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animals. This system of testing is broken. It's been broken for a very long time.

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The data show that in more than 90% of cases where a new drug passes muster in

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10 years of animal tests, when it then goes to human clinical trials, it fails

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for the 90% of the time. You know the NBA playoffs are happening now. If you

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had a free throw shooter who hit one of every 10 free throws, that person, that

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player would be on the bench. Why is a 92% failure rate considered some sort of

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success? And the reality is the world is moving ahead. We have innovation in

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every part of our economy, transportation, communications, aviation. There's anything

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today and any of those realms looked like it did in 1938. When we passed the

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federal food drug and cosmetics act with this animal testing standard, no it does

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not. We now have organs on a chip. These are human cells that are aggregated in a

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micro physiological system to replicate what a human liver would do with the

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drug. For a kidney, we have organoids. We have AI that can look at all of the

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data that exists all over the world on a drug and quickly deliver outcomes that

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are understandable and give us a pathway for safer testing. The idea that we

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don't have alternatives is absurd, especially when you consider that the

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baseline is so deeply flawed. So we are calling, and I know Lori has already

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done this, I know she's going to say a word about this, but we are asking this

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federal administration and its public health agencies who have actually made

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the most important set of statements ever by any administration. The best

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statements in moving away from animal testing, we're asking them to put those

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principles into practice because we cannot rescue our way out of these

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problems. We need front-end solutions in order to protect these animals from

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treatment broadly that is unacceptable in our modern Europe. And when you have

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superior alternatives, you must choose them because the animal's lives matter.

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They matter to them as much as our lives matter to us. And before I turn this

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over to Lori, I just want to say that not only are we, you know, excited to work

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with her and take on the rescue, which has done so much important work. Thank you

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for all the lifesaving work that you've done. I want to thank also our

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partners here. Shannon Keith with with Beagle Freedom Project is not here, but

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Shannon does a super job in caring for Beagles in particular as protocols that

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we will be following. I know Lori's standards are going to be tip-top in

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terms of her overseeing 1000 of the dog moving into adoption. We have Eileen

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Ribbons here, the Wisconsin Puppy Mill Project. Eileen, thank you for supporting

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this whole effort in such a meaningful way and helping with really every

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aspect of it. We were really excited to have Pam McLeod Smith from the Dane

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County Humane Society and thank you for your leadership at a fantastic

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organization. And for the 500 dogs at the Center for Humane Economy will be

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ultimately responsible for staging is going to occur at the Dane County Humane

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Society here. And I also want to know their involvement with the Wisconsin

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Federation of Humane Society. And I want to also shout out Paul Collins, our

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Wisconsin State Director, Paul, where are you? There you are. And finally, I want to

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thank the former chair of the board of the Dane County Humane Society and a

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board member of Animal Wellness Action, which is the other organization that I

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lead. Joseph Goode was the attorney on a pro bono basis when negotiating a

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disagreement, talking with me and Lori daily. And Joseph, thank you for your

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outstanding work and this really exciting outcome for for the vehicles here in

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Dane County. So Lori, thank you again. And I'm looking forward to hearing your

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thoughts.

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So hello, I am Marty Simmons, LAU, R E E S I M M O and S, founder and

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president of Big Dog Branch Rescue, which is the largest no pill, page free

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rescue in the United States. So today is about doing what is right for the

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big goals and making sure these dogs are safe. From the beginning, it was

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critically important to me and all of us at Big Dog Branch that there was a real

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safety net in place. We wanted a structured responsible plan that

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guarantees every one of these dogs is safely transitioned into the care of

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reputable fully vetted rescue organizations, including ourselves, places

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where they will receive essential medical care, including space and

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tutors, along with love and compassion that they so deserve. All of this while

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being prepared for their future and loving homes. At the end of the day, that's

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what matters most. When organizations leaders and advocates work together, real

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progress is possible. And that's what this moment represents. Across this

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entire effort, all 1500 of these big girls are now beginning a new chapter, one

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focused on care, stability, socialization, and making sure every dog has the best

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possible outcome. Several hundred of these dogs will be going to our two

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Big Dog Branch campuses, one in Palm Beach County, one in Alabama, with the

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remaining dogs placed with our rescue partners across the country. Organizations

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we know and trust. These dogs are going to need time. They will need patients. They

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will need support as they adjust to environments they have never experienced

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for. They will learn kindness and what it means to be loved, how to walk on a

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leash and see sunshine and grass beneath their feet. We're not just moving dogs.

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We are preparing them for life. We appreciate the cooperation and coordination

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that made this possible, especially the work done alongside Center for the

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Main Economy. We work together for almost a month to ensure the right plan was in place.

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This is what happens when you have collaborative engagement, a shared goal.

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You get solutions that save lives. I also want to acknowledge the role that

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animal advocates and activists in the public had in this. The courage of these

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animal advocates and everyone who spoke up and made this possible. It's a powerful step

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forward towards a much larger mission.

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This is exactly what Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been

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advocating for his make America healthy again agenda. It's about using the best, most accurate

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science available to protect human and animal health.

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And that includes how we conduct research because the reality is science has changed.

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There's growing consensus that traditional animal testing models, including those using dogs,

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are not consistently predictive of human outcomes. In fact, even the FDA has acknowledged

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that the vast majority of drugs that succeed in animal testing never really translate successfully

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to humans. The NIH has also acknowledged that animal models may not reliably replicate complex

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human diseases, which can limit their predictive value in drug development.

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And it's why we are pushing so hard towards newer, more reliable ways of testing that are based on

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human biology and give us far more accurate results. This isn't just about animal welfare,

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it's about better science, to balance more and more humane innovation without causing harm to

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innocent animals. I'm calling on RFK Jr. to open the Office of Research Innovation,

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Validation and Application Arriva. To advance non-animal biomedical research methods,

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we need continued action by HHS, NIH, and the FDA. Continued investment in full implementation

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of programs that will accelerate this transition because progress only matters if they follow through

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on their words they have publicly stated. Today is an important step forward because it is part

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of a larger shift in how we protect the animals and how we approach science and how we take

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responsibility for doing things more humanely and better. A big dog ranch rescue and center

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for humane economy together, we are committed to working and pushing this agenda forward,

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humanely and collaboratively. And most important of all, today, these dogs have a future.

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Thank you to everyone who made this possible.

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You know, Laurie, when you were speaking, you made me think of, you know, my iPhone 17.

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What if I came in here with a crank phone or a flip phone? You would think I was so incredibly

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old-fashioned. While young people, if you have the iPhone 13, you're, you know, archaic,

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how can we possibly think that this method that was really enshrined in the 1930s is a good way

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to do science? We have to get beyond it. You know, I have beagles. I've had beagles for a long time.

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They are just the most trusting, incredible creatures. And their own trust is exploited

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when they're used in a laboratory setting. That's why they're used. It's because they're so compliant.

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They're so obedient in this way. I want to ask Pam, in terms of the Dane County Humane Society,

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I know people are going to want to, you know, obtain dogs. We're probably not going to have enough

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to go around for the demand given the incredible interest in these animals. What should people do,

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Pam, to signal their interest? Why don't you tell them out for a quick moment, if you want.

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And joining her is Amy Goode with the Dane County Humane Society.

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Hi, everybody. So, I am short.

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All right, Dane County Humane Society is just so incredibly excited to be part of this project.

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This has been happening in our backyard for so long. And so many people have made this

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possible today, especially our partners here with Big Dog Ranch Rescue and the Center for Humane

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Economy. So, right now our group is going to be staging 500 of the dogs at the Dane County Humane

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Society once Lori's team gets their dogs off and out to all of their rescue partners. So, stay

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tuned on our website at give shelter.org slash originally meagles. We'll have all the information

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there. If people are interested in adopting, they can express their interest there. Well, of course,

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gladly accept donations to take care of these pups because there's a lot of work to do in the

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days ahead to get them ready for their new homes. And we know right now shelters and rescues

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everywhere are already full of animals. No one group can do this alone. That's why we're networking

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with our trusted rescues and partners to get these dogs spread out throughout the United States.

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But around 500 of them will be staying in the Midwest. And we're anticipating at least 50 will

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be up for adoption at Dane County Humane Society in the coming weeks. Great. Thank you guys. Thank

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you. Stay up here now. Yeah. You want to say something with your dogs? Yeah. So, approximately

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300 of the dogs will go to directly to our big dog ranch rescue campuses in Florida and in

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Alabama. If anybody is interested in adopting, you can go to our website at bdr.org fill out an

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application. They will not be ready right away. We want to do this right. We want to give them the

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time to transition, get them spayed and neutered. We will also be releasing our rescue partners

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where our dogs, other dogs are going throughout the nation. Sure, there's going to be something

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in their state. And we will be releasing that probably next Thursday or Friday. All of us will

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need your support with donations. This is a major undertaking. All of the rescue partners

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that we send out to will also. So, I hope you open your hearts in your homes to make this possible

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for a great future for all these dogs. Thank you. Great. And I just want to say closing before we

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take questions, I want to underscore a few of the bigger picture requests that we

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everyone understand where this issue needs to go to protect bagels and other animals all across

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the country and major institutions and with tens of billions of dollars spent by our federal

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government to drive research. National Institutes of Health is the largest research funder in the

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world. So, we're asking for NIH funding ban on experiments that involve the use of dogs and

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primates. Of course, here in Dane County, you have a primate research facility, one of the

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eight or so primary facilities. The Department of Health and Human Services has already said

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that the Oregon Health Sciences University primary facility, which is the biggest primate

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facility they want to help fund that program to turn it into a primate sanctuary as an incredible

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template. Second, we want the FDA to finalize the rulemaking for the FDA Modernization Act 2.0,

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so we can race ahead into this new environment. The Senate passed the unanimously, the U.S. Senate.

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The House leadership is delaying and dealing and it should do so no longer. Third, again,

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tied in with what's happening at the primate centers, which are funded by the United States,

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moving them toward sanctuaries, and then tying that in, and Secretary Kennedy already spoke about

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this, the idea of banning primate imports. We are capturing primates in the wild in Cambodia

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and other nations, and we are importing tens of thousands of them into the United States

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for experiments that don't work. There are zoonotic disease risks and other risks.

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So with that, my colleague Joseph Grove is here and I'm going to take questions here first,

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but then we'll get some in the queue there. So please just raise your hand and I'll

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apply guess starting here. So how long has this deal been in the meeting and how many

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dogs are left at the voxelate? What's that? Well, let me just say that with Joe Good,

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our attorney, we've been having discussions for quite a long time, and I'll say that preceded

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some of the activity that occurred on the ground of Richmond. We have been focused on this

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idea for a long, long time, but it's a difficult, it's a difficult process. We don't know exactly

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how many animals, but my best guess estimate, you know, just based on what I get are, you know,

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perhaps 500 or remaining, but I don't know, and that is not something that Richmond disclosed to

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us in a specific circumstance, right behind you. Yes? How much was the deal all that you guys

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had to strike to rescue these dogs? Have you such a basketball kid to go with that?

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Yeah, that's a confidential matter. And we're, you know, as non-profit organizations,

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we husband or resources, but we wanted to take this moment in the period between present and

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July 1st to get as many dogs out. And as I said, we are very excited to continue our discussions

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with Richland and to find an exit ramp for the remaining dogs. Just to be sure so you can't say

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how much you did pay for the dog. Yes, we did. But you can't say how much you correct by the terms

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of the agreement. Yes, sir. Could you repeat the questions as they're asking? Oh, yes, I will.

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The question that I just answered was there was a monetary payment. Is that correct? And I said,

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yes, there was a monetary payment by the terms of our agreement between the

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center of remade economy, big dog ranch rescue, and original farms. We are prohibited from

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discussing that. Yes, sir. So I know, original farms are getting up at state breeding license

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by July 1st, but he does still have a license through the U.S. game exactly until 2028, I guess.

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Are you still concerned with Richland still being in operation even after this deal goes through now?

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We, we, by the terms of the agreement, we're really not going to talk too much about

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original. There are a lot of other sources out there that you can consult in that regard.

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But I think you heard from me and also from Lori that we want to move on, you know, beyond animal

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testing all over the country. We're not picking on any one institution and it just doesn't work.

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Yes, sir. You mentioned non-human primates. The University of Wisconsin has in their most recent

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USDA annual report from 2024 more than a thousand of them, more than 600 involved in

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experiments classified as painful for causing distress. Any message to University of Wisconsin?

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What do you would like to see happen with how that works? I mean, primates, you know, on the

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phylogenetic tree are closer to us than dogs. They, you know, share an incredible percentage

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or genetic material. They, you know, clearly are conscious. They have social needs. They have

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specific behavioral needs as animals who live in nature and find trees. And it's just impossible

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to replicate those conditions in a laboratory, animal setting, even the best sanctuary struggle

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to do that. And again, my comments about the failure rate don't just apply to dogs. And I will

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note that while I do believe that the public health leaders within the Trump administration

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have spoken on more against animal testing than any other administration, the prior NIH directors

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have said that the animal testing model is broken. This is not the view of an animal welfare advocate.

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This is the reiterating of an emerging scientific consensus that animal testing is simply not reliable.

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And when you then compare it to these new methods with all of the innovation that's happening

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every day, again, we shouldn't be using crank phones. We shouldn't be using flip phones.

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The world is changing. Let's embrace this. Was there, yes. Laura Trump is on the board for

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big dog ranch rescue obviously, posting a video a couple of weeks ago saying that Richland had

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denied a $1 million deal. So it's safe to say that this deal going through is well over a million

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dollars. Can you give a rough estimate as a follow-up to that? What is Laura Trump's role in this?

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I'm going to say, no, it was not over that. I can't, as our contract says, disclose the amount.

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Money was the only way we could guarantee the safe future of these dogs. We did not want them to

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be sold off into other testing labs. So lots of donors came forward supporters and organizations

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that donated to both of our organizations to get these dogs released. We cannot disclose

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the amount, but I can tell you that it was well under what Laura had put out there.

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Laura is a huge animal advocate. We've been working together

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since we started to shut down greenhouse racing. Many, many years ago, she had three big goals,

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one just recently passed away. But she's a passionate animal lover and really was instrumental in

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putting the what we call the strength force with the DOJ's office, with

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Secretary Rollins from Secretary of Agriculture and the USDA and RFK's office together to all work

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together to make animal welfare better. The Trump administration is very committed to it.

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If you want to see more about this, please tune in to Laura Trump's show, My View,

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Fox News, Saturday night, nine o'clock Eastern time, and you'll hear more about her failings

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and her involvement in this rescue. Yes, let me get a, yes, sir.

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I want to get back to Rachel and if I can, both of you mentioned the events over the last six weeks

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or so, the activists and the public pressure. What role did that play either on your side or on

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vigilant side and get this deal done? Well, I just speak for myself that we've been in discussions

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preceding any of that. So this has been a long standing concern of mine and of the

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center of the economy. Again, remember, within 18 months of introduction in Congress, we got the

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FDA modernization Act 2.0 passed and the Beagles were a part of that. We've been digging into this.

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Obviously, we've been concerned about the Beagle and Marshall bio resources. So I do think it's

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incredible. There's been an outpouring and so many manifestations of concern about animals

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and testing. I think it's a new moment there. And I think you're seeing it with pundits and

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you're seeing it with lawmakers and you're seeing it with the public. So it's all kind of a rising

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tide. Did that add to the pressure to get the deal done? I mean, I can't speak for Rachel.

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You'd have to ask the folks that, yes. So these people are going to be available for adoption

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and you know, what kind of issues are these people going to maybe carry with them? What should

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families be prepared for when applying to adopt some of these animals? Sure, Lori.

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And then the question was, the conditions or the behavior of the animals and how will they adjust

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to their new living environments? What kind of things can adopters think about in terms of some

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of the challenges? So any dog that has been raised in a confinement situation, a testing laboratory,

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a puppy mill, and cages is going to go through a transition period. They don't know what it's

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like to be in a home. They don't know what it's like to be outside, walk on grass. They don't know,

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you know, normal things that a normal dog from a normal situation, it's all new to them. So people

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will need to be very patient. They will need to understand things could turn around for each

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dog differently as far as time. Some could take months, some could take longer. So being prepared

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to have the patients, give the love, earn that trust to these dogs is very important for each

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person considering to give one of these dogs a home. Each one of the rescues will start it,

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do the beginnings, and hopefully not adopt out until they're ready. But any adopter needs to know

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it's going to take love and time. And did you have anything you wanted to add

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to that question in general in terms of socializing animals? So if that is satisfactory,

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yeah. Not that I thought that it was incomplete. Let me ask Joseph Grove,

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we kind of favored our in office room or in conference room crowd here. Let's take

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one or two questions from our online. All right, very good. Thank you for a

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most constant public radio. We're being asked about the very specific provisions in the agreement.

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You may have already answered this regarding confidentiality, but part of the provisions of

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the agreement you can discuss. The question is about about other terms in the agreement that we

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can't can we just ask the answer is, you know, we're we're telling you everything that we can tell

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you here. All right. And a follow up to that also from Wisconsin public radio. Do you believe

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that there will be other vehicles left at Rachel and once the purchase of 1500 vehicles goes through,

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was their attempt to purchase more vehicles? Yes. The question is, what about the remaining

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vehicles? Are they are their vehicles? And were we attempting or did we attempt to obtain custody

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of them? The answer is, as I said before, yes, we don't help any and we want them. And we are,

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we are excited about the idea of acquiring them. And we want to invite Rachel and to, you know,

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be part of that process. What we obviously need, it's approval. We're doing this through,

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through discussion and collaboration and education. And one final, you clarify whether it is 1000

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or 1500 dogs being released in this initial tranche. There are 1500 dogs being released in this initial

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agreement that was reached between Ridgeland and the Senator of Canada and Victor. I trust

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you. One more? No. Okay. Yes. Obviously you've been kind of lobbying at the federal level for a

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long time. So you get some changes. There's a lot of things happening in the world right now.

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Congress has a lot on its plate. How confident are you that some of these initiatives that you're

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advocating for can get done on a federal level? And do you have any plans to lobby on a state level

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for some of these issues that are specifically based in Wisconsin?

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The question is about the lobbying efforts. And I'll tell you that I'm, I'm very disappointed in

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House Republican leaders for not moving the FDA modernization at 3.0. It has tremendous bipartisan

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support. Lots of Republicans are strongly behind this legislation. It's being led by Congressman

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Buddy Carter, Republican of Georgia, the former health committee chairman. The Senate already passed

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so both Ron Johnson and Tammy Baldwin supported it, right? They are one of the few states that has a

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split delegation by party and they both supported it as have all the other senators. So Congress

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needs to stop delaying on this issue. This is not just an issue of animal welfare. This is about

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drug pricing. It's about the speed of delivery of drugs. It's about adverse reactions to drugs.

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I mean, this is a startling statistic. The fourth leading cause of death in the United States is

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adverse reactions to drugs. The animal tests were part of that screening process that resulted in

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this. And if you watch some of these pharmaceutical ads, you see, you know, all the side effects,

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it's the whole run of the narrative that show you. It's while you're tongue, you can have a heart

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attack. There are all sorts of side effects from these drugs. That system is not working for us in

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the United States. Question here, many more? Yes, again. So last week following, you know,

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some of the activists work on, you know, the groups that were on the ground,

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originally said that there was a $1 million deal in the works. Do you know,

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were they referring to your guys's work? Or did they not have previous knowledge that this

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negotiation was ongoing? Again, listen, I mean, I don't, there were a lot of numbers that were

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being thrown around. And we were not discussing this with people. This was the confidential

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discussion. So there was a lot of stuff flying around. We're here to tell you that we got the

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best deal that we could, but we wanted those animals. And that was, that was the bottom line for us.

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It completes that answer. That was if we were to get all 2000 of the dogs.

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So this was the same. This is, they were talking about your guys' negotiation process,

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but I don't know if that was part of that. Yeah.

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I think, I think what Laura is saying is that there was, there was, there was some talk in

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generally, what is it going to cost to get all these animals out? And, you know, I don't know

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what other side discussions were happening, but I don't believe based on Joseph Good's conversations

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with the legal counsel for Rich on that, there were a lot of other discussions going on, but

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there were a lot of people, a lot of chefs in the kitchen talking about this issue. Yes, sir.

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I want to break down the numbers as clearly as possible. So 502 Dane County on behalf of the

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Center for Human Economy. I have 300 of Big Dog Ranch Rescue campuses in Florida. Can you tell me

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the other, I'm not a math guy. That's 800. Yes. That's 100, 700. Another 700 that Lori will be

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working with her partner organization. So she's going to take 300 at her facility this time,

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but just like the Center is participating with Dane County Humane and the Wisconsin Public

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Health Project and Beagle Freedom Project, she'll be working with other rescues too.

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Is it a quick follow-up? Can you tell me how many rescues total involved in this?

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Any understanding that you do? Sure. We're working with over 50 partner rescues

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that we have fully vetted and that we trust to do right. We will also, as Big Dog Ranch,

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be a safety net for anything that doesn't work out for the rescues should they hit something they

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can't deal with. Medically or behaviorally or in the future, they will always have that safety net

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and be returned to Big Dog Ranch for 1,000 dogs. One last question.

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Happened to the remaining dogs that are in the facility. You know, I received a request

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of release from Pino saying that they might end up in some facility in Tennessee. In another

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research facility, I was in a trip to that around. The question is what about the disposition of

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the remaining dogs and what we said we don't know and all I can tell you is that we continue to

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feel great urgency in trying to secure those dogs and we will find a home for every single one of them.

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Yes, I could follow for Dane County. Wisconsin Humane Society just found information saying

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they were going to get $150. Is that part of the 500 that you were with every new one?

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Yes, so we are working with Beagle Freedom Project, Wisconsin Puppy Mill Project,

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and the Wisconsin Federated Humane Society which is about 40 shelters throughout Wisconsin

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and then Wisconsin Humane is taking many of them as well. So lots of partners in Wisconsin who are

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going to be watching after these Wisconsin dogs. Okay, thank you all very much for joining us. Thank

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you to those of you online and you can reach me at waneatanimalwellnessaction.org. Lori, what's the

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contact for you? Lori L-A-R-E-E dot Simmons S-I-M-M-O-S at B-E-R-R dot org. Thank you.

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Thank you all very much. Appreciate you being here. Have a good day.