Over 4,000 beagles destined for drug experiments finding new homes

Inotiv

09/08/2022 22:09

Aug 9 (Reuters) - About 4,000 beagles are looking for homes
after animal rescue organizations started removing them from a
Virginia facility that bred them to be sold to laboratories for
drug experiments.
    "It's going to take 60 days to get all of these animals out,
and working with our shelter and rescue partners across the
country, working with them to get these dogs into eventually
into ever-loving home," said Kitty Block, president and chief
executive of the U.S. Humane Society.
    Shelters from South Elgin, Illinois, to Pittsburgh have
begun receiving the dogs, which will get medical exams,
vaccinations and other treatments before becoming available for
adoption.
    In May, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Envigo RMS LLC
alleging Animal Welfare Act violations at the facility in
Cumberland, Virginia. In June, parent company Inotiv Inc
 NOTV.O  said it would close the facility. In July, Envigo
settled with the government https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-secures-surrender-over-4000-beagles-virginia-breeder-dogs-research,
 without paying any fines.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN2YZ0WF
    Inotiv did not respond to a request for comment.
    Government inspectors found beagles there were being killed
instead of receiving care for easily treated conditions; nursing
mother beagles were denied food; the food they received
contained maggots, mold and feces; and over an eight-week
period, 25 beagle puppies died from cold exposure, the Humane
Society said in a statement. Some were injured when attacked by
other dogs in overcrowded conditions, it added.
    The beagle rescue effort began much earlier, according Bill
Stanley, a Republican state senator for Virginia. "I tried to
shut them down in 2019, but was not successful. But over the
years, we never stopped fighting."

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BRIEF-Envigo Reaches Agreement With U.S. Department Of Justice
And U.S. Department Of Agriculture To Resolve Complaints   
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 (Reporting by Aleksandra Michalska; Editing by Richard Chang
and Lisa Shumaker)
 ((Lisa.shumaker@tr.com))