About 1,500 beagles in Wisconsin that have been at the center of a fierce fight waged by animal welfare activists are moving to new homes. A state-licensed facility, Ridglan Farms, outside Madison, breeds the beagles for biomedical research aimed at improving veterinary medicine. Last fall, a special prosecutor found that Ridglan had performed procedures on the beagles that constituted mistreatment. The company has denied that it abuses animals. Big Dog Ranch Rescue, which has campuses in Florida and Alabama, has bought 1,000 of the dogs and is working to find homes for them, said Lauree Simmons, president and founder of the rescue service. The Beagle Freedom Project, an animal rescue and advocacy group, is working to find homes for the other 500 dogs. The special prosecutor had let Ridglan Farms avoid prosecution on the condition that it surrender its breeding license by July, which would end its ability to sell dogs to outside labs.…