ASHEVILLE-MAY2019-WEB

Point of View
Success! Cruel Beagle
Fungicide Test Ends at
Corteva Agriscience
By Laura Goldman
Less than a week after the Humane Society of the
United States (HSUS) released the disturbing report
that 36 beagles were being force-fed a fungicide in a test
commissioned by Coreteva Agriscience, a division of Dow
DuPont, the company announced it will end this terrible
study.
An undercover HSUS investigator at Charles River
Laboratories in Michigan discovered that the beagles
were being fed Adavelt, a new Coreteva Agriscience
fungicide, in gelatin capsules for a year. According to the
report released March 12, some of these dogs “were being
subjected to very high doses – so high that up to four
capsules had to be shoved down their throats.”
All the surviving beagles were scheduled to be
euthanized in July. Their organs would then be removed
and examined for any damage from the fungicide.
This study is horrible for many reasons. For one thing, it
does not replicate how Adavelt would be ingested by
humans. Even worse, the United States government hasn’t
even required this test for over 10 years, ever since
scientists realized it provides no worthwhile information.
Corteva Agriscience said it had to conduct the
test — which it admitted was unnecessary — to meet
a Brazilian regulatory requirement. However, Brazil’s
pesticide authority, ANVISA, told the HSUS it will waive
the test for companies that don’t want to conduct it.
Be kind to
everything
that lives ...
- Native American Proverb
At Corteva Agriscience’s request, ANVISA sent a
formal, written version of this policy to the entire Brazilian
pesticide industry. But Conteva Agriculture refused to stop
the test until the industry received confirmation that it was
no longer required. If that confirmation took longer than
four months, those beagles would die in July.
The HSUS and Humane Society International (HSI)
have been working for months to make Corteva
Agriscience end its cruel fungicide test and release the
beagles, so they can find loving homes. More than
122,000 people signed HSUS’ petition on Care2 making
this demand.
On March 18, just six days after the HSUS released its
report, Corteva Agriscience announced it had secured a
waiver from ANVISA and had immediately ended the
test. The company promised it would make “every effort” to
re-home the beagles.
“We applaud Corteva for making the right decision,”
Kitty Block, HSUS president and CEO, wrote on her blog.
“The company has been a valuable partner to us in the
past on important measures to decrease animal testing
and we hope that we can work with them on a happy
ending for these dogs.”
The surviving beagles owe their lives to the efforts of
the HSUS and HSI, as well as everyone around the world
who urged Corteva Agriscience to stop the test. Here’s
hoping the HSUS is successful again in finding loving
homes for every one of these survivors.
GOOD NEWS UPDATE: Thanks to the HSUS, HSI and
hundreds of thousands of outraged people around the
world—these three dozen dogs are on their way to
the Michigan Humane Society and will hopefully soon be
adopted into the loving forever homes they deserve.
“This is the exact outcome we have been working
toward for many months now, since our undercover
investigator found these beagles being used for the
test. We are grateful to Dow AgroSciences (Corteva
Agriscience) for making the right decision for the dogs,”
HSUS President and CEO Kitty Block wrote on her blog.
Fortunately, those beagles will never have to be
tortured inside cages again. Like many of us, Block wrote
that she is excited about the outcome and the future for
these rescued dogs, who were all born at the lab and have
never known life outside of a cage.
“They deserve the best futures they can possibly get,
and we are thrilled for the role we have played in saving
their lives and making this outcome happen for them,”
Block continued. Hear, hear. We agree!
PAGE 4 • CRITTER MAGAZINE • MAY 2019