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Senior U.S. District Court Judge Norman K. Moon approved an adoption plan for the remaining dogs at the Cumberland Envigo facility reversing his previous decision to allow the company to sell more than 500 dogs.

On Friday, July 1, The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Envigo RMS LLC submitted a plan for the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to remove about 4,000 dogs remaining at the Envigo facility in Cumberland and to put them up for adoption. Moon had previously ruled for both Envigo and the DOJ to provide a joint transfer plan to save time and resources.

In an oral order on Tuesday, July 5, Moon approved the plan. A hearing is expected in the coming week on whether this plan will be incorporated into Moon’s preliminary injunction against Envigo.

“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 Daphna Nachminovitch, PETA Senior Vice President of Cruelty Investigations.

This plan calls for Envigo to pay $100 per dog and $150 per dog nursing a litter younger than eight weeks to help with shelters’ costs in hosting the dogs for adoption. HSUS will be responsible for the removal of the dogs and can take up to 60 days to move out the dogs after approval by the court.

Before the removal, the plan states HSUS must give Envigo a 10-day notice. This warning will give Envigo time to vaccinate the beagles and provide proper documentation of vaccinations, do preventive treatment for fleas and ticks, treat any internal or external parasites and alert the HSUS of any health concerns with any beagle or if the beagle has bitten a person.

Envigo, an Indiana based company with a facility located in Cumberland County, breeds and sells animals for scientific research. After being cited for 74 violations of the Animal Welfare Act by the United States Department of Agriculture, the facility’s operations were suspended in May 2022.

On June 17, Moon granted the U.S. Department of Justice’s request for a preliminary injunction in its civil case against Envigo, but originally allowed for the facility to fulfill its existing contracts before the May 2022 restriction and sell around 500 dogs.

On June 24, Envigo sought to sell over 2,200 dogs to facilities across the country and overseas. However, on June 28, Envigo attempted to gain permission to also fulfill contracts for a sister entity, Envigo Global Services. According to Moon, since the goal was to get all dogs out in a timely manner and fulfilling these orders through 2023 was not doing so, he denied their request to sell the dogs.