Should animals be used as the subjects of lab experiments and product testing? Five years ago the Environmental Protection Agency announced an initiative to phase out and eventually eliminate unnecessary animal testing, but recently the agency cancelled that effort. The EPA’s about-face on the issue brought Uno, a beagle rescued from a breeding and research facility, to Capitol Hill to advocate for humane treatment of research animals.
Uno, shown above, was the first of 4,000 beagles released several years ago from Envigo, a research animal breeding facility in Virginia. After Uno and the other beagles were released from the facility, Uno was taken in by the Kindness Ranch in Hartville, Wyoming. The ranch is a 1,000-acre facility dedicated to taking in former research animals, including beagles, cats, horses, sheep, pigs, and llamas. The staff at the ranch then work to undo the effects of the animals’ prolonged captivity, to help the animals adjust to all of the sights and sounds of the world outside their labs and learn how to interact with other animals and humans who aren’t wearing lab coats. The socialization process takes several months.
Uno apparently was a big hit with elected representatives for both parties–and with a face like his, it’s not hard to see why. And he was a good dog, too, during the visit to Washington, D.C., behaving himself while being petted and hugged by representatives and their staffs and having only one territory-marking accident after encountering some other dogs. The interaction with Senators and Representatives and their staffs was part of the lobbying effort, intended to show that socializing former research animals works.
You can debate whether animals should be the subject of experiments at all, but surely even in these fractured days we can reach consensus that unnecessary animal testing should be ended, and scientists and researchers should be required to explore alternatives before subjecting innocent creatures to experiments. And we can also surely agree that, when their research days are ended, the animals should be treated with decency and kindness and given the opportunity to lead a happy and carefree post-laboratory life. If we’re lucky, Uno’s visit to Congress will help to achieve those goals.
Webner House 