Attorneys from the Animal Activist Legal Defense Project (AALDP) on Wednesday moved to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Blue Mounds beagle experimentation breeder Ridglan Farms against local dog advocacy group Dane4Dogs and individual advocates.
In its motion to dismiss, AALDP argues that all allegations against the defendants are of expressive or petitioning activity protected by the First Amendment. Ridglan alleges that animal advocates have “pursued their agenda through a variety of forms of activism, ranging from social media, to protests, to more recently, participating in the judicial and administrative complaint processes.”
Attorneys say the case is a Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation suit.
Over the past year, animal advocates have pursued several avenues towards protecting thousands of dogs inside Ridglan Farms, including successfully pursuing the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate and potentially charge Ridglan for animal cruelty; submitting complaints to the Wisconsin Veterinary Examining Board (VEB) about Ridglan veterinarians, which have resulted in ongoing VEB investigations; submitting complaints to regulatory agencies about Ridglan’s animal welfare violations, which has resulted in citations against Ridglan; and sending letters to customers of Ridglan alerting them to documented cruelty at the facility and asking that they no longer purchase dogs from the company.
Read the motion filed on June 18 here.
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