http://www.canada.com/montrealgaze tte/news/ story.html? id=50b94e5c- 398b-42c4- 9573-bc60d7fa1ee c&k=968
Dogs shipped for lab testing
Max Harrold, The Gazette
Published: Monday, May 28, 2007
Max Harrold

The Gazette

Speeding down the runway in Dorval May 21, Air Canada passengers bound for Paris heard a lot more than just the engines waling.

Dozens of dogs were yelping in the cargo hold beneath them.

The estimated 70 to 100 beagles were just one of many regular - and perfectly legal - trans-Atlantic shipments by Air Canada of dogs destined for medical experimentation.

Passengers on the flight said the sound of the dogs was very distressing. "All we could hear during the boarding and before the take-off was barking, crying and wimpering," said one passenger in business class on Flight 870 who did not want to be identified.

After landing in Paris, passengers saw three palets with cages of two dogs each being unloaded from the Airbus 330 aircraft.

"Their tales were wagging through the cages," said one passenger, who also asked not to be identified.

"We were shocked to hear some flight attendants say this goes on regularly - dogs get shipped to Paris for experiments. "

Quebec's vague animal protection law and weak enforcement provide a steady source of dogs for labs both here and abroad, animal rights activists charged.

"Fifty per cent of all dogs used for medical research in Canada are used in Quebec," said Liz White, a director of the Animal Alliance of Canada, a national animal rights group.

Figures found on the website of the Canadian Council on Animal Care, a government-funded organization that monitors animal research, show 5,610 dogs were "used" in Quebec in 2005, the last year for which data are provided. That same year, 5,127 dogs were used in all the other provinces combined.

Despite a tough new provincial animal welfare law enacted in 2004, "Quebec is a frontier province for animal abusers," White added.

"There are very few bylaws, there is a high euthanasia rate (by pet owners) and the claim rate for lost pets is very low."

The Quebec atmosphere helps medical researchers trade in animals, she said.

Only four inspectors enforce Quebec's animal welfare law, which allows for fines of $200 to $15,000 for repeat offenders. In Ontario, more than 200 inspectors enforce animal welfare regulations in Ontario.

Suzanne Lecomte, chief inspector with Anima-Qubec, a not-for-profit agency that applies the new law, said the comparison with Ontario is unfair. "Our inspectors deal only with cats and dogs," she said. "Theirs deal with all kinds of animals.

"The (Quebec) law is vague," she admitted. "It says simply you cannot compromise the safety and welfare of the animal" so inspectors can apply it in a wide range of situations.

The number of infractions last year went up to more than 20 from just three the year before, Lecomte said. Still, the number of inspectors is woefully inadequate, she said.

Linda Robertson, director of the Monteregie SPCA, said beagles are often used in research because they are particularly docile.

"You can do with a beagle whatever you want," she said. "It's not going to bite you."

The breed can be tailor-made to develop certain cancers, she added.

Pierre Barnoti, executive director of the SPCA in Montreal, said his group has been aware of the air shipments for years.

"Our investigators have checked out the dogs' health and they're fine," Barnoti said.

"These are not puppy mill dogs," he said. "They are raised to high standards for the client."

Claude Morin, president of Air Canada Cargo, confirmed the existence of regular animal shipments for medical research.

"It's completely legal," Morin said. "The animals are treated perfectly (en route). We don't really ask too many questions about where they're going. Clients don't have to tell us anything."

Air Canada spokesperson Isabelle Arthur said a 1998 ruling by the Canadian Transportation Agency forbids the airline from refusing to ship animals simply because of their purpose.

One Air Canada flight attendant, who asked not to be identified, said the flights have been kept "hush

mharrold@thegazette.canwest. com