Company Ordered to Pay $35M in Beagle Neglect Case

A company that bred beagles for medical research agreed Monday to pay a record $35 million as part of a criminal plea admitting it neglected thousands of dogs at its breeding facility in rural Virginia. in a statement, prosecutors said the penalties amount to the largest ever levied in an animal-welfare case. The plea deal also bars the company that operated the facility, Envigo RMS, as well as parent company Inotiv, from breeding or selling dogs in the future, the AP reports.

• The federal investigation of Envigo, one of the leading suppliers of animals used in research, drew national attention in May 2022 when federal authorities conducted a search of the breeding facility in Cumberland County, Virginia, and found nearly 450 animals in acute distress. The company later agreed to relinquish all 4,000 beagles at the facility, which were sent around the country for adoption.

• US Attorney for the Western District of Virginia Christopher Kavanaugh, whose office prosecuted the case, said Monday after a plea hearing at federal court in Charlottesville that Envigo and Inotiv "prioritized profits and convenience over following the law."
• He said the company generated $16 million in revenue between 2019 and May 2022, when the search occurred, through the sale of 15,000 beagles over that time. But the company refused to make the investments necessary to provide for the animals' basic care, Kavanaugh said. Cages were cleaned twice a month rather than every day as required. Animals were euthanized, including by direct injections to their heart, without sedation, he said. Dogs were routinely injured by getting their paws caught in flooring composed of metal grates that left space for paws to easily fall through. Food and water were lacking and unclean.
• Court records show that 300 puppies died over a seven-month stretch around 2021 for what was described as "unknown causes." Kavanaugh said the company continued to employ a veterinarian who had botched surgeries and oversaw numerous violations because executives believed it would be too difficult to find a replacement.
• Envigo also "conspired to knowingly violate the Clean Water Act by failing to properly operate and maintain the wastewater treatment plant at the Cumberland County facility, which led to massive unlawful discharges of insufficiently treated wastewater into a local waterway," prosecutors said,

• The plea deal calls for an $11 million fine for violating the Animal Welfare Act and an $11 million fine for violating the Clean Water Act. The deal also requires Inotiv to spend $7 million over the next three years to improve its facilities and meet standards in excess of the Animal Welfare Act requirements. It includes a $3.5 million for environmental repairs in Cumberland County. The plea agreement also requires the companies to pay roughly $1.9 million to the Humane Society of the United States for assistance it provided to the investigation.
• Prosecutors said that their investigation is ongoing and that criminal cases against individual employees remain possible.

(More animal welfare stories.)