Video: From a Lonely Laboratory Cage to Vegan Sushi Date Night for Mabel the Rescued Beagle

For Immediate Release:
August 4, 2023

Contact:
Nicole Meyer 202-483-7382

It’s the first anniversary of the liberation of Mabel and nearly 4,000 other beagles from laboratory supplier Envigo’s now-shuttered dog-breeding factory following a PETA undercover investigation, and to celebrate, the group is releasing a new video and a photo album showing Mabel’s year of “firsts” in a happy home.

For almost seven years, Mabel, one of the most senior dogs at Envigo, was intensively confined to a concrete-and-metal cage, surrounded by hundreds of other caged, stressed dogs and their desperate, deafening barks around the clock. But following PETA’s investigation, Mabel was one of 25 beagles transferred to the group’s shelter to be adopted into loving homes—and since her adoption by PETA staffer Natalie Hawkins and her husband, Charles Long, every day has been an adventure: She joins Natalie at the office, where she loves watching seagulls and squirrels through the window; frolics on the beach; and even tucks into the occasional vegan sushi roll on “date night” (at a dog-friendly restaurant, of course)—and the couches and bed are hers to cuddle on (no more concrete floor!). And her guardians are enjoying Mabel’s newly revealed playful side: She had never even seen a toy at Envigo, but now she delights in carrying her toy box around (and cheerfully destroying any discarded papers that come her way, too).

“Having gone from a crowded, chaotic laboratory breeding mill to a safe and caring home, Mabel is now a beloved family member who will never be bred, caged, or exploited again,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA urges everyone to help other animals like Mabel who are still suffering in the experimentation industry by checking labels, avoiding products that were tested on animals, and urging lawmakers to hold neglectful facilities accountable.”

PETA’s investigation into Envigo revealed thousands of beagles warehoused in factory farm sheds. Female dogs were bred repeatedly for years, with many forced to give birth on the hard floor. Dogs were denied veterinary care and/or subjected to painful procedures by unqualified people. Hundreds died. After PETA’s investigation broke, federal law-enforcement officials seized nearly 450 dogs and puppies in “acute distress,” Envigo’s parent company announced that it would close the facility, and a federal court approved the U.S. Department of Justice’s plan to remove all surviving dogs so that they could be adopted—one was even adopted by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. And Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin signed five beagle-protection bills that PETA had lobbied for into law.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview, and encourages anyone disturbed by these dogs’ suffering to do their part to dismantle the animal experimentation industry by shopping smart. A resource for cruelty-free brands and products is available here. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.