HOMEWARD BOUND: More than 4500 beagles to be freed from hideous U.S. research lab, judge approves plan for adoption
The beagles will be transferred to the custody of the HSUS, which will place as many dogs as it can in shelters on the East Coast and in the Midwest. Those under eight weeks of age will be transported with their mothers.
MERRITT CLIFTON: Running out of patience with the laboratory animal supply company Envigo, U.S. District Court Judge Norman K. Moon late on July 1, 2022 ordered Envigo to surrender to the Humane Society of the U.S. all of the estimated 4,000 beagles remaining at the closed Envigo breeding facility in Cumberland County, Virginia.
“A joint plan between the Department of Justice and Envigo will facilitate” transferring “ownership and physical custody” of the beagles “to the Humane Society of the Unites States, which will work to place these dogs into homes”…
“Judge Norman Moon rejected Envigo’s attempt to transfer some 2,000 dogs to a sister company, saying the company had received exactly what it had asked for in an injunction that was issued on June 17.”
“At that time,” CBS 19 News summarized, “the court said Envigo could fulfill existing contracts that involved about 500 dogs, but then it attempted to fill contracts for a sister company, Envigo Global Services… The judge disagreed, saying that Envigo did not mention any other business practice and did not ask for any other dispensation regarding the injunction”…
Under the joint plan submitted to Judge Moon by Envigo and the U.S. Department of Justice, CBS 19 News said, “It is anticipated that it will take about 60 days after the plan is approved to physically remove all of the animals from the facility.
“Ownership of the animals will be transferred to the Humane Society of the United States, which will place as many dogs as it can in shelters on the East Coast and in the Midwest.”
Beagles “under eight weeks of age will be transported with their mothers,” CBS 19 News reported, “and no beagles will be transferred to a shelter located outside of the U.S.
“The company told the court that this was a normal part of its business practices and it should be allowed to continue to operate in this manner. The judge disagreed, saying that Envigo did not mention any other business practice and did not ask for any other dispensation regarding the injunction.”
“For each animal that is transferred out of the Cumberland County facility, Envigo will pay $100 for its care. If it is a nursing mother and her litter, Envigo will pay $150,” CBS 19 News added. The stipends for care of the beagles will add up to a penalty of about $4.5 million.
Envigo, formed by a merger of Huntingdon Life Sciences with Harlan Labs, reportedly operating at least 20 former Huntingdon and Harlan laboratory animal breeding facilities around the world, announced intent to close the Cumberland County beagle breeding kennels on June 13, 2022…
“A 2021 People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals undercover investigation found 5,000 beagle dogs and puppies intensively confined to small, barren kennels and cages” at the Envigo kennels,” PETA recounted.
“Since July 2021,” PETA said, “the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has cited Envigo for more than 70 violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act, and the agency corroborated PETA’s findings. The dogs had no beds, no toys, no stimulation—no real lives. For more than 50 years, various companies have bred them at this dog factory farm to sell to laboratories for experimentation…
U.S. District Judge Norman Moon, after examining evidence collected by USDA-APHIS and PETA, on May 21, 2022 ordered Envigo to “immediately cease breeding, selling, or otherwise dealing in beagles” until conditions violating the Animal Welfare Act are corrected…
The actions against Envigo appear to have emboldened British protesters at “Camp Beagle,” established in July 2021 outside the gates of Marshall BioResources Acres, a breeding kennel in Wyton, Cambridgeshire.
Reported Debbie Davies on June 20, 2022 for Hunts Post, serving Huntingdon and St. Neots in Cambridgeshire, U.K., “There has been a second day of action at Marshall BioResources Acres in Wyton. Supporters from the Animal Freedom Movement say they have freed five beagles from the MBR Acres dog breeding facility. SOURCE…
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