Hsiung of California after seeing multiple videos of the March 15 break-in at Ridglan Farms in the town of Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, about 30 miles outside Madison, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Hsiung, an animal rights activist, appeared in the Dane County Circuit Court for a preliminary hearing Wednesday. Prosecutors charged him with organizing a violent protest and break-in at breeding and research facility.
During the hearing, prosecutors played police body camera video from that day of Hsiung confronting police. A police officer also testified that the video shows Hsiung at the farm trying to break in with a crowbar. Video also shows him carrying one of the beagles away. In all, police arrested 20 people, and 22 dogs were stolen.
WISN 12 News reported that Ridglan Farms plans to sell a majority of its beagles. In a statement, Ridglan Farms said, “This week, following a series of negotiations, Ridglan Farms reached an agreement to sell a substantial majority of its dogs to groups that offered to purchase the animals.”
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