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ANIMAL TESTING RESCUE - News stories come and go, and most of the time only the negative aspects get documented. Subsequently after a horrific news story, people move on quickly, forgetting about the victims’ aftermath.
As one of the journalists that helped expose our government-funded torture labs to experiment on beagles (link: PETA Maintains Pressure on NIH To Stop Funding Animal Testing After Fauci) was important for me to document the happy endings for these beagles. We all know that many have been rehomed. But how are they doing today?
I was lucky enough to meet one of the local beagle owners, Cody Pearson, who rescued and adopted one of the beagles from Priceless Pets in Claremont, Penny. As of this writing, Penny is about 15 months old. She has now been living with Cody for over 4 months.
The first ten months of her life were characterized by extreme suffering. She lived in a cage in an artificial lab in Virginia, many times with other beagles who were constantly being moved around. This separation anxiety was noted by Cody, who noticed Penny’s extreme sadness and worry the first time Cody and his pitbull, CiCi, now Penny’s new best friend, left the house briefly.
Similarly, Cody noticed Penny’s instant joy and happiness the first time she set foot into her new home, one with a huge yard and lots of grass to run around in. She had never seen nature, until her rescue as her life was destined to be a series of experiments characterized by torture, through sandfly attacks and other trauma inducing actions to test her reactions.
Penny, thankfully like many other beagles, is now saved. She is living her best life in her beautiful Chino home, loved not only by Cody, but his parents and furry sibling, CiCi, an older pitbull who has found new inspiration from Penny’s presence and permanent residency.
The acclimation process wasn’t easy. Imagine Penny’s shock the first time she saw sunlight and the outdoors. In addition, she was so used to seeing people harm her.
Cody says “She was real shy at first, especially around kids and grown men. She was fine with grown women. I think she might have ran into something like that at the shelter. I'd say within about a week or two being here, she was good to go.”
An amazing story of resilience. Not only was their mental and emotional trauma, Penny also came with injuries. “When I got her, she had a torn ACL, which is not called ACL on dogs. So we're getting that fixed up. And the poor gal also got her tail nipped off so she's got a little amputated tail too. She's been through a little bit.”
Now, however, Penny is trusting and feels secure in her home. A typical day for Penny is, as Cody describes, “She's got plenty of room run around. Plenty of toys. She gets her hands on just about every sandal and shoe but she's still a puppy so it's okay. But her typical day, she wakes up, gets her treats for the morning. Her and CiCi take a little lay, then they play and take another nap. They seem to do that quite a bit. And then they're just at each other all day and then dinnertime and bedtime.“
Through a sad tragedy comes a happy ending.
See my full interview with Cody and footage of Penny here.
Marc Ang ([email protected]) is a community organizer in Southern California and the founder ofAsian Industry B2B. He is focused on advancing charitable causes like animal welfare and the education of realities around animal and human interactions. Marc’s book “Minority Retort” was released in November 2022 and is available on all major outlets like Amazon, Target and Barnes & Noble. Marc is a regular contributor to CityWatchLA.com.)
