Beagles rescued from laboratory breeding farm arrive at PDX

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – Nearly 150 of the 4,000 beagles rescued from a laboratory breeding farm arrived Saturday at the Portland International Airport.

“The first day of their new life starts today,” said Laura Klink, spokesperson for the Oregon Humane Society.

The dogs were removed from Indiana-based Envigo RMS LLC after the U.S. Department of Justice sued, alleging Animal Welfare Act violations at the facility in Cumberland, Virginia. In July, they were given to The Humane Society of the United States to place for adoption across the country.

RELATED: Humane Society more than halfway finished transferring 4,000 rescued beagles

Liz Everling, Director of Animal Care and Population Management for the Human Society of Southern Washington, said the dogs had been living in kennels with one kind of flooring for their whole lives, so everything will be new for them.

“They didn’t have exposure to the outdoors, to grass, to dirt so that’ll all be new to them,” Everling said. “Which, all at once, can be very overwhelming so we take that slow and at their pace.”

About 60 beagles will go to the OHS campus in Portland at 1067 Northeast Columbia Blvd., about 20 to the Salem campus at 4246 Turner Rd. Southeast, and about 15 to the Human Society of Southern Washington at 1100 Northeast 192nd Ave. in Vancouver, Wash.

“The best thing for them is to get them into a good home that can take things slowly and we’ve got lots of good homes in the area,” Everling said.

Brian August, OHS Chief Operating Officer, said moving thousands of dogs to shelters where they can be placed in homes is an “all hands on deck” moment.

“As one Oregon Humane Society with two campuses, in Portland and Salem, we can help even more dogs from this case,” August said.

Andrea Bruno, president of Human Society of Southern Washington, said they are grateful to partner with HSUS to help find new homes for the dogs.

“Any animal abuse or neglect is a tragedy, but the scale of this suffering is truly heartbreaking,” Bruno said.

Like all pets at their shelter, they will be given a medical exam, any needed medical care and be spayed or neutered.

“Our first goal is to make sure these dogs are healthy,” Bruno said. “When these dogs are ready for adoption, we know we will have many families ready to give them the happy, loving home they deserve.”

HSSW in Vancouver said they expect to have dogs ready for adoption some time next week, and OHS said they expect to have dogs available as early as Tuesday with no wait list.

To learn more about adopting these dogs, people can visit the OSH website for information about Portland and Salem locations, and visit the HSSW website for information about the Vancouver location.

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