The US District Court in West Virginia issued a preliminary injunction on Friday (June 17) allowing Envigo to fulfill existing contracts to sell some of the beagles reared in its Cumberland, Virginia facility but prohibiting it from breeding new puppies, reports the Associated Press. Envigo wants to sell all of the dogs, according to Science, while the US Department of Justice (DOJ) argues it should only be allowed to give them away until the facility fully complies with Animal Welfare Act (AWA) requirements, which it currently doesn’t.
“To be clear, Defendant is not being given a free pass,” Judge Norman K. Moon wrote in the order, adding that “punitive consequences, including financial consequences, may follow from this litigation after a final judgment on the merits.”
After the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported more than 70 Animal Welfare Act (AWA) violations at Envigo’s beagle breeding facility in Cumberland, Virginia, ...
