Legal expert weighs in on activists’ defense in Ridglan Farms burglary case

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - Four animal rights activists were charged Tuesday with felony burglary after prosecutors say they broke into a Dane County animal research facility and took roughly 30 dogs.

The case at Ridglan Farms in the Town of Blue Mounds has drawn attention from across the country. Wayne Hsiung, the man accused of leading the break-in, says he had every right to do it.

Animal rights activists have been fighting to shut down Ridglan Farms for years, accusing the facility of abusing the dogs used in its research. In March, they decided to take matters into their own hands.

The charges

Prosecutors say Hsiung led a break-in at Ridglan Farms in March, using a sledgehammer and crowbar to get inside and take roughly 30 dogs.

They returned to the farm on April 18, where multiple activists, including Hsiung, were arrested amid a protest.

Prosecutors say the law is straightforward: break in, take property, that’s burglary. But Hsiung says the law is on his side.

“How do they justify allowing animal torture, animal cruelty, to be inflicted on thousands of animals and go after the people trying to help them instead of trying to protect the dogs?” Hsiung said. “That’s not acceptable.”

The legal defense

Hsiung has been building his public defense, arguing the break-in was legally justified under Wisconsin statutes on necessity, coercion, and defense of others. He wants to apply the same logic used when someone speeds to get a person having a medical emergency to the hospital.

“They’re literally being vivisected. And they get no rights. They get no protection in the law,” Hsiung said. “That is not right.”

Criminal defense attorney Chris Van Wagner, who is not involved in this case, says the problem is simple. In Wisconsin, animals are property, not people. And the law has never recognized them any other way.

“If you burglarize a business for the purpose of stealing the business’s animals or other property, you’re guilty of burglary and you’re guilty of theft,” Van Wagner said.

Van Wagner says the law in Wisconsin is clear. There is no case that says necessity applies to animals.

The jury question

Van Wagner says the defense should not be counted out entirely. If the defense can get the right judge, one willing to let in evidence of conditions inside the facility, or get in front of the right jury, the calculus changes.

“Wayne is trying to convince people that the law allows it, but really it’s your heart that allows it,” Van Wagner said. “And the heart is in the bodies of the jurors.”

Hsiung said the case puts prosecutors in a difficult position.

“When the government is trying to put people in prison for helping puppies, that is a very sympathetic posture for us to be in,” Hsiung said. “So let them come after us and let’s see where the jury lands.”

Van Wagner says the defense will likely file motions to dismiss, push for a speedy trial, and fight to get every piece of evidence about the farm’s conditions before a jury. And if they can do that, the legal long shot gets a little shorter.

“So we’re happy to fight this case, and I’m happy to defend this case before a jury because the jury will see that we are right,” Hsiung said.

Bond conditions

Hsiung is out on $20,000 bond with conditions. He cannot set foot in Dane County unless it is for court, he is banned from Blue Mounds entirely, and he cannot have any contact with Ridglan Farms or his co-defendants.

Van Wagner said that on paper, the charge is airtight. But in a courtroom, with the right judge or the right 12 people, he says anything is possible.

The Dane County Sheriff’s Office said it has no statements to share on Tuesday. They did speak with WMTV on Monday about the case.

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