Latest news with #beagles
CBS News
4 days ago
- General
- CBS News
10 beagles named after bagels to be available for adoption in Boston after rescue from overcrowded home
The Animal Rescue League of Boston will soon have 10 beagles up for adoption, and they all share a delicious trait: They are named after bagels. The dogs are named: Asiago, Blueberry, Cinnamon Raisin, Egg, Everything, Jalapeño Cheddar, Marble, Poppy, Pumpernickel, and Sesame. "The dogs range in ages up to eight years old, are friendly and appear to be well-fed," The Animal Rescue League of Boston said in a press release. The dogs will receive checkups from veterinarians before being spayed and neutered. The seven females and three males will then be made available for adoption. The dogs were part of a group of 34 dogs that were rescued from Franklin County. The rescue said that it worked alongside the Franklin County Sheriff's Animal Service Team and police to help retrieve the animals from an overcrowded home kennel situation. The owners of the dogs did surrender the animals. "Overcrowding is a complex issue that can lead to serious health concerns not only for animals, but for people living among them as well. Animals saved from overcrowding situations can have many health and behavior issues, and over the next few days and weeks, these dogs will need extraordinary care," the rescue said in a press release. The 24 other dogs will be taken to other shelters around Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire. The ARL said that once their new building is completed, they hope to take care of more animals taken from situations like this. Police in Franklin, Massachusetts, are investigating. The rescue asks that anyone who may be overwhelmed by the number of animals in their home call 617-426-9170 for assistance.
CBC
6 days ago
- Health
- CBC
Premier Doug Ford warns Ontario scientists doing medical tests on dogs to 'stop before I catch you'
Premier Doug Ford warned Ontario scientists who use cats and dogs in research experiments that he would be "hunting" them down to end such work. Ford said it was unacceptable for beagles to be used in cardiac testing that had been approved by London's Lawson Research Institute and St. Joseph's Health Care London, and promised to introduce legislation to ban testing on certain animals. "I understand the mice, the rats, you know, maybe a rabbit, but these poor little beagles — you just look at their faces," Ford told a news conference in Windsor on Tuesday. The comments relate to an article released last week by the Investigative Journalism Bureau at the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health that revealed dogs had been used for years in the heart study. According to the article, published in partnership with Postmedia, researchers were inducing three-hour heart attacks in dogs and puppies before euthanizing them and removing those organs for further study. "I have now directed our team to start hunting down anyone else doing research on dogs or cats," Ford said Tuesday. "It's just unacceptable. Imagine your little dog being there and they try to put him into a heart attack. The poor thing. That's terrible and inhumane." Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday in Windsor that he's looking at legislating the end to medical testing of certain animals. (Justin Escoto/ CBC News) The research had been kept under wraps, but once the story was published, hospital CEO Roy Butler wrote to staff promising more transparency. He said the work had been approved by the internal animal ethics committee that follows Canadian animal welfare guidelines. "Animal research at Lawson is highly regulated and undertaken only when scientifically necessary and after all other alternatives have been considered," Butler's statement said. On Monday, St. Joseph's Health Care London said that it would "immediately cease" research involving dogs. CBC News has made multiple requests for an interview but the hospital has declined. Ford's office has not responded to questions about whether it directly ordered the cardiac testing to end, but the premier's comments Tuesday suggest as much. "And just a message: If you're doing this with dogs or cats, you gotta stop before I catch you. Simple as that. We're going to legislate this ... You aren't gonna be going after animals like that," Ford said. Almost 17,000 dogs used for science in 2023 According to the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC), which develops standards for the ethical use and care of animals in science, 16,151 dogs were used in research in 2023, the most recent statistics available. The council, which also participates on ethics review panels for research approval, said decisions on animal experimentation are guided by the "Three Rs": Replacement, reduction and refinement. "Is there an alternative method? If yes, you shouldn't use an animal. Reduction is, 'Do you need to use that amount of animals to conduct research?" said Pierre Verreault, CCAC's executive director. The refinement principle aims to minimize pain and distress by using pain medication if possible and giving the animal comfort. Charu Chandrasekera, executive director of the Canadian Centre for Alternatives to Animal Methods, previously worked in a lab that studied heart failure using animals. Chandrasekera said she's thrilled Ford is speaking out. St. Joseph's Hospital said Monday that it would 'immediately cease' research involving dogs. (St. Joseph's Healthcare London) She's been advocating for legislation that guides medical research using animals and believes scientists have become complacent when seeking out alternatives. "We don't have federal legislation defending animals in science. We do not have a federal animal welfare act. We don't have a lot of things that other countries do, and people always ask me, 'Why don't Canadians care?'" said Chandrasekera. "This is a defining moment for science in our country, and hopefully we can show the world that Canadians care by making a plan to phase out animal testing and adopting more and more animal-free methods." After Ford made comments on legislating an end to using dogs in research, CBC reached out to one of the largest medical research organizations in Canada for comment. The University Health Network (UHN), a public research and teaching network in Toronto, said it doesn't conduct studies on dogs or cats. "We are committed to the highest ethical standards of animal care and use for the purpose of continued progress in the field of human medicine," a UHN spokesperson said in an email. "The use of animals in research has been essential for advances in life sciences, medicine and agriculture, and has resulted in enormous benefits for human and animal health. We also continue to explore alternative approaches to reduce and replace animals where possible. "Any research involving animal models is conducted under a rigorous ethical and regulatory framework with protocols that align with national and international regulatory bodies," the release added.
Yahoo
08-08-2025
- Yahoo
Those De-Extinct Dire Wolves Were a Warning. Well, the Next Phase Is Coming.
Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. New Zealanders are engaged in a daily struggle to protect their isolated islands at the edge of the world. Visitors pass through a biosecurity gantlet at the airport, with specially trained beagles sniffing out such contraband as seeds, fruit, vegetables, meats, or honey. Border agents spray camping gear to kill contaminants. On a larger scale, the government's Predator Free 2050 campaign aims to eradicate all introduced predators by 2050 to allow native fauna and flora to thrive. As the in-flight Air New Zealand video announces before you land, 'This fragile place is all we've got. …That's why we guard it.' There's a reason we're so defensive. Before humans, flightless birds like the kākāpō and kiwi thrived. The only native mammal was a bat. When the Māori arrived 800 years ago, they brought dogs and rats. Then, Europeans made things worse. They imported possums for fur, rabbits to hunt for sport, then ravenous stoats to control the rabbit population. (Stoats look like ferrets and kill not just one bird at a time, but entire nests.) So-called 'acclimatization societies' introduced hedgehogs to make New Zealand feel more like Great Britain. Today, the New Zealand Department of Conservation calls the hedgehog 'our most underrated predator,' noting that just one of them 'can cause an entire colony of endangered black-fronted terns to abandon their nests.' Together, these imported creatures caused a mass extinction; nearly half of New Zealand's vertebrate species have disappeared since their arrival on the islands. Predators destroy an estimated 25 million birds, chicks, and eggs a year, while 30 million possums gobble up 21,000 tons of vegetation a night, depleting the food supply for native animals. Today, largely due to non-native animals, New Zealand has one of the highest extinction rates of native species in the world. No wonder the federal government launched Predator Free 2050 in 2016 with an initial investment of $28 million. Since then, the initiative has attracted more funding and passionate participation, from the North Island to the South. While no city is free of predators, more than 100 offshore islands are, and more than 80 eco-sanctuaries protect native ecosystems. I live in Dunedin, a city on the South Island, and have seen firsthand how effective the war against predators has been. As a journalist and a volunteer, I've set and checked traps called 'Trapinators' and 'Mammalian Corrections Units' with Predator Free Dunedin, a conservation collective that has battled possums, rats, hedgehogs, and stoats since 2018. Since then, more than 6,300 traps have been set in and around the city, and more than 50,000 individual predators have been eliminated. We know these animals are not malevolent, just trying to survive, and so the traps dispatch them with as little suffering as possible. They work: The long finger of the Otago Peninsula, once overrun with possums, is now almost free of them. Native birds such as kererū and tūī are returning to the city. Setting and checking traps, replanting native bush, checking corflute for teeth marks and the ground for scat—it's muddy and exhausting work, and the road to a predator-free 2050 is long. But we're winning. So we should be wary of the shiny offer from Texas-based biotech firm Colossal Biosciences, which announced in July that it intends to 'de-extinct' the moa, a gigantic wingless bird that was killed off about 600 years ago. This is the same company that 'brought back' the ice-age dire wolf with financial help from Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin. This project also has a high-profile partner in Sir Peter Jackson, the New Zealand film director behind Lord of the Rings. In a slick promotional video, Jackson says that 'being extinct isn't really the end of the story.' Various narrators explain that the 'nearly mythological' moa inspires the imagination. Its return will be 'empowering' and restore 'hope' as it supercharges conservation efforts and rehabilitates a vital piece of Māori cultural heritage. All that from a moa. Except it won't be a moa. In the case of the allegedly de-extincted 'dire wolves,' what Colossal Biosciences actually produced were some gray wolves with 20 gene edits to make them look more like dire wolves. The company's chief science officer, Beth Shapiro, has explained that they employ the morphological species concept, which basically means: 'If they look like this animal, they are this animal.' In other words, if I paint my cat to look like a fox, it is a fox. But, no, Sir Peter—extinction really is the end of the story. The laboratory 'moa,' like the 'dire wolf,' would similarly be a hybrid animal, not a clone. Colossal Biosciences would again edit the genes of a close living relative, such as the emu or tinamou, and call it a moa. This will be a new creature, not an animal with native roots in New Zealand. This makes it yet another introduced species like the rat or stoat, with unpredictable behavior. Colossal Biosciences does not intend to unleash the 'moas' into the wild. The 'dire wolves' live on a 2,000-acre preserve enclosed with zoo-grade fencing. The flock of genetically engineered birds will be given, in Jackson's words, 'a natural environment as big as we possibly can.' This is in a country the size of Colorado, and will effectively take space away from native species for what amounts to a roadside attraction. Meanwhile, beyond the gates and gawking tourists, stoats will gobble kiwi eggs and possums will devour our rata leaves. Colossal Biosciences insists that what they are doing with their de-extinction projects is conservation. The fake moa effort isn't conservation at all. At best, it's a cheap (or, rather, expensive) distraction. I wonder if Colossal Biosciences has considered the possibility of their Frankenbird escaping the enclosure they envision. If an animal the size of a hedgehog can devour our native plants and insects, including the endemic and endangered wētā (a large flightless cricket), imagine what a mixed-gene bird the size of an emu could do as it crashes around the bush. Colossal Biosciences views Māori people as primary beneficiaries of the moa's promotional video shows Māori performing a traditional poi dance and the haka, a ceremonial war dance, as project leaders laud the 'complete partnership' between Māori and Colossal Biosciences. Yes, the company is working with the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre, whose 18 researchers and lecturing staff foster Indigenous scholarship. However, Māori as a group constitute almost 18 percent of New Zealand's population. Do all Māori want the moa to return? Most Māori live in towns or cities, and in communities that often face challenges such as housing deprivation and low life expectancy. Does the moa mean the same thing to them in 2025 that it did 800 years ago, when it was an important source of food and material for making ornaments and tools? Claiming the moa is vital to Māori identity is like saying all Americans have a deep cultural connection to the flat-headed peccary that once roamed the Great Plains. As we head into our planet's sixth mass extinction, species nostalgia is understandable. We mourn what's lost. For some, de-extinction glows like a magic reverse button, a way to skirt tedious conservation efforts, an excuse to ignore the Endangered Species Act (as Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, a fan of Colossal Biosciences, has suggested we do), and relax. But we can't get back to the garden. The best we can do is try to keep what we've got, even if that means the unglamorous work of setting and checking traps, planting native bush, and requiring extra steps at the airport to make sure no one's smuggling in an unwanted creature. Solve the daily Crossword
RNZ News
21-07-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Two MPI beagles need new homes after not making the grade
Beagles Bernard and Ozzy didn't make the grade as sniffer dogs so are now looking for new homes. Photo: Supplied A pair of Auckland sniffer dogs who could not pass their training have had dozens of offers for new homes. The Ministry for Primary Industries says beagles Bernard and Ozzy are better suited for a life of leisure than the high pressure world of border control. But they are in high demand, with 50 households inquiring for adoption in just 24 hours after the ministry said they were available. Biosecurity NZ commissioner for the North Island Mike Inglis said sniffer dogs needed to work fast and be resilient. "From time to time, some dogs just aren't cut out or suitable for that type of work," he explained. "There's a variety of reasons, but sometimes the work is very quick. They need to work in different environments, airport, on the ports. The biggest thing, they do need to be able to work in quite loud environments over a particular period of time." Inglis said the biosecurity training programme had a pass rate of about 85 percent, and the two beagles could not quite make the cut. He said Bernard's cruisy personality did not fit the fast-paced environment. "Bernard's a typical beagle. He loves to take life easy and relaxed, and for a working dog that's not always the best," he said. "He did the job well, but he was too slow and wasn't able to keep up with that nature of it. He also had a little bit of naughtiness, which is a classic beagle trait." Meanwhile, Ozzy's independent streak made him a troublesome employee. "Ozzy is a very independent dog with a lot of personality. He loves a good adventure and is very, very cute, and he's got one of the softest coats around, which will make him a great buddy for particularly families with children." Inglis said that despite their quirks, the dogs were in high demand, with emails from dozens of interested households flooding the Ministry's inbox. "We tend to always be successful with rehoming these dogs, irrespective of whether they made it as working dogs," he said. "We train them very well, obedience-wise, and we also provide support [for their new owners], so we always get a good response. So we've already had 50 enquiries." That was no surprise for dog trainer and animal behaviourist Mark Vette. He said dogs trained by Biosecurity NZ were very well behaved and made for great pets. "You know, most people will take the easy road, and any of those, whether it's guide dogs, MPI or whatever it is, you've normally got a pretty good head start if you've got one of their dogs." But Vette said there were plenty more dogs out there that needed a home. He said training them might take a little bit more work, but they were worth it. "There's a lot of people that do rescue dogs, which is wonderful. But I'd like to see more," Vette said. "There's a lot of dogs out there that need good homes, and cats. It's one of those things that we encourage anyone to grow their skills a little bit more, and anyone can do it, but it does take some effort sometimes." Vette said rescue dogs were among the most loyal and loving pets around. He hoped more people would be willing to put in that extra bit of effort to find a diamond in the "ruff." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Forbes
01-07-2025
- Health
- Forbes
SpotitEarly Breath Test Uses AI And Dogs For Early Cancer Detection
SpotitEarly CEO Shlomi Madar with his late grandfather The next breakthrough in cancer screening is emerging from the convergence of artificial intelligence and canine biology. That's the thesis behind SpotitEarly, a startup that recently launched in the U.S. with $20 million in funding. The company's hybrid platform combines trained dogs with artificial intelligence to deliver an early cancer detection breath test with 94% accuracy, targeting breast, colorectal, prostate and lung cancers. More than 70% of cancers are still diagnosed after symptoms appear—when survival rates plummet. In the U.S., the average cancer screening rate among eligible adults remains below 60%, despite massive investments in awareness and infrastructure. And while diagnostics innovation has exploded, access has not. Many tools are either cost-prohibitive, unproven, or designed for a healthcare experience that caters to the few. In an era where longevity startups cater to the 1% with concierge diagnostics and $2,500 full-body scans, SpotitEarly is flipping the script. Its goal: to bring cutting-edge early detection to the millions who never make it to screening in time—not just those with the means to optimize wellness. SpotitEarly are beagles trained to detect cancer. SpotitEarly is poised to shake up a diagnostics market plagued by high costs, access disparities and screening inertia—with a scientifically validated, double-blind clinical trial to back it. 'After years in cancer care, I've seen firsthand how late diagnoses steal lives. SpotitEarly is changing that. By combining AI with a dog's powerful sense of smell, they're making early detection for multiple cancers faster, more accessible, and more affordable than anything I've seen in the field. This is a true breakthrough—and a chance to save lives at scale,' said Dr. David Sidransky, Professor of Oncology at Johns Hopkins Medical School and current advisory board member at SpotitEarly. Revolutionizing Non-Invasive Cancer Screening With Dogs And AI SpotitEarly enables users to collect a breath sample at home and mail it to the company's lab. There, trained beagles detect cancer-linked volatile organic compounds (VOCs), while the company's LUCID platform digitizes the dogs' behavioral data and uses AI to interpret the results. The company's approach was tested in a double-blind clinical trial involving 1,400 participants in Israel, conducted in collaboration with Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Rambam Health Care Campus and Hadassah Medical Center. Neither the dog trainers, sample handlers, AI system operators, nor analysts knew whether the samples came from individuals with cancer or healthy controls. All samples were randomized, anonymized and processed independently to ensure clean, unbiased results. The study achieved 94% sensitivity and specificity across four major cancers—breast, colorectal, prostate and lung—and the results were published in Scientific Reports in November 2024. SpotitEarly Founder and CEO Shlomi Madar 'This wasn't an anecdotal pilot,' said CEO Shlomi Madar, PhD. 'We conducted a rigorous, double-blind, multi-site trial with academic partners to validate our platform scientifically. That level of proof is what makes us different from the many promising but unproven efforts in this space.' In the end, SpotitEarly isn't just about better diagnostics—it's about giving families more time together. Why Can Dogs Detect Cancer Better Than Machines Alone? Dogs have up to 300 million olfactory receptors—tens of thousands more than humans. They can detect scent at concentrations as low as parts per trillion, which is why they've long been used to find explosives, contraband and even viral infections. Decades of studies have shown that dogs can identify the presence of cancer by smell, often before clinical symptoms appear. SpotitEarly is among the first to pair that natural ability with digital infrastructure and machine learning. Each canine's sniffing behavior is tracked by sensors and algorithms that quantify subtle physiological cues, such as sniff duration, hesitation or posture. These data streams power the company's proprietary LUCID platform, which converts biological inputs into a structured diagnostic signal. SpotitEarly estimates that one canine-AI lab can process over one million samples annually, with turnaround times of just a few days. A Mission Rooted In Personal Loss And Innovation What began as a search for better diagnostics became his introduction to a company grounded in biology, technology and accessibility. For Shlomi Madar, PhD, the pursuit of earlier cancer detection is deeply personal. He lost his grandfather to cancer, a diagnosis that came only after symptoms had already advanced. By then, treatment options were limited, and time was short. SpotitEarly CEO Dr. Shlomi Madar with his late grandparents Losing him at a relatively young age was devastating for Shlomi's family – but ultimately sparked his passion for cancer research. Learning of their shared vision to leverage their unique skills in a groundbreaking venture for the greater good, Shlomi joined the 4 founders of SpotitEarly, whose team discovered the untapped potential of canine scent detection—and the power of pairing it with machine learning to create a scalable, noninvasive diagnostic platform. Their mission was to make early detection accessible to everyone, not just the fortunate few. SpotitEarly plans to make its at-home cancer detection test available directly to customers through a physician network starting in 2026. A single-cancer test will cost about $250, while a comprehensive panel for all four cancers will cost around $500. No clinic visit or specialist referral is required. The company will continue to partner with health systems and research institutions to enhance accessibility and validate its technology. If a breath test detects potential cancer biomarkers, users will receive clear, secure results along with guidance on what to do next. Results can be easily shared with a physician, who can then recommend diagnostic follow-ups and a personalized care plan. The product is not yet covered by insurance, though the company is in active conversations with payers. Even without reimbursement, SpotitEarly's pricing undercuts most early detection tools. It's positioned as a low-barrier, high-sensitivity option, particularly attractive for younger or underserved patients who may not qualify for traditional screenings. The at-home format eliminates friction. Users receive a kit, provide a breath sample in minutes and return it by mail. Results will be delivered within days. The early detection market is growing rapidly, with players like Grail's Galleri offering liquid biopsies and startups like Prenuvo providing full-body MRI scans. But these approaches are often expensive, inaccessible, or both. Prenuvo's scans cost between $1,000 and $2,500 (and up to $4,000 in premium markets), and they are typically not covered by insurance. Appointments require travel to specialized imaging centers and can take over an hour to complete. While comprehensive, the model primarily caters to the 1%—those investing in concierge diagnostics and longevity-focused wellness, rather than scalable population health tools. SpotitEarly offers a more targeted and affordable solution. Its test is: It also avoids one of the most cited concerns about full-body scans: overdiagnosis. These scans can detect benign anomalies that trigger unnecessary follow-ups and patient anxiety. SpotitEarly's method focuses on cancers with the most robust breath-based biomarkers and the clearest public health benefits when detected early. As Madar noted in a recent interview, 'Prenuvo costs patients around $2,500. Most Americans can't cover a $1,000 emergency expense.' SpotitEarly is betting that affordability, not abundance, is the future of early detection. The company has raised $20.3 million to date from backers including Hanaco Ventures, Jeff Swartz (former CEO of Timberland), and Avishai Abrahami (cofounder of Wix). Funds are being used to scale U.S. operations, conduct further validation studies and prepare for commercial rollout in 2026. SpotitEarly's use of dogs and data may seem unconventional—even a little unexpected—but the implications are anything but light. The company is tackling one of the most persistent failures in healthcare: the gap between innovation and access. Despite decades of investment in awareness and infrastructure, over 70% of cancers are still diagnosed after symptoms appear—when outcomes are far worse. In the U.S., fewer than 60% of eligible adults get the screenings they need. Meanwhile, diagnostics innovation has surged, but too often it's priced for exclusivity, not equity. Where companies like Prenuvo serve the 1% with concierge scans and longevity optimization, SpotitEarly is building for the other 99%—those for whom early detection is not just a wellness upgrade, but a matter of survival. Its breath-based platform offers a rare blend of scientific rigor, scalability, and affordability. If the model holds, SpotitEarly won't just catch cancer earlier—it could reshape how health systems approach prevention, precision, and who innovation is actually designed for. In a healthcare landscape where flashy technology often outpaces clinical validation, SpotitEarly flips the script—starting with biology, validating it with science, and scaling it through tech. SpotitEarly's use of dogs and data may seem unconventional—even a little unexpected—but the implications are anything but light. The company is tackling one of the most persistent failures in healthcare: the gap between innovation and access. Despite decades of investment in awareness and infrastructure, over 70% of cancers are still diagnosed after symptoms appear, when outcomes are far worse. In the U.S., fewer than 60% of eligible adults get the screenings they need. Meanwhile, diagnostics innovation has surged, but too often it's priced for exclusivity, not equity. Where companies like Prenuvo serve the 1% with concierge scans and longevity optimization, SpotitEarly is building for the other 99%—those for whom early detection is not just a wellness upgrade, but a matter of survival. Its breath-based platform offers a rare blend of scientific rigor, scalability, and affordability. Read more in Forbes about how AI Is Catching What Mammograms Miss and a Blood Test Could Detect Cancer Up To Seven Years Earlier
