The book

Tracing over a century of transformation in the relationship between humans and our “best friend,” from hunting companion to laboratory commodity to modern pet.

Intrepid, docile, and cloaked in their characteristic coats of white, black, and tan, beagles were one of the most popular breeds in the United States by 1950. But during the same period, they emerged as something else: an ideal dog for laboratory experimentation. After researchers used the breed to test the effects of radiation exposure, scientists looking for subjects larger and longer-living than rodents began to turn to beagles, who were loyal, cooperative, and eager to please.

In Lab Dog: What Global Science Owes American Beagles, historian Brad Bolman explains how the laboratory dog became a subject of intense focus for twentieth-century scientists and charts the beagle’s surprising trajectory through global science. Following beagles as they moved from eugenics to radiobiology, pharmaceutical testing to Alzheimer’s studies, Lab Dog sheds new light on pivotal stories of twentieth-century science, including the Manhattan Project, tobacco controversies, contraceptive testing, and behavioral genetics research. The book also offers a glimpse into the future of animal experimentation, one in which dogs are increasingly replaced by other species, as well as non-animal alternatives. Compelling and accessible, Lab Dog tells the thorny story of the beagle’s participation in science, both its sacrifice and its contribution.

Reviews

“The result fascinates, entertains, and gives pause to contemplate man’s inhumanity to hound in equal measure.” — Clive D. L. Wynne, author of Dog is Love

“... a comprehensive, insightful, and sympathetic account.” — Harriet Ritvo, author of The Animal Estate

The author

Brad Bolman is a historian of science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He studied the history of science at Harvard University and lives with a dog of many breeds named Laszlo. Read more about him here or follow him on Bluesky.

Find a copy

Please consider ordering a copy of Lab Dog from your local independent bookstore. Two favorites are Brookline Booksmith and Sem Coop.

You can also purchase the book at Bookshop.org or Amazon. Buying the book after clicking these links will provide the author a small referral credit. You can avoid that by searching for the book directly.