'Belly rubs and squeaky toys' over animal testing in bipartisan 'Beagle Bill'

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(The Center Square) - An animal rights bill offered the Pennsylvania Senate a brief moment of bipartisan respite from its intractable budget problems Wednesday.

Spearheaded by Sen. Doug Mastriano, D-Chambersburg, and Sen. Carolyn Comitta, D-West Chester, the “Beagle Bill” addresses a wide range of issues related to animal testing.

“No matter what camp you are in, we can all agree that Pennsylvania taxpayers should not fund painful, unnecessary experiments on dogs and cats,” said Mastriano.

Specifically, the legislation will ban the use of public funds toward animal testing deemed painful by the USDA. It will also ban the use of public funding toward devocalization surgeries on dogs and cats and require laboratories to be in compliance with federal regulations in order to receive public funding. Those using animal testing will be required to keep thorough records and accounting for greater transparency.

Additionally, the bill includes several measures to improve the lives of dogs and cats who are bred for animal testing. It would allow dogs and cats who have been test subjects and remain healthy to be eligible for adoption after experimentations done on them are complete. Tighter regulations for kennels who breed test animals are also included in the bill.

Lastly, the bill requires laboratories to use available non-animal testing methods when they have been approved by regulating bodies. The senators say this measure not only helps animals but advances the science being conducted.

“In addition to preventing needless suffering, non-animal methods often represent better science,” wrote the sponsors. “Animal tests are poor predictors of human safety, with 90% of drugs failing during clinical human trials after having completed animal studies. Alternative methods, based on human biology, are much more likely to provide results predictive of human responses, while also saving time and lowering costs.”

The bill has been a passion project for Mastriano, years in the making. Ultimately, it brought together lawmakers who spend most of their time voting against each other in the upper chamber.

“It’s been a great team effort and very encouraging to me that we can join arm in arm in common cause on such a beautiful bill,” said Mastriano, thanking Comitta’s team for their work on the issue. “Thank you so much for making this a bipartisan win.”

"Animals bring people together. They bring out the best in us. The love of our dogs and cats knows no bounds, and vice versa," said Comitta. "The Beagle Bill and our bipartisan work on it reflect those values, values we share as Pennsylvanians and fellow human beings."