COLUMBIA, MO – A study published in a vet journal earlier this year described researchers blinding beagle puppies with experimental acid. When the study ended, the animals were put down.
The university acknowledges their researchers experimented on dogs. They said six beagle puppies were blinded in one eye. Half were given a known drug called Optimend. The other half were given the same drug with an experimental acid to see if healing would improve.
"We identified 179 dogs and cats at Mizzou used by the med school for research purposes," Attorney Daniel Kolde.
The Beagle Freedom Project, which works to adopt beagles following testing, was the first to point out the study that made national headlines.
When they asked the university for public records, they were told to pay a huge sum of money.
"So they wouldn't give us any records until we gave them $82,222 and some change," Kolde said.
The university sent 41 Action News a statement that read in part:
"Since dogs share similar eye characteristics with people, they are ideal candidates for corneal studies... The animals were treated humanely and every effort was made to ensure dogs were as comfortable as possible."
They wouldn't say what happened to the dogs following the study.
The Beagle Freedom Project shared an email sent from Mary Jo Banken at the University of Missouri that read:
"The dogs were humanely euthanized, corneas were removed and samples were stored for further research."
The study notes the acid "did not accelerate corneal wound healing."
PETA said the tests are more common than people realize.
"The Animal Welfare Act is really the only federal law offering any sort of protection for animals in laboratories, and its protections are very minimal," PETA Sr. VP Kathy Guillermo said. "You can basically do anything to an animal you want if you get your over-sight committee to approve it. There's nothing that is illegal."
Five states currently have statutes making it mandatory for Beagles to be adopted following medical tests, Missouri and Kansas are not among them.
'OptiMend Corneal Repair Drops' are currently on the market for use only by veterinarians.