A little Beagle rescue puppy tasted freedom for the first time after spending time inside a lab cage. Finn (previously Blondie) had never seen a wave, yet the moment Holly Rilinger held him by the shoreline, his legs started moving in midair, making perfect little paddle strokes.
Finn’s rescuer, Instagram user @hollyrilinger, was in shock, asking him, “What is that? You wanna go swim, buddy?” as she held him in her arms. It can be seen in another follow-up video with Finn from the two-part series that he did indeed want to swim.
Rescue puppy’s freedom ride after being saved from lab cage is better than expected
The rescue puppy was not so sure he could trust his environment at first, so even after spending some time on the shore, he hovers for a while and does not immediately take a dive.
As for his air-paddling, his rescuer was right in calling it his “instinct.” You do not teach a puppy to paddle or swim any more than you teach a baby to kick their legs in the air, and seeing it surface in a dog who had known nothing but a cage shows how powerful the instinct is.
Finn is one of roughly 1,500 Beagles freed from Ridglan Farms in May 2026. The Wisconsin facility was a massive supplier of dogs for biomedical testing, and it shut down its breeding operation under legal pressure after a judge found probable cause for felony animal cruelty. Holly Rilinger drove a transport van full of the rescued Beagles to New York and took five pups to the Hamptons. However, Finn was the one who touched her heart the most.
During their ride back home, Holly petted the rescue puppy and pulled him against her chest, telling him, “This is a freedom ride, buddy.”
