Lab Beagles Released In Spain, 40 Dogs See Sunlight For First Time (VIDEO)

Forty male beagles raised inside a lab in Spain arrived in Los Angeles last week where they will be put up for adoption after being freed from captivity by the Beagle Freedom Project.

The rescue mission is the largest yet for the group Animal Rescue Media Education (ARME). A total of 72 dogs were rescued in the effort, 32 of them having already been adopted in Europe, according to NBC Los Angeles.

ARME's Beagle Freedom Project spokesman Gary Smith said the beagles, all between ages 4 and 7, had lived in cages their entire lives.

"We've been told they lived one per cage in rooms of 10 beagles, but they never had any physical interaction with one another," Smith told the station. "They've been in kennels since they were rescued about a week ago, but aside from that, they've spent most of their lives locked up."

According to the Beagle Freedom Project's website, beagles are the breed of choice for lab testing of pharmaceutical, household, and cosmetic products due to their "friendly, docile, trusting, forgiving, people-pleasing personalities," their ability to adapt to life in a cage and the fact that they are relatively inexpensive to feed.

When the beagles are no longer needed for research, some labs contact organizations such as ARME, who then work to find good homes for the dogs.

Back in June, the organization gave nine lab beagles a second chance at life, filming their first steps out of their cages.

ARME is a non-profit advocacy group and 501(c)(3) organization funded by tax-deductible contributions. Information on how to make a donation or adopt a beagle is available on the organization's website.

Click here to view a list of companies that reportedly do not test on animals.

WATCH:

View more videos at: http://nbclosangeles.com.

WATCH the rescue video from June:

Comments

[Sajwert]

02:57 PM on 02/01/2013

I have actually not thought very much about the animals that may be used for experiments. After watching this, I have become a rabid hater of all that seems so cruel it boggles the imagination. What we do to defenseless people in the world is horrible enough, but animals and little children, as the poem goes "have no choice, have no voice" other than the voices of people who care.

[Gabriela Font]

04:04 PM on 09/17/2012

Hola soy de Argentina, tengo un beagle, me gustaria saber si ya encontraron hogar para los72 beagles que rescataron, gracias, saludos

[karen lyons kalmenson]

08:51 AM on 07/18/2012

green hell has closed down!!!!!

[doneil328]

07:34 PM on 02/01/2012

Amazing story! Thank you to everyone who saved them. Beagles are the best, especially rescued ones!

http://loveofbeagles.blogspot.com/

[koelschwolf]

06:25 PM on 01/26/2012

God bless you for caring for some poor small animals, to show compassion and love.

[MiamiMama]

01:27 PM on 01/23/2012

Best story I have read on Huff post in a long time! Yes, it made me cry, too. What a sad life many animals live at the hands of humans.

[Hlynn]

10:06 PM on 01/13/2012

I love dogs. My first dog was a beagle.

I love how quickly (considering their traumatic past) these dogs trusted people and enjoyed life as a dog, with animal and people companionship.

Absolutely! Buy cruelty-free products. There are so many to choose from, and as more and more people do it the companies will get the message. If it adversely affects their profits, they will change.

[Urfubar12]

03:28 PM on 01/12/2012

Oh my, this is making me non-stop cry. But in a good way. Man, the first steps that beagal took into the grass...melted my heart.

[LHoney]

02:54 PM on 01/12/2012

It's amazing that they can walk. Poor things. They look so sweet! I think I'd be snarling if I was kept in a shoe box for 2 years...

[dallastexas21]

04:54 PM on 01/04/2012

I think it's amazing that they were able to save so many dogs! It makes me happy and pulls at my heartstrings. Those dogs deserve a kind home, real food, and some of those cheap dog accessories for them to play with (ex. http://www.doggyaccessoriesonline.com ). If my place allowed pets I would adopt one!

[Camelia Texana]

01:10 PM on 12/05/2011

Veanlo es lo maximoooo!!!! Pobres bichos!!!!

[Sandra Botero Rodrguez]

10:44 AM on 12/03/2011

Totatly beautiful!!! Thank you for save them!!! :D ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ Thank u!!!! ♥ ♥ ♥

[liaisonsus]

01:34 AM on 12/01/2011

What would happen if animals did this to humans? What right do we have to this? Is there a just God? No because no so-called higher intelligence could have created such a low and heartless, mindless, greedy and arrogant being. That my friend is proof alone that there no such an entity. I want to throw up..Never been disappointed by an animal, only by human animals, they are the worst.

[The Visitor]

11:28 PM on 11/30/2011

Since I have come to this planet. I have found that a great number of the human species are violent and perverted in many of their ways. This is a true example of the perverseness of some human's behavior. Many of your kind engage in other very destructive behaviors as well with these things you call... drugs and alcohol. There is no need to worry to the good humans', because the day is soon to come when all these things and those perverse humans will be put to rest.

[Valerie Baugher]

08:42 PM on 11/30/2011

These dogs are being used for the testing of cosmetics and household cleaners. If you want to help out you can go to http://www.leapingbunny.org/ or http://www.crueltyfreeconsumer.com/ and get a list of companies that do not test their products on animals. Do not be fooled by "Not tested on Animals" That can mean the finished product was not tested but the ingredients were. You want to see "Cruelty Free" or the Leaping Bunny Logo.

[kansasbashkir]

02:01 PM on 12/01/2011

Thank you, Valerie. Good information to have. Glad you put it out here for us.

[Valerie Baugher]

09:02 PM on 12/01/2011

You're very welcome.

[jscratz]

06:36 AM on 12/04/2011

Thanks for these links.