Back in 2015, Jeremy told me about a secretive facility called Ridglan Farms that was producing thousands of beagles for experiments every year. Documents uncovered by Jeremy and other activists showed evidence of piles of burning animals, hundreds of dogs being subjected to painful procedures (including, we later learned, injections of rabies), and thousands confined in industrial warehouses at Ridglan. But despite complaints of dangerous and unsanitary conditions – including, apparently, by one of the company’s own employees – the state and federal government did nothing to protect the dogs.

So we stepped in. In April 2017, I and a team of activists entered the facility through an unlocked door. We walked out with a blind beagle puppy we named Julie, who is alive (and sitting next to me as I write this) because of Jeremy’s tip.

This is a dark conversation but an important one. We talk about not just the sordid history of experiments on dogs, beginning with radiation experiments performed in the 1950s, but the bizarre arguments offered by vivisectors to defend the abuse of dogs. But we also talk about reasons for, not just hope, but confidence that the torture will end. It turns out Americans do not like the idea of a dog dying. (Indeed, there’s an entire website, DoesTheDogDie.com, that warns people if a dog is killed in a movie because it’s too difficult for many people to deal with a dog dying, even in a fictional account!)

On July 10, we’ll be making an argument to protect the Ridglan dogs in court. We are moving for a special prosecutor to be appointed to investigate cruelty at Ridglan Farms. It is an uphill battle, against one of the most powerful industries in the county. But this conversation helped me refine the arguments I plan to use. It will help you refine yours, too. 

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Follow Jeremy and the Utah Animal Rights Center (UARC):

XTwitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/JeremyBeckham⁠ 

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LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jsbeckham/⁠ 

FB (UARC): ⁠https://www.facebook.com/utahanimalrights⁠ 

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The Simple Heart on Substack - Subscribe to Wayne Hsiung's newsletter to learn more about the #RightToRescue at https://simpleheart.org!

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Chapters:

Chapter 1 00:00-26:45 Intro, Beagle Freedom Project, history of animal testing, & psychological impacts 

Chapter 2 26:46-43:37  Validity of research using animal testing, types of research, Wayne’s mom’s illness, & Jane Goodall/the moral argument

Chapter 3 43:38-55:47  Dog research, Kristi Noem’s political controversy, & unacceptable treatment of dogs and other animals

Chapter 4 55:49-1:12:31  Secrecy of the animal agriculture industry, the legal system, prosecutions of activists, & Costco egg supplier barn fire

Chapter 5 1:12:32-1:24:59  Jeremy’s interest in researching and stopping vivisection, & the book Animal Liberation

Chapter 6 1:25:00-1:40:08  Stopping cat experiments at the University of Wisconsin, James Cromwell, Ridglan Farms Trial Special Prosecution, & winning hopeless cases

Chapter 7 1:40:09-1:45:59 Advice from Jeremy, Ridglan Rescue Trial/Ridglan Farms Trial Special Prosecution, when Jeremy becomes a lawyer, & final thoughts

Chapter 8 1:46:00-1:46:16 Outro video - Thank you for watching!