HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — Republican State Senator Doug Mastriano held a beagle march at the State Capitol on Tuesday with dogs who were rescued from animal testing labs.

The march came as Mastriano introduced legislation to prohibit testing on dogs and cats in Pennsylvania.

“It bars institutions from using taxpayer money to support painful experiments on dogs and cats. And these are classified by the USDA as painful without any relief,” Senator Mastriano said.

The legislation has support from the Adams County SPCA and the Humane Society of the United States.

“The reality is facilities continue to breed animals for the purposes of being used as test subjects,” said Kristen Tullo, PA Director of the Humane Society of the United States.

Joining the beagle march were families who rescued dogs from animal testing sites.

“Now the rest of her life is all up to her, she gets to do what she wants instead of what someone is going to do to her,” said one beagle owner.

Mastriano said this bill is just the beginning, “This is just the beginning you know as far as testing in Pennsylvania, I have heard from other people what about those mammals and what have you but let’s start with dogs and cats let’s start in a responsible way.”