KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — In July, thousands of beagles were rescued after they were found at a breeding and research facility accused of mistreating its animals. The dogs were taken to shelters and animal centers across the U.S. The Young-Williams Animal Center is one of the shelters.
They received 20 beagles rescued from the facility on Tuesday. They went through health evaluations and were placed in emergency foster homes, according to YWAC.
“The dogs made it safely to our shelter and are being paired with fosters, who will provide the extra care and attention they need as they acclimate to life outside of a breeding facility,” says Janet Testerman, CEO of YWAC.
Two Virginia senators urged the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to close the Envigo breeding and research facility after learning about the mistreatment in April.
Envigo is a contract research facility in Cumberland and the most recent animal welfare violations stem from two inspections in November 2021 and March 2022. They said the facility performed unnecessarily painful medical experiments on dogs and puppies, including euthanasia without sedatives.
The senators said that nearly 200 dogs were euthanized according to medical records, many of which were not given any anesthetic.
Inspectors also previously said housing violations at the facility injured dozens of dogs. Seventy-one dogs were injured when body parts were pulled through the wall of the kennel, investigators said.
A spokesperson for the company previously said Envigo is working to improve conditions at its Cumberland facility with a goal of pairing a caretaker per 100 dogs. The dogs rescued from the facility amounted to the Humane Society of the U.S.'s largest operation ever.
“It takes a massive network of compassionate, expert shelters and rescues to make an operation of this scale possible,” said Lindsay Hamrick, shelter outreach and engagement director for the Humane Society of the United States. “We are deeply grateful to each organization that is stepping up to find these dogs the loving homes they so deserve.”
YWAC said more than 200 pets are available for adoption in total, with around 400 in foster care. Anyone who wants to adopt can start by browsing a list of the animals available.
You can keep up with two of the beagles in foster care on the Chapman Foster Chronicles TikTok account.