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turn to.
>> All right. Senator Tammy

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Baldwin, thanks very much.
>> Thank you.

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>> The Wisconsin Beagle
Breeding and Research

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Facility that was
infiltrated by animal

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activists has shined a
spotlight on biomedical

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research conducted on
animals, as well as the

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laws meant to protect
animal welfare. Following

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last week's announcement
that 1500 beagles from

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Ridglan Farms were
purchased by Big Dog Ranch

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Rescue. The undertaking of
where they will go next

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began in one group. Around
60 dogs arrived at the

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Janesville airport, where
the ones most in need of

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medical attention were
loaded onto a plane and

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flown to a facility in new
Jersey. The rest went by

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ground to New York and
Virginia. The fate of these

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beagles is very different
from the majority of

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animals used for research.
The current farm bill

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includes a measure
prioritizing animals no

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longer needed for research
to be given up for adoption

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instead of euthanized.
Euthanasia was one

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consideration for the
special prosecutor assigned

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to investigate Ridglan
Farms in 2025. La Crosse

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County D.A. Tim Gruenke
found enough evidence to

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charge the facility with
one felony over the

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mistreatment of animals. In
a report summarizing the

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case, he states, quote,
Ridglan Farms made clear

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they would argue that
because they conduct

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research and all of the
dogs being bred would also

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be for research purposes.
The Wisconsin statutes do

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not apply to them. Okay. In
the end, Ridglan Farms

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agreed to end its breeding
for sale operations by July

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in exchange for the state
not filing charges. La

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Crosse County District
Attorney Tim Gruenke joins

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us now. And thanks very
much for being here.

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>> No problem.
>> So why did you seek this

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resolution with Ridglan
Farms?

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>> Well, the conclusion I
came to was that I could

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charge one of the types of
things that I was referred

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to by the judge in Dane
County, and I was going to

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charge that. But charging
that would only have

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started a process that
probably would have taken

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six months to a year to get
to trial. There were some

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issues that could have been
appealed. So charging it

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would have just been the
start of a process of. When

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the farm offered to close
down in exchange of

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charging. I thought that
was a good outcome because

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even if I had charged and
convicted them, I still had

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no authority to close them
down and the fines that

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they had been charged with
as well, they could have

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just paid and kept on
running. So I thought them

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ending the business is what
most people wanted, and

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it's more than I could do
by charging, and it would

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happen much quicker than me
charging. So I thought that

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was a good resolution to
have them agree to end

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their business in exchange
for not charging a crime.

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>> So the resolution
effectively closes down the

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operation, because I
thought that under the deal,

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they'd still be able to
maintain their own research

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on remaining animals.
>> Correct. There's two

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parts to the business. The
part where they do their

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own research. I was never
part of. I had no authority

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over them. The judge didn't
involve that in the

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appointment of my special
prosecution. The only

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control I had was on the
breeding part, which is the

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part they agreed to shut
down. So they did anything

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after that, they'd be doing
it without a license and

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could be prosecuted. The
federal law and the state

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law exempt research
facilities and research on

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animals from the animal
cruelty law. So if they are

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doing research on dogs
under the federal grant of

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authority under the USDA,
the state statutes exempt

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that from prosecution. So
that's why I never had any

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authority over them and
wouldn't in the future if

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they continued testing on
animals.

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>> You did find that you
could support charging on

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one procedure conducted on
these beagles. Can you

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describe what that was?
>> It's called a Chiari I

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procedure. It's basically
an eye gland that is

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swollen or prolapsed that
has to be removed. If you

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were doing it with a pet,
it would be an expensive

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procedure and you'd want to
have a licensed

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veterinarian doing it. They
were doing it the way

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they'd been doing it in
decades past, which is kind

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of outdated, which was
removing the gland without

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general anesthesia and
without having a licensed

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veterinarian do it.
Honestly, if they had found

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that it did not fall below
the veterinary standards,

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I'm not sure I would have
had a legal authority to go

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forward. But basically,
they were performing a

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surgery without proper
veterinary methods required

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by the state of Wisconsin.
>> One thing that you

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talked about in your
charging decision was the

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prospect of euthanasia of
the beagles. Why did you

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consider that?
>> Being familiar with a

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lot of farmers growing up
and farmers in La Crosse

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area that I talked to, you
know, and they have animals

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that are injured or need
some help. They have the

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right to euthanize them as
long as it's done humanely.

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And if you had a dairy farm
or a pig farm where an

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animal had some injuries,
if it costs more than the

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cost that animal is to you,
most farmers would would

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put it down. And so that
was a factor in my charging

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decision that it's not a
place that was breeding

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dogs for sale for pets.
It's a farm like a turkey

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farm or pig farm, or
bringing them for food or

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for, in this case, testing.
So it's not looked at the

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same under the veterinary
standards or under the law.

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And so that just reality of
the economics of farms that

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are doing business.
>> Did it pull on your

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heartstrings to pour over
evidence in this case,

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especially as we know that
you are a beagle owner and

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a fan of beagles, actually
have a painting of one in

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your office.
>> It's heartbreaking to

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see them in cages and
heartbreaking to see them,

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you know, not being
socialized properly, not

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being able to run free and
do what dogs do. But the

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law allows for this
behavior on a farm. So as

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long as you're following
the USDA regulations and

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the regulations, the fact
that I don't like it or we

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don't like it doesn't mean
that we could charge a

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crime. So I was relying
mostly on the state

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regulators, inspectors that
are experts in this area

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and going by their advice
on what they normally see

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on farms, dog breeders. And
that's why one of the

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reasons I came to the
decision I came to about

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this behavior.
>> We leave it there. Xia