Beagle Breeding Company Slapped With $35 Million Fine

Envigo, the company that had to put 4000 beagles up for adoption because its breeding facility was shown to be a squalid hellhole, has gotten its comeuppance in the form of a $35 million fine.

The firm was hit with the largest-ever fine for animal-welfare and clean-water violations because it failed to provide adequate veterinary care, staffing, and safe living conditions for dogs housed at its Cumberland County, Virginia facility. On top of these transgressions, Envigo Global Services discharged contaminated wastewater into a local waterway.

“Our nation’s animal welfare and clean water laws exist to prevent suffering and harm,” Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said in a DOJ statement. 

“That’s why we secured the transfer of thousands of beagles from Envigo’s Cumberland facility into adoption, and that’s why today’s plea agreement is so significant. The plea agreement includes the largest ever fine in an animal welfare case as well as heightened standards of care for facilities across the country.”

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Envigo RMS and its parent company Inotiv must pay a criminal fine of $22 million, as well as another $1.1 million to the Virginia Animal Fighting Task Force, $1.9 million to the Humane Society of the United States, $3.5 million to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and at least $7 million to improve their facilities beyond the standards imposed by the Animal Welfare Act.

At least some good will come out of the horrorshow that was the Envigo facility. We can vouch for another very good thing to emerge from the ordeal: our own beloved Atwood, one of the 4,000 doggos rescued from oblivion.

Photo credit: Amy Joy Scheinert