Thousands of beagles will soon need homes after rescue from Virginia breeding facility

Around 4,000 beagles will need “loving homes” once they’re rescued from a Virginia breeding facility that is scheduled to close due to violations of the Animal Welfare Act, according to animal advocates.

The Cumberland facility, owned by Envigo and its parent company, Inotiv, was breeding beagles to be sold to laboratories for scientific testing, but it has been the target of dozens of complaints and citations about its treatment of the animals. Beagles there were found to be living in cramped, unsanitary conditions, and many needed medical attention, according to the Atlanta Humane Society. Cumberland is about 60 miles west of Richmond.

The company agreed to close the facility by December, and in June, around 450 dogs that were deemed to be in “acute distress” were rescued from the facility and taken to shelters around the country. Those that were healthy enough were offered for adoption.

4,000 dogs

Thousands of dogs still remained at the facility, and in June, a judge issued a preliminary injunction against Envigo, but said that the company could “fulfill existing contracts,” meaning that it could still sell dogs to testing facilities.

But in July, a judge approved a transfer plan created by the Department of Justice and the Humane Society of the United States to take all the remaining dogs at the facility to shelters, Dan Paden, vice president of evidence analysis for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, told McClatchy News. According to the plan, provided to McClatchy News by PETA, Envigo will pay $100 per beagle and $150 per nursing mother with a litter of puppies under 8 weeks to help the shelters with the cost of preparing them for adoption. Envigo agreed to the plan.

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The Humane Society of the United States said in a statement that now that the judge has approved the transfer plan, the organization will start working on removing the beagles from the facility and taking them to shelters where they can eventually be placed in “loving homes.”

“At this time, we are connecting with our shelter and rescue partners and preparing to take on the monumental process of securing placement for these dogs,” the statement says.

A representative for Inotiv wrote in an email that the process of removing the dogs to various sheltering and adoption agencies will take around 60 days.

Inotiv did not comment beyond its confirmation of the facility closure and transfer of animals.

Beagle testing

Envigo accounts for about 25% of the U.S. market for beagles bred for experimentation, Paden said. Beagles can be sold to laboratories for $800 to $1,000 each, he said.

Beagles are commonly used in testing for the development of medication and other scientific endeavors, and the experiments they are subjected to are often painful and cruel, he said.

According to investigations by PETA, experiments conducted on beagles at laboratories have included drilling holes into their skulls to inject a chemical solution into their brains, force-feeding puppies before killing them to be dissected, and intentionally infecting them with staph bacteria to see how their bodies reacted.

“None of those animals deserve that, and how we can make a difference as ordinary Americans is really to urge our members of Congress to earmark more funds for non-animal research methods that actually advance human health,” Paden said, “and not fund experiments on animals that aren’t reliable ways to help human health advance and are also painful and cruel and wasteful.”

The dogs that will be rescued from the breeding facility will likely need some time to get used to life in homes as pets, Paden said, but he urged future foster and adoptive families to have patience.

“They’ve not been allowed to be dogs at this facility,” he said. “They’ve never put their feet on grass, they’ve never had a toy. They’ve not known a caring human hand, and so life with a family is going to be an adjustment for them.”

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