The Nonhuman Rights Project is relieved and encouraged by reports that Ridglan Farms will release the remaining dogs and close its operations. This is the outcome we have hoped to see for these dogs from the beginning. While we are still evaluating what this development means for our case, we are grateful that hundreds of dogs may now have the opportunity to live free from the cruel conditions they have endured for so long.
We are inspired by the broad mobilization for these dogs from throughout the animal protection movement. However, this level of public activism and a private purchase of the beagles would not have been necessary had the legal system simply enforced existing anti-cruelty laws.
This development is wonderful news for these dogs, and we are grateful these beagles will be released and freed from cruelty. But it does not change the need for meaningful legal protections for other animals. The Nonhuman Rights Project will continue working to ensure the courts take seriously their role in enforcing anti-cruelty laws and safeguarding the rights of the animals those laws were designed to protect.