Thousands of beagles that were bred for research are getting a new leash on life after the Virginia facility where they were housed was sued by the Department of Justice for multiple alleged animal welfare violations.
The DOJ said 4,000 beagles from the Envigo RMS, LLC facility in Cumberland, Virginia, are being given to the Humane Society following a consent decree entered Friday that the research organization will no longer allow any activity that would require an Animal Welfare Act license.
According to the DOJ, a multi-day investigation in May found that Envigo was “failing to meet the AWA’s minimum standards for handling, housing, feeding, watering, sanitation and adequate veterinary care.”
“This settlement brings to an end the needless suffering caused by Envigo’s blatant violations of animal welfare laws at this facility,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division in a news release. “We will continue to vigorously enforce animal welfare laws to ensure that animals are provided the humane care that they are legally owed and deserve.”
The complaint filed by the DOJ noted that Envigo had received repeated citations for violating the AWA since July 2021.
Those citations depicted an understaffed facility that often chose to “euthanize beagles or allowed beagles to die from malnutrition, treatable and preventable conditions, and injuries resulting from beagles being housed in overcrowded and unsanitary enclosures or enclosures that contain incompatible animals,” according to the complaint.
The complaint also alleged that the facility didn’t investigate when it had 300 beagles die of “unknown causes” in a seven-month period.
In April, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed what were dubbed “beagle bills,” which included added protections for animals that were bred and sold for experiments in the state.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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