LYNCHBURG, Va. (WRIC/WFXR) — On Tuesday, Judge Norman K. Moon with the Lynchburg Division of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia approved an adoption plan to transfer all 4,000 remaining beagles from Envigo’s Cumberland County medical dog-breeding facility to shelters for adoption.
The adoption plan calls for the company to pay $100 per dog — and $150 per dog nursing a litter younger than eight weeks — to help the shelters with adoption costs for the animals.
The plan comes after Moon issued an order on Monday, June 27 that would deny Envigo from selling more than 2,000 beagles into 2023.
In the latest written order issued on Thursday, June 30 in the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) civil case against Envigo, Moon denied the company’s second attempt to gain permission to fulfill a sister entity’s contracts for approximately 2,100 beagles, PETA says.
According to a statement released by PETA, documents filed by the DOJ revealed that Envigo was trying to ‘prefill’ orders of 2,200 dogs — mostly from overseas customers — into July 2023.
Federal officials have accused the company of a series of animal welfare violations, and the company had previously said it would close the facility.
“Envigo’s surviving victims will soon be given the opportunity to have what every dog deserves—the freedom to enjoy life, love, and respect for their individuality as members of a family home,” said PETA Senior Vice President of Cruelty Investigations Daphna Nachminovitch.
The removal plans call for the Humane Society of the United States to transfer the dogs to other shelters where they can be adopted.
