After going missing for nearly a week in the North Hollywood area, a dog that had been rescued from a testing laboratory in Spain last fall along with several other dozen canines was found today.
from his caretakers on Thursday evening while his owners were out of town, and about 70 volunteers from the went to work to find him, posting fliers and walking area streets.
The group offered a $2,500 reward for Gadget's return and set up a Facebook page to help spread the word and coordinate the search for the pooch.
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A few days passed with no sightings, then about 7 this morning, a member of the group got a call from a man who said he had the dog near Chandler and Laurel Canyon boulevards.
"He expressed no interest whatsoever in the reward," said Gary Smith, a spokesman for the group.
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Shannon Keith, who founded the Beagle Freedom Project in 2010, said Gadget was among 40 dogs, all male, that were rescued last November from a laboratory in Spain that was closing.
The lab never disclosed what kind of testing was being done on the dogs, but said she suspect it was hormonal, because all of them had enlarged genitals.
"Most people would be surprised to know how much animal testing still goes on," she said. The group has rescued 67 beagles and six rabbits and placed them in homes so far this year, she said.
Ryan Kelley and Amanda Lippi of Burbank adopted Gadget, but he apparently got restless and ran off when they went at a wedding in New York City.
The man who found Gadget was among about 50 people expected at Keith's Valley Village home for a 7 p.m. champagne toast to celebrate the dog's safe return.
