All dogs tied to a cardiac research program in London, Ont., have now been removed from the facility, St. Joseph’s Health Care London says in a new update.
In a message to the community, the hospital said the dogs are now beginning the process of transitioning into family homes. The update comes months after the research itself ended in August 2025.
The update follows months of scrutiny over the research program at the Lawson Research Institute, where documents reviewed by XFM News show up to 225 dogs were approved for use in cardiac experiments.
“I think people in London are still left with a lot of unanswered questions,” said Camille Labchuk, an animal rights lawyer and executive director of Animal Justice. “We don’t know where the dogs are, and that shows a troubling lack of transparency.”
Labchuk said the update does not resolve concerns about how the research was handled or communicated to the public.
The program, carried out through the Lawson Research Institute, drew attention after internal documents and testimony described how dogs were used in cardiac experiments.
A dog inside a research facility in London, Ont., is shown in a photo provided by a whistleblower connected to the program.
Those documents, reviewed by XFM News, show researchers were approved to use up to 225 dogs over a four-year period. The protocol lists euthanasia as the endpoint, meaning animals were expected to be killed after procedures so their heart tissue could be examined.
A whistleblower who worked inside the facility said what they saw raised concerns.
“What I experienced in that facility were dogs being kept in cages almost 24 hours a day,” the whistleblower said. “And scientists would then cut out the hearts of these same dogs and dispose of them like they were kitchen scraps.”
Dr. Charu Chandrasekhar, a scientist specializing in animal research and alternatives, reviewed the protocol documents.
“In this particular case, it says the total number of dogs requested: 225 over four years,” she said.
Chandrasekhar said the figure reflects how many animals were approved for use, not how many were ultimately used.
“I have no idea how many have been used,” she said, noting that information would normally be recorded elsewhere.
St. Joseph’s said it could not verify the documents or confirm their source when asked by XFM News.
The hospital said ownership of the dogs was transferred to Western University’s Animal Care Committee after the research ended. Six of the dogs were moved in September 2025, while the remaining two stayed in care until their recent relocation.
While the program’s use of dogs has now ended, questions remain about how the research was approved and whether enough oversight was in place.
