Nashville animal shelter gets 40 of 4,000 beagles removed from Virginia facility

A West Nashville shelter has received 40 beagles from a facility in Virginia.

The beagles are a small number of the 4,000 that were removed from an Envigo facility in Cumberland, Virginia. The facility, which bred dogs to be sold for animal experimentation, faced a lawsuit from the Department of Justice in May after federal inspections showed dozens of violations including dogs receiving inadequate vet care, insufficient food and living in unsanitary conditions. 

They beagles will be given preliminary vet checkups and many will be up for adoption beginning at the end of this week or early next week. Those not up for adoption will go into foster homes or receive medical attention from the vet team.

The Nashville Humane Association is working with The Humane Society of the United States, which is working to remove the beagles from the facility. 

“Our greatest mission is to support animals in need, both here in our backyard, and all across the country,” Laura Baker, Nashville Humane executive director, said in a news release. “When there are pets who need support, we do our absolute best to be in a position to say ‘yes’. That’s largely made possible due to our amazing pet-loving community right here in Nashville who generously support our humane efforts!”

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If you are interested in adopting, be sure to check out the Nashville Humane social media platforms where it will be making regular status updates. To make a donation or for more information, you can visit their website.

Reporter Kenya Anderson can be reached at kanderson@gannett.com or on Twitter @KenyaAnderson32.