The companies behind the now-closed Virginia facility pleaded guilty to violating the Animal Welfare Act and Clean Water Act. Animal rights groups applaud the development and say there's more to do.Beyonce, a beagle with one ear, pictured at Homeward Trails Animal Rescue in Fairfax, Va., in 2022 after being rescued from the Envigo breeding and research facility.from unsafe conditions at a breeding facility in Virginia, the company behind it has agreed to pay a record $35 million in fines.
Inotiv, Envigo's Indiana-based parent company, must pay what federal prosecutors call the largest-ever fine in an animal welfare case. Beagles rescued from the Envigo facility wait for medical procedures at Paw Prints Animal Hospital in Waldorf, Md., in 2022.Envigo, which breeds and sells laboratory animals for research, has been the subject of animal rights groups’ complaints and federal investigation dating back years, specifically over its Virginia facility.
He added that Envigo had received some $16 million through the sale of nearly 15,000 dogs between 2019 and spring 2022 but didn’t put the necessary money into facility upgrades and hiring competent staff because it “placed profit before compliance with the law.”He said investigators also found that Envigo wasn’t investing the requisite funds to bring its on-site wastewater treatment plant into compliance with federal law, even as it increased the amount of water that went into it.
Animal rights groups applauded the news on Monday, thanking advocates for their work and calling for even greater accountability.