Few people know the full story of how beagles have been—and continue to be—bred and used “in the name of research.”1 In her new book Lab Dog: A Beagle and His Human Investigate the Surprising World of Animal Research, journalist Melanie Kaplan’s heartfelt story of her tender relationship with one rescued ‘lab dog,’ Hammy, tells it all. Kudos to Melanie for exposing the hidden world of beagle breeding and research—and reaching out to those who have opened their homes and hearts to these dogs and offered them the justice and forever homes and lives they truly deserve. Lab Dog is an eye-opening and deeply personal book, for anyone to read, whether or not you live with a former lab dog.
Marc Bekoff: Why did you write Lab Dog?
Melanie Kaplan: I’m a long-time journalist and a pretty curious person, so when I found myself living with Hammy—a really special creature who’d lived in a lab for several years—I felt I had no choice but to tell his story. I realized much of what I felt with Hammy–bonding with a pet, wanting to understand the background of someone I’d fallen in love with, questioning things that seemed unfair—was universal, so I thought people would relate to what I’d experienced. Also, I felt I owed it to Hammy to be his voice and share his story with the world.
MB: How does your book relate to your background and general areas of interest?
MK: I set off on this journey in 2021 feeling pretty intimidated by the subject matter. I’ve worked as an independent journalist for almost 30 years and while I’ve written many stories about science and animals, I’m not a scientist and I barely remember high school biology. I knew this would involve digging deep into a complicated—and controversial—subject. So I read dozens of books, learned how to make my way through a scientific paper and then tried to write in a way that I hope is accessible to lay readers. The book also involved a lot of road trips with a beagle, and if I’m a subject matter expert in anything, it’s that. I’ve written more than 100 travel stories for Washington Post Travel, and Hammy had a cameo in many of them—as varied as visiting Dog Mountain in Vermont to overnighting in a giant beagle-shaped hotel in Idaho to camping in my urban backyard. Finally, I care a lot about health and nutrition as well as being a good steward of the planet. For me, reporting for this book reinforced the importance of working hard to stay healthy and fit as a first line of defense against disease, versus habitually turning to pharmaceuticals—many of which are tested on dogs.
MB: Who do you hope to reach?
MK Many people who’ve bonded with dogs or other animals say their lives have been profoundly changed by these beings, and I hope those people will read Lab Dog. Also, I hope to reach those interested in animal ethics, law, welfare and rights. I expect the book will find its way to people who’ve adopted beagles bred for and used in research but I’d also hope it would land in the hands of researchers themselves and early career scientists and innovators who wish to take a path that uses fewer (or no) animals. Mostly, I hope to reach people who have an open mind, who are open to learning something and being inspired to make change.
MB: What are some of the topics you consider and what are some of your major messages?
MK: In Lab Dog I explore the history of using dogs for biomedical research and testing products (including drugs, medical devices and pesticides). I also look at the use of dogs in the classroom over the years—they were used regularly in med schools until recent decades and are still used in many veterinary schools. I also discuss what is known as the “troubled middle,” a term coined by philosopher Strachan Donnelley in his 1989 piece “Speculative Philosophy, the Troubled Middle, and the Ethics of Animal Experimentation.” Donnelley writes about the two extremes in animal research and those who “recognize the legitimate and often conflicting needs and requirements of both human and animal welfare.” It’s this group in the troubled middle, Donnelley says, that are “most truly vexed by ethical questions.”
The book also includes one chapter called “The ‘Good’ Research,” which explores the use of pet dogs for clinical trials. Just like humans, dogs can participate in drug trials. (Of course, the animals themselves don’t have a choice so their humans decide on their behalf.) I like this chapter because it looks at a way to continue research, often looking at repurposing existing drugs, without breeding dogs specifically for that purpose and keeping them confined in labs. These trials sometimes help future generations of pets and humans and may even help the pet in the trial.
MB: How does your work differ from others that are concerned with some of the same general topics?
MK: Lab Dog is a personal story but also a rigorously reported narrative that digs into many unanswered questions around animal experimentation. In my reporting, I read a number of books about animal research, written either from the perspective of an animal activist or an academic. I hope Lab Dog presents a more balanced approach and shares the stories of the book’s characters in such a way that the reader understands the nuances. From the get-go, I knew I might find that people on both sides of this debate were “right.” I don’t see this as a story of good and evil, angels and monsters. I see this as a story of people who genuinely believe they’re doing the right thing by fighting against animal testing and working to find cures for diseases through animal research. Can we do better in training our next generation of scientists to rely more on non-animal methods of testing and learning? Absolutely.
MB: Are you hopeful that as people learn more about how lab dogs are treated they will pay more attention to this and speak out against it?
MK: I’m super hopeful! I’m an optimist by nature and believe that over time, people do the right thing. This is an issue that’s uncomfortable to read and talk about—but these things should be uncomfortable. Only by talking about animal research and making it part of our dialogue as a society will we see the changes many of us hope for. We have a lot of power in the decisions we make as voters, consumers and patients but we first need to be informed. I hope Lab Dog becomes part of that conversation.
