Tobey Maguire, a four-year-old Beagle that spent his whole life in an animal testing lab, sat shyly in the corner of his new foster home on Tuesday afternoon. He’s missing half of his right ear and recoils when strangers approach him – even those bearing heart-shaped doggie treats.
Tobey is one of forty Beagles that were rescued from an animal testing lab in Spain and flown to Los Angeles on Nov. 23. He and the other rescue dogs, all boys, are named after Hollywood celebrities.
Two weeks ago, the day after Thanksgiving, animal rights activist Dave Rutan brought Tobey to his Manhattan Beach home, where he lives with his two other rescue dogs, Tyler and Kami.
Riding down Aviation that day in the car, Rutan recalled whispering, “We’re almost home, Tobey, almost home.” At that moment, he was reminded that Tobey’s never really had a home. “It was an emotional moment in the car because he’s never had home, a house with a door, or a human who cares about him.”
At first, it was a struggle getting Tobey to eat – he didn’t touch his kibble for a day, until Rutan mixed it with wet dog food. During his first week, Tobey never slept or lay down outside of his crate. Rutan keeps the crate door open so Tobey can climb in as he pleases, if it makes him more comfortable.
It’s fitting that Rutan, who has protested for animal rights for 14 years, would look after one of the forty Beagles, he said. “In some ways, he could be sort of an ambassador for other dogs that are in labs in the U.S.,” he said.
Since bringing Tobey home, Rutan’s taken him to the vet to be neutered, get blood tests and his teeth cleaned.
“I can tell Tobey is used to routine,” Rutan said, adding that the young dog shakes and trembles in the mornings, indicating fear from his troubled past. “Hopefully, over time, he’ll learn that I’m not going to do anything bad to him.”
Beagles are often used for testing because they’re docile, Rutan said. “You can put your hands in their mouth and insert tubes down their throat,” he said, adding, “They don’t fight back as much as other dogs.”
Rutan will decide whether or not he’ll keep Tobey in a couple weeks, based on how the Beagle gets along with his two other dogs. “I want to keep him, but I want the best for Tobey, making sure this is a place that’ll give him all the love and all the good times that he really deserves,” he said. “And love from these guys, and not just me,” he continued, gesturing toward the exuberant Tyler and Kami.
Rutan has developed a reputation among friends, however, as a “foster failure” – he has trouble giving up dogs that he’s offered to foster, as was the case with Tyler. “As soon as I took pictures of Tobey and put them on Facebook, my friends said, ‘I sense a foster failure,’” he said, with a laugh.
While all forty of the Beagles that were rescued have found foster homes, the Beagle Freedom Project is seeking applications for adopters. For more information, or if you’re interested in adopting a beagle, please visit beaglefreedomproject.org.
