Beagle Tales - A Rescue Project

As you can see from the above photo it was marked by the site where it came from. The obvious from it's name German site, is, for people who can't see writing that small http://www.gaestebuchbilder.net/. It seems to be a German picture sharing site. It does (or my computer/blogger link check does) have a translate feature. So have at it if you want.

As for the picture itself, isn't that beagle puppy cute. Sad looking but definitely uber (a word chosen in the spirit of the German site the picture came from - lol) cute. The sad part is well-suited to this post too because what I wanted to pass on today was a story I saw yesterday on Yahoo News.

I just looked back for it and it has already moved to 40 of 40 featured articles so if you want to see it, check fast. Or google ARME (the Animal Rescue, Media & Education group that took in the dogs mentioned in the article and this post). Actually, you don't even have to bother. I did it for you. So no excuses. Check out http://www.arme.tv/.

The article I mention if you get the chance to see it and the six or seven minute main video (which is not graphic "just" very sad - you will cry - but uplifting in the end) with it shows just a portion of ARME's work. The article is about something called The Beagle Freedom Project.

It seems that because the beagle has the otherwise positive trait of being extremely docile it unfortunately makes it a good candidate for being used for lab testing of various household, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. Also, they apparently are better at "adapting" to being continuously caged (a dubious honor if there ever was one).

In fact, as the video highlights, after being "rescued" (with the support of the research facility that had kept these animals since birth) after they had outgrown their usefulness at between 4 to 7 years old, they were being exposed to sunlight, fresh air and wide open spaces for the first time in their lives.

A final few points to mention before I leave you to check out the Yahoo News and ARME's site (again it is http://www.arme.tv/ so there is no excuse not to take a few minutes to visit it). First, I will tell you about something you will find on the ARME site if you look for it (right now it is on the front/home page. One very important one, for California residents, is the license plate initative.

In California, they now have license plates that promote the crucial spay/neuter message with that state's "California Pet Lover's License Plate program. ARME is now a member of that program. What that means to you and especially to them is that if you or any animal loving friends and family live and drive in California and you get these plates it is important that you mention on the form you use to get your plates that the way you/they heard about these plates is through ARME.

If enough people do this, it will secure ARME some addition funding. And as everyone who lives on a budget [which is pretty much everyone I've ever met :)] knows, every little bit helps. So please help ARME help the animals. Oh and the other things I wanted to mention is that ARME is a registered charity in the United States. Just sayin' in case anyone wants to make a nice little donation. They also sell t-shirts and videos about their cause on their site to and apparently the one on the fur and even the faux-fur trade is quite enlightening.

Thanks for listening and hopefully at least taking a look if not helping just a little.

Carmen

P.S. I almost forgot in my appeal for ARME to show you one more photo of an adorable beagle. This one has particular signifigance to me. Not because I know the animal in the picture as it is also from Yahoo Images but because long before coming across the article that caused me to write this post, when I put up my first (and so far only) computer wallpaper about a month ago, I chose to make it of a cute animal.

The animal I chose was, of course, the beagle. As you will see in the picture this beagle is doing what the lab animals that aren't "saved" never get to do and that is be out and about in nature. Enjoy the picture. I love it so much I may never change my wallpaper. Before I forget the picture below is, as mentioned, found on Yahoo Images but I neglected to mention that it is via http://www.az-wallpapers.com/

The C.A.T.

P.P.S. I just went back to Yahoo News after posting this minus this p.p.s. and noticed that, indeed, the item is off the top 40. Therefore use the Yahoo Video button (versus Yahoo News or Yahoo Images etc.) and type in ARME. Look at the 5 plus or 8 plus minute videos. There you will see that these animals are so timid it took about 10 minutes for the first one to leave it's cage and venture outside when given their first chance. So sad!

The C.A.T. Squared