Forty beagles that were being used for lab testing in Spain were scheduled to arrive at the Los Angeles International Airport at 7 p.m. Wednesday, the first step toward, hopefully being adopted out to caring families.

The beagles, which were rescued about a week ago after the lab went out of business, will be cared for by the Beagle Freedom Project until suitable foster and adoptive families are found, according to Gary Smith, a spokesman for the group.

All the male beagles, which are between 4 and 7 years old, have lived in cages their entire lives, Smith said.

“We’ve been told they lived one per cage in rooms of 10 beagles, but they never had any physical interaction with one another,” Smith said. “They’ve been in kennels since they were rescued about a week ago, but aside from that, they’ve spent most of their lives locked up.”

In all, 72 beagles were rescued from the lab, and 32 had already been adopted in Europe, Smith said.

The remaining 40 dogs will be nursed back to good health by volunteers in North Hollywood during Thanksgiving weekend.

Smith said beagles make up the majority of dogs used for laboratory testing.

“Beagles are incredibly sweet, docile, companion animals,” Smith said. “The downfall is, the same reason the beagle is a perfect companion animal, is the same reason they’re used for testing.”

Wednesday’s rescue is the fourth for the Beagle Freedom Project, and according to Smith, by far, its largest mission.

Nine beagles from a California university animal-testing lab were rescued in June.

Beagle Freedom Project will be seeking adoptive homes for these special beagles. You can find more information by clicking here.

“With this latest rescue coinciding with Thanksgiving,” Smith said. “To be able to give these dogs a chance at life after living a life so horrendous none of us can imagine, its perfect timing to think gratitude.”

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