Actress and animal-rights activist Alexandra Paul was arrested March 15 after authorities said dozens of protesters entered Ridglan Farms in Blue Mounds, removed beagles from the research breeding facility and touched off an investigation that was still unfolding three days later.
The case drew wide attention because Paul, 62, is best known for her years on “Baywatch,” but the bigger dispute reaches far beyond a celebrity arrest. Ridglan Farms has been under heavy scrutiny for months, and it has already agreed to surrender its Wisconsin breeding license by July 1 after an animal welfare investigation. Now prosecutors and sheriff’s investigators are sorting through what happened during the protest, how many dogs were taken, which charges will stick and whether more arrests could follow.
According to the Dane County Sheriff’s Office, deputies and officers from several agencies were sent to Ridglan Farms at about 8:30 a.m. Sunday after 50 to 60 protesters entered the property without permission. Authorities said some activists broke into the facility and began removing dogs. About 20 people were first reported arrested at the scene, though later local reporting said the total number of arrests rose as the investigation continued. Paul was among those taken into custody. Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said his office respects peaceful protest, but “unlawful activity” would still bring a response. By Monday, investigators said two vehicles, burglary tools and other evidence had been seized. The public account from law enforcement did not accuse Paul of leading the action, planning the break-in or handling the tools. It placed her among the group that entered the property during the protest.
The fight over the dogs quickly became one of the hardest facts to pin down. Activists tied to the action said 31 beagles were removed from the facility and that eight were intercepted by police. The sheriff’s office later said some of the dogs had been recovered and returned to Ridglan Farms, but several still were unaccounted for. Ridglan Farms spokesperson Jim Newman said Tuesday that the facility had not received its animals back. That leaves a key gap in the public record: officials have not given a final count of how many dogs were taken, how many were recovered or where any missing animals may be. They also have not said whether investigators believe all of the dogs were removed by the same group, whether any were transferred across state lines or whether additional charges tied to the animals themselves may be filed. For now, those answers remain unsettled.
What is clear is that the protest did not happen in a vacuum. Ridglan Farms, in the town of Blue Mounds west of Madison, has for years been a target of activists who say the facility mistreats beagles bred for scientific research. Ridglan has denied abuse claims and has said it follows state and federal rules. Last fall, after an animal welfare investigation, the facility agreed to surrender its state breeding license by July 1, 2026, ending the part of its operation that breeds and sells beagles to outside researchers. Another licensed part of the business that conducts research on site is expected to continue. Local reporting late last year, drawing on state and federal records and activist estimates, said roughly 2,300 to 2,500 dogs remained at the facility. That background helps explain why Sunday’s protest drew such a large group and why the arrest of a recognizable actor turned a local enforcement action into a national story.
The legal picture is still taking shape. A sheriff’s office spokesperson told local media Tuesday that Paul was charged with misdemeanor trespassing and released for a later court appearance. Officials have not publicly announced an initial appearance date for her. Other protesters face different exposure. The sheriff’s office identified Aditya V. Aswani, 29, of Brooklyn, as booked on a tentative burglary charge, while Wayne Hsiung, 44, of New York, and Dean F. Wyrzykowski, 29, of San Francisco, were booked on tentative criminal trespass charges. Those labels matter because they show authorities are separating roles within the group rather than treating every participant the same way. Even so, the case is still fluid. Tentative charges can change after prosecutors review evidence, and investigators have not said whether more people will be identified from video, witness statements or recovered property. They also have not explained whether any animal theft or property damage charges will be pursued beyond trespass and burglary counts already discussed publicly.
Paul’s arrest fits a longer pattern in her public life. She has spent years involved in animal-rights activism and has previously been arrested in other protest cases. In a California case tied to the removal of chickens from a transport truck in 2021, she was later found not guilty. After her release from the Dane County jail this week, Paul described herself as “an animal rescuer” and linked the Wisconsin case to that same record of direct action. Other protesters were more blunt. Aswani said he believed ordinary protest had not been enough. Ridglan’s response was just as firm. Newman said the activists had broken into a federally registered facility and removed animals without permission, adding that they should face a judge and the consequences of their actions. Those opposing views now frame the next phase of the case: activists cast the action as rescue, while authorities and the facility are treating it as a criminal entry onto private property.
The scene itself added to the tension. The sheriff’s office said the protest happened in difficult weather and required help from multiple departments, including local police and the county communications center. Ridglan Farms said activists cut a chain-link fence and a locked gate, then tried to enter several buildings with sledgehammers, electric saws and crowbars. Law enforcement has not publicly laid out a minute-by-minute sequence, and it has not said whether anyone at the facility was injured. But the details released so far show a protest that moved beyond chanting at a gate and into a fast, physical confrontation over access to animals inside the property. That matters because it will shape how prosecutors weigh intent, property damage and the conduct of individual defendants. It also means the case may turn as much on video evidence and physical tools recovered at the scene as on the broader moral fight over animal research.
As of Wednesday, the investigation remained open, several public details were still in dispute and court dates had not been announced for Paul. The next milestones are likely to be charging decisions, first appearances in court and a clearer accounting of the beagles taken from Ridglan Farms during the Sunday protest.
Author note: Last updated March 18, 2026.