On May 20 Gov. Mark Dayton signed the Beagle Freedom Bill. Minnesota became the first state in the United States and the first political body in the world to mandate that laboratory dogs and cats be adopted when the research is over. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, there are approximately 354 cats and 406 dogs in custody at the University of Minnesota. The length of time an animal is used depends on the research being done. Some animals may be as young as three weeks (used in utero testing while their mother was pregnant), some are used in other units for additional research, some are transferred to the vet school for teaching procedures or euthanized. Some are used for more than 10 years.

This legislation was long overdue. The law states if a cat or dog is used in taxpayer-funded research, and is in good health, it must be put up for adoption through a nonprofit animal rescue organization. On average, only about 10 percent of dogs used in research are adoptable at the end of their research lives. According to information gathered, in our state, only the University of Minnesota does taxpayer-funded research on cats and dogs. This law does not apply to private institutes that use animals in research.

Remarkable legislators put their names, time, skills and hearts on the line in crafting this bill and working for its passage. Key legislators are Sen. Scott Dibble, Sen. Dick Cohen, Rep. John Lesch, Rep. Tim Huntley, Sen. Patricia Torres Ray, Sen. Jim Carlson, Rep. Raymond Dehn, Rep. Frank Hornstein, Rep. Paul Rosenthal, Rep. Susan Allen, Rep. Rick Hansen and Rep. Joe Radinovich.

For additional information, please check beaglefreedomproject.org.

 

Shirley Taggart

Faribault