156 beagles between the ages of 2 to 5 years old are experiencing life outside of a laboratory cage for the first time in their lives. The beagles, once used in laboratories throughout India, are getting ready for release, rehabilitation and rehoming.
“This is a mammoth task, one that we are confident of completing successfully, as we are determined to place every single dog into loving, deserving homes,” the NGO rescue group Compassion Unlimited Plus Action (CUPA)writes on Facebook. They will be responsible for finding the dogs their forever homes.
42 of the 156 beagles have just arrived at CUPA’s shelter and one of the first steps when the dogs arrived, was to give them a much-needed baths.
Photo credit: CUPA
“They didn’t seem too thrilled with their first bathing experience but they did look happy and gorgeous once we were done with them,” says CUPA. “They smell fresh now, the stale dank odour that hung on their bodies from being cooped up in their cages has been washed off.”
Photo credit: CUPA
The beagles’ release is part of a new agreement between the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA) and hundreds of laboratories in India, which states that dogs cannot be used in lab testing for a period longer than three years.
“These beagles have lived their entire lives in small metal cages,” writes CUPA. “Due to lack of exposure to the outside world, they need to learn every little nuance of living in a home – using the stairs, toilet training, coming up to people for a cuddle, going on walks or even playing with a toy.”
CUPA has begun adopting the dogs, and some have found families already!
Watch the video below to see the beagles experiencing the sunshine and outdoors for the first time too.
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