878.6K
Downloads
701
Episodes
Psychiatrist Peter R. Breggin, MD believes you can make a marvelous life. Great guests, callers and conversations to inspire you.
Episodes
4 days ago
4 days ago
In early May 2026, transport vans rolled out of Ridglan Farms in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, carrying beagles toward new lives—grass under their paws, sunlight on their faces, and homes instead of stacked wire cages. Nearly 1,500 beagles were purchased by rescue organizations like Big Dog Ranch Rescue and the Beagle Freedom Project after years of documented suffering at one of the nation’s largest commercial beagle breeders for biomedical research.
This outcome marks a rare, tangible win for animal advocates. But it came only after daring direct-action raids, mass protests met with tear gas and rubber bullets, a special prosecutor’s investigation, and persistent legal pressure. Even now, roughly 500 dogs may remain behind as Ridglan winds down its commercial breeding operations by July 1, 2026.
The Ridglan story is not just about one facility. It exposes deep, systemic failures in U.S. law that leave millions of animals in laboratories with minimal protections—and even those “covered” by federal rules often receive little meaningful relief.
The Raids That Forced Change
On March 15, 2026, activists from groups linked to the Coalition to Save the Ridglan Dogs breached fences and buildings at Ridglan Farms. They removed around 22–30 beagles. Some were successfully rehomed; others were recovered by police. However, an estimated 2000 beagles remained in captivity, potentially subject to additional horrific experimentation. Our guest, Dean Guzman Wyrzykowski, was one of these activists.
A second, larger action on April 18 drew roughly 1,000 protesters to rescue the remaining beagles. Law enforcement responded with tear gas, pepper spray, and rubber bullets. No additional dogs could be rescued that day. Dozens of protesters were arrested, including our guest on The Breggin Hour, Dean Guzman Wyrzykowski, a San Francisco Bay Area-based animal rights activist and political organizer. He is co-founder of The Simple Heart Initiative—a nonprofit dedicated to advancing species equality through open rescue, impact litigation, undercover investigations, and activist training.
With over eight years in nonprofit advocacy, Dean has recruited and trained hundreds of activists and is one of the lead organizers of the Ridglan campaign. He now faces serious felony burglary charges—potentially up to 12 years in prison—along with several co-defendants for the first March 15, 2026, rescue effort. Further charges may be pending. As a top priority, we urge that the charges be reduced or dropped to reflect the vastly important ethical basis of the actions of these animal advocates.
How to Help Dean
Dean reports that the best way to assist him with legal costs is to become a paid subscriber to his Substack at Urbananimal.substack.com. To support ending the breeding of dogs for lab testing, go to Save the Dogs, make a donation, and join over 111,581 others who have already signed the petition to end breeding of dogs for laboratory use.
These weren’t the first efforts to expose and stop the abuses of these dogs. Ridglan had faced scrutiny for years, including earlier investigations. The raids amplified public outrage and accelerated negotiations between rescuers and Ridglan Farms. In late April, rescue groups announced they had reached a deal to acquire ~1,500 dogs. Transports began in early May, with many “frosted face” seniors (older dogs with graying muzzles) now adjusting to life outside the facility—initially flinching at touch but quickly learning to wag tails and play.
Decades of Alleged Cruelty at Ridglan — and Why It Is Winding Down
Ridglan Farms operated for decades as a major supplier of beagles for testing. Former employees and state inspections described windowless warehouses, stacked cages over waste pits, high ammonia levels, rusted wires causing injuries, and routine surgeries (including eye procedures and devocalizations) performed without anesthesia or proper pain relief—sometimes by non-veterinarians.
In 2025, Wisconsin’s Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) cited Ridglan for hundreds of violations. A judge found probable cause for animal cruelty. Special Prosecutor Tim Gruenke was appointed to investigate.
Rather than face criminal charges, Ridglan chose to wind down. In a negotiated settlement in late 2025, the company agreed to surrender its Wisconsin commercial dog-breeding license by July 1, 2026. This effectively ends its large-scale commercial breeding and sales of beagles to external laboratories. In exchange, the state dropped the threat of felony animal cruelty prosecutions.
This agreement was driven by years of accumulated citations, whistleblower testimony, undercover investigations, and intense public and activist pressure. While Ridglan can still conduct limited on-site research under its federal USDA licenses, its days as a major commercial beagle supplier are over.
Parallels with Envigo and Other Scandals
Ridglan is far from isolated. In 2022, a major scandal erupted at Envigo’s breeding facility in Cumberland, Virginia. PETA’s undercover investigation revealed severe neglect: inadequate food, veterinary care, housing, and staffing; dead puppies were left among litters; and unqualified staff performed invasive procedures. The U.S. Department of Justice intervened, leading to the rescue of over 4,000 beagles—the largest such seizure in U.S. history. Envigo (and its parent company Inotiv) later pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Animal Welfare Act and the Clean Water Act, agreeing to pay a record $35 million+ in fines and shutting down the breeding operation.
From the Beagles to the Breggins, Senator Bill Stanley Sought Justice for the Underdog
At a state level, key Virginia state legislators were involved in advocating for stronger animal welfare regulations in response to documented Animal Welfare Act violations, poor conditions, and high puppy mortality in the facility.
Sen. Bill Stanley (R-Franklin County) was a leading champion at the state level. He visited the facility multiple times, co-sponsored several “Beagle Bills” in 2022 (e.g., SB 87, SB 88, SB 90, SB 604) to increase oversight, close loopholes for research animals, require adoption offers before euthanasia, and penalize repeat violators. He adopted two Envigo beagles (Daisy and Dixie) and worked on adoptions/rescues.
We are especially happy to acknowledge Sen. Stanley’s contributions because, among several attorneys we contacted to defend us against Robert Malone’s lawfare defamation suit against us for $25 million, Bill was the first attorney willing to seriously pursue our case, which ended in the presiding judge throwing Malone’s case out of court. From the beagles to the Breggins, Senator Stanley has sought justice for the underdog.
The Sand Fly Experiments and High-Profile Scandals
Public outrage over government-funded beagle suffering peaked in the early 2020s with revelations about NIH-funded experiments under Dr. Anthony Fauci’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). One widely criticized study involved beagle puppies in Tunisia exposed to sand flies carrying parasites (to study leishmaniasis). Reports described dogs having their heads locked in mesh cages filled with infected sand flies, being used as live bait in desert cages overnight, and in some cases undergoing cordectomies (vocal cord removal) to silence barking. The experiments sparked bipartisan congressional criticism and intense media coverage.
The Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) and partners filed habeas corpus petitions seeking court recognition of the Ridglan dogs’ right to freedom from cruelty and immediate remedies. While initial petitions faced dismissal, appeals continue for the remaining animals.
Why U.S. Law Fails Experimental Animals
The core federal statute is the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) of 1966 (and its amendments), enforced by the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). It sets minimum standards for housing, feeding, veterinary care, and handling of certain animals.
Critical Limitations Include:
- Massive Species Exclusions: Rats, mice, and birds bred for research—accounting for roughly 95% of lab animals—are explicitly excluded. Cold-blooded animals and others also fall outside coverage.
- Weak Standards for Covered Species: Even for dogs, cats, primates, etc., the AWA permits painful procedures if deemed “scientifically necessary.” There is no outright ban on specific types of experiments.
- Self-Regulation via IACUCs: Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees—dominated by researchers at the institutions they oversee—review protocols. Approval rates hover near 98%, with limited external oversight.
- Enforcement Gaps: Under-resourced inspections, reliance on self-reporting, and modest penalties limit impact. Ridglan itself had passed many USDA inspections despite state-level findings of serious issues.
- Property Status: Animals remain legal property. Novel habeas efforts like the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) challenge this but face significant judicial hurdles, as courts have historically rejected animal “personhood” claims. For those of us who learned in childhood about unconditional love from our dogs, they are not only of equal value to people, but they seem on a higher spiritual level in the love they have given to us.
Other frameworks, such as the Public Health Service Policy, apply only to federally funded research and offer even less robust enforcement. The 2022 FDA Modernization Act opened doors to non-animal alternatives, but broader statutory mandates for the “3Rs” (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement) remain limited.
Reform efforts often stall due to powerful research lobbies, congressional agriculture committees’ oversight, and public support for medical research that can overshadow welfare concerns.
Broader Context and the Path Forward
Ridglan and Envigo show that systemic problems persist despite occasional rescues and fines. Millions of animals continue to be used annually in U.S. labs, yet positive developments exist: growing adoption of alternatives (organ-on-chip, AI modeling, human cell cultures), increased rehoming programs, and shifting public opinion favoring stronger protections.
The Ridglan victory shows that sustained pressure—investigations, lawsuits, public protest, and direct rescue—can force change where law falls short. Yet relying on activists risking felony charges is not sustainable.
Meaningful reform requires:
- Expanding Animal Welfare Act coverage to all vertebrates.
- Stronger, independent oversight and enforcement with real penalties.
- Mandatory consideration and funding for non-animal methods.
- Judicial tools (like effective habeas relief) to address cruelty in licensed facilities promptly.
A Call to Readers
The beagles now tasting freedom represent hope—but hundreds may still face uncertainty, and systemic issues persist for countless others. Share their stories. Support reputable rescues and organizations like The Simple Heart Initiative, the Nonhuman Rights Project, Beagle Freedom Project, and others working on legal and legislative fronts.
Contact your representatives and demand real modernization of the Animal Welfare Act.
Persistence works. Now we must translate outrage into lasting legal change—so no more facilities like this exist in the first place.
What are your thoughts on balancing research needs with animal welfare? Have you followed the Ridglan story, the Envigo case, Dean’s work, or the earlier sand fly scandals? Drop a comment or share this post.
References / Endnotes
- Wisconsin Examiner / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel coverage of Ridglan rescues and settlement (2026).
- Nonhuman Rights Project – Ridglan Beagles case page.
- U.S. Department of Justice – Envigo sentencing and $35M+ resolution (2024).
- Bipartisan congressional letters on NIAID/Tunisia sand fly experiments (2021).
- Dean Guzman Wyrzykowski / The Simple Heart Initiative statements (2026).
- USDA Animal Welfare Act overview and limitations.
- Additional reporting from WPR, Right to Rescue, and related investigations.
______
Learn more about Dr. Peter Breggin's work: https://breggin.com/
See more from Dr. Breggin's long history of being a reformer in psychiatry: https://breggin.com/Psychiatry-as-an-Instrument-of-Social-and-Political-Control
Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal, the how-to manual @ https://breggin.com/a-guide-for-prescribers-therapists-patients-and-their-families/
Get a copy of Dr. Breggin's latest book:
WHO ARE THE “THEY” - THESE GLOBAL PREDATORS?
WHAT ARE THEIR MOTIVES AND THEIR PLANS FOR US?
HOW CAN WE DEFEND AGAINST THEM?
Covid-19 and the Global Predators: We are the Prey
Get a copy: https://www.wearetheprey.com/
“No other book so comprehensively covers the details of COVID-19 criminal conduct as well as its origins in a network of global predators seeking wealth and power at the expense of human freedom and prosperity, under cover of false public health policies.”
~ Robert F Kennedy, Jr
Author of #1 bestseller The Real Anthony Fauci and Founder, Chairman and Chief Legal Counsel for Children’s Health Defense.
Wednesday May 20, 2026
Wednesday May 20, 2026
We recorded this interview on the day of Dr. Peter Breggin’s 90th birthday. This interview features Peter Breggin and Ginger Breggin, and our returning friend Steve Miller, Hollywood writer and brave soul, who still lives in Los Angeles with his wife.
Wednesday May 13, 2026
Wednesday May 13, 2026
A tabletop exercise with 26 countries and a hantavirus outbreak: Coincidence or PSYOP?
Peter Breggin MD & Ginger Breggin
Mon May 11
Health, Political, Transportation
https://mega.nz/file/0hI0zJAC#bg9CYz81VQXIHfuzjCKVtWsJtxeY2AWPhuBjD0QUfEc
The news hit my inbox, and I had that “here we go again” sinking feeling. Before Covid hit in 2020, there were a number of “simulation exercises” –often called tabletop exercises—supposedly to prepare countries and health agencies in the event of a large disease outbreak. Senior author Peter R. Breggin, MD, and I had tracked down and identified a number of what we called Pandemic Predictions and Planning Events” that we researched and exposed in our book COVID-19 and the Global Predators: We are the Prey.
Now it looked like the same deadly program was about to repeat. Jon Fleetwood, Substack author and independent investigative journalist, announced this week: “WHO Runs Pandemic Simulation ‘Exercise Polaris II.” He declared, “26 countries, 600 emergency experts, and more than 25 global health agencies and response networks participate in WHO’s expanding multinational outbreak simulation.”
Almost as though planned, reports of a deadly disease outbreak on board the cruise ship, Hondius, began circulating. Confirmation came days later that the disease strain was indeed the Andes virus strain of the Hantavirus (which has evidence of human-to-human spread). Meanwhile, several dozen people have left the ship and are now being tracked so contact tracing can occur.
Despite the fear factor being ramped up in the media, WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove stated Wednesday that the Hantavirus outbreak is not the next COVID pandemic. I believe this provides deniability cover for WHO, while contributing to the public confusion about the threat of Hantavirus, which will drive public opinion toward accepting global oversight (read “control”) of health matters.
Our show this week featured Dr. Peter Breggin and Ginger Breggin interviewing journalist Alex Newman about the World Health Organization’s pandemic simulations and globalist threats to national sovereignty. We discussed findings from a December 2, 2024, House committee report on COVID-19 origins and nursing home policies, while Newman explained how various totalitarian forces cooperate through international organizations to expand power using pandemic preparedness as justification.
The conversation emphasized the importance of recognizing these threats as intentional rather than accidental and concluded with a discussion of Newman’s upcoming book and the role of faith in preserving liberty.
When Peter Breggin and I researched our book, we discovered events like these were harbingers of the COVID operation, which was launched in early 2020 and led to the first-ever nearly universal lockdown of nations, resulting in demolished economies, demoralized, gaslit citizens, and ultimately millions of deaths and disabling adverse effects around the world from the so-called mRNA “Covid vaccines.” We recognized the attack on individual freedoms and liberty in the first couple of months of 2020 and went to work to uncover the real story.
COVID-19 and the Global Predators: We are the Prey
Peter and I researched, wrote, and published the first comprehensive book on the COVID era, documenting evidence for the laboratory release of COVID, identifying Dr. Fauci’s early lies to the U.S. Senate, and his extensive collaborations with other globalists and billionaires. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., now Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), stated that when our book COVID-19 and the Global Predators came out,
“No other book so comprehensively covers the details of COVID-19 criminal conduct as well as its origins in a network of global predators seeking wealth and power at the expense of human freedom and prosperity, under the cover of false public health policies.”
In our Covid book, we reviewed and debunked the totalitarian rules and regulations enforced all over the world in the name of public health, including the mass murder in New York State when Governor Cuomo sent sick patients into uninfected nursing homes, resulting in mass disease spread.
Asking the obvious next question—who is behind this disaster? — We found and exposed Bill Gates and his master plan that implemented Operation Warp Speed in 2015-2017. Gates, along with a rogue’s gallery of other predatory globalists, was identified and exposed in part three of our book. Drawing on his extensive experience as a medical-legal expert in over 100 trials in the US and Canada, Dr. Breggin assembled a chapter titled “Bill of Particulars against Dr. Anthony Fauci.” As the possibility of Fauci’s formal accusation grows closer, we hope that Federal investigators will be made aware of Dr. Breggin’s suggested outline and summary of possible charges against the evil perpetrator.
We completed the COVID-19 and the Global Predators book by mapping out how we, citizens, can recover our liberty. Documentation included in this book includes an extensive Chronology as well as over 1100 endnotes and an extensive index.
So, is it over yet?
There is always that sweet, soft, naive streak in me (Ginger) that expects that once the exposure of the evil and the crime is complete, it will be fixed. Justice will be served. The mRNA “vaccines” will be abolished, victims will be cared for, and such a dreadful time will not happen again. But then the years fly by, and I set aside the soft part of me, take a deep breath, and get ready for the next onslaught. We are seeing signs now that the next pandemic operation is being considered.
The psychological manipulations continue, and pressure will be put on the public to demand a global health authority, because a global health authority equals global control. We have seen this program already with COVID—Dr. Breggin and I mapped out the plan in our COVID-19 and the Global Predators book. We all need to refresh our memories about what happened—how world control was seized—and work to prevent any future recurrence.
Our guest, Alex Newman, CEO of Liberty Sentinel Media, is an award-winning international journalist, educator, author, speaker, investor, nationally syndicated radio host, and consultant who “seeks to glorify God in everything he does.” The list of international and national magazines and newspapers to which he has contributed articles reads like a who’s who of news.
Alex Newman’s latest book is Indoctrinating Our Children to Death.
Primary author: Ginger Breggin
See also:
How the fear of death and illusion of freedom turn us into accomplices to evil
UN and WHO: Stooges of the global rapists of humanity…
______
Learn more about Dr. Peter Breggin's work: https://breggin.com/
See more from Dr. Breggin's long history of being a reformer in psychiatry: https://breggin.com/Psychiatry-as-an-Instrument-of-Social-and-Political-Control
Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal, the how-to manual @ https://breggin.com/a-guide-for-prescribers-therapists-patients-and-their-families/
Get a copy of Dr. Breggin's latest book:
WHO ARE THE “THEY” - THESE GLOBAL PREDATORS?
WHAT ARE THEIR MOTIVES AND THEIR PLANS FOR US?
HOW CAN WE DEFEND AGAINST THEM?
Covid-19 and the Global Predators: We are the Prey
Get a copy: https://www.wearetheprey.com/
“No other book so comprehensively covers the details of COVID-19 criminal conduct as well as its origins in a network of global predators seeking wealth and power at the expense of human freedom and prosperity, under cover of false public health policies.”
~ Robert F Kennedy, Jr
Author of #1 bestseller The Real Anthony Fauci and Founder, Chairman and Chief Legal Counsel for Children’s Health Defense.
Wednesday Apr 15, 2026
Wednesday Apr 15, 2026
How the fear of death and illusion of freedom turn us into accomplices to evil
We have spent nearly forty years fighting to keep medicine humane. Along the way, we learned a bitter lesson. Trusting systems without watching them is a form of surrender. Fear of death and the illusion that someone else will save us make us complicit in our own undoing.
A father told us about his daughter, Grace. She was loved, playful, filled with light. A simple cold led to a hospital visit and a series of choices that ended with her gone. The family said no to a preauthorized ventilator. The hospital needed beds. The calculations were not abstract. They were made in dollars and in throughput. We watched a human life treated like a line item.
This is not an accident. Collectivist logic has been woven into American law and medicine over generations. A century-old decision that placed the safety of the many over the liberty of the one still governs how public health talks to us.
Payment systems and official protocols narrow what doctors may offer and what they may even discuss. Informed consent is rendered fragile when the only options presented are those the system endorses.
We must resist being taught to fear. Decisions made in panic lead us away from love. Love is the true and practical remedy. Treasure your children. Treasure your elders. Build small circles of care that refuse to let a neighbor be reduced to a statistic.
Repentance is not only a spiritual word. It is a daily turning from easy deference to active stewardship of one another. Pray, learn, ask hard questions, appoint advocates who will be present for the bedside moments when life hangs in the balance.
Do not let a culture that prizes efficiency tell you who is worth saving. If we do not love fiercely now, then what will any law save for us later?
Wednesday Apr 08, 2026
Wednesday Apr 08, 2026
Wednesday Apr 01, 2026
Wednesday Apr 01, 2026
Wednesday Mar 25, 2026
Wednesday Mar 25, 2026
Patients around the world have been discovering that the psychiatric drug their doctor or psychiatrist started them on years ago is now hijacking their lives, causing a plethora of unwanted side effects. For instance, antidepressant drugs have many potential damaging effects, including mania, violence, aggression, irritability, apathy, persistent sexual dysfunction, and a suppression of feelings of love. Antipsychotic drugs (now frequently prescribed as “sleep aids” and “antidepressants”) can cause cognitive dysfunction, including disabling “brain fog,” apathy, and physical disabilities, including the permanent movements of Tardive Dyskinesia and other debilitating conditions.
Wednesday Mar 18, 2026
Wednesday Mar 18, 2026
Our hour conversation with Adam Johnson was one of the most moving in memory. Ginger cried. She covered it over pretty well, and you’ll have to listen carefully to the third segment to catch it.
Adam Johnson is a Christian, a working man, a husband, a father of five children, and a powerful writer on Substack. We were drawn to him by an intriguing essay titled I set fire to my school when I was thirteen, and his more recent follow-up article Where Is God?
We open the show talking about sexual abuse he endured at the hands of a health professional when he was thirteen, but which he only recently recalled. He makes an informed plea for parents to be more aware of protecting their children from being groomed by predators masquerading on children’s platforms as friends. Adam emphasizes that it’s not just the stranger at the park who presents a danger to our children, but that our screens bring predators right into our homes and our children’s bedrooms, where we are our children’s last line of defense.
The last segment of the show shifts to examining “the dark night of the soul,” which results from inevitable human torments stemming from childhood and mortality itself. Share with us this sobering, educational, and moving hour.
An hour after we prerecorded this show, our guest published another article we have to share titled “I’ve been in that bed before”, through which we are reminded to reach out to someone, to speak, especially in the darkest times when we feel the most alone.
Wednesday Mar 11, 2026
Wednesday Mar 11, 2026
Wednesday Mar 04, 2026
Wednesday Mar 04, 2026