A heartwarming video of rescued Beagles feeling grass for the first time has become a viral sensation. INSIDE EDITION has the story behind the popular footage.
It was the heartwarming viral video now taking the Internet by storm. In the video, nine adorable beagles rescued from an animal testing lab bask in the sunshine, feeling the grass under their paws for the very first time.
Watch the Emotional Video Here
At first, the Beagles cowered in the cages where they had spent their entire lives.
Two dogs that shared the same tiny space looked anxious and afraid. One had to be reassured because she was so nervous about the strange outdoor surroundings.
The Beagles did not even have names: As lab dogs, they were only given numbers.
"They were scared," said Shannon Keith, president of the Beagle Freedom Project. "It was like nothing before they had ever seen because they had never been outdoors before."
Nobody knew how the dogs would react to their new freedom, but their excitement quickly reached fever pitch, with tails wagging and tongues hanging out.
"When the dogs first went running in freedom and rejoicing, I think that their instinct kicked in, that they suddenly became real dogs," said Keith.
They couldn’t stop running and playing until they were exhausted.
One rested in the bushes, while three other Beagles sought the comfort of more familiar surroundings: a wooden crate. It might take them a little longer to adjust to their new lives.
