CARE Research In Fort Collins Once Again Under Fire For Testing On Beagles
DENVER, Colo. (CBS4) - Protesters are calling on the attorney general to investigate a Fort Collins animal testing company after three beagles allegedly died there.
Protesters on Tuesday lined the street in front of the Attorney General's Office in Denver, calling on them to investigate.
Demonstrators from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine say the deaths happened at CARE Research. The protesters want to end medical testing on dogs. Their petition argues that after three beagles died at the facility in 2011 the facility was fined, but continues to test on dogs. They say it's violating the Federal Animal Welfare Act.
"The animals did not receive water likely for several days," protester Dr. James Boyd said.
Beagles are commonly used in laboratory testing because of their cooperative behavior. A CBS4 investigation last year looked into medical testing on dogs and found 65,000 are tested on each year.
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"Animal testing is still very widespread and used very commonly in the medical industry," Boyd said.
CARE Research in Fort Collins works not only with dogs, but also other animals like horses and sheep in biomedical research. They declined to comment about the beagle deaths, but provided a May 2015 U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection report which found no violations. They also said that they put their animals up for adoption after studies are completed.
But the protesters believe it's time all experiments on animals should be ended.
"Ideally, really to understand that there are better alternatives to animal testing that are available at this time, Boyd said.
The Attorney General's Office says they're looking into the matter now, specifically into whether or not it a federal or local issue.
