Reward Offered For Missing Beagle Rescued From Animal Testing Lab

NORTH HOLLYWOOD (CBS) — A reward was being offered Monday in the hunt for a beagle with a traumatic past who has gone missing in the San Fernando Valley.

Owner Ryan Kelley told KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO that Gadget has special needs after being rescued from an animal testing lab in Spain last November.

Kelley said Gadget up until last November, Gadget had spent over four-and-a-half years "in a cage".

"When we first got him, grass was new to him, he had to learn how to walk on grass, he didn't like grass, so a lot of the elements in the environment scare him," said Kelley.

He described Gadget as a medium-sized, playful pup weighing 50 pounds and urged anyone who may come in contact with him to take a photo him if possible.

"Number one thing, get a picture of him because then we can visualize and say, 'Yes, that was him'," said Kelley.

Beagle Freedom Project, a North Hollywood-based charity, has taken the lead online in the hunt for Gadget by starting their own Facebook page and even asking for followers to pitch in night vision equipment and binoculars to take their search round-the-clock.

Gadget was most recently sighted at an El Pollo Loco restaurant at Burbank and Whitsett in Valley Village looking "afraid and confused" with a young man described as 6 feet tall and "thin with shoulder-length dark blonde hair".

A $2,500 reward has been offered for anyone who can return the dog safely to Kelley. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call the Freedom Project at (310)403-6694.