Last week, St. Joseph’s Hospital in London, Ontario announced it would shut down its secretive and horrifying dog experimentation program — a long-hidden operation where puppies were bought from U.S. breeders, kept in barren cages, used in gruesome cardiac experiments, and ultimately killed.
For years, staff were instructed to hide dog food bags in the trash and play loud music to muffle the animals’ cries. Working with the Investigative Journalism Bureau and Postmedia, Animal Justice helped two whistleblowers tell the public about this cruelty, and Canadians were horrified. Stories of how deeply the puppies suffered sparked outrage nationwide, culminating in a large vigil outside the hospital.
That public pressure worked: St. Joseph’s will no longer use dogs in experiments. But this victory is about more than one hospital. It has lifted the veil of secrecy on an industry that harms millions of animals each year and has sparked the political conversation Canada urgently needs.
Premier Doug Ford reacted to the revelations with characteristic bluntness: “I think it’s disgusting, to be frank with you. I don’t believe in that one bit.” He even called St. Joseph’s himself to demand an end, promised to “hunt down” researchers still using cats or dogs, and committed to legislating an end to these cruel medical tests. Those are strong words, and now we need strong action to match them.
Ontario’s laws have a long way to go. Right now, the province’s animal cruelty laws specifically exempt animals used in research from protection. The law also allows experimenters to take dogs and cats abandoned in shelters and perform tests on them—an unconscionable and untenable cruelty. Ford has an opportunity to be a national leader by fixing these failings and banning the use of dogs, cats, and other animals in harmful experiments. He should also pass laws requiring labs to offer animals for adoption at the end of experiments. Over a dozen U.S. states have already passed these so-called beagle freedom laws, giving countless animals a second chance at life.
To truly protect animals in labs, we also need federal leadership. Canada is one of the only industrialized countries with no federal law regulating animal experimentation. Oversight is left to the Canadian Council on Animal Care —a voluntary, industry-run body with no enforcement power. This legal vacuum means the most vulnerable animals in our society are often the least protected.
The federal government has taken some small but important steps recently: banning cosmetic testing on animals, and passing legislation to phase out toxicity testing. But it has failed to deliver on a key Liberal promise — funding a national centre to research alternatives to animal testing. The University of Windsor once housed the Canadian Centre for Alternatives to Animal Methods, but it was forced to close last year without public support.
Science has advanced to the point where many animal experiments are unnecessary, unreliable, or even harmful to human health because results often don’t translate between species. There are cutting-edge, human biology–based methods like organ-on-a-chip technology, 3D tissue models, and advanced computer simulationsthat can deliver better science without the cruelty. It’s about good science, and it’s good for innovation and Canada’s economy. But with no laws and no funding, Canada has fallen behind, and animals will continue to suffer.
The scale of that suffering is staggering. In 2023 alone, over 3.3 million animals were used in experiments, including more than 16,000 dogs. Pigs, primates, cats, rabbits, mice, and rats all endure invasive and lethal experiments that cause pain, distress, and death, often without adequate pain relief. Many spend their entire lives in barren steel cages, never experiencing the life they deserve.
For now, let’s celebrate this hard-won victory while pushing St. Joseph’s to rehome the surviving dogs and end all animal testing. Longer term, Ontario must pass new laws, and the federal government should fund the alternatives we need. It’s time for Canada to join the growing list of countries moving beyond animal experiments altogether.
Camille Labchuk is a lawyer and the executive director of Animal Justice—a national animal law advocacy organization. Animal Justice works to pass strong new animal protection laws, hold industries accountable for illegally abusing animals, and fights for animals in courtrooms across the country.
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