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Dog videos never fail to conjure up some sort of emotion. And this one really brings the waterworks. The above footage shows male beagles that were rescued from a lab in Spain seeing sunlight and stepping on grass for the first time.

The rescue mission is the largest yet for the group that undertook the cause, Animal Rescue Media Education (ARME). A total of 72 dogs were rescued in the effort, 32 of them having already been adopted in Europe, according to NBC Los Angeles.

ARME’s Beagle Freedom Project spokesman Gary Smith told the station that the beagles, all between ages 4 and 7, had lived in cages their entire lives.

Unfortunately, beagles’ notoriously obedient dispositions makes them ideal for experimentation. According to the Beagle Freedom Project’s website, they are the breed of choice for lab testing of pharmaceutical, household, and cosmetic products due to their ability to adapt to life in a cage and the fact that they are relatively inexpensive to feed.

When the beagles are no longer needed for research, some labs contact organizations such as ARME, who then work to find good homes for the dogs.

This heartbreaking (that soundtrack!) video was filmed back in June, when the organization gave nine lab beagles a second chance at life. We dare you not to be moved by that first beagle’s initial tentative steps and soulful eyes.

ARME is a non-profit advocacy group and 501(c)(3) organization funded by tax-deductible contributions. Information on how to make a donation or adopt a beagle is available on the organization’s website. http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/11/29/tearjerker-alert-former-lab-beagle
s-see-the-sun-for-the-first-time/ really heartening to know there are such efforts in the rest of the world. Okay, so those first frightened, tentative steps outside, and smile/cried at the photos of them in their new homes:

"Our second rescue from beagles who have lived their entire lives inside a research laboratory. These beagles have known nothing except the confines of metal cages. They have known no soft human touch, no warm bed, no companionship, no love. They have never been outside or sniffed a tree or grass. Finally, after years of being poked and prodded, these beagles are FREE! ARME got the call that a facility was willing to release them to us after they had been used in several tests. We picked them up on June 8th and now they are all in loving foster homes, and one has already been adopted. If you are interested in adopting any of these special beagles, please email us at: shannon@beaglefreedomproject.org. If you cannot adopt, but would like to help, ARME is a non-profit organization and we rely on your donations to continue this work. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation. You can donate here: http://www.beaglefreedomproject.org/donate.php
PLEASE DO NOT BUY PRODUCTS TESTED ON ANIMALS! You can see their faces now..... buy only products that have the cruelty-free symbol."

ETA: Lists of companies who and don't test on animals can be found on PETAs website (while I lothe PETA for many things and think they do more harm than good to the cause with many of their "actions", I'm going to be following those two lists from now on.

Companies who do test on animals: http://www.mediapeta.com/peta/PDF/companiesdotest.pdf
Companies who don't test on animals: http://www.mediapeta.com/peta/PDF/companiesdonttest.pdf

Some of those who do test currently have a "moratorium" on animal testing, and it urges people to write to them and encourage them to make it permanent. I have been using "All" for decades now because it's the only popular detergent from a company which doesn't test on animals. I'm going to expand that greatly now. Not just because of this story, although this story has admittedly motivated me consider the situation more seriously.

On another note, it's sad to see that the companies who do test are almost all well-known companies, whereas the list of those who don't will be harder-to-find products. Our mentality may be changing, but awfully slowly.