Company that bred beagles for research pleads guilty to neglect, ordered to pay record $35M fine

By MATTHEW BARAKAT
Associated Press

A company that bred beagles for medical research has agreed to pay a record $35 million as part of a criminal plea admitting it neglected thousands of dogs at its breeding facility in rural Virginia. Prosecutors said Monday that the penalties amount to the largest ever levied in an animal-welfare case. The plea deal also bars Envigo RMS and its Indiana-based parent company, Inotiv, from breeding or selling dogs in the future. The federal investigation of Envigo drew national attention in 2022 when federal authorities conducted a search of the breeding facility in Cumberland County, Virginia. Inotiv issued what it called a “statement of contrition” after Monday’s plea deal in federal court in Charlottesville, Virginia.