Beagle Freedom Project

The Beagle Freedom Project (BFP) traces its origin to December 2010, when a California research laboratory asked ARME (Animal Rescue, Media & Education, founded 2003) to take two “experimentally spent” beagles. ARME's founder, Shannon Keith — an attorney and documentary filmmaker — agreed. The video of those two beagles taking their first steps on grass went viral, and BFP was born as a distinct project within ARME. The organization later rebranded as “Rescue + Freedom Project” in 2019 before reverting to the Beagle Freedom Project name.

BFP is the only national nonprofit whose entire mission centers on beagles and other animals used in laboratory testing. The name itself is the brand. Unlike broader animal welfare organizations that address lab animals as one issue among many, BFP treats laboratory rescue and post-research adoption as its core identity. The organization is tax-exempt under EIN 55-0882647 (predecessor entity tax-exempt since December 2004), headquartered at 4804 Laurel Canyon Blvd #534, Valley Village, CA 91607, with an animal care facility in Nowata, Oklahoma.

BFP states it has “sister organizations” in France (BFP France) and Australia (BFP Australia), with an effort underway to establish BFP UK, building an international network of rescue affiliates focused on laboratory animals.

BFP uses individualized identity and storytelling as central tools for both rescue placement and public advocacy. Multiple elements of the organization embed this approach:

Shannon Keith's background as a documentary filmmaker shapes BFP's media-first approach. The organization leverages visual storytelling — viral rescue videos, before-and-after adoption footage, and lab documentation imagery — as primary tools for public engagement. The founding viral video of two beagles experiencing grass for the first time remains BFP's most recognizable media artifact more than a decade later.

BFP's advocacy claims include statements that “more than 60,000 dogs” and “nearly 20,000 cats” are used for experimentation in the U.S. annually, and that “nearly 96%” of dogs used are beagles. These figures appear on BFP's State Beagle Bill page and are used to frame the scale of the problem for supporters and legislators.

BFP's website navigation includes dedicated federal-policy pages for the FDA Modernization Act, the Humane Cosmetics Act of 2023, and a “Federal Beagle Bill,” signaling engagement priorities and positioning BFP as a resource hub for supporters tracking federal legislation.

A 2025 Center for a Humane Economy coalition statement on NIH beagle testing included quotes from Shannon Keith (BFP), Rebekah Robinson (Dane4Dogs), and Wayne Hsiung (Simple Heart) — evidence of coordinated messaging across the advocacy ecosystem.

BFP's operational model depends on community rescue ecosystems for placement logistics. Many state beagle freedom laws explicitly enable transfers to rescue organizations, shelters, and humane societies, creating inter-organizational handoffs as part of compliance. BFP's state legislation framework has been adopted by local groups including Dane4Dogs for Wisconsin's proposed Beagle Freedom Bill (SB 414 / AB 436).