More than 2000 dogs bred for horrific lab experiments for the so-called biomedical research have been rescued from major breeding facilities over the past several months. Thanks to the activism of animal rights advocates, supported by a newly formed animal cruelty task force by the Trump administration, these beagles are now free from the cages of the Ridglan Farms in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, and are being rehomed with loving and caring families.
Evan Nader of Big Dog Ranch Rescue, the beagle operation’s lead organizer, was cited in The Epoch Times (July 26) thanking the Trump administration in getting these dogs released while at the same time expressing the need to do more. The story added:
It’s too late to spring the tens of thousands of beagles already owned by universities and pharmaceutical companies, Nader told The Epoch Times. Legally, those pups are considered private property, and performing tests on them is legal.
It’s obvious from Nader’s statement that dog abuse won’t end as long as their status of property isn’t changed to living beings with rights. Interestingly, owners are not allowed to abuse their pets or subject then to cruel or dangerous treatments, for example leaving them locked in a hot car or tied to a tree and starving them – anything that intentionally subjects them to pain and injury. Dogs being property isn’t an acceptable excuse in such cases.
The question then is why labs, pharma, and universities are allowed to harm their dogs. Why is being their property an acceptable excuse? The answer is no mystery. These are people with money and influence; so the law offers them special consideration at the expense of the safety and wellbeing of the animals in their possession.
It’s time to end these exemptions extended to the medical and academic as well as pharma entities when it comes to treatment of animals – not at one facility or lab but categorically across the country. On the grassroots level independent media needs to be more vigilant in documenting the abuse of animals by these entities. The public, those who care, need to boycott these institutions and companies in all their goods and services. Without applying overpowering pressure, it won’t be possible to ensure the protection of these dogs and other animals.
