Four of ten beagles, saved from being euthanized after a medical research lab was done experimenting on them, arrived in Manitoba on Monday. (The other six are in California.).When crate doors were opened the traumatized Beagles, all three-year-old boys, sat motionless and stared — too afraid to be coaxed out by treats..“The very species that harms them was standing in front of them asking them to step into a world they’ve never seen before,” said Lori Cohen, director of operations for The Beagle Alliance..The beagles couldn’t know that this time they weren’t coming out to suffer yet another painful experiment they’ve endured their entire lives..Instead, this time — for the first time — the gentle dogs suffering anxiety and PTSD felt grass beneath their paws..“We’ve had to crawl into their crates just to pick them up and pull them out just so they’d step on the grass.”.“They weren’t sure what they’re stepping on because they’ve not had the opportunity to feel that and see that.”.The rescue was a joint effort between Beagle Alliance, a Winnipeg area advocacy and rescue organization, and the California-based Cage to Couch..Neither the laboratory’s location nor the details of the experiments are revealed..“There’s nothing on the paperwork about the experiments. Laboratories don’t disclose that at all,” said Cohen..What is common knowledge is researchers conduct repeated experiments on the same animals, then kill them when the projects wrap up..Beagle Alliance and its rescue partners contact labs, appealing to them to give them the dogs so they can be adopted into loving homes and have a chance to finally play with toys, “feel a soft touch” and experience “safety, freedom, and love.”.“We reach out to private labs and Canadian research facilities and ask that when they retire (kill) the dogs — that’s how they say it — that they think about us.”.Beagles are a preferred experimental breed globally because of their docile natures..These dogs have suffered terribly in diabolical experiments..In July 2022, 4,000 Beagles were rescued from gruesome experiments funded by Dr. Anthony Fauci when he headed the National Institutes of Health (NIH), after the Envigo Beagle breeding facility in Virginia was shut down..The NIH funded an experiment in Tunisia where a lab drugged beagles and locked their heads in mesh cages filled with sand flies so that the insects could eat them alive..In another experiment beagles were locked in cages in the desert for nine consecutive nights as bait for sand flies..The despicable Fauci’s agency admitted to cutting beagle puppies vocal cords to shut them up as they were being slowly devoured..This is a common practice in experimental settings, so researchers are spared the discomfort of hearing the painful howls and cries of the animals they torture..Do they simply become desensitized? Or is it a matter the grant money that keeps them employed being more important?.A 2020 article in TopDogTips addressed “unpsetting truths” about lab experiment dogs believed to be norms in the industry..Dogs are specifically bred to carry painful genetic problems and deformities. For biological, environmental, and medical experiments they are injected with toxic or poisonous substances that make them violently ill or kills them..Canadians needn’t necessarily be smug about being more humane because the unregulated animal research industry is secretive and accountable to no one. “Many in Canada don’t even know animal testing is going on.”.“In Canada animals are euthanized after they’re used in a study. Why don’t we offer them homes after? That’s what Canada doesn’t do. That’s what we’re hoping to change.”.Last month the feds passed Bill C-47 which prohibits companies from testing cosmetics on animals and selling cosmetics that rely on animal testing data..“There’s no federal legislation or federal law that governs animal medical testing in Canada,” said Cohen..And there’s no rule against killing test dogs once experiments are completed..“The Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) has guidelines that the major universities and research facilities in Canada must follow to receive funding. But they’re not very transparent.”.The CCAC’s report of 10,000 animals experimented on in Canada in 2021 is widely believed to be a low estimate..Not all testing labs are registered in Canada. Private labs receiving no government funding have the option of producing voluntary audits..But the CCAC doesn’t answer to government or to the public either..In fact, the CCAC is mysteriously exempt from Freedom of Information requests..“It is my hope, and the hope of many, that the Canadian Council on Animal Care would land under the umbrella of the Government of Canada in some department. That there would be more transparency and accountability.”.In the meantime, caring Canadians shoulder the task of finding ways to protect and save research animals..Beagle Alliance relies on donations and adoption fees. It just received a grant to work on a cruelty-free awareness program for high school students..Nine of the 10 beagles are in foster homes..Comet is still with Cohen. “Yesterday little Comet wasn’t even looking around. Wherever I was, he would just hunker down, sit there, stare at me.”.“He’s a little sweetheart. He’s starting to get a little more curious. Loud noises freak him out. He’s scared to go through the doorway to go outside. Common things. He’ll get there.”.“He’s wagging his tail when I come up. He’ll start to realize everything’s OK. Already, the world isn’t as scary today as it was yesterday.”.Still, if she tries to pet Comet he’ll “freeze, sit down, then just go really low.”.Research survivor animals are so traumatized they shy away from “a gentle hand and a soft voice.”.But these forgiving animals who have been brutalized and unloved can learn to trust..Cohen said there are stories of “incredible transformations” from foster and adoptive families. “We couldn’t do any of this without fosters. The fosters are just amazing.”.The notion that dog rescue is an easy, dream job is misleading because people only see the end result in photos and videos of smiling faces and dogs being cuddled..“With laboratory research animals and the secrecy, there’s a tension there that we walk because we know that until the day that we get those dogs in the car it could all fall through. It’s happened.”.“There are so many moving parts and so many that must align to finally be driving to safety with 10 beagles.”.“Sometimes at the 11th hour a lab calls you and says no — and you cry and you yell and you get up again the next day and start over because their lives are worth it and you have to keep trying.”.But why protect the identity of these research facilities?.“We can’t disclose. We’ve seen some horrible things happen when there’s a leak.”.“We can’t blanket or incite hate against people working in laboratories. We’ve seen organizations incite hate ... We’ve had to block people on our social media calling for killing these people.”.“I won’t be associated with that. There’s a level of hypocrisy that happens when you are caring for animals and not humans.”.Comet and the others aren’t the end of the story. There are more to be rescued on top of the countless dogs and other animals Cohen and her network have saved..But legislative change is desperately needed..“As an organization we believe in Canada advocacy has to happen because we have no governing body and no accountability.”.“We say to the labs ‘Yes, we do stand for the end of animal testing. And we do believe that treatments and cures are being lost because the animal use model is expensive, outdated, and doesn’t yield the results that the public thinks it does.”.“But we don’t have any animosity. While we advocate and educate that there are alternatives to animal testing, we want for these dogs and any other animals they call us about to at least have a chance for a life.”
