Ridglan Wants Me Arrested for Rescuing Dogs. I’m Going to Visit Them Anyways.
On January 14, 2026, Ridglan Farms threatened “serious criminal charges” if I and others proceed with plans to rescue dogs from their facility. Their goal, quite simply, is to intimidate people from joining the effort. And, in the past, they’ve followed through on their threats. Ridglan brought felony charges against me for taking a blind beagle puppy from one of their cages. It falsely accused a former employee of extortion for testifying truthfully in court about the abuse he witnessed. Ridglan even sued a respected state judge, Rhonda Lanford, for daring to investigate its abuses.
So you might be surprised by what I’m doing next. I’m heading to Wisconsin next week to speak directly with Ridglan and the authorities. And I’ll tell them exactly what we plan to do: rescue every one of the Ridglan dogs.
Why, in heaven’s name, would I do that?
Rescue or Terrorism? Join the talk and workshop on Sunday at 5 pm CT (local time) in Madison, WI where I’ll be sharing more about Ridglan’s efforts to crush dissent—and our efforts to save the dogs. The event will be livestreamed, but if you’re local, come in person (and invite a friend). Here’s the link.
The first reason is that Ridglan is a paper tiger—and sometimes the only way to prove that a tiger is made from paper is to test its bite. Ridglan’s prosecution against me collapsed on the first day of trial when it realized it would have to defend the legal position, “Dogs are things.” Its suit against Judge Lanford was thrown out by a Wisconsin appellate court, which derided the company’s attempt to paint itself as a “victim” in an investigation of the company’s own criminal abuse. And, yesterday, its legal complaint against a former employee (and two animal activists) was tossed out of court. The judge wrote, “Ridglan Farms never points to any law that even arguably prohibits Defendants from speaking out.” Paper tiger, indeed.
Don’t get me wrong. Paper tigers can cause real cuts. The legal battles with Ridglan have not always been fun. But the greatest danger posed by a paper tiger is that it scares people away. Going back to Wisconsin to face the danger, head-on, is the best antidote to that intimidation effort.
The second reason for the return to Ridglan is to show the authorities we are determined to take action, if they won’t. When I have spoken to the authorities in the past, things have not gone well. We released our report about animal abuse at Ridglan in 2018, and law enforcement refused to investigate the company for cruelty. Instead, they launched a “domestic terrorism” investigation against me. Even after the charges against me were dismissed, the authorities treated me as an irritant rather than a concerned citizen. When I asked District Attorney Ismael Ozanne if he would speak to me about the Ridglan dogs at a court hearing in late 2024, he angrily stomped away.
The only way to create change in an entrenched legal system is to be the change, even when it comes at personal cost. The Harvard evolutionary biologist Joseph Henrich has written about the importance of “credibility-enhancing displays” in triggering cultural evolution. People generally ignore your requests for change until you show you really mean it—by taking on real suffering or risk. That will be my message to the authorities. We aren’t just talking about the right to rescue. We’re willing to sacrifice to bring it to life.
But the most important reason to return is that I believe in the compassion of ordinary people. That even includes people who have been involved directly in abuse. I am thinking, in particular, about the story of Matt Reich. Matt was a former employee of Ridglan who was involved in some of the most gruesome procedures: devocalization surgeries and cherry eye mutilations. He had every reason to be defensive, but when he heard about my prosecution, he reached out and said, “I love dogs. I have nightmares about what I did.” I could hear him crying quietly on one of our calls.
And so, at significant personal risk, Matt joined our campaign to save the dogs. His testimony at the special prosecutor hearing was one of the most powerful moments in court, with grim depictions of sick puppies being thrown into freezer bags and thousands of animals suffering from a lifetime in a wire cage.
But it only came about because Matt had compassion—and because our movement recognized that within him. That should give us hope for everyone. For Ismael Ozanne, who charged me with crimes. For the special prosecutor Tim Gruenke, who refused to help the dogs. And yes even for the owners of Ridglan, who have sent tens of thousands of defenseless puppies to their deaths. All of these people—all of us on earth—have compassion within us, just waiting to be unearthed.
“You love dogs, too, Jim,” I’ll say to Ridglan’s owner, Jim Burns. “You have one at home. You’d never let someone hurt her.”
“So let’s work together to protect them. It’ll be the greatest thing you’ve ever done. Imagine 3000 beagles, all in happy homes, hugged every day by their moms and dads. We can make that happen, Jim. This is who you truly are.”
So why am I going back to speak to Ridglan? Because I do not really believe in enemies. In our love for animals, Americans are united. Every enemy is just a future friend.
What else is going on?
If you can’t come to the event on Sunday, join an upcoming legal briefing on our efforts to rescue the Ridglan dogs. These are typically on Saturday at 1 pm ET, but this week, the briefing will probably be rescheduled to Sunday, after the workshop. Sign up, and we’ll send you an email with the details.
A lawsuit by Ridglan against animal advocates was dismissed! I noted this in the newsletter, but a state court judge threw out a lawsuit against Dane4Dogs, its two directors, Rebekah and Jamie, and employee whistleblower Scott Gilberston. Here’s the judge’s order.
The head of the FDA spoke out against animal testing this week. A renowned researcher and surgeon, Marty Makary is just the latest leader in science and politics to speak out against animal tests.
My wife goes on trial on February 2 for rescuing lambs from the King of England. Expect more from me on this story. It’s literally the people against the King, with the lives of animals hanging in the balance.
I’ll be back in NY from Jan 26-30, if you want to hang out! I’m still a student at Union Theological Seminary, and I may organize something while I’m briefly in town. High on my list is screening Guardians of the Galaxy 3—essentially an open rescue story in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
I enjoy reading every single article you write, I learn alot ( including the term paper tiger) so glad you care so much and have such a courageous approach
with you all the way !