Beagles rescued from research lab finding forever homes in Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Some of the 1,500 beagles rescued from a research lab and breeding facility in Wisconsin are making their way to the Bay Area.

Animal rights activists, including those from the Bay Area, tried to storm the facility to free the dogs, bred for medical research.

Fifty of those dogs will be getting new homes in Northern California.

"I'm so excited that these dogs are going to be able to have so many opportunities to find homes at one time," said Linea McPherson, President of Northern California Animal Rescue Friends.

The organization, also known to many as Northern California Beagle Rescue, is transporting 50 of the dogs to the Bay Area to be adopted out. They're set to arrive in San Jose early Sunday morning.

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McPherson said the dogs will go to foster homes in the Bay Area and Sacramento and get their medical evaluations next week.

"It's a very personal thing for me to have this many dedicated volunteers step up," she said, getting emotional. "And it's very eye-opening to the rest of the United States to see what's been going on behind the lines for so many years."

Well-known Bay Area animal rights activist Zoe Rosenberg of Berkeley was in Wisconsin helping dogs that were rescued from the facility, and flew back to California with Chester, a beagle she's taking in.

Rosenberg is no stranger to these types of protest actions.

She was convicted of stealing four chickens from a Petaluma slaughterhouse in 2023.

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Video released by activists shows the dogs in the facility pacing in numbered cages.

Big Dog Ranch Rescue and the Center for a Humane Economy negotiated a confidential agreement to purchase the 1,500 dogs for an undisclosed price from Ridglan Farms, where police used tear gas and pepper spray to repel activists trying to take beagles from the facility last month. Big Dog Ranch Rescue is working with partners all over the country to find homes for 1,000 of the dogs, while the Center for a Humane Economy is taking the rest.

Now, the dogs, like Chester, will need to get adjusted to life outside the facility.

"He's doing surprisingly well," Rosenberg said of Chester. "He's super resilient. He definitely will get startled by little things. Everything is very new to him. You know, he'd never felt grass before."

"I wanted to adopt one of these dogs when I flew to Wisconsin and participated in the rescue effort on the ground there," Rosenberg said. "I've been involved in the campaign against Ridgland Farms since 2018."

The animals coming to the Bay Area already have homes lined up for them. But if you want to help in other ways, you can go to the Northern California Beagle Rescue website.