Canada does laboratory testing on up to 2 million animals each year.
Canada's role in supplying specially-bred animals for laboratory testing both in Canada and abroad remains a tightly-knit secret. Recently, an article in The Gazette appeared and exposed how passengers on a flight to Paris became aware of a shipment of beagles on their Air Canada jet when they heard the dogs screaming from the belly of the plane. Canada does laboratory testing on up to 2 million animals each year. It also supplies an unspecified amount of animals to Europe for this same purpose.
"We were shocked to hear some flight attendants say this goes on regularly - dogs get shipped to Paris for experiments." Because Quebec's animal protection law is vague and weakly enforced, the province provides a steady source of dogs for laboratories both here and abroad, animal rights activists said.
Liz White, a Director at the Animal Alliance of Canada, joined Joe Broadhurst of CKUT Radio in Montreal to discuss some of the issues surrounding this practice and the efforts of animal activist groups to learn the truth. (11:30)