Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

We now know what the punishment will be for the Envigo company. Two years after the company’s operation in Cumberland was shut down and four months after being found guilty on multiple charges, Envigo officials were back in court Thursday, Oct. 24 to hear the sentence. 

The case stems from Envigo’s now closed dog breeding facility in Cumberland, which shut down in 2022 after being cited for 74 violations of the Animal Welfare Act by the United States Department of Agriculture, including inadequate veterinary care and insufficient food. The company was forced at the time to surrender more than 4,000 beagles. 

In U.S. District Court Thursday, Judge Norman K. Moon split the sentence between the two child companies of Envigo. Both Envigo RMS LLC and Envigo Global Services received five years probation. Each one also had to pay a $11 million fine for a total of $22 million, paid out over a four year period starting on June 3, 2025 and ending by June 3, 2028. Each also had to pay a penalty up front, with $125 from Envigo RMS and $400 from Global Services. And then the judge also handed out a series of penalties. 

Breaking down the penalties

Part of the sentence involves paying $3.5 million to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, to help restore the environment and ecosystem in Cumberland County. Also, both companies will be required to improve their facilities across the country and train personnel beyond the standards set up by the Animal Welfare Act. The groups must spend at least $7 million to make this happen. 

In addition, the companies will pay an estimated $1.1 million to the Virginia Animal Fighting Task Force and $1.9 million to the Humane Society of the United States. The Humane Society found homes for all of the more than 4,000 dogs involved in the case, all within a 60 day period. The Humane Society and its partners retrieved 300 to 600 beagles at a time to go to an adoption facility or go back with them to Maryland. Because of their efforts, the dogs have been relocated to 120 different shelters in 29 different states. And yes, you may have heard, one of the pups was adopted by Prince Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex. 

And finally, the companies agree to visits by a compliance monitor, which will oversee the groups compliance with all these previous rules. The companies will also agree to pay for the compliance monitor. 

What triggered the Envigo charges? 

The whole thing started in July 2021 when the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) cited Envigo on 26 violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act, with 12 labeled critical. Then in October of that year, the USDA found 13 more violations. 

During this time, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) also went undercover in the facility and witnessed the same violations as the USDA. 

According to court documents, Envigo RMS pleaded guilty to violating the Animal Welfare Act by failing to provide, among other things, adequate veterinary care for the beagles at its Cumberland facility. It also failed to provide adequate staffing and safe living conditions for those dogs.

As for the second charge, again based on court documents and agreed to by the company in its plea, Envigo Global Services violated the Clean Water Act by failing to properly operate and maintain the wastewater treatment plant at the Cumberland facility. This led, court documents say, to “massive” unlawful discharges of insufficiently treated wastewater into a local waterway and also impacted the health of the dogs at the facility.

More about Thursday’s sentence 

Judge Moon also filed a consent decree that permanently bars Envigo from any activity requiring a federal Animal Welfare Act license. 

“We’re proud that PETA’s undercover investigation found violations the federal government would never have known about otherwise—including killing conscious puppies via excruciatingly painful injections into the heart and lying to inspectors about how little famished mother dogs were being fed—and recorded workers pressure-hosing caged animals with cold water,” PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch said to The Herald. “Envigo knowingly ignored and prolonged the suffering of thousands of beagles and their puppies so that it could rake in $11 million. Criminal charges for its former executives and others culpable for the horrific cruelty in Cumberland must be next.”

This case marks the first ever federal convictions of a supplier of animals for experimentation.