An Ottawa family adopted two beagles who were among thousands released from a facility in Virginia that was breeding them so they could be sold for drug experiments.
Animal rescue agencies in the US have been looking for homes for the dogs, which the Humane Society of the US says lived, and in some cases died, in deplorable and inhumane conditions.
Speaking on Newstalk 580 CFRA “Ottawa Now with Kristy Cameron,” Michael Frame said he learned of the dogs’ plight through a news report.
“It came up in mid-July on our social media,” Frame said. “We have an old family beagle here and it became a topic at the table about how horrible this story was. Then as we read more and more articles, the conversation turned to maybe we should adopt one.”
Frame said he wasn’t sure if any of the US agencies would allow a Canadian to adopt one of the dogs or if the Canada Border Services Agency would allow them into the country. He talked to several rescue agencies before finding one that could adopt a Canadian family.
The Northeast Animal Shelter said to come by on a Wednesday to get a dog. They ended up going home with two.
“We got in the car Tuesday morning and drove to Salem, Massachusetts,” he said. “We were downtown…and they brought in this furry little puppy, two months old, and my wife was nudging me saying, ‘Ask them for another one,’ and without hesitation they gave us another one.”
He said the dogs are happy to be together, but suffer from resource hoarding habits due to the environment they were rescued from. Overall, though, Frame says his two pups, Wendel and Sydney, are in good health.
“They told us they are going to have dogs up to seven years old from that facility, and there are a lot of them,” he said. “However, we had to accept that we might have one with some medical issues, which we were okay with, just to get them out of where they were.”
The pups are already getting used to the family, Frame said.
“I have three teenage children. Every time one of them comes home, or my wife comes home, or myself, they are all excited and come running. It warms your heart to see them come running down the aisle,” she said.
Her older dog, Jake, was a bit hesitant at first, but he’s getting used to the new activity.
“The first couple of days he was like, ‘Who are these things and why are they in my house?’ but he is the most gentle and docile dog I have ever met. He is slowly adapting. He is 13 years old, so he is used to things the way he likes them.”
Frame said that he and his family wanted to do something nice for these dogs.
“We weren’t really ready to bring another dog into the house until we saw that and thought maybe we could do something good,” he said. “Four thousand dogs? There are many dogs. If we can take two, we are at least doing our small part.”
The Humane Society of the United States has a list of partner agencies that work to help beagles find homes. there is a list Humane Society website.
However, Frame said it wasn’t easy finding a group that would allow a Canadian family to adopt.
“It was a little bit frustrating because a lot of them didn’t accept our application and we were very early in the process,” he said.
The two Ottawa pups are now experiencing a world of discovery.
“It’s fun to see them experience something new because everything is new,” Frame said. “This morning, he was watering the plants and some water splashed on one of them and he panicked and jumped because he had never gotten wet.”