State Representative Ryan Bizzarro (D-Erie) and local animal advocates joined in support of a beagle freedoms bill to protect animals from inhumane tests and abuse.

This comes after a rescue at a mass breeding facility in 2022 of roughly 4,000 beagles in Cumberland, Virginia that was breeding the dogs to be sold to animal testing laboratories.

Bizzarro said the bill would bring the country up to what other 42 countries and the European Union are doing to phase out testing on animals.

He said Pennsylvania has a lot of the tools to accomplish this task, like the support of animal advocates from Erie County and across the commonwealth, but it will be an uphill battle.

“If we can take care of people, we can focus on economic development issues we can also take care of animals,” said Ryan Bizzarro, (D) state representative and chairman of House Majority Policy Committee.

“We’re going to do everything that we can to protect them to ensure that these sort of things are not happening they’re not being tested on they’re not being tortured that they’re able to be in someone’s lap and not in a lab,” Bizzarro went on to say.

Bizzarro said the bill would provide better accountability and protect the pups