Wisconsin dog breeding farm manager has veterinary license suspended
Wisconsin dog breeding farm manager's veterinary license suspended
Richard Van Domelen, manager of Ridglan Farms beagle breeder, had his veterinary license unanimously suspended.
MADISON, Wis. - The man in charge of a controversial Dane County beagle breeding farm is now barred from practicing veterinary medicine.
Barred from practicing veterinary medicine
What we know:
Earlier this year, the state veterinary examining board allowed Richard Van Domelen to keep practicing under certain conditions. On Tuesday, Sept. 30, the board voted unanimously to suspend his license while his disciplinary case proceeds. The board also voted to defer their authority over the case to an administrative law judge.
Moments before the vote, the manager of Ridglan Farms compared his plight to a child confused about math.
"When helping your child with math homework, do you simply tell your child that the answer is wrong, do it again, repetitively? Or do you explain what the mistake was and how he or she should do it correctly? That’s all I’m asking for today," Van Domelen said.
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Van Domelen is the facility manager for Ridglan Farms, a commercial breeder of beagle puppies for scientific research.
"I mean, this is a veterinarian who's responsible for thousands of dogs. Claiming that he needs help to understand what he's supposed to do. It's wild," said Rebekah Robinson, co-founder of Dane4Dogs.
Earlier this year, Van Domelen was facing suspension for delegating hundreds of so-called "cherry eye" surgeries to employees with no veterinary license. Two employees testified last fall to participating in the bloody surgeries, saying they used no anesthesia. Instead of suspending him in March, the board allowed Van Domelen to keep practicing under specific conditions.
Emergency vote
Dig deeper:
But Tuesday, the board held a new emergency vote to suspend him, after a recent surprise inspection apparently found problems with record keeping.
Dane4Dogs filed the original complaint. On Tuesday, they delivered a letter to the board signed by 14 veterinarians, 20 veterinary techs and more than 500 Wisconsin residents, urging members to "immeidately and permanently revoke" the license of "any veterinarian found responsible" for directing unlicensed employees to perform surgeries on dogs.
"It finally feels like they're beginning to realize this is as serious as we've been saying it is, that this is not just some animal rights extremist group that's trying to shut down a facility," Robinson said.
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Amy Van Aartsen is co-founder of the Marty Project, another animal rights group that wants to see the dogs held at Ridglan Farms seized and adopted out to loving homes.
"I think this was to me the pivotal moment. I think things are going to start happening. I do really think this is the first domino in a series that are hopefully going to fall," Van Aartsen said.
What about the dogs?
What's next:
So what does that mean for the more than 3200 dogs that are still inside this facility? For now, nothing.
"The wellbeing of those animals is not at risk," said Eric McLeod, Ridglan Farms attorney.
McLeod said what they are doing may be controversial, but it is perfectly legal.
Last week, the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection referred 311 violations of state animal welfare regulations to the Dane County DA. Sources close to the investigation tell FOX6 those violations will most likely be referred to La Crosse County DA Tim Gruenke who is already serving as a special prosecutor investigating criminal animal abuse allegations at Ridglan.
Statement from Ridglan Farms
"While Ridglan Farms respects the authority of the Veterinary Examining Board, we are extremely disappointed by today's decision. Under, Dr. Rick Van Domelen's longtime leadership, our research facility has an exemplary animal care record, which includes a history of highly positive inspection results by the United States Department of Agriculture and also the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP). It's noteworthy that state officials with DATCP regularly approved Ridglan Farms' veterinary practices prior to the initiation of recent animal rights campaigns, which appear to have significantly influenced the agency's opinions and activities.
"Today's decision also comes in stark contrast to the consistent findings of United States Department of Agriculture animal care experts who just days ago inspected Ridglan Farms and found the facility's breeding and research operations to be in full compliance with the Animal Welfare Act. Furthermore, as pointed out recently by a Milwaukee news outlet, there have been no official findings that our research facility or any of our employees have broken the law.
"We look forward to the opportunity to defend Dr. Van Domelen's record and also the reputation of Ridglan Farms, which for nearly 60 years has played an important role in the development of health advancements benefitting both animal and human patients around the globe."
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The Source: Information in this post was produced by FOX6 Investigators, relying on records and proceedings of the Wisconsin Veterinary Examining Board, as well as interviews with animal rights activists and an emailed statement from Ridglan Farms.