On a hot summer day on July 21, 2022, John Ramer and his wife, Katy Collins, were a long way from home. They’d driven for 36 hours from Hartville, Wyoming — where Ramer is executive director of Kindness Ranch Animal Sanctuary, a 1,000-acre ranch for animals who have been used in laboratory research — to Cumberland, Virginia.
The U.S. Department of Justice had filed suit against Envigo RMS, a company breeding and selling animals for use in medical research, for violating the Animal Welfare Act — and as part of the settlement, over 4,000 beagles would be removed from Envigo. The efforts to remove and transport the mistreated beagles were coordinated by the Humane Society of the United States (now called Humane World for Animals) — and over 100 animal shelters and rescue organizations across America were preparing to help take them in.
Kindness Ranch was one of them. In fact, Ramer and his team work in “non-adversarial ways” with breeding facilities, laboratories and contract research organizations to get dogs out of labs and to Kindness Ranch — and had helped coordinate the release of about 1,500 dogs from Envigo’s Cumberland facility while it was still under investigation.
“So when the DOJ finally did shut them down and we were part of the public release, there was a line of rescue groups from all over the country circling out their driveway and onto the highway outside of the facility,” Ramer said. “We were all lined up talking with the DOJ attorneys, the Envigo attorneys, federal marshals — and the manager of the Envigo facility recognized me and she just said, ‘You’ve been here before. Go ahead and go around the corner and get your dogs.’ And that’s how we accidentally became the lucky recipients of the first Envigo beagles.”
The couple drove around the corner and a volunteer with the Humane Society handed Ramer a little male beagle and said, “This one’s a squirmy one.” The dog took one look and started howling, while the next 25 dogs quietly went into their crates for transport to Kindness Ranch.
“As my wife and I started to drive off the property to begin the 36-hour drive back to Wyoming, this dog was just screaming behind my passenger seat,” he recalled. “I said, ‘Well, I was asked to let a reporter know who got the first one, so I guess that was us. We’re going to have to give him a name.’ And we thought about it for a minute and named him Uno.”
When Uno and the other Envigo beagles arrived at Kindness Ranch, it felt “overwhelming” to see them walk on grass for the first time.
“It’s amazing to watch the transformation,” he said. “Some dogs take to it faster than others. And to put them all out in what we call our ‘Canine Corral’ and watch them run on grass and be in groups with other dogs and just start to act like what we would traditionally think a normal dog would act like is some of the most rewarding work that I could imagine anybody ever being privileged enough to do.”
It was also incredibly rewarding to adopt Uno.
The little beagle is thriving at Kindness Ranch, where he delights children visiting from elementary schools and youth camps with his friendly welcome.
“Uno loves to walk up and down the line trying to say hi to everybody,” Ramer said. “He’s just such a little gentleman.”
Uno On The Hill
Uno is also popular at the United States Capitol, which he’s visited six times to meet with politicians from both sides of the aisle when there are discussions about animal testing in medical research.
“People in the most expensive suits I’ve ever seen are laying on the floor holding him and scratching his head and kissing his forehead and apologizing for all the horrible things that humans do to animals,” Ramer said. “I told all my contacts out there that the first time that Uno ever acts like he’s overwhelmed by any of this, I’m going to take him home and I’ll never bring him back. But I put him in the back seat of the truck and my wife and I hop in and we’re like, ‘Okay, we’re going to drive to Washington, D.C. You’re going to be in here with us for three and a half days.’ He just sits in the backseat, watches the world go by and then walks down the corridors of power like he runs the place.”
While Ramer stressed that Kindness Ranch, which offers other former research animals for adoption, doesn’t lobby but acts as a “consultant” on legislation, Uno has proven to be a poster dog for animals bred for and used in medical testing. For instance, the U.S. House of Representatives bill Violet’s Law would mandate a retirement program for dogs and cats used in federally funded research.
“We’re not a political advocacy group in any way, but we’re proof of concept that these animals can be retired and rehabilitated and adopted into homes,” he said. “So if this bill passes, we would like to offer our help and our guidance and our roadmap to assist other facilities to make it happen.”
Uno In ‘The New Gold Standard’
When people meet Uno and hear about his past life at Envigo, where he lost part of his tail and part of an ear, the typical response is confusion, according to Ramer.
“One of the first questions they ask is, ‘How could anybody ever test on such a beautiful dog?’ And then the follow-up, depending on which side of the argument you’re on, is either anger and concerns about the ethical issues of testing on animals or you go straight to protecting the science and saying, ‘Well, I guess it’s a necessary evil’ and the justification starts to fall in.”
So he’s grateful that Uno had the chance to appear in the upcoming documentary “The New Gold Standard: Cutting Edge Science That’s Replacing Animal Testing.” The documentary, which is narrated and executive produced by actor Edie Falco of “The Sopranos,” explores a major shift in medical research and the scientific advances replacing animal testing, like human organ chips.
So when people argue that there’s no viable alternative to animal testing, Ramer looks forward to suggesting they watch the documentary to learn otherwise.
“We really are at a turning point when it comes to testing on dogs and cats,” he said.
The film’s director and producer, Steven Latham, said human-based research is challenging traditional animal testing models by being more predictive, relevant and reproducible when developing new drugs for people. He was happy to include Uno and Ramer in the documentary.
“Kindness Ranch Animal Sanctuary is the largest sanctuary for former research animals in the United States,” he said. “In ‘The New Gold Standard,’ I wanted viewers to see some of the animals that were being tested on instead of just hearing about the millions used in labs. Those who get to go to the sanctuary are the lucky ones. Uno is one of the lucky ones. Most lab animals never make it out alive.”
For his part, Uno is making the most of his life at Kindness Ranch, where he enjoys spending time with his best friend, Cammi — a beagle released from a research facility in Colorado — and amusing Ramer with his distinctive baritone beagle bray. He’s become so famous that tourists often stop by Kindness Ranch just to take selfies with the little dog.
“My little ‘accidental ambassador’ is what I call him,” Ramer said. “He’s such a good boy.”