It’ll Take You Less Than 18 Seconds to Help These 18 Dogs Trapped at Texas A&M
Update (November 4, 2022): VICTORY! Texas A&M University has confirmed that it will release the nine healthy golden retrievers it had transferred from its failed canine muscular dystrophy laboratory to the veterinary school!
This momentous news comes after PETA’s hard-fought campaign that began with our shocking exposé of the school’s deplorable laboratory. Our relentless pressure ended its cruel breeding of dogs to develop this crippling disease and led to the release of more than 50 dogs.
But we never gave up on these nine betrayed golden retrievers. We campaigned hard—and now the dogs will be in homes before the end of the year.
You can read more about our win for the nine dogs here.
Originally posted on June 17, 2020:
Do you have a dog? Imagine if your beloved companion had been bred to develop canine muscular dystrophy (MD), caged in a barren laboratory, forced to endure the extremely debilitating symptoms of the disease (which is not the same as MD in humans), and subjected to painful experiments and invasive muscle biopsies on a regular basis. You would work to stop whoever caused such agony, right? Then for the 18 dogs—12 of whom don’t even have the disease—from Texas A&M University’s notorious canine MD laboratory who are still imprisoned by the school, we need you to help us stop it.
In 2019, we saw what could be accomplished by persistently demanding that Texas A&M do better—the university bowed to the pressure and permanently ended its MD laboratory dog-breeding program. Many of the dogs were adopted into homes. The lead experimenter retired. The program appears to have little funding for experiments. The administration discussed ways the whole laboratory could be closed down. So why is the school still warehousing dogs? PETA has offered again and again to take them, but Texas A&M appears to care more about denying us a “win” than about the dogs themselves—or even about good science.
We need to make the entire dog laboratory a thing of the past—for these 18 dogs still trapped at the university, we must turn that earlier progress into tomorrow’s victory:
1. Aphrodite
Born on October 8, 2018, Aphrodite has a white butterfly marking on her chest and is affected with canine MD, just as Jelly (pictured below) was.
2. Baguette
Baguette, who was born on September 28, 2018, is a healthy carrier of canine MD, meaning that she carries a genetic mutation and likely would have been used to breed more dogs affected by the disease had PETA’s pressure not ended the school’s dog-breeding program.
3. Barbara
Born on the same day as Baguette, Barbara is blond and also a healthy carrier.
4. Cannoli
Cannoli is a golden retriever who, to the disappointment of experimenters, was born healthy into the canine MD laboratory. He had been listed for adoption, but the school took him off the adoption list and transferred him to another one of its laboratories, likely to be used in other cruel experiments. PETA has obtained documents showing that Texas A&M has renamed Cannoli to Kahlua in what appears to be an effort to hide the fact that he remains imprisoned by the school.
5. Demeter
Born on October 8, 2018, with a single white hair on her head, Demeter is affected with canine MD. In her short life, she has been subjected to multiple muscle biopsies. Recent notations in her records indicate that she has been regurgitating and exhibiting increased drooling—symptoms common in dogs who suffer from the disease.
6. Elvira
Born on October 27, 2016, Elvira has a light-blond coat and a white blaze adorning her head. She’s a canine MD carrier who has been bred multiple times to produce more dogs with the disease.
7. Eos
Eos, who sports a white blaze on her head and a little white marking on her chest, is affected with canine MD, like her sisters Demeter and Aphrodite. She has also been subjected to multiple muscle biopsies. In February 2020, she was observed to be lethargic and depressed and wasn’t eating.
8. Jigglypuff
Most people know Jigglypuff as a small, loveable, pink Pokémon. A guardian would undoubtedly also love 5-year-old canine MD carrier Jigglypuff, who’s blond with a white blaze on her head—if only Texas A&M would release her and the other dogs in its laboratory for adoption.
9. Juniper
Born on November 10, 2017, Juniper, a canine MD carrier who’s blond with a white spot on her head and a white chest, could make a loving guardian very happy (and vice versa). But in order for that to happen, the school must first shut down its laboratory and release all the dogs there for adoption into good homes.
10. Lux
Lux, a jet-black pup, was born on February 23, 2019. She doesn’t know it, but 500 physicians, humans with MD, and hundreds of thousands of PETA supporters have asked Texas A&M to shut down the dog laboratory in her behalf.
11. Maple
Experimenters treat dogs like dark-blond Maple, who is Juniper’s sister, like they’re laboratory equipment, denying them everything that would make their lives worth living.
12. Melania
Melania was born on September 18, 2018, along with her sister Barbara. She’s spent more than 1,000 days trapped in a laboratory—and one day is too long.
13. Mendel
Mendel, a blond dog with white markings on her head and neck, was born to her mother, Elvira, on March 21, 2018. She and the 18 other dogs still stuck in the school’s laboratory deserve to be released from their hellish confinement. In the time that they have left, they should know kindness and love.
14. Mertle
Mertle, who has a white blaze and a stripe on her nose, only carries the canine MD genetic mutation, but that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t know suffering. Because they’re trapped in a barren metal kennel for their entire lives, unstimulated dogs like her often pace and bite the bars of their cage in frustration.
15. Scrump
Like humans, dogs can dream. Perhaps Scrump dreams of the new, loving guardians she’ll have if Texas A&M ever grants her her freedom.
16. Selene
Recently, a dog named Lunes was left to die alone in a cage at Texas A&M after his apparently deteriorating condition went untreated. Others—including Ned, Jumba, Jambi, Garen, and Grinch—were euthanized after their condition was permitted to decline and they were in pain. These dogs never had a chance for a real home. The university must do the right thing before Selene along with her sisters Aphrodite, Demeter, and Eos and the other dogs stuck in its laboratory endure similar dismal fates.
17. Sushi
Three-year-old MD-affected pup Sushi, who has a white blaze on her head and white fur on her chest, needs us to refuse to be silent in the face of her suffering. Keep reading to see how easy it is to speak up for dogs trapped at Texas A&M.
18. Waylon
Texas A&M treats its mascot dog, Reveille, like a celebrity. She even appears in a Disney+ show. At the same time, the university keeps dogs like Waylon locked up and suffering inside its cruel dog laboratory.
*****
Waylon and his 17 fellow prisoners at Texas A&M should be with a loving family right now, playing in the backyard, relaxing at home, and going for long walks.
After our campaigning forced the university to stop breeding dogs into a lifetime of torment, many of the dogs were adopted into homes—but the 18 named above still remain at the school.
PETA has repeatedly offered to take all the dogs and place them in good homes. PETA Honorary Director Pamela Anderson has also personally offered to adopt all the surviving dogs. But the school has ignored these requests.
Texas A&M has proved that it has no intention of willingly doing right by the 18 dogs who remain imprisoned in its laboratories—so together, we must demand action from it. Click on the button below if you’re with us:
