Eden Prairie moms credited with helping rescue six beagles used for research testing

Two Eden Prairie women working as volunteers with a Canadian dog rescue organization are credited with helping rescue six beagles from a Texas animal research facility.

Kathy Meyer and Jill Schumacher welcomed the arrival of six beagles on Oct. 10, rescued by the Beagle Alliance, a Winnipeg, Manitoba-based organization. The alliance’s executive director, Lori Cohen, the organization’s only paid employee, was on hand when a van arrived at Schumacher’s home from Houston, Texas, where the dogs were rescued.

“We are only permitted to say that these beagles come from a lab in Houston, Texas,” Cohen said. She credited the three Minnesota-based volunteers for helping make it possible to save the dogs’ lives.

The dogs, still in the individual cages they traveled in for more than 1,200 miles, ranged in age from 3 to 5 years old. They were carefully carried into the Schumacher family’s fenced-in backyard and released one by one.

Most made their first steps gingerly onto the Schumachers’ lush green lawn, touching it and then recoiling until they realized it was a soft, cool surface.

“It is likely that they have never felt grass on their paws before,” Meyer said. “Even when they were let out to go to the bathroom (in Texas) they were probably on concrete.”

The dogs seemed to acclimate quickly, sniffing around the perimeter fence and making their first efforts at connecting with human beings outside of a research facility.

Justin and Stephanie Goetz of St. Louis Park were at the Schumacher home to greet the dogs when they arrived. The beagle the couple had since 2013 died earlier this summer.

They decided to adopt one of the rescued dogs. Tears filled Stephanie’s eyes as she watched the dogs explore the Schumachers’ backyard, and hugged Cohen and the volunteers.

The rest of the dogs were scheduled to return to the road Friday, heading north to the Canadian border where they, too, will join new families.

More than 60,000 dogs are used in testing in the U.S. each year, and most are bred specifically for it, Cohen said. “In Canada, the number is over 10,000 per year; however, Canadian facilities are not bound by law to release the hounds,” she said. “The U.S. simply has better laws protecting animals in research, but both countries have a way to go.”

Cohen said that, for the most part, testing the animals undergo in research facilities, such as labs in educational institutions, is legal.

Most of the time, the Beagle Institute doesn’t know the names of companies that their beagles come from or what kind of testing is conducted on them, she said. “There’s a lot of confidentiality around much of this,” she said.

What they do know is that many of the dogs are euthanized when the facilities are through with them. And that’s what the Beagle Alliance is trying to stop.

“There are laws against animal cruelty in Canada,” Cohen said. “However, if (laws) make exemptions for research or for entertainment or things like that, you can get away with having a lot of exemptions. So, for the most part, it’s legal. It’s just they don’t want the backlash of advocates and animal rights (organizations).”

Minnesota law requires publicly funded higher education facilities that “confine dogs or cats for science, education, or research purposes and plans on euthanizing a dog or cat for other than science, education, or research purposes must first offer the dog or cat to an animal rescue organization.”

Neighbors and beagles

Meyer and Schumacher became friends because their children attended the same Eden Prairie schools and discovered they both owned and loved beagles.

“We just kind of connected and had that in common,” Meyer said. “And then we got involved with rescue, and then together, we all just kind of team up and do what we can.” 

Meyer has lived in Eden Prairie for 17 years and has been around beagles her whole life. “My parents had beagles even before I was born,” she said. “And I learned about animal testing when I was a teenager.” The more she learned about it, the more she became involved, she said. 

One of the Schumachers’ beagles (they have three) was thrown from a car in rural Missouri when she was five months old and was, as Jill described her, “skin and bones.” A motorist spotted the dog and picked her up.

Schumacher and her family have lived in Eden Prairie for 11 years. She and Meyer are two of three Beagle Alliance volunteers in Minnesota. The other volunteer lives in Bloomington. 

Both Meyer and Schumacher each have rescue beagles as part of their families.

‘We’re just hoping that they’ll release the animals to us’

Cohen said some rescue organizations act antagonistically toward research facilities, but the Beagle Alliance attempts to work with them.

While the alliance advocates for a move toward animal-free science, its mission is to get as many animals released as possible, she said.

“We don’t want to shame the facilities,” Cohen said. “We don’t want to argue with them. We’re just hoping that they’ll release the animals to us.”

The Beagle Alliance has helped place over 60 dogs from research into loving homes, Cohen said, “and continues to work on rescue initiatives and animal free science advocacy.”

The Houston rescue was conducted by a “rescue partner,” Cohen said, not directly by Beagle Alliance volunteers. “We’re obviously not there at the transfer point,” she said. “Our rescue partner is. I can say to you that our rescue partner has created relationships that (resulted in) a friendly transfer, and it is for the good of the dogs.” 

In some places, there are programs to help the dogs adjust prior to release, Cohen said. “So, it’s positive movement,” she said. “It’s just very slow and it’s still going on.” 

Beagles are the most used dog breed globally for animal testing, Cohen said. 

Why beagles?

“They’re friendly, they don’t fight back, they’re very forgiving,” Cohen said. “And they fit easily into a cage.”