Category: News

DOVER, Del. (WTXF) – A Delaware law aimed at giving new life to former lab animals is officially in the books. On Wednesday, Gov. John Carney signed Senate Bill 101, The Research Animal Retirement Act, into law. Under the new legislation, commonly referred to as the ‘Beagle Freedom Bill,’ research facilities that receive public funding will be required to offer their cats and dogs for adoption instead of euthanizing them when they are no longer needed. Students and staff of the institution in question would have the option of adopting…

A new Delaware law will give research animals a better life after they retire from the laboratories. Gov. John Carney signed a bill Wednesday afternoon that will require all research facilities that receive public funding to put retired dogs and cats up for adoption, rather than euthanizing them. The bill, which was passed unanimously by the senate in May, will make Delaware the eighth state to enact a so-called “Beagle Freedom” law. The laws, which are nicknamed after one of the most commonly tested on dog breeds, seek to provide…

Slathering on sunscreen before a day at the beach means you’re protecting your skin from the elements, but there’s more to that squirt of SPF than meets the eye. And the same goes for a swipe of lipstick or a dollop of shampoo because unfortunately, the cosmetics industry has a dark side. According to Shannon Keith, founder of the Beagle Freedom Project, “[In the U.S.,] animal testing is not required by law, therefore, companies that test on animals choose to do so. The public is often misled when a company…

Not only are pets largely considered members of the family, but they’re also the subject of a niche economy. This year, Americans are projected to spend more than $72 billion on pet-related expenditures. Increasingly, young American couples opt for fur babies over real babies due to the reduced financial commitment offered by dogs and cats. Beyond the market for chew toys and gourmet food, dogs also play an unfortunate role in a far more sinister industry: consumer product testing. Despite America’s broadly positive attitude toward pets, they’re still used as…

Her life has so much meaning now. When rescuers saved a blind beagle named Maria from a Chinese laboratory, they thought they were saving one dog’s life. But they ended up saving seven lives. Maria, who is now 10 years old, had spent her entire life in a cold, steel cage in a laboratory in Cheng Du, China. “I can’t say 100 percent for sure, but it’s obvious that she’s been used as a breeder,” Shannon Keith, president and founder of Beagle Freedom Project, a rescue group based in California,…

Eight states have passed laws requiring research institutions to offer healthy dogs and cats up for adoption, rather than killing them. Ringo the beagle loves all the things every dog would: Running in the yard, rides in the car and the frequent snack. “He’s just so happy to sit right in your lappy,” his owner, Amy Bleich, an engineer in Edgewater, Maryland, said. You’d never know that Ringo, now five years old, had lived the entire first two years of his life inside a small cage at a nearby medical…

The Delaware State Senate voted unanimously to legally compel research laboratories to release healthy dogs and cats that are often times euthanized when facilities no longer need them for testing. If the Governor signs the legislation, Delaware will become the eighth state to enact such a law which will legally compel research laboratories in the state to release dogs and cats that are no longer needed for testing to rescue groups so that they can be adopted into loving families. Prior to the passage of the bill the facilities could,…