BLUE MOUNDS, WISCONSIN — Big Dog Ranch Rescue and the Center for a Humane Economy have entered into a confidential agreement with Ridglan Farms to purchase 1,500 of the Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, facility's roughly 2,000 beagles for an undisclosed price. The dogs will be transported to partner agencies and to Big Dog Ranch Rescue facilities in Florida and Alabama.

"It's a very big win and I am ecstatic to have these dogs out and get them into loving homes," said Lauree Simmons, president and founder of Big Dog Ranch Rescue. She said she could not discuss the payment for the dogs, the duration of the deal or how many beagles remain at Ridglan Farms after the agreement, and the plans for the remaining beagles are unclear.

The beagles will receive medical exams, microchips and vaccinations before being assessed for adoption. "These dogs need to learn to walk on a leash. They need to learn to live in a home environment, be housebroken, spayed and neutered," she said. She added, "Even if they don't work out at their adopted homes, they can always come back to Big Dog Ranch Rescue."

According to the organization, its facility in Loxahatchee, Florida, is the largest cage-free, no-kill dog rescue operation in the country. Animal activists have been pushing for 10 years to have the dogs at Ridglan Farms adopted rather than sold to other research facilities.

Simmons said her group was not involved in the recent protests at Ridglan Farms but credited activists with raising awareness about conditions there. "What they did was put the message out," she said. "What we did, we wanted to do legally and in the best way and for the best outcome of these dogs for the future."

On April 18, about 1,000 activists from across the country came to Ridglan Farms in rural Blue Mounds in an attempt to take the beagles kept there. Police used tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray to repel the activists. The Dane County Sheriff's Department said 29 people were arrested and five face felony burglary charges in connection with the attempt to break into the facility. A federal lawsuit was filed in Wisconsin alleging police used unnecessary force to repel people who tried to break in. Ridglan Farms said those who tried to break in were a "violent mob" that launched an "assault on a federally licensed research facility."

In March, activists broke into Ridglan Farms and took 30 beagles. Sixty-three people were referred by the sheriff's department to the district attorney for potential charges related to that break-in.

Ridglan Farms agreed in October to give up its state breeding license as of July 1 as part of a deal to avoid prosecution on felony animal mistreatment charges. The company has denied mistreating animals. A special prosecutor determined that Ridglan Farms was performing eye procedures on the dogs that violated state veterinary standards.