A few weeks ago i came across a news reporting that beagles were being used as “lab rats” in many laboratories across the world. I’m a beagle owner so it really shocked me. I asked myself “why would someone treat so badly such cute and lovely animals?” They are one of the most common breeds all over the world, kids love them, adults love them..this really shocked me. So I started making some research of my one to get to the heart of the problem. I found that accordingly to Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals in Great Britain over 97% of dogs tested are beagles. Shocking numbers i'm sure. There are even some companies that breed this dogs especially for lab testing.
Why Beagles?
The first question that pop into my head was why were Beagles the preferred breed to be tested. Well, the answer was simple as they are very friendly, forgiving, trusting and love to please their owners. Also, the research industry admits that they adapt well under poor conditions like living in cages. Also, since they’re small/medium side dogs the cost with food is minimum.
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What kind of test are made to them?
This is another important issue. Finding out what kind of tests Beagles have to go through. In some research facilities and even some universities testing done on this lovely dogs include cosmetics, pharmaceutical, medical and household products.
They can be forced to eat chemicals through tubes inserted in their mouths, or have drops dripped into their eyes, or have chemical substances rubbed into their skin just to see what reactions will appear. For example they give a drug in different doses to a group of 20 or 30 dogs and then they see if the effects build up in higher doses. The test can run for weeks or years depending on the type of reactions expected. The dogs can experience reactions like organ failure, diarrhea, vomiting, weight problems or death. Sometimes when the dogs are no longer needed they’re killed and dissected to check the effects on the organs.
Some good news!
In the European Community testing cosmetic products in animals is banned although France is trying to change that. In the United States it’s allowed if safety for the animals can be assured but there aren’t rules anywhere In the world. The number of experiments has dropped by 2 thirds in the United States over the last years. Fortunately there are people from animals rights fighting against it and from time to time we see Beagles being rescued. These are animals that never saw a sunny day, or grass. They’re very suspicious about everything and humans in particularly but with time they regain trust in us. Times solves everything!
You can also check if a product is not being tested on any kind of animal by seeing the logo of leapingbunny.
Let’s hope for better days to come for this wonderful animals!
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