The state of Wisconsin on Nov. 2 voluntarily dismissed two felonies against the four lead defendants in the Ridglan Farms beagle rescue prosecution, according to attorneys for the defendants.
Four of the 51 defendants charged in relation to the rescue initially faced four felonies and up to 31 years in prison.
The state voluntarily dismissed two of those felonies — theft and attempted theft — reducing the maximum period of incarceration to 16 years in prison.
In the current case, the four defendants are Aditya Aswani, Wayne Hsiung, Michelle Lunsky and Dean Wyrzykowski.
They were initially charged with felony burglary, criminal damage to property, theft and attempted theft in relation to a March rescue effort at which 22 dogs were rescued from Ridglan Farms, a now-shuttered dog breeding business.
While the state dismissed the theft and attempted theft charges, it decided to proceed with burglary and criminal damage to property. The four defendants are scheduled for trial in January.
The theft and attempted theft charges were dismissed without prejudice, which allows prosecutors to refile them in the future.
“In order for the defendants to be convicted of theft, prosecutors would have to argue that the dogs were merely property — an idea that is rightly repugnant to most people,” Chris Carraway, staff attorney at the Animal Activist Legal Defense Project at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, said in a press release.
“This is an obvious attempt to prevent the defense from showing the jury longstanding, extensive evidence of animal cruelty and the horrid conditions at Ridglan Farms,” said Carraway, who represented Aswani.
Ridglan has denied the allegations that it mistreated the animals, but following years of protests by animal rights activists, Ridglan shut down earlier this year after selling the last of its remaining beagles to Big Dog Ranch Rescue in Florida.
