They're Charging 47 More People for the Ridglan Rescue. Here's Why We'll Win.

Exactly 250 years after the Declaration of Independence, Dane County spent the holiday defending a dog-torture operation.

A frightened beagle dragged back to Ridglan on March 15. We still do not know what happened to her.

On Independence Day, the Dane County authorities are defending tyranny.

Yesterday, District Attorney Ismael Ozanne filed felony burglary charges against 47 additional people—teachers and firefighters, parents and lawyers—for the Ridglan rescue on March 15, bringing the total to 51 defendants. The timing was deeply ironic. Two-hundred and fifty years ago on this day, the founders of this nation dreamed in their Declaration of Independence of a nation that defended “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Today, those who hold power will spend millions to defend a criminal industry that kills and cages desperate dogs.

The distinguished philosopher Peter Singer called it a tyranny 50 years ago. And he was right. From the use of chemical weapons to the deadly force-feeding of laundry detergent, human beings rule these animals by fear.

Now, with this new prosecution, corrupt actors within the government are trying to spread this fear through the movement of rescuers. Fifty-one people, many of whom have no criminal history and literally would not hurt a fly, will face serious felony charges for trying to save puppies from criminal torture or death. We begged Ozanne to enforce the law and protect the dogs. He promised to look into things; to review our evidence; or even just to return our calls. And over and over, he broke his promise—then decided to target us when we acted within our rights to save the dogs. The message Ozanne is sending, on behalf of the criminal enterprises that he represents¹, is rule by fear:

“You will comply, or you will pay.”

It is truly a terrifying state of affairs—and one that has, for the last 20 years, radicalized my views on American government. We do not live in a functioning democracy. We do not even really live in a functioning state, at least when it comes to animals; that requires a state to follow its own rules. Even when we irrefutably demonstrate that the powerful are targeting the powerless with violent and criminal acts, the authorities refuse to stop them. And if you challenge this corruption, the powerful will target you, too.

What is one to do?

My first response to this was to reach out to the defendants and offer support. Many will be first-time defendants facing the terrifying power of a corrupt state apparatus. They will need us to back them and stay unified. All of us. If you know one of the defendants, reach out and offer them some support.

But my second response was this:

Bring it on.

Because we are now ready to win this fight. We will no longer be ruled by fear. Twenty years ago, when the animal rights movement faced its first wave of serious prosecutions, it split and fell apart. The largest animal protection organizations condemned fellow activists as “terrorists.” Individual friendships were destroyed, and, in some cases, there was outright betrayal, as in the case of Justin Samuel, who testified against his fellow activists. Repression broke the movement. We had neither the strength nor the strategy to fight back. Heck, we could barely make it into court.

That is no longer the case. Indeed, from Day 1 of our efforts at Ridglan, we planned for exactly this eventuality. The old divisions in the movement have been healed; I consider many in the more “moderate” parts of animal advocacy dear friends. The grassroots is unified; even when forces have tried to divide us, asking for cancelations and purity tests, we have stayed unified. And we have legal strategies that have won historic verdicts. That is why Ridglan’s first effort to prosecute us failed so spectacularly. We made the repression backfire. Now all the dogs are free.

And we will do it again. But this time, we won’t just free the Ridglan dogs. We’ll free them all.

There is much more to say about our strategy for making this happen. And you will hear me (and others) say it. But let me end this newsletter with a response to Ozanne’s message:

“You will comply, or you will pay.”

In another era, it would have worked. But no longer. Because this is what we say in reply:

“We will rescue them, no matter what it takes.”

It is a message of compassion. And in the battle between fear and compassion, compassion will win.

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Other stuff

• Support the defendants. We will be meeting with the defendants shortly to come up with a joint legal strategy. In the meantime, give these people some love. They risked everything to save the dogs—and succeeded. They need us to back them! Even just sharing this newsletter can make a difference!

• Conveniently, I was just on the Animal Law Podcast to discuss our recent (partial) victory for the right to rescue in the California Court of Appeals. An appellate court ruled that it was unlawful to forbid me from arguing that my intent was to save animals from criminal abuse in my trial from late 2023. There’s a lot more detail in the podcast, especially for folks who like geeking out on the law. Check it out.

• The line prosecutor in the Ridlgan prosecution, Matthew Moeser, is illegally attempting to delay my trial while charging dozens of other defendants. Sadly, the trial court sided with the prosecutor in violation of my speedy trial rights. But we are appealing the judge’s order.

• I’m looking to potentially hire a “chief of staff” to help me handle operations and communications across a bunch of different organizational contexts. I’m pretty overwhelmed with logistics tasks (from finance to email management) and desperately need help. Send me an email with a CV if you’re interested. Experience is less important than intelligence, curiosity, and self-motivation—but I’m only looking to hire someone who is world-class in these areas!

That’s all for now!

1. This is not a rhetorical flourish or personal attack. The only engagement Ozanne has had with the criminal allegations against Ridglan Farms was to sit with Ridglan’s attorney, Eric McLeod, when we presented evidence of criminal animal abuse in court. Dozens of people crowded on the other side of the courtroom, but Ozanne sided with the corporate criminals over the people—or his duty to the rule of law.