Lab Dog: What Global Science Owes American Beagles

In this illuminating and at times grim debut study, Princeton historian of science Bolman explores how the beagle came to be considered the ideal dog for laboratory experiments. In the 1950s, scientists on the hunt for a more “human-like” alternative to lab rats landed on the breed as the easiest to control (“pliable, cheery, and loyal”). Beagles were soon being used to test risks to human health ranging from nuclear radiation and tobacco smoke to oral contraceptives. Bolman describes how puppy-mill breeders mass produced the dogs, which were “sacrificed in substantial quantities” until rising opposition to animal testing led to a 21st-century decline in the practice. Today, animal welfare groups advocate for the thousands of beagles still experimented on in labs to be released for adoption rather than euthanized. Meanwhile, beagles have begun to be used for wide-scale testing of Alzheimer’s treatments under a new model where their owners volunteer to administer the drugs at home. Throughout, Bolman keeps a nuanced focus on how the beagle’s trajectory sheds light on what it means for an animal to be considered more “human” than others, and on how the practices of breeders and kennel clubs intertwined in surprising ways with those of scientific research institutions. The result is an intriguing deconstruction of a little discussed, ethically complex issue. (May)