An actress known for her role on the 1990s TV show “Baywatch” was arrested over the weekend while trying to break beagles out of a breeding facility that produces the dogs for research. Reports have identified the actress as 62-year-old Alexandra Paul.
“The Dane County Sheriff’s Office responded to the call of 50 to 60 protesters illegally entering a private property, of a business,” said Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett of Wisconsin in a video posted social media. “The sheriff’s office responded, and we’ve been in contact with the group. The sheriff’s office is in the process of peacefully resolving the issue, as well as taking several individuals into custody in regards to this.”
Paul’s name did pop up on a search for inmates on the county website, but it appeared to have been removed from rosters as of Tuesday. Per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, she was among several activists arrested during the incident Sunday (March 15).
According to the sheriff’s office, Ridglan Farms in Blue Mounds, Wisc., was the business the protestors entered. Its website describes the breeder’s mission as providing “Purpose Bred Beagles for research.”
WKOW reported last October that Ridglan Farms had reached the agreement with the La Crosse County District Attorney after an investigation of animal cruelty allegations. Ridglan Farms will no longer operate under its Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection license – which applies to its sale of dogs purposefully bred for biomedical research – by July 1 of this year. It will not face any penalties or fines, WKOW said.
Ridglan is currently one of only two large dog breeders in the nation that offer experimentation for scientific research, the outlet noted. Sheriff Barrett said in the video message that none of the animals taken from the facility Sunday were injured, nor were any people (including law enforcement) involved in the incident.
In a press release, the sheriff’s department said that it responded to Ridglan Farms at 8:30 a.m. Sunday, along with officers from Mt. Horeb, Verona, City of Madison, and University of Wisconsin Police. Approximately 20 people were arrested, the office said. It did not name Paul as one of the arrestees, though it did name Wayne Hsiung, 44, from New York; Aditya V. Aswani, 29, from Brooklyn, N.Y.; and Dean F. Wyrzykowski, 29, from San Francisco, Calif.
“Aswani was booked into Dane County Jail on a tentative burglary charge, while Hsiung and Wyrzykowski were booked on tentative criminal trespass charges. Everyone involved has been cooperative and respectful,” said the press release.
Paul was arrested and booked Sunday on one count of trespassing, said TMZ, citing criminal records it obtained.
In addition to the arrests, authorities seized two vehicles, burglary tools and other evidence at the scene. As of Monday, some of the beagles had been returned to Ridglan Farms and some were un accounted for, and that an investigation is ongoing. Activists took 23 dogs from the farms to an undisclosed location, said the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s report, citing both the farm and activists.
“The Dane County Sheriff’s Office understands how deeply people feel for the beagles at Ridglan Farms, and we respect their right to express that passion through peaceful protests,” said Barrett.
Paul, who “is perhaps best known for playing (‘Baywatch’ character) Lt. Stephanie Holden,” was preciously arrested for trespassing in September 2021 for allegedly taking two chickens from a Foster Farms truck, the Los Angeles Times previously reported. According to The Fresno Bee, she testified in Merced County in March 2023 and was found not guilty.
People magazine and TMZ both reached out to her representatives for comment.
In 2011, she was interviewed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and was described by the group as an “outspoken animal lover and activist,” who had recently become a vegan. She also told PETA that she became a vegetarian when she was 14. By the 1990s, she had stopped wearing leather, wool and silk – she even had had included in her acting contracts that she would not wear fur or use any makeup tested on animals.
“It is not enough to have a final product not tested; I want there to be no testing at any stage of development,” she told PETA.
Barrett said that his office encourages “anyone with concerns about animal welfare or research practices to engage through lawful and constructive avenues.”