My Beagles (and the Beagle Freedom Project)

I love beagles - I enjoy most hounds, for that matter.

The story begins in February of 2006 when my sister brought home a rescue beagle from Isabella County in central Michigan. The original intent was to share Allie Mae with her boyfriend at the time, but they broke up not long after and we kept her. She had a tattoo in her ear and was likely a discarded breeding dog who was scared to death of gunfire. She never learned to play fetch or with toys, and waited for you to bring affection to her.

Around six at the time we got her, we were able to enjoy about seven and a half years with her before her health deteriorated rapidly and we had to put her down on October 30, 2013. She was gentle, had a laid-back demeanor, was great with kids, loved long walks and following her nose, very intelligent, and I'm proud that my family and I were able to make the second half of her life happy. When I lost my job in 2007 and went back to college, she was my best little pal, providing companionship and a reason to get out of bed at a reasonable hour *lol*

Putting Allie Mae down was one of the worst, most painful experiences of my life. My dad, sister and I were there with her at the end when she passed gently away into the good night. She was in so much pain, though, in the last few months that it was the right decision. Any good pet owner will probably agree that one of the reasons it's so difficult is because we're essentially making the choice to end the life of a creature who has become part of our family.

Fast forward to Spring 2014. My wife kept talking about getting a dog but I didn't think I was ready. Bless her, though, because she put her foot down and started looking. She found a skinny, ragged looking little four year old blue-ticked beagle through a local rescue. She's been abandoned and left to die with one of her own offspring, aged around two, with their combined eleven nursing, starving pups. The thought of whoever did that to her still makes my blood boil to this day.

On May 21, Daisy Mae found her forever home with us. She, too, is great with kids. She's extremely affectionate but unlike Allie, she's a much more typical hound. She's playful and tends to make a lot of noise. She's fiercely protective of us but loving toward everyone who's good to her. This past February, we bought a two year old girl pug named Charleigh and Daisy's been even more playful and outgoing. See below for what I mean :)

It's because of these amazing, intelligent little creatures that we as a family support the Beagle Freedom Project, an organization dedicated to freeing as many of the 65,000+ lab beagles and domestic pets as they can. They can be followed on Twitter via @beaglefreedom and through their website, www.beaglefreedomproject.org - please consider giving your support to these amazing folks.

We also pledged to shop Cruelty Free, purchasing products that are not tested on animals. It seemed hard at first because so many major companies test on animals, but once you start looking, it becomes easier and a lot more rewarding. My wife recently started buy products online through The Honest Company, founded in part by actress Jessica Alba, which is dedicated to offering everyday products without testing on animals.

I'm not an animal rights activist; I support legal hunting, fishing, and trapping as an essential part of resource management and as a way for people to feed their families. I just see no reason anymore to poison these loving animals for the sake of human vanity.