Squirrels in 2024, Beagles in 2026: Langworthy's Election-Year Animal Act

Langworthy's Concern for Animal Welfare Starts With a Rodent

Six days before Langworthy's 2024 reelection, state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) officers searched a Chemung County animal sanctuary. An officer was bitten by "Peanut," a pet squirrel, which was then euthanized to test for rabies. (WENY News)

When the news broke four days before the election, Langworthy blasted the DEC's "ridiculously mistaken priorities." The story went viral, prompting bomb threats against DEC offices. Then-VP nominee J.D. Vance said the government "doesn't want us to have pets." Elon Musk posted that "government overreach kidnapped an orphaned squirrel and executed him." Langworthy easily won reelection against Democrat Thomas Carle.

From Beagles in Wisconsin to a Farm in Wayne County

After Peanut the squirrel, beagle dogs came next. Ridglan Farms bred them in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, about 500 miles outside of Langworthy's district. A Wisconsin judge found probable cause that Ridglan violated state animal laws, though Ridglan denied it. Under pressure, Ridglan surrendered its state breeding license. It still holds U.S. Department of Agriculture research registrations. (WXOW)

Langworthy never visited Ridglan to see for himself, but nonetheless he asked HHS and NIH to cut off federal funding tied to Ridglan. He asked Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Director Jay Bhattacharya for a list of NIH grants tied to Ridglan and a timeline to end their funding. (Fox News)

When Ridglan gave up its state breeding license, Langworthy praised the people working to close Ridglan. "I'm proud of the coalition of people who joined together to shine a light on what was happening behind closed doors at Ridglan and fought to stop it." Those people included Wayne Hsiung and three other people who were charged with burglary, criminal damage to property, theft and attempted theft for breaking into Ridglan and taking dogs. Hsiung is quoted in Langworthy's own press release thanking him.

Langworthy Animal Welfare Push Hits a Wayne County Employer

When Ridglan gave up its license, Langworthy said, "Next stop is Marshall Bioresources." Marshall had already been a target of animal-rights groups, and after Ridglan, Langworthy made it his next stop.

Marshall BioResources sits in North Rose, in Wayne County, New York, not in Langworthy's NY-23 district. It's in Claudia Tenney's NY-24 congressional district. Marshall breeds beagles, ferrets, cats, and minipigs for research and government-mandated testing. Its customers include NIH-funded university labs, the Food and Drug Administration, the Defense Department, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. It holds a current USDA license and is AAALAC-accredited, a widely used standard in biomedical research. By Marshall's own count, it employs more than 200 people and has operated in Wayne County since 1939. (Marshall BioResources FAQ)

Marshall's USDA Inspection Reports

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's public database lists 32 inspection reports for Marshall since 2014, typically one a year but as many as eight in 2024. Twenty-four inspections reported no citations. That is, inspectors found no violations of the USDA Animal Welfare Act, consistent with or slightly better than the typical licensed breeder. Eight other inspections cited 12 non-critical items (problems with cleanliness and housekeeping, improperly stored food, and flaking paint) and one critical item in 2023.

Langworthy's Visit to Marshall

In May 2026, Langworthy and his staff, responding to what he said were questions from his constituents, drove to Marshall's North Rose site. On May 12, he posted, "You asked me to look into Marshall Farms in Wayne County, NY, so I went there myself." Langworthy was not welcomed in for a tour, and he said that security "showed up to keep a watchful eye on us." Langworthy filmed the visit and posted it online.

After his visit, Langworthy said that Marshall was "a stain on New York" and "a torture chamber." He says it holds about 60,000 animals with only about 100 employees, and "that's not enough people to care for 60,000 animals." (Erie News Now) On Facebook, he wrote, "Time to shut down Marshall Farms in NYS." His office calls the company "the largest breeder in the nation" and says it has been "reported for inhumane treatment." (press release)

Marshall disputes his statements. It says it employs more than 200 people and that outside estimates of its animal population are "overstating the figures," though it has not given its own count. Marshall accuses Langworthy of being "directly responsible for spreading disinformation that endangers the health and safety of his constituents and their pets." USDA has cited Marshall for individual violations, but no regulator or court has found a pattern of animal mistreatment.

Further, Marshall says Langworthy is "associating himself with activists facing serious felony charges," referring to Wayne Hsiung and three others facing felony charges. Marshall also argues that ending animal testing in the U.S. before proven alternatives exist would only move research overseas "with less oversight, less accountability." That would affect, for example, vaccine development, military medicine, and pandemic preparedness, the company says.

Marshall's medical argument has support. The National Association for Biomedical Research says all 25 of the most-prescribed drugs in the U.S. were developed using animal research. Dinutuximab, now a standard treatment for childhood neuroblastoma, started as a mouse antibody. Alternatives to animal models, like organ-on-a-chip systems, are improving, but they aren't ready yet.

Langworthy Wants a Business Shut Down

Langworthy markets himself as a red-tape cutter. He voted for the REINS Act, which would require Congress's approval of major federal rules proposed by agencies, and he has railed against "baseless overregulation." But he wants to shut down a U.S. Department of Agriculture-licensed, highly regulated business with an inspection record in line with that of similar breeders.

For months, the Langworthy animal welfare campaign ran on talk of "codifying" a ban on federal funding for research on dogs and cats, but he never put forward a bill of his own. Then, on Sept. 23, about six weeks before Election Day, he and Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) announced the Companion Animal Protection Against Cruel Testing (COMPACT) Act. It would end federal funding from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for research and government-mandated testing on dogs and cats. (Wellsville Sun)

Here is how that could cost jobs in Western New York. The National Institutes of Health is part of HHS, and Marshall's customers include NIH-funded university labs. Marshall breeds beagles and cats for that research. If the federal money stops, those labs stop buying the animals, and Marshall loses business. It employs more than 200 people in New York.

The bill could also hit the universities. Any lab that uses NIH money for dog or cat studies would lose it, along with the researchers, technicians, and animal-care workers paid by those grants. No one has counted how many New York university jobs that would be, and the bill would not touch research paid for by private labs.

Langworthy would say COMPACT only ends federal funding and doesn't regulate private labs. But his own words go further. He has said, "Time to shut down Marshall Farms in NYS."

Langworthy's Focused on Dogs and Cats, Not on His Constituents

In July 2025, Langworthy voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which cuts more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and SNAP over a decade. The Fiscal Policy Institute found that, as a result, Langworthy's NY-23 congressional district has more hospitals at risk of closing than any other New York district. A hospital-industry analysis projects that the district could lose about 759 hospital jobs and 1,409 jobs overall. Recent funding cuts proposed by Dr. Oz's Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services could add to the strain on hospitals. (CMS)

Meanwhile, Tenney's Silent…Again.

Marshall BioResources is in Claudia Tenney's NY-24 congressional district, not in Langworthy's NY-23 district. You would think Tenney would oppose Langworthy's effort to close an employer in her district. But no. We didn't find any statement from Tenney either supporting BioResources or opposing a fellow Republican's effort to close it, which threatens more than 200 jobs.

Related from WNYP

• Nick Langworthy: Biography, Voting Record, Committees and Political Career
• Claudia Tenney: Biography, Voting Record, Committees and Political Career
• Langworthy and Tenney Voted for the "One Big Beautiful Bill"
• Is Nick Langworthy the Plastics Lobby's Favorite Congressman?