100 beagles rescued, get new lease on life in Chicago suburbs
CHICAGO (CBS) – It was an announcement that broke dog lovers' hearts across the country.
Some 4,000 beagles, breeded for testing, living in poor conditions in Virginia. The federal government stepped in and now, some of those dogs are starting a brand new life, courtesy of a South Elgin shelter.
On Tuesday morning, Haley Boehm had the look of love at first sight, and that was even before she saw the beagle inside a crate.
After a harrowing start to his nine months of life, Boehm is bringing Walnut home.
"This journey is just amazing, being able to rescue these dogs," Boehm said.
More specifically, 100 dogs arrived in South Elgin Monday night from halfway across the country. They are a fraction of the over 4,000 beagles the Department of Justice ordered a Virginia breeder to surrender. Federal investigators found inhumane conditions at the facility, that would sell the dogs for research.
"Food that was moldy, they were spraying dogs down in kennels, all sorts of allegations and they closed the facility down," said Dean Daubert, of the Anderson Humane Society, one of the dozens of facilities across the country, working with the DOJ to put every pup in a good home.
"We have been so blessed with the outpouring of support from the public that we are pretty confident we're going to have all these guys into foster by the end of the day," Daubert added.
And that's pretty incredible when you realize none of these beagles have been held by a human like this before.
Each dog is snuggled through an initial medical screening before receiving an object that's foreign to them: their first collar.
"They get a little bit nervous putting them on and especially walking by themselves but we have a really good training team too that'll work with them to get them used to walks and used to people," said one medical helper.
Hundreds of families signed up to foster the pups and show them the ropes of home life, filled with belly rubs, green grass, and good food.
Boehm can't wait to get started.
"We're going to integrate him after he gets used to being outside, gets used to walking, gets used to being loved on and snuggled because they weren't snuggled or cared for where they were so I'm just very happy that we get to be a part of this journey, and I'm happy that Walnut is part of it with us," she said.