By Editor Josh Mitchell
River Mississippi News
VIRGINIA – Guilty pleas were entered today in a Virginia dog-breeding facility case that has implications for animal welfare nationally, federal officials say.
The $35 million penalty announced today comes after more than 4,000 beagles were rescued from the Cumberland County, Virginia facility two years ago.
Envigo RMS LLC admitted to conspiring to knowingly violate the Animal Welfare Act, and Envigo Global Services Inc. pleaded guilty to conspiring to knowingly violate the Clean Water Act, a felony.
Parent company, Inotiv, said in a statement, “We fell short of our standards for animal and environmental welfare and apologize to the public for the harm caused by our conduct” and vowed to improve.
The Animal Welfare Act fine reached in the case is the largest in U.S. history, and the company worsened its crimes by also committing “egregious” violations of the Clean Water Act, federal officials asserted.
“This callous approach led to dire consequences: the inhumane treatment of animals and the contamination of our waterway,” U.S. Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh for the Western District of Virginia said Monday in a Department of Justice news release.
Officials say the Animal Welfare Act protects animals from all “inhumane treatment,” including, “animals being “bred for scientific and medical research purposes . . .”
Inotiv must also follow more stringent animal care standards while under review by a “compliance monitor.” The unsafe breeding facility had inadequate staffing and improper veterinary care, and its wastewater plant caused “massive unlawful discharges of insufficiently treated wastewater into a local waterway . . .,” the news release adds.
The company will pay $11 million for each violation of the Animal Welfare Act and the Clean Water Act with additional amounts going to the Virginia Animal Fighting Task Force, the Humane Society of the United States and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
