Michigan lab stops controversial testing on beagles

DETROIT – The controversial pesticide testing on 36 beagles at a Michigan laboratory has come to an end, the Humane Society of the United States and the company that sought the testing announced.

The decision came less than a week after the Humane Society released the results of an undercover investigation of the Charles River Laboratories in Mattawan.

The undercover investigation was conducted from April to August. The dogs were force-fed a fungicide, according to the Humane Society.

The organization publicized the investigation results, including photos and videos, early last week, sparking sympathy and outrage from animal lovers across the country. More than 300,000 people signed an online petition on the Humane Society's website calling for an end to the testing.

Without a reprieve, the beagles would have been euthanized when the test was scheduled to end in July.

Corteva Agriscience, a division of DowDuPont, said that Brazilian authorities granted its request for a waiver of the test. Corteva contracted Charles River for the testing.

"We have immediately ended the study that was the subject of attention last week and will make every effort to rehome the animals that were part of the study," the company said on Twitter.

"We applaud Dow AgroSciences (Corteva AgriScience) for making the right decision by ending the one-year pesticide test on 36 beagles at Charles River Laboratories in Michigan," Kitty Block, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, said. "This is a significant step that is critical to the welfare of the dogs.

"We now urge Corteva to work with us to get the dogs out of the laboratory and to our shelter and rescue partners so that they can be adopted into loving homes."

Corteva said it has been working for years "to continually refine, reduce and replace animal tests wherever possible."