By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Research animal breeder Envigo pleaded guilty in Virginia on Monday to federal animal welfare and environmental crimes, resolving a two-year U.S. Justice Department investigation into the mistreatment of thousands of beagles.
Indiana-based Envigo agreed to pay $22 million in fines — $11 million of which was the Justice Department’s largest-ever fine in an animal welfare case — plus another $13.5 million to support animal welfare and environmental projects support, cover law enforcement expenditures and improve out-of-pocket expenditure. facilities.
Acquired by Inotiv in 2021, Envigo is one of the leading suppliers of animals for medical research in the United States. Its customers include major pharmaceutical companies, universities and the federal government.
Envigo lost about 4,000 beagles in 2022, some of which were adopted by celebrities such as Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. The country pleaded guilty Monday to one felony count of conspiracy to violate the Animal Welfare Act and one felony count of conspiracy to violate the Clean Water Act after it refused to repair its wastewater treatment equipment and allowed excess animal feces to be dumped into a nearby dump discharged. creek.
The company is also required to appoint an independent business monitor.
“Envigo put profit over compliance with the law,” said Todd Kim, chief of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.
Inotiv said in a statement that the agreement allows the company to “comprehensively resolve this matter” and “end the uncertainty surrounding the investigation.”
The guilty plea to the Clean Water Act violation could lead to the Environmental Protection Agency disqualifying Envigo as a federal contractor.
Federal investigators executed a search warrant at Envigo’s Cumberland, Virginia, factory in May 2022 amid concerns about the mistreatment of thousands of beagles.
The seizure of the dogs came after inspectors from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service documented dozens of violations at Envigo in 2021 and 2022. Problems included dangerous floors, failure to provide veterinary care, unsanitary conditions, euthanizing dogs without anesthesia, underfeeding mothers and nursing puppies, and failing to document the cause of death of hundreds of puppies.
The company has ceased operations at its Cumberland facility and no longer breeds or sells dogs.
PETA, an animal rights group that conducted its own investigation into Envigo, urged the Justice Department on Monday to hold company executives personally liable.
“Envigo executives chose to collect more than $11 million from the misery of 10,000 beagles, rather than address the systemic violations of which they were aware, and pursue criminal charges against them and others responsible for the Cumberland atrocities must be next,” said Daphna Nachminovitch, senior vice president of PETA. chairman of cruelty investigations.
In court filings Monday, prosecutors said Envigo refused to fire a veterinarian identified only as “AV” despite repeated complaints from employees — including concerns that AV had mishandled the surgeries of five dogs.
“The staff’s rejection of AV’s authority, combined with AV’s inadequate veterinary skills, led to multiple additional inappropriate and inadequate veterinary practices at the Cumberland Facility,” prosecutors wrote.
According to court documents, the veterinarian resigned from the company in April 2022.
Prosecutors also said the company conspired with others to avoid spending money to upgrade its wastewater system while continuing to breed and sell beagles despite being unable to manage waste disposal.
The Justice Department previously subpoenaed U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors and managers to appear before a grand jury to question them about why the agency failed to take enforcement action against Envigo despite its history of violations. Two of the top executives who oversaw the inspections have since left the USDA. No one from the USDA has been charged.
