Trapped inside a laboratory, Echo’s future looked grim. For six years, this lovable beagle suffered isolation, neglect and painful procedures. A product tested on Echo’s eyes left her blind. Then, a miraculous twist of fate changed Echo’s life forever. Beagle Freedom Project, a nonprofit that rescues and rehomes animals used in experimental research, saved Echo and found her a family. At her new home, Echo stepped out into the sunlight and pawed the unfamiliar texture of grass for the first time.
Echo is one of few survivors of the animal experimentation industry. Approximately 65,000 dogs are used in animal testing each year in the United States. This secretive industry breeds dogs, cats, rabbits and other animals into existence only to suffer agonizing experimentation. The animals may endure unnecessary surgeries, pesticide exposure or force feedings of harmful chemicals. Most of the dogs spend their lives alone in steel cages, only taken out for procedures or transportation.
The animal experimentation industry has recently attracted a deluge of public criticism. A 2020 investigation by the animal advocacy nonprofit Rise for Animals exposes a key industry facility named Marshall BioResources. Located in New York State, Marshall BioResources is one of the largest breeders of dogs for experimentation in the United States. From the street view, the facilities are obscured by tall pines, but a bird’s-eye view reveals expansive windowless warehouses indistinguishable from the factory farms that house animals used for food and fur production.
Trapped inside of Marshall BioResources are roughly 23,000 dogs, as well as cats, ferrets and other animals. Since 2007, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has cited Marshall BioResources for more than 20 violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act, including inadequate veterinary care and poor living conditions, revealing a pattern of abuse and neglect. After spending their early lives at Marshall BioResources, the dogs will be shipped to laboratories across the country.
The dog testing industry spans the globe. While Marshall BioResources is a primary source of dog breeding for experimentation, businesses generate the demand. As of 2017, every U.S. state with available data was home to facilities that experiment on dogs, ranging from four sites in South Dakota to 7,890 in Massachusetts. Many animal lovers support the dog experimentation industry without even realizing it.
Promising alternatives to animal experimentation are advancing rapidly. One option is bioprinting, which can produce lab-grown tissue, including bones, hearts and skin, using 3D printing technology. Paired with the conditions to foster regenerative cell growth, bioprinted tissue can behave similarly to human organs. Bioprinting and other innovative engineering solutions can reduce or eliminate testing on live animals and lower the costs of the resource-intensive animal experimentation process. This technology may also circumvent the limitations often associated with testing products intended for humans on nonhuman animals.
Consumers can accelerate the development and implementation of ethical alternatives to animal experimentation by avoiding products tested on animals. Thousands of businesses are already responding to consumer demand with commitments to cruelty-free products, including Dove, Herbal Essences and Aveda, while other companies are continuing to support animal suffering. Petco carries live ferrets raised at Marshall BioResources and sells products created by Marshall Pet Products, a company owned by Marshall BioResources. Rise for Animals and Beagle Freedom Project are encouraging consumers to call for Petco to end its partnership with Marshall BioResources. When consumers choose companies and products free from the cruelty of animal experimentation, they reduce the demand that sustains businesses like Marshall BioResources.
Legislative action is also creating change for animals used for experiments. In 2014, Minnesota became the first state in the nation to adopt the Beagle Freedom Bill, requiring laboratories to offer healthy dogs and cats for adoption after testing, instead of killing them. Ten other states have enacted the Beagle Freedom Bill since then. In 2020, California became the first state in the nation to put into effect a bill to ban the sale of cosmetics tested on animals. All states should consider ethical legislative actions to mitigate the extensive suffering caused by animal experimentation.
When Echo the beagle was first rescued, she was too afraid to even step out of her carrying kennel. During the weeks that followed, Echo’s caretakers watched her incredible transformation. Echo had experienced the unthinkable, but in a short time, she learned to trust, play and love. Every state in the nation is home to the kind of cruelty that Echo suffered, and every state has the opportunity to leverage consumer choice, technology and legislative action to end animal experimentation. Animals like Echo are counting on us.
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We urgently need your help to prepare. As you know, our December fundraiser is our most important of the year and will determine the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We’ve set two goals: to raise $104,000 in one-time donations and to add 1340 new monthly donors by midnight on December 31.
Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
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