After a Grueling 207 Miles, Activists Finally Reach Marshall BioResources

Stop! Save the dog! Whiskey Cow and ass, what do you say? Probably the beagles die today! Alright everybody, free the beagles on three! One, two, three!- We have Jesus!

it is the final day of the march live from new york they have arrived let's go straight out to this monumental historic moment the march to end animal testing outside the nation's largest

Yes, Jane, we are here. We have what looks like over a thousand people out here. We've got the crowd. We've got our speakers about to go on. We've got Pete Raymond here. One of our Ridgeland defendants is going to emcee for us. We've got Zoe Rosenberg, who led our protest at the DA's office yesterday.And we have hundreds, if not over a thousand activists here.

So they're going to get started in just a minute here, Jane.

Just waiting on Adam. He's checking one more thing. While we're waiting, let's show a little conflict that occurred between some locals and the marchers.

Some angry neighbors.

She is, she's very proud of you. You're a faggot, you're a faggot. Oh, you're mad. Oh my God. Have you guys ever even had sex yet?

Hey, hey, go torture a puppy. Go have some fun and torture a puppy, you animal abusing. And that's what this movement is about. Today is the last day of that march. And we're standing here at the source, Marshall Bio Resources.And we are here to tell NBR that what happens behind these walls isn't staying hidden anymore.

And we are not stopping until every animal in here is free.

And we're not doing this alone. People in government, from local reps all the way up to Congress, are paying attention. You guys seen the Compact Act lately? Let's hear it for Mark Pocan. So as you know, this transcends political ideology left and right. This transcends veganism. Everybody who took part in this march and everyone standing here today, you are all animal rights activists, and I am so incredibly proud of you.

I've been fighting for animals myself, all animals, all species, for almost 10 years now.And something I would say often to crowds, to the opposition, to anyone who would listen, is I would say, please try to picture these pigs, these cows, these ducks. Please try to picture them as you picture your dogs and cats. But this is different! because we don't have to do that on the other side of these walls are literal dogs and cats ferrets mini pigs all animals inside of mbr will be free and we will fight for all of these animals but it's been nice i didn't have to say that line at richmond and i don't have to say it here today outside of mbr They are literally using your tax

dollars to do the most vile things to man's best friend.

If you can be louder than that, let's boo them real good one time. I had a hard time staying asleep last night. I was in and out. I was big spooning my little tilly. my dog and her sharp pointy ear was poking me in the eye and i loved it it was a beautiful thing and i started thinking about all of the animals trapped inside of this torture chamber the mini pigs the parrots the cats the dogs the animals that are trapped inside of there they never get to be the little spoon they only get wire cages family the only relief they will ever get is when their lives are ended in the most violent ways.But it doesn't have to be that way. You, we can end this now.

Now, real quick, some of the people standing in this crowd today are Ridgeland defendants, including myself. If you're a Ridgeland defendant, I want you to put two arms up in the air and hold them there, loud and proud. Now, make some noise.

These are people who risked everything to get a puppy out of Richland Farm. Like I said, I'm one of them. I'm facing 12 and a half years myself. They want to put me and these beautiful people inside of a cage for taking someone out of a cage. Wrap your minds around that. So I want to share with you really quick a little experience.My experience from Richland and the story of a dog that I rescued from there named after my childhood beagle, Tracker. But first, I'm not going to ask you to imagine your dog at home today. I'm going to ask you to imagine being an animal. Close your eyes, just for a little bit, it's not for me, it's for the animals, and I will tell you when to open them, I mean it.

Close your eyes, just for a moment here, please. You were born in a room, and you will die in a room, and in between, there is only the room. The fluorescent light overhead never goes dark, it only hums. You have learned the sound of that hum.other animals learn the sound of their mother's heartbeat you don't have a name you have only a number and they tattooed it inside of your ear when you were too small to bite you've never felt the sun you don't know the sun exists you've never stood on grass you don't know there's such a thing as grass that somewhere past these walls there are dogs just like you sleeping at the foot of someone's bed, dreaming, safe, love, and kiss goodnight. You don't know what loved means.

You know the cage. You know the hum.You know the sound of the door at the end of the hall and the way your body starts shaking before it even opens because your body remembers what your mind is too gentle to bear. And when the fear takes over you, you try to scream. You open your mouth to cry out for help, but nothing comes, just air. Because they cut that out of you too. They debarked you. They reached down your throat and took your voice so the room would stay quiet for them. It's the nightmare where you're screaming, but no sound comes. Except you never wake up from it.And here... is the cruelest

part when the hands reach in for you you will not fight them you'll lick them because you're a beagle and you were chosen for this precisely because you are kind they breed you for your trust they count on your forgiveness you will wag your tail at the person carrying you toward the worst day of your life now open your eyes That dog that I described is not a metaphor. Those dogs sit right behind this tree line. They sat at Ridgeland, a place in Wisconsin. And I'll tell you about one of them because I carried him out in my very own arms.When I was a boy, before I was any of the things that I am now, I had a beagle named Tracker. He was my first love.

He taught me what love even was. So when I heard about Ridgeland, I didn't debate it. I didn't poll my friends and family. I didn't wait for permission. I got on a plane and I flew to Wisconsin and I walked through those gates. Inside, there were dogs spinning in their cages, spinning in circles, out of their minds with fear. I reached into one of those cages, and the dog I lifted out was terrified of me. He tore my lab coat, trying to climb over my left shoulder.And so I did the only thing I knew how to do. I started to speak to him, but the name that came out of my mouth was not his. It was Tracker's. I said, it's okay. I've got you. I'm here. I love you.

You're safe now. taking you home and he finally went still he stopped shaking and he stopped clawing i won't believe until my dying day that my tracker was walking out of that building with me and i came back with others a month later to get the rest of them this time there were nearly 2 000 of us And they met us, peaceful people trying to carry puppies to freedom with

tear gas, with rubber bullets, with pepper spray.One of the officers who had arrested me the first time saw my face through the windshield and called out my name. He said, Pete, don't do it, Pete. But I did it anyways. We didn't get the dog.we didn't get the dogs out that day but we did get those dogs out and some people called that day a failure but let me tell you what a failure looks like failure is staying at home failure is deciding it's not your problem failure is knowing what happens behind those walls and choosing to keep your hands clean what we did was not a

failure because the whole world was watching and the people who ran that place and this place cannot survive being seen by the world

So within weeks, because of the noise that we made, the cameras we brought, the attention that we forced, 2,300 plus dogs are now free.Some of them are in their homes, and they are feeling grass under their paws for the very first time in their lives. And Ridgeland Farms has been shut down for good!

that did not happen because somebody signed a petition or posted about it online it happened because people showed up and refused to leave without the dogs now understand this is not over as you know that's why you're here it's happening right now here today Beagles, just like the ones we carried out of Ridgeland, are in this building now. Right behind us, Marshall Bioresources. They breed them by the thousands and ship them to labs all over this country. Primates are strapped down in laboratories at ASU.Their skulls opened, their minds broken, paid for with your public money.

Mice by the millions, so many we don't even bother to count anymore. There are laboratories in my city. There are laboratories in yours. Your tax dollars go through and nothing ever comes back out. Nothing but cruelty and the destruction of innocent life. And they are counting on the hum of that light that I described in the beginning to never reach your ears. But something is changing. People are waking up. The walls are getting thinner. The world is finally beginning to see vivisection for what it really is. It's not science. It's not necessity. But it's a cruelty that we inherited generations ago. and we were told not to question it.And it is on its way out. We, us, you are the reason that it's on its way out. So it is closed.

Chewie has already cut ties with Marshall Bion Resources. So Petco, PetSmart, Eli Lilly, Zoetis, the rest of you, you're next. And we are not getting quieter, we are getting louder and larger. To the dogs inside Marshall Biosources, we see you, we hear you, we have not forgotten about you. And we will not stop until every cage is empty. And several of us are facing real prison time for what we did at Richland. I want to be honest with you about that. We knew. We knew the risk that we were taking. And we walked through those gates anyways.For me, it's because a long time ago, a beagle named Trager taught this little boy that a life is a life. And that it can shake with fear and ache with love exactly like ours.

and when you have the power to carry someone out of the dark the only unforgivable thing is to leave them there that's right we will not leave them there thank you okay so for our first official speaker i'd like to welcome to the stage dr alga chandra the vice president Laboratory, Oversight, and Special Cases of PETA. This guest is an animal rights advocate, academic, and author who serves as the Vice President of Laboratory, Oversight, and Special Cases at the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.Since joining PETA in 2003, They have led efforts to expose federal animal welfare compliance violations, investigate research laboratories, and oversee cruelty complaints in medical research facilities across the U.S.

She has directly contributed to several successful campaigns to liberate animals from labs and end cruel experiments. And I'm honored to welcome her to the stage today. Please join me in welcoming her now.

to help that to follow hello everyone what an honor for me to be here with all of you today is the microphone okay i'm sure louder okay louder i can be loud And this message is important. First, let's give a great round of applause to the organizers of this audacious march.And their brilliant team at the March to Abolish Animal Testing. The organization is so amazing. Standing here with all of you today feels personal to me.

Before I joined PETA staff in 2003, I was a grassroots activist. I became involved in this movement in the mid-1980s. And for years, like so many of you, I did this work around everything else in my life. We went to our regular jobs and then we made signs, we wrote letters, we handed out leaflets, we organized demonstrations, we stood outside of fur stores, circuses, restaurants and laboratories.

We spent our evenings and weekends fighting to end the exploitation and oppression of animals.And that's why, that's why I want to say something to every person who has walked part or all of these 207 miles. And to everyone who has supported them along the way. You are the backbone of this movement. Grassroots activists always have been.

You show up, you work when the workday is over, you give up weekends, you stand outside when it's raining, and when almost everyone else has gone home. And sometimes... sometimes you walk 207 miles and you do it because you believe in something that something the animal experimentation industry can never match on the other side is the vivisection industrial complexa network of corporations universities breeders dealers equipment manufacturers contract laboratories and others and they all have a final stake in keeping animal experimentation going and they want to maintain the status quo because their revenue streams depend on

it But we're here because we believe in justice.

We're here because animals matter. We're here because the dogs and ferrets behind these gates And the cats and pigs not far from here cannot organize a march. They cannot call a legislator. They cannot hold a sign or ask for their own freedom. And so we raise our voices for them. And if there's one thing I've learned from four decades in this movement, is you have to play the long game.You have to be willing to play the long game. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said,"Human progress never rolls on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and persistent work of dedicated activists." Progress doesn't simply happen because we're right and we obviously are right. It happens because people decide something is intolerable and keep pushing until it changes.

Sometimes progress doesn't roll at all. Sometimes progress marches. And for the last 207 miles, progress has been marching along and across New York State. Let me tell you about what playing the long game can look like.

Most of you know about InVigo, you know about PETA's undercover investigation into InVigo's massive beagle breeding facility in Cumberland, Virginia.And you know how that story ended. The facility shut down and nearly 4,000 beagles got out. But that's not where the story began. Years before our investigator walked through InVigo's doors we were pouring over federal inspection reports.

In August of 2017, U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors documented deplorable conditions at InVigo. Feces had accumulated inches deep beneath the dog's wire with mold growing on top of that waste inspectors found insects and larvae in the food dogs were denied veterinary care and left with painful conditions including a large ulcerated mammary mass severely inflamed skin and ears, torn nails, bleeding wounds, and nails so overgrown they grew into the paw pad.

So we started working with legislators in Virginia and what we were asking for was hardly revolutionary. greater transparency meaningful state oversight and inspections and stronger safeguards for dogs being bred by the thousands and sold to laboratories the animal experimentation industry went on the defensive its representatives descended on richmond scrambling to protect the status quo they knew what greater scrutiny could mean for an industry that had operated for a far time in the shadows.

And despite all the work that had gone into those efforts, the early legislative push failed. It was crushing. Anyone who's been an activist for any length of time knows that feeling.you work for months you have the evidence you think surely this time we're going to break through and sometimes the breakthrough doesn't come but that doesn't mean the work has failed because every effort builds pressure every investigation exposes more every person you reach makes it harder for those in power to look away that's right And

we also have the option of saying, hey, we're not done.

And we weren't finished. Three years later, PETA was able to place an undercover investigator inside in Vigo. What our investigator documented was appalling. Dogs and puppies were denied adequate veterinary care, and they languished with wounds and infections.nursing mothers were deliberately starved, workers with no veterinary credentials killed fully conscious puppies by injecting euthanasia drugs directly into their hearts. Our evidence helped trigger federal action. The USDA ultimately cited InVigo for more than 70 violations of the Animal Welfare Act. The U.S. Department of Justice stepped in and the facility was closed. That's not the applause line. That is not the applause line. The company was ordered to pay more than $35 million in penalties. its attending veterinarian was indicted for cruelty to animals

and best of all nearly 4 000 beagles were adopted into homes think about that when those earlier efforts failed back in 2017 it would have been easy to say we tried we lostbut we hadn't lost we just hadn't won yet and i want everyone here to remember that because today we're standing outside marshall buyer resources behind these gates inside more than 50 enormous warehouses are animals whose entire lives have been determined by business models that regards them as no different from inanimate objects. As you've heard, animals inside these buildings may never feel under their feet or the warmth of the sun on their backs. We're supposed to be reassured that this is all regulated. Let's talk about that. The USDA is responsible for overseeing poultry, breeders, dealers, laboratories, exhibitors, transporters, and others.

Even without limited oversight, federal inspectors have found troubling violations of the Animal Welfare Act at Marshall.But those inspection reports can only tell us what an inspector sees during a brief visit. They don't tell us what happens when the inspector isn't there. They don't tell us what frightened animals experience week after week, day after day, hour after painful hour inside these godforsaken buildings. That's why whistleblowers matter so much. Brave individuals who worked inside Marshall have pulled back the curtain and what they've described goes far beyond what happens in federal inspection reports. As you've heard, a former employee shared horrific details about what happened at Marshall. And as we communicated to the district attorney yesterday, loud and clear, her team must cite Marshall. They must launch an investigation for cruelty to animals.

and then there's another credential that marshall points to you may have heard this they say oh we're a like accredited alac the association for the assessment and accreditation of laboratory animal care it's a private accreditation organization for facilities that breed house supply or use animals in experiments Its accreditation is widely touted as the gold standard in the industry, but we have studied this gold standard. My colleagues and I published a peer-reviewed study comparing federal animal welfare violations at ALOG-accredited institutions versus non-accredited, and we found... that AAALAC-accredited facilities had significantly more violations per animal than non-accredited facilities. More violations involving veterinary care, more involving personal qualifications, more involving animal husbandry.So when Marshall points to AAALAC accreditation as proof that everything is fine, don't buy it.

It's industry window dressing. But we're not here. to simply demand that Marshall treat animals a little better. We're here because animals are not laboratory equipment. They are not inventory. They are not production units. They are not disposable raw materials. for an industry that breeds them, sells them, tortures them, and then kills them. They are God's angels. We are living at a moment. When sophisticated human-relevant research, including organs on chips, organoids, advanced imaging, computational models, and artificial intelligence offer extraordinary possibilities for understanding human biology and disease, we can demand better for animals and for humans.I believe there will come a day when people look back at breeding dogs and other animals by the thousands for use in laboratories and ask how did we ever accept this? But that day won't arrive by itself.

In 1857 right here in the state of New York 40 miles from where we're standing right now Frederick Douglass spoke about the struggle for emancipation he said if there is no struggle there is no progress and then he spoke words that every activist should have burned into our heart power concedes nothing without a demand it never did and it never willfor the last for the last 207 miles you have made that demand with your feet today outside these gates we make it with our voices tomorrow we'll make it with our actions we'll make it in letters and phone calls in investigations and legislatures and courtrooms at demonstrations and in conversations with our friends and neighbors and when we suffer setbacks and we

we'll remember the nearly nearly 4 000 beagles rescued from indigo the 2000 from richland and that what once seemed impossible became possible yes so when someone tells you marshall is too big this is too powerful or change will take too long remember that we are powerfulwith our determination and hard work we will bring about the day when animals are no longer warehoused behind windowless sheds and walls and companies no longer profit from suffering this is a long game and we will keep fighting until we win thank you for walking thank you for fighting Thank you for refusing to give up on animals who are counting on us. Let's keep going with this audacious dream until every... K-D! Thank you!

wow what a speech what an amazing speech that was unbelievable whoa when you go to a doctor and you tell them that you only eat plants you've gone vegan doctors are famous for saying you need to start eating animals again not this doctor let's hear it one more time for dr

like this. I was told we'll bring these two mics together a little bit better. All right, our next speaker has been a driving force for animal protection for over 30 years, moving the cause from the margins straight into the national spotlight. He's negotiated massive policy wins with global corporations, authored two New York Times bestseller, and he has spearheaded over 1,500 state and federal laws.He's about to tell us about a new proposed bill that would strike a massive blow to animal testing. Please give a warm welcome to animal welfare leader and author, Wayne Postel.

people from california raise your hands oregon anybody oregon washington texas pennsylvania new jersey new york You are a- I appreciate all of you, all 50 states. You're not going to test my name in any state. No, I'm good, I'm good. Listen, today, today we are 1,000 strong.

Yeah! I want to take you back more than a decade to the debate over the use of chimpanzee in invasive experiments. For so many people defending biomedical use of chimps, they said they were so different from us.But it was scientists who noted that chimpanzees share more than 99% of the genetic code with humans. Others said, well, the difference is language.

And then we realized we met a chimp, I met a chimp named Mim Chimpsky, named after the linguist Noam Chomsky who knew dozens of American sign language signs.

Then they said, well, no, it's tool use. But then Jane Goodall pointed out that chimpanzees use tools. I guess chimps would really be like us if they borrowed tools and didn't return them. But the point is, when it comes to the moral treatment of species, we have been splitters, not lumpers. trying to excuse our conduct toward the animal kingdom by claiming that somehow they are different.We all know, however, that when it comes to the capacity to suffer, they are our equals. Back to the ship debate for one second. At the urging of the director of the National Institutes of Health, The National Academy of Sciences was convened to look at the question, are chimps necessary for animal research?

That panel of scientists, more than a decade ago, concluded they are no longer necessary, that there are new tools to substitute for their use.the end of chimpanzee use followed from that circumstance and that conclusion and now more than a decade later does any one of us does anyone in the world regret that we stopped using chimpanzees in invasive experiments so let's talk about the dogs the first species domesticated by humans in the world more than 30 000 years ago that changed the human condition forever dogs have served us in extraordinary ways and did things we've read them to do herding guarding hunting and so much more and in our day they search out drugs and foods they help find people trapped beneath the rubble in the aftermath of an earthquake.

But most of all, they give us friendship and they give us love.We leave them on an errand to go to the store or go to work just for a few hours, and they greet us at the doors if we hadn't been there for a year. They calm our anxiety. For people who have lost family or friends, they throw us a lifeline and they are an antidote to loneliness. And how do the executives at Marshall and other Beagle supply companies treat them and repay them for these acts of goodness and comfort and service? They trap them in cages, never let them have the run of green space and never see the sun.And when they get out, they're only sent to some other person to deliver them to some form of torment and privation in a laboratory.

On the matter of this scientific question of necessity, we don't need someone to impanel the National Academy of Sciences to tell us that there are alternatives to the use of dogs. We know from experience, we have a broken drug development system. We have a broken medical system in this country. We have high drug prices.

The cost for developing a single new drug is $1 billion to $6 billion, and it takes 10 to 15 years for that drug to get to market. We have few cures for the diseases that afflict us.and animal tests in large part are not predictive to the human response to drugs with 90 to 95 of drugs and vaccines found safe in animal tests failing in human clinical trials We have 7,000 diseases that afflict people and drug experimenters are looking at a handful because the system of drug development doesn't allow them to look at small

patient pools and populations.

So in what domain is it acceptable when it comes to elite performers in any enterprise to have a failure rate of 90%? If a basketball player missed nine of ten free throws, he or she would not just see the bench, they'd see the exit sign.Imagine if Ford, the car company, built ten cars, put them through testing programs, certified them as ready for the road, yet nine subsequently failed when drive-driven in real-world conditions. Would Ford say, well, that's just the nature of automobile development? Of course not. Engineers would go back to the drawing board and ask what their tests failed to predict. We need a reboot when it comes to our health system. The original Marshall Plan was the post-World War II plan to build...

rebuild the nations of Europe, including Germany, after the bombs and blitzkriegs and gutting of living and working spaces of people in the biggest war that we ever saw in human history.One feature of a new Marshall Plan would be to tear down the structures of animal testing complexes. the animal breeding facilities the stereotactic devices the animal cages and the other instruments of torment built over a century that constituted the core of our current drug development system in our drug-focused medical system we must replace them with structures crafted in the 21st century that are built on innovation organs on chips, organoids. Why are we tormenting dogs to help treat human health crises? What sector of human business relies on Great Depression era strategies? not telecommunications. We don't use primitive rotary phones.

We use iPhones, not navigation. In the 1930s, sailors and aviators navigated with paper charts, compasses, radio beacons, and celestial navigation.Today, satellites can tell us, can tell a smartphone where it is on not photography you exposed chemical film finished the roll developed it and made a print the 1930s before you exactly knew what was captured today a phone takes processes edits and transmits a high resolution image around the planet in seconds in 2022 we passed the fda modernization act 2.0 eliminating the animal testing mandate for dogs other animals repealing a law that was in place to date on monday of this last week the secretary of health and human service modernization act 3.0 to put the regulatory structures in place to usher us into a world without animal testing

And on Wednesday,I stood with Congressman Langworthy in Pocan as they introduced the Compact Act to stop $1.5 billion in spending. These are just a few elements of the new Marshall Plan for America. There will be hundreds of other elements of this plan to improve the human quality of life and rescue people from the disparate illness and injury. But let me say what the new Marshall Plan needs.

Let me say the new Marshall Plan needs no guidance from the people at Marshall Bioresources. They have it all wrong. This company represents the architecture of the old American economy, the old scientific ways. So, yes, let's today apply our pressure on Marshall and let's continue it in the weeks and months ahead.But let's also appeal to lawmakers in Washington to stop the whole nonsense that we're seeing with dog and cat experiments and climate experiments.

let's stop the pain not deliberate let's save lives not take them and let's tell marshall we're here now and we pulled the curtain back on your abuses now the whole world knows

Yeah, I heard one of Wayne's books, Bond, I believe it was, if you want to learn more about what he was talking about. It's a really good read. You won't put it down. Thank you again, Wayne Fuseli.

And next, I'd like to introduce a friend of mine. What up? the most inspiring activist I've ever met or known. Currently working in the U.S., she's an investigator, animal rescuer, founder of the Happy Hen Animal Sanctuary.

Known for her work as an organizer with the Grassroots Animal Rights Network. direct action everywhere. She's gained widespread media coverage for direct action protests and rescue operations. Zoe is not afraid of walking into a factory farm to give direct aid to animals suffering inside.

Last year she received a felony. She joined the club. Let's hear it for that. in a 90 day jail sentence for rescuing four chickens poppy ivy aster azalea thank you so much she rescued them for her from horrific abuse at a purdue owned facility special thanks to her probation officer for allowing her to come speak with us today- Let's give her a round, folks, Zoe Rosenberg.

- Thank you, thank you. When I thought about what I wanted to say today, I found myself struggling to find words to adequately articulate the levels of suffering experienced behind these walls. The truth is that words alone cannot do these animals' stories justice. Nearly every puppy born here is given a number instead of a name a cage instead of a bed and eventually a laboratory instead of a home a few years ago there was one particular beagle born at marshall bio resources who had the numbers one zero one six

We lost her for a second, but hopefully we will come back in a second. That happens. We are live covering what's happening.At Marshall Bio Resources, I can tell you that as the 1,000 approximate marchers arrived, you had a bit of a conflict. We're going to play that conflict between the locals and the marchers near Marshall Bio Resources while we try to figure this out. Fuck you all now! Some Angry Neighbors

We're Back He Is Dead He Never Got To Run or play with his brothers and sisters. He never got to live. When I think about 1016, I am reminded of the urgency to see every animal behind these walls protected from a similar fate.

our actions and the sense of urgency with which we work must match the greatness of the atrocities occurring because sadly right now there is another little puppy like 1016 who is fighting for her life in a laboratory cage as the chemicals run through her blood She does not find herself with time for patient conversation or stalled negotiations. As her heartbeat falters and her breathing grows ragged, she knows that her moments are numbered, but they do not know, but they do not have to be.

I do not know what it is to be a puppy born into a life in a cage but I do know what it is to be a relatively free human being with the privilege to fight for her freedom.I do know that it is only through the collective expression of our rage, our grief, and our desperation that we can free her trembling this this is a fight a

great consequence of every consequence for these animals it is a matter of life or death of freedom or agony. And a few months ago, this fight became even more personal to me when a little boy came into my life. Chester came out of Ridgeland Farms this past May.

And when I look at him, I often think about the life that he almost never had. I also see the damage that still lingers, even in freedom. Captivity leaves a scar on one's psyche that never truly goes away.I experienced a little bit of this myself last year. when I spent 14 days in solitary confinement at the Sonoma County Jail as a punishment for rescuing four chickens. That is a story for another day, but the point that I want to make here is that just 14 days in something of a cage, just a fraction of what these dogs experience, left its mark on me. The thing is that in isolation and confinement, your mind turns inward and you break over and over again.

I know both from my own experience and from observing Chester and other animals that all of these dogs are so incredibly broken.in their cages they spin and spin, grasping for any ounce of sanity that they might have left just in being caged. They have endured a torture that no living being should ever have to experience. And even when rescued, they will always carry that pain, but that doesn't mean that they can't have lives worth living, that they can't have futures to look forward to.

every single dog inside of marshall bio resources is capable of learning to run to play to trust every single dog inside of marshall bio resources is capable of a life of happiness and freedom a life where they howl with joy instead of fearAnd when I think about the potential for their lives, it gives me hope, but it also fills me with anger. I am angry. I am angry at the farm's beautiful CEOs sitting in their fancy offices, signing away their lives.

I am angry at the government officials who have not acted fast enough, who are barely acting now. And I am less proud of this. Those in power bear the most responsibility. But I am also a little bit angry at everyone who is silently watching these horrors unfold. To anyone who might be listening at home, I am calling on you. Please raise your voice. Get involved. start protesting, start putting pressure on your government officials.Join the effort to rescue every last dog, to free every last animal from their cage. It is in our silence that To occur right under our noses. The dog experimentation industry is dying.

And as dying industries tend to do, it is clinging to its ways. And it is lashing out at those threatening its survival. And I'm afraid that means that more of us may get hurt before this is over. Some of us may be bloodied and bruised as companies like Marshall Bioresources try to guard the money in their pockets. I do not pretend that this fight will be easy. I do not pretend to be unafraid. But when I say that I believe we can win, I mean every word.

Let's go!the tide is truly turning signaling support and the public is crying out we can do this we really can i believe minds to it we can end the experimentation of dogs and cats within the next

At the end of this rally today, when we all part ways and return to our respective corners of the country, we must commit to carry this fight forward. We must make a promise to all of the dogs behind Marshall Bio Resources walls. that we will not let them down. That as long as their bodies remain caged by wire, we will be as loud as we possibly can.

And in our actions, we will not falter. We will not let our fear stop us.Because we know that any fear... is nothing compared to the fear of a little puppy inhaling toxic chemicals through a gas mask. We know that any consequences that we face are nothing compared to the reality that she waits to every single, this March, these past 200 miles. They are just the beginning of a long fight.

But at the end, it will be worth it. All of our blood and tears will be worth it to see them run free. To see every last thing empty.

- Let's do this, let's do this!

See, Zoe doesn't know what a call to action is, because that's a noun. She only knows it as a verb. She calls you to act.Let's hear it for Zoe Rosenberg. Our next guest speaker is a service animal to an amazing dog named Otis from Marshall Bio Resources.

He's an amazing guy. I met him myself. I met him in L.A. and I met Otis.

They both changed my life. Board-winning professional photographer and dedicated yoga practitioner. Known for his photographs of beauty and peace. Robert is also a loud and vocal critic of the darkness of animal testing.

Robert's life changed forever when he took in Otis, a happily intended to foster. We know how that goes, don't we? An immediate, profound bond led Robert to adopt Otis permanently instead. Otis was born here at Marshall Bio Resources.and is now an ambassador for the unseen animals still held on the other side of these trees.

Here to share his and Otis' story, let's welcome Robert Sturman!

They know me.

They're just playing his intro music right now.

I think this is reversing, but I did not anticipate this one.

waiting for me at home in california is a 90 pound cool down nick odin but behind these gates he was known as subject number 162 508 the large block number they branded onto its big floppy beautiful hound dog ears Otis was born here and as a puppy he was sold to a company that used him in laboratory He spent the first year of his life inside that laboratory being tested on.When he was rescued, he had scars all over his body and six holes that had been drilled into his skull. Today, he sleeps beside me.

We run on the beach together, rely on the sun. He has learned the meaning of safety and he loves life. He has become one of the great joys of my life. Loving an animal testing survivor means living with a question that will never fully be answered.

What do they do to you? I will never know. The pain, the isolation, the fear. It is all too vast for the mind to comprehend.

and far too painful for the heart ever to resolve. Living with Otis has taught me something about the broken heart.I used to think a broken heart was simply something that hurt. Now I understand that a broken heart can only... It is what happens when the suffering of another life is no longer distant from our own.

It is what happens when we stop looking the other way, trying to protect ourselves from what we know. And it is what happens when love can no longer remain only a feeling. It must become action.

Today I want to speak to the human beings who walked here. You walked across the state of New York in memory of the animals who did not survive and the immense suffering of those still confined here. You walked when your bodies were exhausted. You walked when your feet hurt.You have your hearts to break. You looked suffering in the eyes, and instead of turning away, you walked toward it. You kept looking. You kept caring. You walked another mile, and then another, and that is courage.

And I want to thank you, not casually, not as a courtesy, but from the deepest part of myself and with the deepest respect. My heroes in this world are the human beings who stand up for animals.

intelligence, the capacity to feel the suffering of another living being, and then to respond it. And yet, people who stand up for animals are often reduced to a single word: protest. As if that tells us everything we need to know. Thank you.

I miss that.It does not tell us about the years you have given or the ridicule you have endured or the relationships you might have lost or the sorrow you carry home after witnessing what most people choose not to see. And it doesn't tell us about the people within this movement who have faced arrest, felony charges, and the possibility of losing years of their own freedom because they can no longer remain silent about the suffering and captivity of another living being.

I do not take that sacrifice lightly. Freedom is so precious, and that is precisely why the willingness to place it at risk reveals something so profound about the human capacity.

I also want to speak to anyone here from North Rose or the surrounding community and the employees and former employees of Marshall Bio Resources. I do not presume to know what it is like to live beside a powerful institution that has been woven into the life of this region for generations. Those of us who have come from elsewhere that raise our voices at these gates, but your voices have a different kind of power here. that ours do not and so I ask for your help to bring what happens behind these gates into the light and to create a future in which North Rose New York is remembered not for the suffering hidden herebut for the people who live here who found the courage to stand up and say"No More!"

And this is an invitation for everyone, whether you're here with us today or watching from another part of the world: I know not everyone is called to walk 207 miles. Not everyone is called to risk arrest or place their freedom on the line. But I am confident that many of you already know somewhere within yourself that you are being called upon to do something. listen to that calling because answering it may become one of the greatest gifts you offer to this life and one of the greatest gifts that this life offers back to you

If you guys don't follow Otis, as I'm sure you do, their Instagram, please check it out. It's wonderful stuff. Love you, Otis. I'll forever be a fan of those two. So, uh, one more now. I want to bring in... Hurrik tele. You've been watching all this. You are a leading anti-vivisection expert who has fought this battle for 40 years. Is this the moment that we've all been waiting for? i i truly believe so look zoe said she's angry and i totally get it i'm angry because back in 1980 middle of 1980s we had this ad full page ad in the new york times a guest vivisection that talks about how human medicine cannot be based on veterinary medicine.

We have this full page ad in the Washington Post newspaper that talked about how you cannot go to a vet if you're sick because you're not a dog or a cat. Therefore, vivisection doesn't work. We had this full page ad in the Los Angeles Times back in 1980s. And it has taken, how many years is it now? 30 years? I know things don't change. It's about time. These atrocities need to stop. How many millions, millions? of dogs have died in vivisection labs since these ads were posted. I'm calling on all the mothers who are worried about their sick children to join us because animal research is not going to save their child.I'm calling all the environmental activists to join us because animal laws and Environmental laws and regulations cannot be based on animal research.

Environmental activists All the economies who are worried about our economy going down the drain because we're spending trillions of dollars on so-called health care, which is sickness care, because we don't prevent disease. We don't eat the right vegan diet. We don't exercise. We want to do whatever we want to do. Vivisect animals. Somebody is going to save our behind.please every we need everybody animal lovers mothers and fathers who care about their children environmental activists economists everybody it's about time it's past time that we need to save all these animals not just those millions of dogs but billions of rats too Every animal, all the animals, but dogs are the gateway because at least 51 percent of American households have dogs. in their home. It's the most popular pet.

I have two dogs at home and a cat. And so that is the gateway. If we get people to unite on this, then we can expand it, not just to other lab animals, but what about the cows and the chickens and the turkeys, the pigs that are being tortured?The thing that keeps me up is the torture of the pigs. The way these pigs are treated in these factory farms and these slaughterhouses, beyond comprehension, evil. We need to get to that too. And now we're going to go back.Jamie Sasson, a reporter on the ground, doing a great job, but just understand, people, that there are so many people using their cell phones at that location that it's going to...

reduce the quality and then we have to go out and go back in so we're back in with john thomas vegan bodybuilder from florida one who came all the way from spain they said let's go to a bar i don't drink and i as i said have social anxiety and a woman came up and actually touched my head to see if the tattoo is real it is She might have been a little inebriated, but she loves dogs so much so that she got very upset when she heard why we were here.And so we began, thanks to Alex, we started to have a conversation with her about why we should be nice to animals. And it made me realize, again, even though sometimes I don't want to have this conversation, my battery might be drained.

It's still important to do this. And even if you have social anxiety, you can.do hard things and get on stage and speak to people especially even when they clap for you and you're like i didn't even know that they knew who i am thank you so much and the other reason i have a little bit of nervousness is because i know that the words coming out of my mouth matter today and if i don't say the right things if i don't inspire you and empower you that i'm doing a disservice to this movement and for a moment i want to say thank you to both the reasons why i'm here ella and gretchen if we can get them around

ella is a hero of mine and i think it was so beautifully put by the gentleman before me i feel a little out of the loop i don't know everyone here but My heroes are those that stand up for the animals. So, Allie, you're one of my heroes. So, I did not prepare a speech. I did not have this written down. I'm just gonna speak from the heart and tell a little bit about my story, not because I enjoy talking about myself, but because I wanna encourage and inspire other people, no matter where they're at, includingI think all of you that are here, you guys get the message, but there's a lot of people watching in other areas and they might not quite be there yet.

The first time I realized that I might care about animals, I was four years old. I loved eating fish, of course, just like everyone else and their parents give it to them. But when I saw my dad pull a fish out of the water and this fish began to suffocate in front of me on the dock.i realized i did not want to take part in that i voiced an opinion i cried i threw myself on the ground and my dad put the fish back in the water but i wasn't vegetarian i wasn't vegan i wasn't an activist at

nine years old i don't tell this story as often my dad took me hunting and i was pretty good at shooting i've been taught how to shoot my whole life we went into the woods the goal was to find a squirrel get my first kill

and i really did not want to disappoint my dad i didn't want to disappoint someone that i was supposed to grow up and become like to become a man however i told myself i can aim for the ground i can miss the squirrel i can take the shots my dad's proud of me for trying but not take a life and so i think for everyone here if

you're here for the dogs or even if you're watching at home if the blood on your hands would bother you And what about the blood on someone else's hands? And so at nine, I still wasn't a champion for the animals.It wasn't until 10 years old when my best friend pointed at me and she said, if you eat a hamburger, you're killing a cow. that woke me up and so every single day i am grateful for her i would not be here right now if it wasn't for her and i am grateful for every single one of you to share this message when we champion for the beagles we're just leading the segway in that beagle shouldn't be oppressed no being should be oppressed

it took a few more years i was the only vegetarian i knew i read a pita magazine i see a lot of people out here wearing pita merchandise wearinglogos it was reading a pita magazine seeing the same cows that i decided to stop eating were also going to be sent to the slaughterhouses if i was drinking their milk that day reading that in a core ride on

the way to middle school i made the decision i'm going veganand this is where i started to feel guilty you all clapped for me but i kept it alone i didn't have vegan friends i didn't have vegan family i didn't live in a house with vegans now i was by myself for about 16 years i didn't think that my family would accept me i didn't think that

my friends would accept me i thought people in public

wouldn't want to talk to me if i told them that i'm vegan that if i told them the most important thing to me literally the one thing that i wish more than anything else was in the world i thought if i voiced it i would lose friends and for 16 years i was wrong once i startedspeaking once i started wearing the shirts once i put it on my head i found all the people that drove from florida and flew from spain here to be with me I found quite literally my soul family. I love everyone in this world. I love even the people playing the music, but these people keep me alive. These are the people I want to be on this planet so that I can come back.

and do things like this on a bigger scale yes this is our company we are a coaching team but we are activists first we are not a coaching team that does activism we are activists that also coachand so i would encourage anyone that's still in the crowd that's not yet vegan that's not yet an activist as it was said earlier today Going vegan wasn't the best decision

I ever made. Becoming an activist was firmly the best decision I've ever made in my entire life. And then starting a network with fellow activists like Ella so that we could be a part of something bigger.in fact i'm going to pause this right now and say for the next 30 seconds talk to somebody next to you that you don't know get their number get their instagram us today is the start like maybe the end of the march but the start of the future and

so connect network i'm going to take 30 seconds grab other all right well they do that do

that this is a breakthrough for all animals or just for laboratory animals hurric tele i think it's must be for all animals because jane i believe i strongly believe that the biggestdifficult area of liberating animals besides the factory farms and eating animals which is so personal to human beings is laboratory animals because unfortunately marshals of this world are trying to convince people that it's going to be their child or a filthy dog or a rat, that there's a choice that they have to make between lab animals and the well-being of their children, which is nonsense because animal research does not work. So I believe that since we have made already so much progress with laboratory animals. The other areas are going to be a lot easier.

Yes, veganism has advanced so much farther in the last 30, 40 years that I've been, you know, an activist.laboratory animal, anti-vivisectionism is lagging behind a little bit, but I think this is the turning point. And once people understand that animals cannot be tortured in the name of science, it only makes sense that it's all animals, not just the dogs, not just the rats, primates, pigs, horses. Fish, chicken, lambs, there's footage of vivisection on all these animals. It's horrific footage. I just wish that somehow we could broadcast. Podcasts, all of that footage on every television station because, you know, there was somebody that came up with this saying that says, unseen they suffer, in agony they cry, and in loneliness they die.

And if we don't put, unfortunately, these images in front of people's faces, they remember while we're talking, while they see something. Tomorrow, they forget about it because it's too difficult to realize that you live in a world that there's cruelty and there's inhumanity and that the miracle cures are not around the corner. I got news for them. Yes, we see cancer rates, diabetes, dementia rates skyrocketing. And the irony is the solution is not to torture animals that. those are lifestyle diseases in most cases, certainly in many cases, that can be avoided, prevented with a plant-based lifestyle. And so what I hope is that this is the first step.- Dogs are the gateway to animal rights and people are joining us.The culture is changing.

People no longer believe that you have to torture animals to get... Torture dogs like that to have scientific progress. We know it's the 21st century. We know that there are so many modern, more effective alternatives, organs on a chip, organized artificial intelligence, quantum computing.

And so this is the beginning of the shift. Once this breaks down and you see politics. falling over themselves, trying to propose bills, which we urge everybody, call your member of Congress and support this Compact Act, Companion Animal Protection Against Cruel Testing. Once we have that cultural shift.

The next cultural shift can be kindness toward the 90 billion animals we are torturing and killing for food every year. And it is toward.anytime you see the inside of an animal factory it is torture just like it's torture for a lab let's go back out to this extraordinary historic event and they are introducing speaker it has also led several of the previous protests here at Marshall's North Rose facility Let's give it up for them, and for Sarah Gamble!

Hello Sarah! Hello, can you hear me? I've never done this before. So I'm really nervous.

I'm going to be looking at my notes. If you need me to get louder, let me know. I'm going to say I'm a lot. I'm really sorry, but I've been out here the last couple of years with Beagle Lovers and Rescuers, and we love you all.

I see so many familiar faces.Keep coming out here, all right, and doing what you do. So I'm going to start my speech here. Just bear with me, okay? Love you, Sarah!

Love you, too! Okay. I want to thank Ella and Gretchen and all of the MAT volunteers, organizers, and everyone. I joined the welcoming committee, but I had the honor to stand and speak with Gretchen and Ella last night and meet Jane, who is adorable.

These beagles are just, there's something different about these animals, you know? They're just amazing. So I want to thank Ella and Gretchen, and all the organizers and volunteers, and I want to thank Adam for putting up with me because Adam's awesome.With that said, today we are united with the common goal to put every ounce of pressure we can on Marshall. I truly believe we are the change that is needed. Just look at Envigo. Look at Ridgeline. Look where we're standing today. We're going to do it. If you give me a moment, I'm going to take you on a little journey to let you know why I'm here. And then the second half of my speech is going to be for bagel lovers and rescuers.

So whether you are an adopter, sharing information on social media, attending events, organizing, driving thousands of miles to rescue and rehome these dogs, driving or supporting legislation, or simply standing here and speaking out, you are creating the change that is needed. Every action matters. Thank you. We are shifting the way the world views animal testing. We are a community of non-violent, peaceful advocates showing the world that compassion works. By standing here today and every day after, we are proving that change is possible and that we will not stop until animal testing becomes a thing of the past. In 2022, I remember reading about a place called Envigo in Cumberland, Virginia.A courageous PETA whistleblower came forward and exposed how a biomedical breeding facility was violating animal welfare laws.

Thousands of eagles, time and time again. The regulatory agencies visited the facilities, yet the suffering continued. The conditions were heartbreaking. Dogs were fed moldy maggot-infested food. They were given water from gerbil-style feeders. Veterinary care was inadequate. Mother dogs had to smell their food on the other side of their cage and couldn't reach it to eat it to produce milk for their puppies. Does any of this sound familiar to you? It should. It sounds a lot like Ridgeland Farms. In August of 2022, I adopted my Amigo Beagle named Hopper. Hopper and I have the same tattoo, because if he was branded, I was branded.He is my soul dog. Before Hopper came into my life, I spent my time volunteering for people, community events, charities, country festivals.

but everything changed when Hopper came. I decided then the second half of my life was going to be dedicated to helping the animals. I became involved with Eagle Lovers and Rescuers Inc, a grassroots non-profit organization. The organization is all in paid volunteers who try to raise money to help transport lab animals. and for investigations, FOIAs, and everything for information. This was the perfect fit for my soul. I know many of us felt the same way after InVigo and after Ridgeland. How can I help? The question became the beginning of something bigger and built a bigger community.I saw the determination of DLR and other incredible organizations such as the Simple Heart Initiative, Dan for Dogs, and so many others. I knew that that help was finally coming for those animals.

The fight to free the Ridgeland dogs was truly a victory for the underdogs. I remember during the evidentiary hearing, sitting at my desk at work, listening with my earbud. listening to Wayne tell stories from eight to ten years prior of going into the facilities. Hearing the impact statements from the whistleblowers made me so ill to my stomach and crying I had to have my trash can next to me while trying to work.

But when the hearing ended I know so many of us felt it just felt endless.We were tired, we were scared, we were hopeful. There were sleepless nights, cries in my car, prayers to the universe, countless questions, and so much learning. But I was inspired by the people fighting for these dogs, both inside and outside the courtroom. And still there's people today fighting inside and outside the courtrooms, like Zoe and Dean and other women in the Senate.

Es que la veía!

PLR has spent years out here. I have joined them. This isn't my first time here. It's actually so beautiful here. I even say I want to move here all the time. I'm from Indiana. But I also got to take a step back and do the fight that we can. It was time for vigils.We had to bring people. We had to bring notice. I remember the first vigil BLR had where maybe six to ten people showed up. It was pouring rain, it was 50 degrees, everyone was cold. Scarlet there was definitely one that was dead. So thank you, Scarlet. i was honored and humbled by those people if they could do it i could

do it it was time for me to get on a plane for the first time and come out i remember the first time i stepped out of my rental car parked across the street and looking at those gates when they still had their martial bio resource sources signed like like out there as you can see before all these fake signsAnd I thought to myself, this really must be what the gates of hell feel like. The dread, the misery, the sadness. So today we stand together because we believe animals deserve better. We stand here because they cannot speak for themselves. We stand here because history has shown us that when ordinary people refuse to give up, Extraordinary change can happen. Indigo closed, thanks to PETA. And giving hope for animals also.

Rachel closed, because of all of you. You know, we want to thank Big Dog Ranch Rescue and Wayne Casale for everything they've done also. Here at Marshall, the movement is growing larger and stronger every day.With your continued efforts, your voices, your compassion, your commitment, we can show the world that we no longer want animal testing to continue. Before I close, I want to acknowledge the incredible investigative work being done by BLR as I speak for them today. So if you can spare me a few more minutes, I'm going to tell you some new news, all right? Their research has connected Marshall and his business activities across the globe, including places like China, France, Canada, the UK. But we're also starting to track Marshall in places like Korea, Africa, and Japan.

Let that sink in.investigations continuing into these facilities breeding operations and business ventures standing multiple countries shedding light on the vast scope and international reach of this industry blr has also recently i really love this song i'm almost done i promise blr has also you don't want that i'm just with you it's okay blr has also recently released information regarding a brand new non-profit organization called new horizons rehoming center filed july 1st here in new york from scott marshall this really makes you wonder what he's up to So in addition, investigations have also recently identified the breeding of a purpose bred Labrador Retriever facility in Alabama. So now we're in Alabama.These dogs are documented so far for use in university studies, and some have been trained for search and rescue.

VLR is following closely, so stay tuned. The truth. is there are so many interconnected business ventures that the work is ongoing. I believe VLR and others will continue releasing important findings as they become available.

Every new discovery helps expose the industry that has operated the shadows for far too long. Let's make them known. I would like to personally thank all the volunteers here today. all the volunteers for Eagle Lovers and Rescuers.

I have a few too, I'm gonna rest here. It takes people that volunteer, you know, to share things and get things done.I wanna thank everyone that has just helped with these investigations. The donors, the brave whistleblowers, okay people. Let's give them a hand.

Without them coming forward, we wouldn't know the truth. Your contributions allow investigations to support legislative efforts, expand public outreach, and assist other grassroots organizations, which we truly support. Because of the dedication, we are all educating the public, creating change, and giving a voice to animals who cannot speak for themselves. All lab animals matter.

every single one thank you for standing up thank you for speaking out thank you for refusing to give up and thank you for being here today thank you everyone

I also like to get lost on old dirt roads and talk to my late grandmother.And if you come out tonight, she's going to be doing karaoke to this song. So go ahead, sit down at the bar. All right, our next guest. are scott marshall's worst nightmare they are fierce animal advocates co-running a sanctuary for dogs called against all odds

where they are the last hope for many dogs who are deemed a bite risk and sentenced to death by the courts they also fight for neglected dogs in the city of rochester even going as far as suing the rochester police department for failing to stand up for dogs left to freeze in our harsh winter weather earlier this year they took in eight beagles from ridgelandAnd they won't stop standing up for the animals at MBR until every cage is empty. What do you think? Should we get 16,000 more dogs out? Please welcome Matt Albert and Eileen Marustia.

Are y'all not inspired? How is this not the most inspiring thing ever, right? I'm ready to just storm those gates and tell you. I'm just kidding.

But for real, you know, speaking for myself against all odds, when I founded this.not-for-profit 15 years ago it was with a recognition that there was a need to make wrong right it's that simple sometimes what's happening in there is wrong and it's up to us to try to make it right and so with all that in mind if you look at our logo and i even did

a couple sit-ups ahead of time because i wanted to show you what i got here But we got the gavel, we will use the system, the legal system, to liberate, to make things better and more humane for these precious animals. And if that doesn't work, we will use the bull cutters.

Scott Marshall is a monster, and we all know that.And by the way, I'm glad he's such a music buff, because I'm thinking it's time for another concert in Webster. I'm Scott Marshall in Webster.

We've got things planned. Guys, here's where we're at, okay? we're getting there we're at the beginning of the end all right we got to take this thing to the end of the end that's where we gotta go and here's the thing too you might look at scott marshall and say he's a monster and he is and like all monsters he must be slain from a legal standpoint of course I think we want to also look at a bigger picture. Most monsters have a creator.And how does a man... I just want to make a point of saying that we do not condone any personal attacks against any individuals on this network. We are covering things live. We have no idea what anybody's going to say from one moment to the next.

And we invite any individual, including Mr. Marshall, who was mentioned there, his company, any university, any company, any law enforcement or agency mentioned or involved. on any time. What are your thoughts, Hurrik, regarding how we conduct ourselves as protesters and as activists, people speaking up for animals? Animal lovers are human lovers too. This goes hand in hand. There's no question about it.When we seek kindness and we exercise that kindness towards animals, it also goes towards the human beings. There's no question about that. I hurt for the animal sufferings, and I find myself crying every time there's a news article or something where an old man or a woman or a child is hurting. So there's no question about that.

are multiple ways of quote unquote slaying the dragon and informationally it's the most powerful way because that's where you will be able to reach every human being that they can under we all have people that are pivotal in our lives that educate us my brother mick davudian is the one who first spoke the word animal research in front of me and followed by saying animal research doesn't

work. And I had no idea that even existed. That was the biggest weapon and the biggest tool that anybody could have given a person to become an activist and to fight against this. I want to point out that there has been some conflict.

I mean, it's nothing like some other protests that we've seen.But as these marchers were arriving, there was some hullabaloo today. I'm going to play that clip. We can talk about it on the other side. This was, I guess, maybe two hours ago.

Some angry neighbors.

Come on, you're a faggot, you're a faggot. Oh, you're mad. Oh, my God. Have you guys ever even had sex yet?

There you go. Yup, yup, yup. It's so good. Hey, hey, don't torture a puppy. Don't have some fun and torture a puppy, you animal abuser. So, yes, there was conflict, and you see it not on a scale of 1 to 10. That's pretty mild, having been a reporter for many decades. It's not a big deal. You know, that comes with the territory.And so we have to put it all in context. But I want to emphasize again that our network, we do not condone any attacks against individuals criticizing corporations, agencies. That's one thing. But we don't condone or we would try not to air personal attacks. So that's why we went away from that talk for a moment. What are your thoughts about? Yeah, I feel.

I feel pretty bad for that young man because I know that that man is raging out against what he is realizing. I am sure he's starting to realize that somewhere, somehow he's being lied to. Look, as I said, my brother, when he told me about animal research, it doesn't work.He was a student at UCLA, so was I. You know what I told my brother at that moment? I said, well, if animal research doesn't work, then why would UCLA do animal research? And it took me a little while to understand the reasons why. But the biggest reason is because we don't want to think that educational system, our lives, our doctors, our friends, everybody who talks about animal testing, that this whole system is based on a lie, because it's very scary.

And this young man who was protesting against us being against vivisection, I... have no doubt that he is worried, he is scared, because we need to rely on somebody to protect us.If it's the FDA, we want the FDA to protect us. We want the CDC to protect us. We want the NIH to protect us and to realize that their animal research... is not protecting us, and on the contrary, it's torturing all these beautiful souls. It's a very scary and uncomfortable thought. convinced that that's the reason why we don't have more people joining us because it's very difficult emotionally not because the truth is not with us because the truth is with us and many people even realize it look jane

when the covid 19 happened already six years ago right do you remember how quickly the vaccine got up uh got on the market yes i have to make a disclaimer i gotta say that i never got the vaccine and i never will but that's besides the point what i'm trying to say is that how could they so quickly put out on the market a vaccine, the COVID vaccine that supposedly was very safe for the public and millions of people got it.When, as Wayne Pichelle said, said a few uh half an hour ago that a drug takes 10 years of testing on animals before it can proceed to human trials it was true that in real time they could do it lickety split we You feel about that vaccinations.

And I don't want to get into that controversy. The point was they were able to produce and distribute a drug in very little time without torturing. Yes. We're going to go back. Well, we're going to go back in a moment. But I want to point out that. There are more and more politicians speaking out against this. Here's a clip put together by one of the organizers that features leaders and politicians.Our drug development system is broken. It's broken because we've been relying on animals. 90% of the drugs that pass animal testing still fail in human trials. Right now, more than 42,000 dogs and 12,000 cats are confined in U.S. laboratories. Thousands more are held at industrial facilities that breed puppies and kittens specifically to sell to these labs.

When you go to Ridgeland, you saw, you open these barns, these factory farms for dogs, and you see... cage, elevated from the ground so the waste falls through on the ground and there were hundreds of dogs in each one. You look at Marshall BioResources from a drone and you see that it is an enormous complex, ten times the size of Ridgeland.Their life is trapped in a small wire cage, never seeing the sun or touching the grass. These innocent beagles are bred purely for painful experimentation. We believe rescuing animals after they've suffered is important, but rescue alone is not enough. We have to change the systems that cause such profound and prolific suffering in the first place.

The Companion Animal Protection Against Cruel Testing Act, or the COMPACT Act, is the most comprehensive effort ever written to end cruel, outdated animal testing and modernize the way we conduct biomedical research in this country. And we're going to get it done. Okie dokie, we're going to go back out where Dean... And I don't want to mispronounce his name. Roszkowski, I believe it's how you pronounce it.I've known him for years, but it's a very long name. He is facing 31 years in prison for his part in the rescue of the Ridgeland Beagles. And he is going to be speaking now. Let's listen in. Oh. Incredible! I think, how many people do we, how many people, like what, there's hundreds here, right? Easily hundreds. I would bud money on 400, 500 people.

I want to say thank you! Thank you so much for being here and to one group in specific and what I consider potentially what I think is the best day of my life, April 18. And I want to thank you. Thank you for being there. And I want to set the stage for why that is so profound.I remember in March, when we broke in with about 100 people, we got 22 dogs out. It was incredibly powerful. And so many people-- you saw these stories. And you said, I have to help the rest of those dogs. And I'm making eye contact with people right now who saw that, random people on social media, and said,"I'm gonna join you!" And you walked in with us on April 18th, and we got them out!

You did that! Thank you! Thank you so much for being there, and if you were there on April 18th, just raise your hand. I want to shout you out.

Thank you all so much!thank you incredible and so a story of why that was so powerful i remember i have to apologize for something that was a very difficult day for many of us we saw the tear gas we saw the rubber bullets flying the moment we got there and i know it was a traumatizing day i didn't expect authorities to respond that way right were rare

to rescue puppies non-violently and this is how the authorities responded it revealed the violence of the system that day that those puppies were experiencing but we confronted that violence with compassion we did that and one story that was on my mind is seeing the tear gas And people would retreat, we would cower, we would choke, right?

You know, this is not some group of like, yeah, let's go burn things down. These are ordinary people who just wanted to help dogs, who had never smelled tear gas in their lives, who had never been arrested, or even said a mean word to a police officer in your lives. And you went up to that, to the face of violence, and said, I am here to help those animals, and you did it.

Thank you. I remember just watching. I remember as difficult as that day was, I thought immediately once the tear gas started flying, I thought in my head, we won. We already won.I had so much faith that those dogs were getting out because the world was going to see what happens.

the world was going to see it was only a matter of us keeping it up even if we didn't get those dogs out that day i knew that the world was going to see that we are not giving up for these dogs we are going to continue pushing forward and so that day i watched in amazement from those

You saved innocent puppies! They did that, you did that, we did that together and I knew from that day on that this is who we are as a species.We are at our best when we are compassionate, when we are fierce, we confront violence with non-violence, with love in our hearts because at the end of the day on the other side of that gate is an animal who needs our help that

is what we saw in april so i saw the best in humanity that day i saw the best and as difficult as that day was many of us were arrested we were carried away by the police we had a chance i remember i think a lot of us know this chance right the chance tear gas pepper spray we're okay"Tea or gas, pepper spray?" Yeah, it was great.

Yeah, it was awesome.And I remember, that's what we had in April 18. That's where we are now. On the other side of this fence is a mother in a cage. Someone who needs our help.

She has never gone outside. She has never looked up at the sun. She needs our help, but you all heard that call to help. You all, whether you're from Seattle or Massachusetts or from Arizona, you heard their calls, and you said, I am not giving up.

You came out here. Thank you. thank you everybody i'm literally looking around at people who i have not seen since we were in a cloud of tear gas together so thank you for being here thank you diane thank you dianethank you rachel thank you for being here and so i promised i would keep this short so i'm gonna move on to this but Many of us were arrested that day, and many of

us now face serious criminal charges.

51 of us are now facing felony burglary charges, at least 12 years in prison. That is what 51 of us are facing. We're facing burglary charges. Why is it burglary?

Why is it that charge? Because when we carried out a beagle in our arms, the government, the district attorney, said that you are stealing property.that is what they say but we are here because we know that a beagle mother is not a thing she's not an identity can she is an individual she's a mother she's someone who's worthy of production and someone who needs our help and if those judges don't see

her as someone who is worthy of help we are going to give her the help she needs one way or another so thank you for being here that's what we're here to do So I want to bring back the compassion and fierceness and the fierce love that lies in our hearts.

Because you all confronted that to your guests. You all saw the videos. You shared. You protested.

You contacted your legislators.And you are the reason we are going to win this trial. You're the reason we're going to win this. And I want to say why. Because we have a saying as we're going to these trials.

We want to go to trial. People say all the time,"I'm so sorry, you're facing the charges. I hope your charges are dropped." I do not want my charges to be dropped. I didn't go into trial in January because I want to be the voice for the animals in a court of law.

We're gonna be their voice.You are going to be their voice, us together, 51 defendants, every one of the thousand people who was there in April, and every one of us today here who is amplifying those stories, who's refusing to tell the world that we are going to stay silent.

We are here. We are keeping it up. So thank you. And we have a saying, as we go to trial, that Zoe Rosenberg has gone to trial multiple times. Zoe Rosenberg has gone to trial. Pete Raymond's getting ready, right? Also, give it up for Pete. He's doing an amazing job. Thank you, brother. So, we have a saying. We are going to win in court because we are going to win in the court of public opinion.That is how we are going to win. We've consulted with folks from the ACLU, David Cole, who is the national director at the ACLU, who shapes Supreme Court law. And he said it is not the judges in these courts that create law, it is us in the streets. It is us being here speaking up.

We are the ones who are making this an issue that the public is hearing. Because the courts only respond when we make a demand, when we speak up. Only 1% or less of Supreme Court cases ever actually make it to the actual Supreme Courts. They take cases not because the law has been wrong. They take courses because the people are speaking up and we are caring.So that is the energy. And I want to say, when it comes to the question, are we going to win a trial in January? It's not even a question. We've already won. Because we've won in the court of public opinion. We have already won. And it's because of you. Because you are staring, you're protesting, you're out here, honking horns.

That is why we're going to win, and why we've already won, so thank you. And as we do this, I am so profoundly faithful for our jury system, because at the end of the day, we are not going to be asking some corrupt legislator who is in the pocket of industry for our freedom.We're not going to be asking some judge even whether they think we should be free. We are going to be asking a panel of ordinary people, of 12 randomly selected jurors from the state of Wisconsin, and asking them from all walks of life, Democrat, Republican, old, young, college, non-college, everybody from all walks of life, and asking them, do you think a mother beagle in a cage is something or someone? Someone. She is someone.

And when we get that opportunity in courts to make that argument, I have faith that that jury is going to, and they are going to, shape how this law works in this country. Where the law recognizes that animals are not something, they are someone. Someone.Someone who deserves to look up at the sun. someone who deserves to touch grass someone who deserves to be hugged by a family that is who she is that's who every dog is and we're going to make that happen in a court because we've already won in the court of public opinion so thank you for doing that so i feel profoundlybeing carried by this movement by all of

you here because you are already influencing those jurors in that courtroom in that courts and i extend this faith not just to those 12 jurors but to who we are as humanity and i even mean this for who we are on the other side of that fence there are people here who have made a livelihoodhurting and torturing animals there are people here who have hurt others but

we are going to extend that compassion i believe that we are all good inside and that is the faith that i have seen here in all of us helping these animals and the faith that i have in the jury system to acquit us because an animal is someone not something so thank you as we go to trial in january you're the reason we're going to be okay

and you are the reason those beagles are going to be okay so thank you let's save the

Dean was like give it up for Pete I realized I never even really introduced myself my name is I'm not here for me I'm here for the Beagle sorry my name is Pete Ryman I'm with the True Cost Project so follow my little non-profit on Instagram and get ready because when we did uh When the farm bill was going on, we had people go out in several different cities, I think like nine different cities, and go to their representatives' and senators' offices in person, on camera while recording, and asking them to take the side of the animals. And with the Compact Act, the True Cross Project is going to do something similar.So follow along and take part in that when it's time. So yeah, Dean.

I mean organizers it's such a daunting process to be an organizer because you never know if anybody's going to show up well guess what Dean almost 2,000 people showed up in Wisconsin so one more time for Dean tear gas pepper spray that's right and um let me see uh before i introduce the next speakers the last speakers before we do a little like uh we're gonna do our own little concert to oppose this one here before i introduce those speakers i also want to let you know that curtis lee was here i saw him yeah guardian angelsyeah i followed that guy for a while and um guardian angels and frequent uh new york politician um political candidate uh always been outspoken for animals political allies yeah so

he might say something later no pressure on him but it's up to him uh but be sure to you know get a picture with them and say i appreciate you being here so last but certainly not not least the whole reason why any of you are here our two next guests will be very familiar to people that were on the march they are prominent vegan activists authors and incredibly good friends who met for the first time in person just two weeks ago these two absolute powerhouses in the movement have joined forces toco-found the march to abolish animal testing

Ella is a health coach, speaker, podcast host, and the founder of Sexy Fit Vegan. She is a former bodybuilding champion, still looks like one, who went vegetarian at the age of seven and vegan in 1995. Gretchen has worked extensively in prison education programs and maximum security facilities and has also authored several poetry collections including Kind, which examines the dynamics between humans and non-human animals. these two were forever changed by their experience at Richland Farms and are now leading the charge that brought us here today and nothing can stop them. So please join me and give a huge round of applause to Ella Majors and Gretchen Primer!

I have not had time to think very much about these remarks because I've been thinking about everything else. But I do want to repeat some of the stuff that I said when we started this two weeks ago in Albany. Because a lot has not changed since then in terms of the larger picture, although a great deal has changed since then in this community. and our feet have definitely changed.

I will not be able to wear a real shoe for a long time. I'll be in flip-flops for a while. I began my remark in Albany by talking about my father. because my father is a retired physician who began his career as a researcher at NIH.NIH is the largest public funder of animal testing in the world.

My father was the first person to make a donation when the march for to abolish animal testing website went live because science has changed if there was ever an excuse for testing on animals that day over and real scientists and real physicians and real researchers know that

okay so ella and i wanted to make something that is accessible for everyone who cares about non-human animals. Even if you don't want to be arrested, even if you don't want the risk of jail time, you have a place in this movement. Even if you can't march for 200 miles, you have a place in this movement.We wanted a sustained action so that through time and space, consciousness could be raised.

Because as you can hear... These people do not want you to know what goes on there, and they don't want the workers in there to know that they have a choice to not participate. we have new issues with the workers in that facility we don't know what makes somebody feel that they need to work where they need to work but we have a problem with the industry and we have a problem with beginning a pipeline of cruelty that begins with breeding

and continues through the testing process that is why we are here not to shame workers but to shame an industry okay i'm gonna give it over to ella and rest my voice i might have more to say today Two weeks ago I stood in Albany holding Jane. She's sleeping right now. Can you believe she's sleeping in all this? It reminds me of the day that she was handed to me from Ridgeland Farms. and she fell asleep in my arms right off the bus. It's being evacuated after a year and a half of her life spent in a tiny wire cage and she fell asleep in my arms and started snoring really loudly.I had not planned on adopting an animal that day but I knew in that moment she felt safe.

and that she was home two weeks ago we were in albany i was holding her and i asked us all to remember something when our feet hurt when we were tired when it felt hard when it rained i asked us to remember who has it harder well here we are 207 miles later We marched across New York State through rain, through exhaustion, day after day, and now

we're standing exactly where we need to be, at the gates of health, marched by our resources.behind those gates are animals who don't get to leave and go to a safe home tonight like jane does dogs who don't know what it feels like to fall asleep on a soft bed pigs who've never experienced grass under their feet ferrets who have never known the joy of exploring and having

adventures cats who may never know the warmth of curling up in someone's lap.

These animals deserve to run, to get belly rubs, to be known by a name, not by a number. And that is why those 207 miles were worth every single step. Because what happens behind those gates cannot remain hidden. We came here to make the invisible visible.Marshall breeds these animals to be sold into laboratories, animals that will be poisoned with experimental drugs and chemicals, forced to inhale toxic substances into their lungs, subjected to invasive procedures, and ultimately killed. And that whistleblower evidence has shown us more disturbing glimpse into what happens on the inside. These are living, feeling beings just like Jane. They experience fear. They experience pain. They want to live. And we are here to make sure the world knows that we refuse to accept that their suffering is the price of scientific progress.

Science does not need to include suffering any longer. Jane was considered property just like Dean was saying. She is not property. We all know that. These dogs are not property. Those pigs are not property.Those parrots are not property. They are animals that deserve love and freedom. And when people learned what was happening. inside ridgeland and decided that knowing wasn't enough we acted we spoke out we organized we put ourselves on the line and we prevailed because they got out and today jane sleeps curled up next to me every night she's the cutest thing in the freaking world i mean i'm a little biased but you She runs, she plays, she gets a zoomie, she sniffs every blade of grass like it's the most fascinating thing on earth.

She's discovering this enormous world that was there all along. She just wasn't allowed to experience it.And every day I look at her and I think, what about all the others? What about the animals behind these gates? Who would they be?

outside those cages what would make them light up who would they be if they were given given the chance and that's what this system takes from them not just their freedom the lives they could have lived jane goodall who jane is named after said what you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to makewell look around we decided every

person all of you standing here today thank you for being here everyone who marched everyone who carried signs who drove support vehicles donated Organized, volunteered, shared our message, called lawmakers, contacted the media.

You all did all of this. You decided that these animals matter. You decided their suffering matters. And sure, changing a system this entrenched is incredibly difficult. But difficult is not the same as impossible. Ridgeland taught us that. Those cages are empty today, and one day soon, the cages inside Marshall will be empty, too. And listen, we did not walk those 207 miles just to stand outside these gates and chant and then go home. This is not the finish line.This march was a declaration that we will keep showing up. We will keep exposing, we will keep organizing, we will keep protesting and pushing lawmakers. We will keep demanding the immediate transition to human relevant science. And we will keep fighting for the animals behind these gates until they no longer need us to.

Inside Marsha right now there are over 45,000 animals just like Jane who have no idea another life is possible, but we do. And that makes it our responsibility to fight for them. At the beginning of this march I said we are not here to witness his history. We are here to make it.and here we are 207 miles later we've made some history but we're not done not until science no longer includes suffering not until animals are no longer born simply to become experiments not until every animal like jane gets the chance they deserved all along So Marshall Bioresources, hear us loud and clear. We are not going away. This march ends here today, but this movement does not. For Jane.

Thank you, love you Gretchen and Nola, love you Gretchen and Nola.wow this was a very historic day uh i feel i'll just mute the mic for a second very humbled and honored that unchained tv our non-profit streaming network uh has been able to cover this thanks to the amazing work of jamie sasson our reporter on the ground who did such a dynamic job and Puritela, anti-vivisection expert coming to us from Costa Rica. I'm in San Diego covering the Solidarity March that's going to happen later today here at the San Diego VegFest where I'm also speaking and moderating a panel. So we are spread out all over the world. We had people watching from Pakistan, from England, from Scotland, from Canada, from Germany, from many other parts of the world.

This is a global movement. And I believe that this moment was historic. Your final thoughts, Hooray. Absolutely. I'm so grateful to all these young activists and the old activists who are carrying the torch. They're not giving up. When we know the truth is on our side, when we deep inside know it, we have the strength to. move mountains and not give up. So thank you, everybody who organized this. And thank you, Jane, for day after day doing what you do. I really want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. It's a theme and you're a huge part of it, as is your brother. I want to. thank everybody who made this happen.I want to say that there are solidarity marches happening around the world. We're going to cover one later.

I know people are driving from Los Angeles, including our amazing co-host, Lindsay Baker, right now to march in this solidarity march here at the Sandy. Diego VegFest. And I just ask all of you, yes, thank you for your kind words. Unchained TV is our nonprofit streaming network, and we urge you to support our mostly, almost entirely volunteer-run nonprofit streaming network, Unchained TV.

Download it on your phone. It is an absolutely free non-profit app. You can text this video and every other of the 2,000 videos about compassionate animals to anyone. Let's wake up the world.Let's save the world by saving the animals.

See you soon. And by the way, we are going to cover that trial. The trial that a lot of the speakers are going to experience in January, the Ridgeland trial. We will be covering it daily.

So we'll see you before then. Thank you for joining us. So it's a vegan Netflix. Okay, that's the craziest thing I've ever heard.

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