Virginia Beagle Breeder For Animal Testing Faces Record $35 Million Fine, Payments

VIRGINIA — After more than 4,000 beagles were seized from a Virginia breeding facility in 2022 due to animal welfare violations, the breeder will face a record number of penalties for an animal welfare case.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced breeder Envigo RMS pleaded guilty to conspiring to knowingly violate the Animal Welfare Act, and Envigo Global Services pleaded guilty to a felony of conspiring to knowingly violate the Clean Water Act. The guilty pleas are in relation to the dog breeding facility for animal experimentation in Cumberland County, Virginia, where authorities seized thousands of beagles in 2022.

Inotiv, the parent company of Envigo RMS and Envigo Global Services will face more than $35 million in payments, including a $22 million fine. That represents the largest fine in an Animal Welfare Act case, according to the Justice Department and PETA. The company will also be subject to more strict animal care standards and a compliance monitor.

According to court documents, the Animal Welfare Act violations related to inadequate veterinary care and staffing and unsafe living conditions for dogs, along others. Federal inspectors found the breeding facility killed beagles instead of providing veterinary care for easily treatable conditions, denying food to nursing mother beagles, and providing food containing maggots, mold and feces. Dozens of beagle puppies died in the cold over eight weeks, and other beagles were injured due to dog attacks in overcrowded conditions.

Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, who advocated for federal action after the violations came to light, applauded the settlement with Envigo.

"Today’s settlement represents an enormous victory for animal welfare, as the perpetrators of horrific abuse against innocent dogs will pay a historic settlement for their negligence," said Warner and Kaine in a statement. "After our advocacy for these animals, we’ve been deeply heartened to hear stories of their adoption into loving, safe homes, and this settlement takes another step critical towards justice. We’re glad to see Envigo held accountable for its crimes, and we’ll keep pushing to root out animal abuse across Virginia."

Related:

• 4,000 Research Beagles Head For New Homes After Judge OKs Adoption
• 16 Beagles Rescued From Breeding Facility Arrive At Fairfax Shelter

There was a happy ending though for the thousands of beagles surrendered to federal authorities that could have been sent to animal testing facilities. Shelter and rescue partners helped transport and coordinate adoptions for the rescue dogs, including at local places like the Fairfax County Animal Shelter.

Rescue groups in numerous states helped place the Envigo beagles in homes across the country.

PETA said it had found over 350 dead puppies during an undercover investigation that tipped off federal authorities and led to a search at the breeding facility. PETA said it uncovered many violations in the Justice Department's report, including that Envigo employees killed conscious puppies through injections into the heart, told other employees to withhold food from nursing mother dogs and falsely told inspectors the dogs were being fed every day.

Although the Cumberland County breeding facility closed, PETA says Envigo's parent company Inotiv still supplies endangered long-tailed macaque monkeys to U.S. laboratories, performs testing on animals, and breeds and sells rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, rats, and mice for experiment.

"The U.S. Department of Justice relied on PETA’s undercover investigation evidence, and we thank the agency for its thorough investigation and tenacity in holding Envigo accountable for depriving famished mother dogs of food, cruelly killing puppies, and pressure-hosing caged animals with cold water," says Daphna Nachminovitch, PETA's senior vice president of cruelty investigations. "Envigo executives chose to collect more than $11 million off 10,000 beagles’ misery, rather than addressing systemic violations they knew about, and criminal charges for them and others responsible for the cruelty in Cumberland must be next."

Envigo Global Services was cited for Clean Water Act violations by failing to properly operate and maintain the wastewater treatment plant at its Cumberland County, Virginia facility. That led to large amounts of improperly treated wastewater being illegally discharged into a local waterway and causing a health hazard to the beagles at the facility.

The plea agreement includes three to five years of probation for the involved entities, a $22 million criminal fine, $1.1 million to the Virginia Animal Fighting Task Force, $1.9 million to the Humane Society of the United States for assistance during the investigation, and $3.5 million to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to restore environment and ecosystems in Cumberland County. In addition to the penalties, the entities committed $7 million to make animal care improvements at Inotiv facilities.