For more than 50 years, an animal breeding facility operated quietly in Cumberland, Virginia, supplying laboratories around the world with subjects for experimentation. Then, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals bankrolled an undercover investigation.
“We found animals being deprived of adequate food and water and veterinary care," recalls Vice President Daphna Nachminovich.
Since then, Envigo has been forced to close its Virginia facility and will pay $22 million in fines and another $13 million in penalties. A federal judge has also put the company on probation for five years. It continues to breed animals at centers in Indiana and Pennsylvania.
“They have been prohibited from breeding and selling dogs, but unfortunately they are still breeding and selling many other animals for experiments – not just rats and mice but also monkeys and rabbits,” Nachminovich says.
PETA would like to see criminal charges brought against Envigo and is pressing for new methods of scientific research using computers and big data instead of animals.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
