Tag Archives: animal cruelty

A Law That Needs To Be Changed

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Although Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. is working to wind down animal testing, as of now the testing still continues. That needs to change. Meanwhile, a puppy mill in Wisconsin that raises Beagles for animal testing has come under fire recently.

Yahoo News posted an April 22, 2026, article from the Wisconsin Examiner about the Ridglan Farms Biomedical Research Facility.

The article reports:

Fallout from a weekend attempt by animal rights activists to breach the Ridglan Farms Biomedical Research Facility and rescue beagles bred inside continues. On Tuesday, four of the activists were charged in Dane County with felony burglary. Meanwhile, Ridglan Farms has been cited for filling a trench around its facility with manure — an environmental hazard for which it lacked a permit — in an effort to prevent the activists from entering over the weekend.  Calls for an investigation into the farm and  police use of force  against them continue. 

Wayne Hsiung, Aditya Aswani, Michelle Lunsky, and Dean Wyrzykowski were all charged with felony burglary. Hsiung was noted as among the first people arrested within minutes after arriving at the farm. Although the activists had publicly advertised the rescue — which included hundreds of participants — as  planned for Sunday, the activists hit the farm a day early. Images captured on Saturday showed the air thick with tear gas, and witnesses  reported that rubber bullets and pepper balls had been used. Injuries were also reported, including one man who reportedly lost multiple teeth after being beaten by officers. 

…Thousands of dogs are kept and bred at Ridglan Farms. The facility has been accused of subjecting beagles to cruel and inhumane conditions by enclosing them in gated cages, not allowing them outside or play time, and removing parts of their bodies or subjecting them to experiments without anesthesia. Ridglan has denied some of the allegations.

The article concludes:

Two elected members of the Dane County Board of Supervisors have also said they’re initiating the steps needed to begin an independent investigation into the force used by the Dane County Sheriff on activists and protesters Saturday. Sheriff Kalvin Barrett has said that the actions of his deputies was proportionate and appropriate to the situation they faced Saturday.

Obviously, I would like to see scientific experiments on animals ended, but beyond that, it is cruel to keep dogs in cages with no outside running time. Ridglan Farms seems to be a puppy mill with a horrific ending for the puppies involved.

Check Your Facts Before You Boycott

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At a family gathering this past weekend, I was told that I should not be drinking Fairlife milk because the company mistreats their employees and their animals. Being an animal lover, I was concerned and did some research. This is what I found on a website called Courthouse News Service in an article dated June 12, 2019. So if you are currently boycotting Fairlife milk, you might want to read this. I am posting highlights. Please follow the link to read the entire article.

This article reports:

Dairy consumers claim in two federal class actions that milk producer Fairlife promotes the “extraordinary care and comfort” of its cows on its product labels but its flagship farm actually ran an inhumane operation where employees beat, burned and starved to death cows and young calves.

According to the two complaints filed Tuesday and Wednesday in Chicago federal court, a nonprofit animal welfare watchdog investigated and recorded the horrific treatment of calves and cows by employees at Fair Oaks Farm in Indiana and posted the expose online last week.

“Animal Recovery Mission observed employees throwing, slapping, and kicking calves and took video recordings of the conduct witnessed,” one of the lawsuits states. “Animal Recovery Mission further witnessed young calves being starved to death, beaten with steel bars, and burned with branding irons.”

That’s awful and should be stopped immediately.

The article notes:

Mike McCloskey, owner of Fair Oaks Farm and part owner of Fairlife, publicly stated that he takes “full responsibility” for the apparent abuse and torture of the animals, according to the lawsuit, which says it started no later than last August and continued through at least November.

The article concludes:

Both proposed classes are suing for alleged consumer fraud and unjust enrichment. Michael’s complaint also asserts a claim for false advertising.

Fairlife was launched in 2012 as part of a joint venture by the Coca Cola Company and Select Milk Producers.

A Coca Cola representative said in a statement that Fairlife “immediately discontinued the use of milk from Fair Oaks Farms” after the video surfaced and Coca Cola is conducting its own investigation into all of Fairlife’s dairy suppliers.

Coca Cola distributes Fairlife’s products in the U.S. and Canada through its Minute Made division.

Supermark chain Jewel-Osco recently announced it is removing all Fairlife products from its shelves.

Since Coca Cola has discontinued the use of milk from the farm involved, I think the boycott should be over. Hopefully there are state and local agencies that will promptly correct the abuse on the farm.