Attribution: Photo by David Gomez on Unsplash
By Bill Stokes
Kickass, the doorstop dog, would be traitorous to his species if he did not encourage the keeper to at least acknowledge the chaotic scene that has been playing out at the dog breeding and research facility in rural Dane County.
Hundreds of activists have attempted to “rescue” some of the 2,000 beagles by invading the private “Ridglan Farms” facility that has been providing beagles for research venues and conducting its own contract research for many years, much of it related to developing treatment for rabies and other animal and human health conditions.
“Ava” is the name of a beagle who rules the roost at one of Phyllis’s son’s domiciles and while her son expresses sympathy for the activists and the Ridglan beagles, Ava pretty much sleeps through it all.
It is the keeper’s sense that when the profit motive is the overriding consideration of running a business—and obviously it has to be, the regulatory system with its moral and humanitarian footing may lag behind no matter how well intentioned it tries to be.
Nobody is in favor of needless suffering by a “dumb” animal and if that is suspected it is incumbent on the “smartest” of the animals to do something about it: Bring on the activists to establish an acceptable balance between scientific necessity, inflicted pain and the cash register.
