animals. This system of testing is broken. It's been broken for a very long time.
The data show that in more than 90% of cases where a new drug passes muster in
10 years of animal tests, when it then goes to human clinical trials, it fails
for the 90% of the time. You know the NBA playoffs are happening now. If you
had a free throw shooter who hit one of every 10 free throws, that person, that
player would be on the bench. Why is a 92% failure rate considered some sort of
success? And the reality is the world is moving ahead. We have innovation in
every part of our economy, transportation, communications, aviation. There's anything
today and any of those realms looked like it did in 1938. When we passed the
federal food drug and cosmetics act with this animal testing standard, no it does
not. We now have organs on a chip. These are human cells that are aggregated in a
micro physiological system to replicate what a human liver would do with the
drug. For a kidney, we have organoids. We have AI that can look at all of the
data that exists all over the world on a drug and quickly deliver outcomes that
are understandable and give us a pathway for safer testing. The idea that we
don't have alternatives is absurd, especially when you consider that the
baseline is so deeply flawed. So we are calling, and I know Lori has already
done this, I know she's going to say a word about this, but we are asking this
federal administration and its public health agencies who have actually made
the most important set of statements ever by any administration. The best
statements in moving away from animal testing, we're asking them to put those
principles into practice because we cannot rescue our way out of these
problems. We need front-end solutions in order to protect these animals from
treatment broadly that is unacceptable in our modern Europe. And when you have
superior alternatives, you must choose them because the animal's lives matter.
They matter to them as much as our lives matter to us. And before I turn this
over to Lori, I just want to say that not only are we, you know, excited to work
with her and take on the rescue, which has done so much important work. Thank you
for all the lifesaving work that you've done. I want to thank also our
partners here. Shannon Keith with with Beagle Freedom Project is not here, but
Shannon does a super job in caring for Beagles in particular as protocols that
we will be following. I know Lori's standards are going to be tip-top in
terms of her overseeing 1000 of the dog moving into adoption. We have Eileen
Ribbons here, the Wisconsin Puppy Mill Project. Eileen, thank you for supporting
this whole effort in such a meaningful way and helping with really every
aspect of it. We were really excited to have Pam McLeod Smith from the Dane
County Humane Society and thank you for your leadership at a fantastic
organization. And for the 500 dogs at the Center for Humane Economy will be
ultimately responsible for staging is going to occur at the Dane County Humane
Society here. And I also want to know their involvement with the Wisconsin
Federation of Humane Society. And I want to also shout out Paul Collins, our
Wisconsin State Director, Paul, where are you? There you are. And finally, I want to
thank the former chair of the board of the Dane County Humane Society and a
board member of Animal Wellness Action, which is the other organization that I
lead. Joseph Goode was the attorney on a pro bono basis when negotiating a
disagreement, talking with me and Lori daily. And Joseph, thank you for your
outstanding work and this really exciting outcome for for the vehicles here in
Dane County. So Lori, thank you again. And I'm looking forward to hearing your
thoughts.
So hello, I am Marty Simmons, LAU, R E E S I M M O and S, founder and
president of Big Dog Branch Rescue, which is the largest no pill, page free
rescue in the United States. So today is about doing what is right for the
big goals and making sure these dogs are safe. From the beginning, it was
critically important to me and all of us at Big Dog Branch that there was a real
safety net in place. We wanted a structured responsible plan that
guarantees every one of these dogs is safely transitioned into the care of
reputable fully vetted rescue organizations, including ourselves, places
where they will receive essential medical care, including space and
tutors, along with love and compassion that they so deserve. All of this while
being prepared for their future and loving homes. At the end of the day, that's
what matters most. When organizations leaders and advocates work together, real
progress is possible. And that's what this moment represents. Across this
entire effort, all 1500 of these big girls are now beginning a new chapter, one
focused on care, stability, socialization, and making sure every dog has the best
possible outcome. Several hundred of these dogs will be going to our two
Big Dog Branch campuses, one in Palm Beach County, one in Alabama, with the
remaining dogs placed with our rescue partners across the country. Organizations
we know and trust. These dogs are going to need time. They will need patients. They
will need support as they adjust to environments they have never experienced
for. They will learn kindness and what it means to be loved, how to walk on a
leash and see sunshine and grass beneath their feet. We're not just moving dogs.
We are preparing them for life. We appreciate the cooperation and coordination
that made this possible, especially the work done alongside Center for the
Main Economy. We work together for almost a month to ensure the right plan was in place.
This is what happens when you have collaborative engagement, a shared goal.
You get solutions that save lives. I also want to acknowledge the role that
animal advocates and activists in the public had in this. The courage of these
animal advocates and everyone who spoke up and made this possible. It's a powerful step
forward towards a much larger mission.
This is exactly what Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been
advocating for his make America healthy again agenda. It's about using the best, most accurate
science available to protect human and animal health.
And that includes how we conduct research because the reality is science has changed.
There's growing consensus that traditional animal testing models, including those using dogs,
are not consistently predictive of human outcomes. In fact, even the FDA has acknowledged
that the vast majority of drugs that succeed in animal testing never really translate successfully
to humans. The NIH has also acknowledged that animal models may not reliably replicate complex
human diseases, which can limit their predictive value in drug development.
And it's why we are pushing so hard towards newer, more reliable ways of testing that are based on
human biology and give us far more accurate results. This isn't just about animal welfare,
it's about better science, to balance more and more humane innovation without causing harm to
innocent animals. I'm calling on RFK Jr. to open the Office of Research Innovation,
Validation and Application Arriva. To advance non-animal biomedical research methods,
we need continued action by HHS, NIH, and the FDA. Continued investment in full implementation
of programs that will accelerate this transition because progress only matters if they follow through
on their words they have publicly stated. Today is an important step forward because it is part
of a larger shift in how we protect the animals and how we approach science and how we take
responsibility for doing things more humanely and better. A big dog ranch rescue and center
for humane economy together, we are committed to working and pushing this agenda forward,
humanely and collaboratively. And most important of all, today, these dogs have a future.
Thank you to everyone who made this possible.
You know, Laurie, when you were speaking, you made me think of, you know, my iPhone 17.
What if I came in here with a crank phone or a flip phone? You would think I was so incredibly
old-fashioned. While young people, if you have the iPhone 13, you're, you know, archaic,
how can we possibly think that this method that was really enshrined in the 1930s is a good way
to do science? We have to get beyond it. You know, I have beagles. I've had beagles for a long time.
They are just the most trusting, incredible creatures. And their own trust is exploited
when they're used in a laboratory setting. That's why they're used. It's because they're so compliant.
They're so obedient in this way. I want to ask Pam, in terms of the Dane County Humane Society,
I know people are going to want to, you know, obtain dogs. We're probably not going to have enough
to go around for the demand given the incredible interest in these animals. What should people do,
Pam, to signal their interest? Why don't you tell them out for a quick moment, if you want.
And joining her is Amy Goode with the Dane County Humane Society.
Hi, everybody. So, I am short.
All right, Dane County Humane Society is just so incredibly excited to be part of this project.
This has been happening in our backyard for so long. And so many people have made this
possible today, especially our partners here with Big Dog Ranch Rescue and the Center for Humane
Economy. So, right now our group is going to be staging 500 of the dogs at the Dane County Humane
Society once Lori's team gets their dogs off and out to all of their rescue partners. So, stay
tuned on our website at give shelter.org slash originally meagles. We'll have all the information
there. If people are interested in adopting, they can express their interest there. Well, of course,
gladly accept donations to take care of these pups because there's a lot of work to do in the
days ahead to get them ready for their new homes. And we know right now shelters and rescues
everywhere are already full of animals. No one group can do this alone. That's why we're networking
with our trusted rescues and partners to get these dogs spread out throughout the United States.
But around 500 of them will be staying in the Midwest. And we're anticipating at least 50 will
be up for adoption at Dane County Humane Society in the coming weeks. Great. Thank you guys. Thank
you. Stay up here now. Yeah. You want to say something with your dogs? Yeah. So, approximately
300 of the dogs will go to directly to our big dog ranch rescue campuses in Florida and in
Alabama. If anybody is interested in adopting, you can go to our website at bdr.org fill out an
application. They will not be ready right away. We want to do this right. We want to give them the
time to transition, get them spayed and neutered. We will also be releasing our rescue partners
where our dogs, other dogs are going throughout the nation. Sure, there's going to be something
in their state. And we will be releasing that probably next Thursday or Friday. All of us will
need your support with donations. This is a major undertaking. All of the rescue partners
that we send out to will also. So, I hope you open your hearts in your homes to make this possible
for a great future for all these dogs. Thank you. Great. And I just want to say closing before we
take questions, I want to underscore a few of the bigger picture requests that we
everyone understand where this issue needs to go to protect bagels and other animals all across
the country and major institutions and with tens of billions of dollars spent by our federal
government to drive research. National Institutes of Health is the largest research funder in the
world. So, we're asking for NIH funding ban on experiments that involve the use of dogs and
primates. Of course, here in Dane County, you have a primate research facility, one of the
eight or so primary facilities. The Department of Health and Human Services has already said
that the Oregon Health Sciences University primary facility, which is the biggest primate
facility they want to help fund that program to turn it into a primate sanctuary as an incredible
template. Second, we want the FDA to finalize the rulemaking for the FDA Modernization Act 2.0,
so we can race ahead into this new environment. The Senate passed the unanimously, the U.S. Senate.
The House leadership is delaying and dealing and it should do so no longer. Third, again,
tied in with what's happening at the primate centers, which are funded by the United States,
moving them toward sanctuaries, and then tying that in, and Secretary Kennedy already spoke about
this, the idea of banning primate imports. We are capturing primates in the wild in Cambodia
and other nations, and we are importing tens of thousands of them into the United States
for experiments that don't work. There are zoonotic disease risks and other risks.
So with that, my colleague Joseph Grove is here and I'm going to take questions here first,
but then we'll get some in the queue there. So please just raise your hand and I'll
apply guess starting here. So how long has this deal been in the meeting and how many
dogs are left at the voxelate? What's that? Well, let me just say that with Joe Good,
our attorney, we've been having discussions for quite a long time, and I'll say that preceded
some of the activity that occurred on the ground of Richmond. We have been focused on this
idea for a long, long time, but it's a difficult, it's a difficult process. We don't know exactly
how many animals, but my best guess estimate, you know, just based on what I get are, you know,
perhaps 500 or remaining, but I don't know, and that is not something that Richmond disclosed to
us in a specific circumstance, right behind you. Yes? How much was the deal all that you guys
had to strike to rescue these dogs? Have you such a basketball kid to go with that?
Yeah, that's a confidential matter. And we're, you know, as non-profit organizations,
we husband or resources, but we wanted to take this moment in the period between present and
July 1st to get as many dogs out. And as I said, we are very excited to continue our discussions
with Richland and to find an exit ramp for the remaining dogs. Just to be sure so you can't say
how much you did pay for the dog. Yes, we did. But you can't say how much you correct by the terms
of the agreement. Yes, sir. Could you repeat the questions as they're asking? Oh, yes, I will.
The question that I just answered was there was a monetary payment. Is that correct? And I said,
yes, there was a monetary payment by the terms of our agreement between the
center of remade economy, big dog ranch rescue, and original farms. We are prohibited from
discussing that. Yes, sir. So I know, original farms are getting up at state breeding license
by July 1st, but he does still have a license through the U.S. game exactly until 2028, I guess.
Are you still concerned with Richland still being in operation even after this deal goes through now?
We, we, by the terms of the agreement, we're really not going to talk too much about
original. There are a lot of other sources out there that you can consult in that regard.
But I think you heard from me and also from Lori that we want to move on, you know, beyond animal
testing all over the country. We're not picking on any one institution and it just doesn't work.
Yes, sir. You mentioned non-human primates. The University of Wisconsin has in their most recent
USDA annual report from 2024 more than a thousand of them, more than 600 involved in
experiments classified as painful for causing distress. Any message to University of Wisconsin?
What do you would like to see happen with how that works? I mean, primates, you know, on the
phylogenetic tree are closer to us than dogs. They, you know, share an incredible percentage
or genetic material. They, you know, clearly are conscious. They have social needs. They have
specific behavioral needs as animals who live in nature and find trees. And it's just impossible
to replicate those conditions in a laboratory, animal setting, even the best sanctuary struggle
to do that. And again, my comments about the failure rate don't just apply to dogs. And I will
note that while I do believe that the public health leaders within the Trump administration
have spoken on more against animal testing than any other administration, the prior NIH directors
have said that the animal testing model is broken. This is not the view of an animal welfare advocate.
This is the reiterating of an emerging scientific consensus that animal testing is simply not reliable.
And when you then compare it to these new methods with all of the innovation that's happening
every day, again, we shouldn't be using crank phones. We shouldn't be using flip phones.
The world is changing. Let's embrace this. Was there, yes. Laura Trump is on the board for
big dog ranch rescue obviously, posting a video a couple of weeks ago saying that Richland had
denied a $1 million deal. So it's safe to say that this deal going through is well over a million
dollars. Can you give a rough estimate as a follow-up to that? What is Laura Trump's role in this?
I'm going to say, no, it was not over that. I can't, as our contract says, disclose the amount.
Money was the only way we could guarantee the safe future of these dogs. We did not want them to
be sold off into other testing labs. So lots of donors came forward supporters and organizations
that donated to both of our organizations to get these dogs released. We cannot disclose
the amount, but I can tell you that it was well under what Laura had put out there.
Laura is a huge animal advocate. We've been working together
since we started to shut down greenhouse racing. Many, many years ago, she had three big goals,
one just recently passed away. But she's a passionate animal lover and really was instrumental in
putting the what we call the strength force with the DOJ's office, with
Secretary Rollins from Secretary of Agriculture and the USDA and RFK's office together to all work
together to make animal welfare better. The Trump administration is very committed to it.
If you want to see more about this, please tune in to Laura Trump's show, My View,
Fox News, Saturday night, nine o'clock Eastern time, and you'll hear more about her failings
and her involvement in this rescue. Yes, let me get a, yes, sir.
I want to get back to Rachel and if I can, both of you mentioned the events over the last six weeks
or so, the activists and the public pressure. What role did that play either on your side or on
vigilant side and get this deal done? Well, I just speak for myself that we've been in discussions
preceding any of that. So this has been a long standing concern of mine and of the
center of the economy. Again, remember, within 18 months of introduction in Congress, we got the
FDA modernization Act 2.0 passed and the Beagles were a part of that. We've been digging into this.
Obviously, we've been concerned about the Beagle and Marshall bio resources. So I do think it's
incredible. There's been an outpouring and so many manifestations of concern about animals
and testing. I think it's a new moment there. And I think you're seeing it with pundits and
you're seeing it with lawmakers and you're seeing it with the public. So it's all kind of a rising
tide. Did that add to the pressure to get the deal done? I mean, I can't speak for Rachel.
You'd have to ask the folks that, yes. So these people are going to be available for adoption
and you know, what kind of issues are these people going to maybe carry with them? What should
families be prepared for when applying to adopt some of these animals? Sure, Lori.
And then the question was, the conditions or the behavior of the animals and how will they adjust
to their new living environments? What kind of things can adopters think about in terms of some
of the challenges? So any dog that has been raised in a confinement situation, a testing laboratory,
a puppy mill, and cages is going to go through a transition period. They don't know what it's
like to be in a home. They don't know what it's like to be outside, walk on grass. They don't know,
you know, normal things that a normal dog from a normal situation, it's all new to them. So people
will need to be very patient. They will need to understand things could turn around for each
dog differently as far as time. Some could take months, some could take longer. So being prepared
to have the patients, give the love, earn that trust to these dogs is very important for each
person considering to give one of these dogs a home. Each one of the rescues will start it,
do the beginnings, and hopefully not adopt out until they're ready. But any adopter needs to know
it's going to take love and time. And did you have anything you wanted to add
to that question in general in terms of socializing animals? So if that is satisfactory,
yeah. Not that I thought that it was incomplete. Let me ask Joseph Grove,
we kind of favored our in office room or in conference room crowd here. Let's take
one or two questions from our online. All right, very good. Thank you for a
most constant public radio. We're being asked about the very specific provisions in the agreement.
You may have already answered this regarding confidentiality, but part of the provisions of
the agreement you can discuss. The question is about about other terms in the agreement that we
can't can we just ask the answer is, you know, we're we're telling you everything that we can tell
you here. All right. And a follow up to that also from Wisconsin public radio. Do you believe
that there will be other vehicles left at Rachel and once the purchase of 1500 vehicles goes through,
was their attempt to purchase more vehicles? Yes. The question is, what about the remaining
vehicles? Are they are their vehicles? And were we attempting or did we attempt to obtain custody
of them? The answer is, as I said before, yes, we don't help any and we want them. And we are,
we are excited about the idea of acquiring them. And we want to invite Rachel and to, you know,
be part of that process. What we obviously need, it's approval. We're doing this through,
through discussion and collaboration and education. And one final, you clarify whether it is 1000
or 1500 dogs being released in this initial tranche. There are 1500 dogs being released in this initial
agreement that was reached between Ridgeland and the Senator of Canada and Victor. I trust
you. One more? No. Okay. Yes. Obviously you've been kind of lobbying at the federal level for a
long time. So you get some changes. There's a lot of things happening in the world right now.
Congress has a lot on its plate. How confident are you that some of these initiatives that you're
advocating for can get done on a federal level? And do you have any plans to lobby on a state level
for some of these issues that are specifically based in Wisconsin?
The question is about the lobbying efforts. And I'll tell you that I'm, I'm very disappointed in
House Republican leaders for not moving the FDA modernization at 3.0. It has tremendous bipartisan
support. Lots of Republicans are strongly behind this legislation. It's being led by Congressman
Buddy Carter, Republican of Georgia, the former health committee chairman. The Senate already passed
so both Ron Johnson and Tammy Baldwin supported it, right? They are one of the few states that has a
split delegation by party and they both supported it as have all the other senators. So Congress
needs to stop delaying on this issue. This is not just an issue of animal welfare. This is about
drug pricing. It's about the speed of delivery of drugs. It's about adverse reactions to drugs.
I mean, this is a startling statistic. The fourth leading cause of death in the United States is
adverse reactions to drugs. The animal tests were part of that screening process that resulted in
this. And if you watch some of these pharmaceutical ads, you see, you know, all the side effects,
it's the whole run of the narrative that show you. It's while you're tongue, you can have a heart
attack. There are all sorts of side effects from these drugs. That system is not working for us in
the United States. Question here, many more? Yes, again. So last week following, you know,
some of the activists work on, you know, the groups that were on the ground,
originally said that there was a $1 million deal in the works. Do you know,
were they referring to your guys's work? Or did they not have previous knowledge that this
negotiation was ongoing? Again, listen, I mean, I don't, there were a lot of numbers that were
being thrown around. And we were not discussing this with people. This was the confidential
discussion. So there was a lot of stuff flying around. We're here to tell you that we got the
best deal that we could, but we wanted those animals. And that was, that was the bottom line for us.
It completes that answer. That was if we were to get all 2000 of the dogs.
So this was the same. This is, they were talking about your guys' negotiation process,
but I don't know if that was part of that. Yeah.
I think, I think what Laura is saying is that there was, there was, there was some talk in
generally, what is it going to cost to get all these animals out? And, you know, I don't know
what other side discussions were happening, but I don't believe based on Joseph Good's conversations
with the legal counsel for Rich on that, there were a lot of other discussions going on, but
there were a lot of people, a lot of chefs in the kitchen talking about this issue. Yes, sir.
I want to break down the numbers as clearly as possible. So 502 Dane County on behalf of the
Center for Human Economy. I have 300 of Big Dog Ranch Rescue campuses in Florida. Can you tell me
the other, I'm not a math guy. That's 800. Yes. That's 100, 700. Another 700 that Lori will be
working with her partner organization. So she's going to take 300 at her facility this time,
but just like the Center is participating with Dane County Humane and the Wisconsin Public
Health Project and Beagle Freedom Project, she'll be working with other rescues too.
Is it a quick follow-up? Can you tell me how many rescues total involved in this?
Any understanding that you do? Sure. We're working with over 50 partner rescues
that we have fully vetted and that we trust to do right. We will also, as Big Dog Ranch,
be a safety net for anything that doesn't work out for the rescues should they hit something they
can't deal with. Medically or behaviorally or in the future, they will always have that safety net
and be returned to Big Dog Ranch for 1,000 dogs. One last question.
Happened to the remaining dogs that are in the facility. You know, I received a request
of release from Pino saying that they might end up in some facility in Tennessee. In another
research facility, I was in a trip to that around. The question is what about the disposition of
the remaining dogs and what we said we don't know and all I can tell you is that we continue to
feel great urgency in trying to secure those dogs and we will find a home for every single one of them.
Yes, I could follow for Dane County. Wisconsin Humane Society just found information saying
they were going to get $150. Is that part of the 500 that you were with every new one?
Yes, so we are working with Beagle Freedom Project, Wisconsin Puppy Mill Project,
and the Wisconsin Federated Humane Society which is about 40 shelters throughout Wisconsin
and then Wisconsin Humane is taking many of them as well. So lots of partners in Wisconsin who are
going to be watching after these Wisconsin dogs. Okay, thank you all very much for joining us. Thank
you to those of you online and you can reach me at waneatanimalwellnessaction.org. Lori, what's the
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.
Thank you all very much. Appreciate you being here. Have a good day.