Meet Aisling Ambassador Dogs Tink and Gemma, among the historic 3700+ beagles that were rescued from a life of testing and research.

2.10.23 Tink and Gemma are now living their best life at the Aisling Center. Eight months ago, things did not look so good for either of them. Both were confined to cages as breeding females at the former Envigo laboratory research dog breeding facility in Cumberland, VA for 3 and 4 years, respectively.

The Aisling Center is so proud to have been a part of the historic effort by the Humane Society and so many partner organizations around the country that rescued and found homes for over 3700 beagles bred and bound for research and testing at this now shuttered facility, after multiple violations of the Animal Welfare Act. The rescue effort began in February 2022 and concluded in August.

Please take a few moments to watch this happy ending video the Humane Society has curated about the amazing rescue effort of these beautiful dogs.
https://lnkd.in/eabwSDTB

While we were not able to save any of Tink's many puppies that were sold into research facilities in the years she was confined there, we were able to get Gemma out two days before she gave birth to her last litter of pups, all of whom found loving homes.

Gem and Tink now live with President and Founder of Aisling, Susan Howe, and help to educate the public and our legislators on the fate of beagles and other dogs bred for research and chemical testing. Over 50,000 beagles and other dog breeds (some referred to as ‘mongrels’) are held in captivity annually in the US alone, used for biomedical research, and drug and other chemical toxicity testing or held in massive breeding facilities such as Marshall BioResources or Labcorp/Covance awaiting purchase by research and testing facilities. In 2021, these institutions reported to USDA the number of dogs at their facilities for research and testing. Thousands more languish in research facilities around the world. Most are euthanized and only in rare cases are a lucky few adopted out after their time in the lab.

We are changing this in Massachusetts, beginning with the passage of An Act Protecting Research Animals, otherwise known as “The Beagle Bill”, which passed in summer 2022 under the leadership of Senator Bruce Tarr and Representative Michelle DuBois. There are currently 14 states that have passed similar legislation allowing for the adoption of ‘retired research dogs’. It is a step forward, an important but small one, as it requires MA-based facilities using dogs and cats for research and testing purposes to attempt to find homes for those healthy enough to be adopted after they are no longer needed at the lab. The hard truth is, most are euthanized as part of study design protocol, and there are currently no reporting requirement that allows the public or legislators to know if this mandate is improving adoption rates and reducing euthanasia. Senator Tarr filed a follow-on bill that would require the reporting of # of dogs and cats adopted out and those euthanized in a given year to the USDA. An important next step to be sure, but what is really needed is a complete reform of our approach to biomedical research, drug development, and chemical testing that eliminates the use of dogs altogether, and significantly reduces and replaces other animals.

We work every day with our many partners in animal welfare, biotech, and government to replace all dogs (and other animals) in laboratories with rapidly advancing non-animal methods for advancing science, drug development and toxicity testing, such as organ-chips, organoids, 3D printing, and computational modeling. Please join us in support of this transformation of science for a more compassionate world. www.theaislingcenter.org