Twenty beagles from Ridglan Farms arrived at the Wisconsin Humane Society's Green Bay campus on Monday evening, the first step in a process that will take them from a controversial breeding and testing facility to foster homes and, eventually, adoption.

The dogs will not be ready for new families right away. They will first live with foster families, then be spayed or neutered, nursed back to health and given behavioral training before they are put up for adoption. Wisconsin Humane Society officials said the beagles should behave like any other dog once they have been trained.

For Steve Wilke, the move is personal. He said the dogs have already been through enough and deserve a stable home. “How they've been treated, I think they need a good home, and they're going to get one at our house. I know that,” he said. Wilke also said he expects the process to end in adoption.

Corey Viars said the timetable will depend on each dog and could stretch for a while. “It could take days, it could take weeks, it could take months,” Viars said. “It could, I mean, hopefully it won't take years, but we're prepared.”

The beagles were among roughly 1,500 dogs freed from Ridglan Farms, an embattled breeding, research and testing facility in Dane County. They were purchased by a national animal welfare organization after a violent protest last month, and more dogs are still on the way. Another 25 beagles were scheduled to arrive in Green Bay later this week.

The Wisconsin Humane Society said foster families will get first priority to adopt the beagles once they are cleared for placement. After that, adoption will be first come, first served. The agency was still looking for people willing to adopt the dogs eventually, along with foster families for other animals and donations of soft dog treats and canned dog food.

The next challenge is simple to name and slow to carry out: getting every dog healthy, socialized and matched with a home. For now, the beagles are safe. What happens next will depend on whether the public steps forward fast enough to keep pace with them.