[Image: Beaglepro, (2016), A Beagle being held in a cage]
[Image: One Green Planet, (2020), Beagle’s being tested for pesticides]
[Image: Beaglepro, (2016), A Beagle being held in a cage]
Beagle Trials: Pesticide Testing on Beagles
Pesticide testing on beagles has been a contentious issue in the United States for decades. While some say that the experiments are important to verify pesticide safety for humans and the environment, animal rights activists claim that they are immoral and cause unnecessary suffering to the dogs. Beagles in particular, are chosen for their docile temperament and manageable size.
Typically, researchers force-feed or apply pesticides to the beagles' skins for a year or more while monitoring their health. Researchers observe the animals for signs of toxicity, organ damage, and cancer risk. All in effort to determine the pesticide’s safety for human use and environmental exposure. Majority of the time, the results of animal testing do not always transfer well to people owing to physiological differences. They push for more contemporary, non-animal testing procedures.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has historically required dog studies to fulfill safety data requirements under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). However, animal rights organizations such as the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), PETA, and White Coat Waste Project argue that these experiments are both inhumane and outdated. They highlight that interspecies differences in metabolism, physiology, and biology often render these tests scientifically unreliable. In many cases, data from rodent studies and advanced in vitro or computational models are more predictive of human outcomes. As the ethical issue continues, an estimated thousands of beagles are used for pesticide testing in the United States each year.
Sources:
Fitzsimmons, Paula. “Why Beagles Are Used for Pharmaceutical Testing and What You Can Do about It!” One Green Planet, One Green Planet, 8 Feb. 2021, www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/why-beagles-are-used-forpharmaceutical-testing-and-what-you-can-do-about-it/.
Anonymous. “Beagle Testing | Naturewatch Foundation.” Naturewatch, naturewatch.org/campaigns/animal-experiments/beagle-testing/. Accessed 1 Feb. 2024.
Pohanish, Richard P. Sittig’s Handbook of Pesticides and Agricultural Chemicals. Elsevier Science Ltd, 2016.
Environmental Protection Agency. EPA Announces Draft Science Policy to Reduce Animal Testing. 2019. https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-announces-draft-science-policy-reduce-animal-testing.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Data Requirements for Pesticides. Office of Pesticide Programs, EPA, 2007. https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/data-requirements
White Coat Waste Project. “Taxpayer-Funded Pesticide Testing on Dogs.” 2019, https://www.whitecoatwaste.org.
National Toxicology Program. A New Approach to Reducing Animal Testing. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2021.
Travis, Julia. “Do Beagles Really Need to Suffer for Pesticide Testing?” NPR, 18 Oct. 2019, https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/10/18/beagles-pesticide-testing