Four thousand lucky dogs prepare for permanent homes

More than 300 puppies died at breeding centre from 'unknown causes', with many not given anaesthetic before being put down

Volunteers will help them adjust the dogs to people before they are sent to foster homes or adopted. Getty Images / AFP

Daniel, a staff member with Homeward Trails Animal Rescue, hugs a beagle after returning from the Paw Prints Animal Hospital in Maryland for veterinary appointments. Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images / AFP

A beagle's teeth are shown prior to dental work at Paw Prints Animal Hospital and before going to a foster home. Getty Images / AFP

Jazmynne, a veterinary technician, trims the fingernails of a sedated beagle in Waldorf, Maryland. Getty Images / AFP

A beagle rescued from Envigo breeding and research facility waits to be taken to Paw Prints Animal Hospital for a medical check up. Getty Images / AFP

Homeward Trails Animal Rescue partnered with Paw Prints clinic to get rescued pets spayed and neutered as well as dental work, and heartworm treatment done before they are sent to foster homes or adopted. Getty Images / AFP

Once in peril of being tortured, these rescued beagles now run freely. Getty Images / AFP

Homeward Trails has been working to find homes for 500 of the 4,000 beagles recently rescued from Envigo, which was shut down due to multiple violations for animal cruelty. Getty Images / AFP

Jazmynne, a veterinary technician, places a beagle in a calming room after it was recently spayed at Paw Prints Animal Hospital. Getty Images / AFP

The purebred pooches will be available for adoption after getting proper vet care. Getty Images / AFP

Beagles from Homeward Trails Animal Rescue are placed in a transportation vehicle before going to a veterinary clinic for spay and neuter operations. Getty Images / AFP

Volunteers play rescued beagles at Homeward Trails Animal Rescue. Getty Images / AFP

A pup is readied for bedtime. Getty Images / AFP

Staff members with Homeward Trails Animal Rescue place beagles in their crates before their bedtime. Getty Images / AFP

Rescued from potential torture, this beagle may soon have a new home. Getty Images / AFP

Volunteers with Homeward Trails Animal Rescue sit and watch a movie with the lucky dogs. Getty Images / AFP

Volunteers pet and hold the animals daily. Getty Images / AFP

Beagles at Westminster Kennel Dog Show in the UK. Not all of the breed have it so lucky, and animal rights activists have been hitting the streets claiming that a dog's place is in the home, not the lab. AP

Camp Beagle is a protest camp on the roadside set up outside beagle breeder Marshal BioResources Acres in Cambridgeshire, the UK, in August 2021. The company's pups are sold to animal testing laboratories. Sopa Images / LightRocket / Getty

Beagle breeder Marshal BioResources Acres in Cambridgeshire, the UK, sells its puppies to animal testing laboratories. Sopa Images / LightRocket / Getty

A protester outside Marshal BioResources Acres. Sopa Images / LightRocket / Getty

Residents of Camp Beagle and their supporters gather outside Marshal BioResources. Sopa Images / LightRocket / Getty

Singer Will Young during an anti-vivisection demonstration outside the MBR Acres research site in April. Photo: tcm.digital

Young and other activists during an anti-vivisection demonstration outside the MBR Acres research site. Photo: tcm.digital

Protesters rally against Vivotecnia, a laboratory alleged to have used more than 30 beagle puppies for drug research, in Sant Jaume square in Barcelona, Spain, in January. EPA

The protesters in Barcelona took along their own pups. EPA

Vivotecnia is alleged to have used more than 30 beagle pups for drug research. EPA

Beagles at the protest in Barcelona in January. EPA

About 4,000 beagles are almost ready for permanent homes after animal rescue organisations began removing them from a Virginia centre breeding them to be sold to laboratories for drug experiments.

"It's going to take 60 days to get all of these animals out, and working with our shelter and rescue partners across the country, working with them to get these dogs into eventually into ever-loving home," said Kitty Block, president and chief executive of the US Humane Society.

Animal welfare shelters all across the US have begun receiving the dogs, which will be given vaccinations and medical examinations before they are made available for adoption.

Last month, a federal judge approved a scheme to transfer about 4,000 dogs housed under conditions that breached animal welfare rights, court records show.

The federal government in May initiated a civil enforcement case against Envigo RMS, which breeds beagles for medical research at its Cumberland, Virginia centre.

After federal officials accused the company of animal welfare breaches, US District Court Judge Norman Moon issued a restraining order imposing restrictions on the centre.

According to the complaint, dogs were fed food containing maggots, bugs, mould and worms.

More than 300 beagle puppies died onsite from “unknown causes” over seven months, and many were not given anaesthetics before being put down by cardiac injection.

In June, company officials announced plans to close the centre.

On Friday, Envigo and the government jointly filed a transfer plan that called for the removal of “all” of the facility's beagles by the Humane Society, which will take the dogs to shelters where they can be adopted.

Court documents show Envigo will pay a fee for each dog to help with the costs to the shelters of preparing the beagles for adoption.

Court records show Mr Moon issued a verbal order approving the transfer plan on Tuesday. Under the draft plan, the removal process is expected to take about 60 days.

Hundreds of dogs determined to be in “acute distress” had already been seized from the centre.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the Norfolk-based animal rights group that had investigated the centre, celebrated Tuesday's development.

“Envigo’s surviving victims will soon be given the opportunity to have what every dog deserves — the freedom to enjoy life, love and respect for their individuality as members of a family home," said Peta's senior vice president of investigations, Daphna Nachminovitch.

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Agencies contributed to this report.