Announcements

100+ more dogs coming out of Ridglan, plus our no contact order has been REVERSED. Dean, Aditya, Misha, Melany, and I are now allowed to be in touch—and you can count on us working together again to get all the dogs in labs out! I want to thank everyone who provided support to all of us over the last month. And, most importantly, all of you who provided support to the dogs coming out of Ridglan. There are still many more to go, but now that our team is intact, just wait and see what we’ve got coming for the animal abusers next!

The other big thing that happened is the trial date was set. September 28 for a 2 week trial. The timing is perfect for making this election a historic one to free the dogs. Let’s win in court on Sept 28, then win again on Nov 3. And get EVERY LAST DOG out of a lab!

Folks, the long-delayed all rescuer Zoom where we’ll present a new plan to rescue ALL the dogs in labs by the end of this year is happening on SUNDAY at 3 pm ET / 12 pm PT. The registration for the meeting is on the Simple Heart substack here:

Folks — a quick update on the legal side.
There have been a number of lawsuits proposed on behalf of rescuers whose rights were violated, and a few filed, and we're grateful to everyone who's stepped up — in law, media, and politics — to defend the people who stood up for the dogs on April 18.
Abie, a lawyer on our team, is leading our review of the options for civil action. To be clear: we are in communication with but not officially working with or endorsing any particular lawyer or group of lawyers. If that changes, you'll hear it from us first.
There are real questions we need to work through before we can recommend anything, and we want to consult with specialists before we do. In the meantime, you're of course free to work with whomever you choose — just know that legal action always carries risk. It's crucial to find someone you trust (but who does not "tell you what to do”) to manage those risks.
We will do our best to come forward with some recommendations regarding both the viability of various legal strategies and specific attorneys we think would do a great job. In the meantime, I thought it was an important to put this out there!

Folks, four defendants, including me, will be arraigned tomorrow (2 pm CT) on one count of felony burglary. At the same hearing, we will argue that the commissioner’s non-association order, which bars us from contact with one another, violates the First Amendment and targets our political activity. We have strong arguments in this regard, though it is always difficult to reverse a prior order. We will also be arguing for our right to a speedy trial. WI law indicates this must occur within 90 days of arraignment, but the prosecution is already indicating they will seek delays. Our hope is to schedule the trial for August or even earlier.
At this point, we have no word as to whether any other defendants will be charged.
The key with this case, as with all right to rescue cases, is to harness the attention over the criminal case to fuel the movement. That is what happened with Ridglan 1.0 in March 2024. Ridglan 2.0 could be even bigger. We are still settling on the right strategy for this—including what exact goals should be pursued—but suffice it to say we have a unique opportunity in the coming months to elevate the fight to free tens of thousands of animals from labs.
The coalition that worked on the Ridglan rescue, including all of you, will be crucial to this. But stay tuned for more. We’ll publish some proposals shortly after the arraignment tomorrow.
One final word: many of you have asked about the remaining dogs at Ridglan. I had a meeting with some folks involved in the negotiation on Monday, and I should have another meeting with other key parties later this week. I’ve passed the case on to these parties—who have done an excellent job—but if there’s any specific need for mass mobilization to reach Evers, Kaul, or anyone else, you will be the first to hear. We’ll say more at an upcoming all rescuer call that could be scheduled as early as this weekend, depending on what happens tomorrow. In the meantime, I have no particular suggestions other than to maintain nonviolence.
Thank you all again for all your efforts. I’m sure there are many more questions you have. I don’t have all the answers—no one does—but I’m excited, after some travel and catching up with academic/personal stuff in the last couple weeks, to get back to our mission to free all the dogs trapped in labs. With the collective intelligence/motivation of this community, we can achieve this by the end of the year.
We’ll speak soon about that!
PS If you’d like to watch tomorrow’s hearing, the court livestream can be found here (Branch 14): wicourts.gov

🧀 Important action near Wisconsin!
Animals need you to drop what you’re doing and make your way to Minnesota the last weekend of May.
Why? The fate of millions of pigs, chickens, and cows rests with a handful of politicians. In the coming weeks, they are deciding whether to wipe out the most important animal protection laws in the country, from bans on animal fur coats to gestation crates.
That decision may come down to the influence of just one person: Senate Ag Committee ranking member Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.
While countless constituents (animal advocates, small-scale farmers, faith leaders, and staunch federalists) oppose the Save Our Bacon Act, Klobuchar has refused to take a firm stance.
That’s why our friends at Compassionate Action for Animals are organizing a weekend of action at Minnesota’s Democratic Party state convention, May 29-31. Please register now if you can join!

Sorry folks! The organizers have a slido for the summit, and it’s here. Use this one if you have questions or want to vote on questions!