The moment lab dogs first tasted freedom

Last updated 10:05 30/11/2011

Beagle Freedom Project

FREEDOM: One of the beagles in his cage, just before taking his first steps in the outside world.

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Tear-jerking footage of a group of laboratory beagles taking their first steps outside has moved viewers around the world.

The dogs, who were kept in cages their entire lives, were some of the first rescued by the Beagle Freedom Group from product-testing labs in Spain.

As the group made its biggest rescue of 40 beagles this week, it pointed to the YouTube footage as an example of the conditions the animals faced.

Fearful and cautious, the young beagles are shown hesitantly placing their paws on the grass as they leave their kennels for the first time.

"We've been told they lived one per cage in rooms of 10 beagles, but they never had any physical interaction with one another," said spokesman Gary Smith.

"They've been in kennels since they were rescued about a week ago, but aside from that, they've spent most of their lives locked up."

It takes some of the dogs more than ten minutes to get the courage to leave their cages, while rescuers cheer them on.

Smith said beagles are the breed of choice for lab testing of pharmaceutical, household, and cosmetic products due to their "friendly, docile, trusting, forgiving, people-pleasing personalities".

They also adapt easily to life in a cage and are relatively inexpensive to feed.

When the beagles are no longer needed for research, some labs contact organisations such as the Beagle Freedom Project who then work to find good homes for the dogs.

So far, the group has rescued 72 dogs, with 40 arriving in Los Angeles this week to be put up for adoption.

The rest of the dogs had already been adopted in Europe.