Humane Society Of Tulsa Caring For 200 Beagles Rescued From Virginia

More than 200 beagles arrived safely Wednesday in Tulsa after the U.S. Department of Agriculture removed them from a breeding facility in Virginia.

The Humane Society of Tulsa is one of several partners working to get the 4,000 beagles from the Virginia facility adopted.

The Humane Society of Tulsa said the 208 beagles range from a few weeks old to eight years old.

They will spend their first night at the adoption center near 61st and Sheridan. Then the next day, they will be vetted and vaccinated. Some could go to their forever homes as early as this weekend.

Humane Society of Tulsa transport coordinator, Lawrence DePriest, said the ride from the breeding facility to Tulsa took 27 hours with all the necessary stops.

"Everybody arrived happy and healthy seem to be doing good so far," said DePriest.

DePriest also said staff are grateful they have a big transport rig to be able to rescue so many dogs from being sold to labs for animal testing.

"They were destined for not-so-great things, so being able to get them out of that situation and on the road to a much, much happier and better life is pretty rewarding," said DePriest.

Some in our community have asked how the Humane Society is able to take in so many dogs when other shelters are struggling with overcapacity.

Adoption Center Manager, Rachel Ward, said this historic rescue will not burden the community.

"We're working as a transportation hub, essentially to get these animals across the country, so our goal is not to funnel as many beagles into Oklahoma as possible,” explained Ward. “It's to be a partner with the United States Humane Society and the Department of Ag to be able to move these animals out of the facility."

Ward said people all over the country have already applied to adopt, and the agency will continue to accept applications.

"People understand the state that these beagles are in and understand where they're coming from and understand that they've been born to do nothing but breed and go into medical testing facilities," said Ward.

If you would like to adopt one of these dogs or donate to the cause, you can click here for more information on the Humane Society of Tulsa website.