VIDEO: Activists Protest Merck For Purchasing Dogs for Animal Testing From Notorious Ridglan Farms
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Contact: Cassie King, (510) 507-8075, cassie@directactioneverywhere.com
VIDEO: Activists Protest Merck For Purchasing Dogs for Animal Testing From Notorious Ridglan Farms
Ridglan Farms, a major beagle breeding facility, has been under investigation for felony animal cruelty
Photos/Videos from inside Ridglan Farms
(Credit for all: Direct Action Everywhere)
June 12, 2026, South San Francisco – Dozens of animal rights activists protested outside biopharmaceutical giant Merck’s West Coast headquarters on Friday, condemning the company’s recent purchase of beagles for animal testing from Ridglan Farms, a notorious dog breeding facility near Madison, Wisconsin that has made national headlines in recent months. The protest was organized by Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) to urge Merck to release the dogs to rescues and sever ties with Ridglan Farms.
The protesters delivered speeches and chants over loudspeakers while displaying a banner and signs reading “Save the dogs.”
DxE investigators first entered Ridglan Farms in 2017 and documented dogs crammed into small cages, often alone, with no access to the outdoors; noxious air and feces building up beneath the cages; dogs with red and swollen feet from standing on wire cage floors; and dogs spinning endlessly in circles in their cages. (Photos and videos from DxE’s 2017 investigation are available here.)
Last year, a Wisconsin judge issued an order finding probable cause of felony animal cruelty by Ridglan and assigned a prosecutor to investigate. In order to avoid criminal charges, Ridglan Farms cut a sweetheart deal with the prosecutor where they agreed to close their breeding facility by July 1, 2026. The deal did not protect the approximately 2,000 beagles at Ridglan at the time, so activists continued campaigning to save those dogs. Recently, in a highly publicized open rescue, a coalition of nonviolent activists attempted to rescue dogs from Ridglan but were instead brutalized by police. Shortly after this viral attempted rescue, Ridglan agreed to release 1,500 dogs to rescue organizations; some of the dogs came to the Bay Area to find forever homes. Negotiations are ongoing for the remaining beagles confined at Ridglan.
"Just four days after nonviolent activists were brutalized by police in their efforts to save these dogs from Ridglan, Merck acquired 54 of them to experiment on," said Zoe Rosenberg, an activist with DxE who adopted a dog rescued from Ridglan. "Those dogs could be at rescues right now but instead they have been sentenced to a life in a laboratory cage."
Merck is one of the largest biomedical companies in the world, with a revenue of $65 billion in 2025. Given Merck’s resources and industry influence, activists say there is no excuse for it to source animals from a breeder with a clear track record of criminal animal cruelty. Instead, it should be leading the transition to modern research methods that don’t rely on ineffective and cruel animal tests.
“Every purchase Merck makes from Ridglan Farms helps sustain an industry built on breeding dogs for suffering and death,” said Rebekah Robinson, President of Dane4Dogs, an animal protection organization in Dane County, Wisconsin where Ridglan Farms is located. “The public is shocked to learn that puppies are still being used in experiments in 2026, and they are even more shocked to discover that companies like Merck are keeping facilities like Ridglan Farms in business. We are here to send a clear message: dogs are companions, not commodities, and it is time for Merck to choose modern science.”
Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) investigates farms, slaughterhouses, and other facilities to document abuses and rescue sick and injured animals. DxE’s investigatory work has been featured in The New York Times, WIRED, and Vox. In 2022, DxE activists won the first-ever acquittal in an open rescue case. Visit DxE on Instagram, Facebook, X, Bluesky, and at directactioneverywhere.com.
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