Dozens of rescued beagles are coming to Maine

PORTLAND Maine (WMTW) - Nearly 100 beagles rescued from a facility in Virginia are coming to Maine this weekend.

Around 4,000 beagles were removed from the Envigo breeding facility earlier this year and they are being distributed to animal welfare organizations across the country.

Envigo RMS LLC bred dogs to be sold to labs for animal experimentation.

The dogs have been at a temporary shelter in Maryland but will arrive in Maine on Sunday on a Wings of Rescue flight to Portland.

A total of nine organizations in Maine are getting some of the dogs this weekend.

They include the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland (Westbrook), Animal Welfare Society (Kennebunk), Franklin County Humane Society (Farmington), Greater Androscoggin Humane Society (Lewiston), Kennebec Valley Humane Society (Augusta), PAWS Animal Adoption Center (Camden), Pope Memorial Humane Society (Thomaston), Responsible Pet Care of Oxford Hills (South Paris), and Tall Tails Beagle Rescue (Mechanic Falls).

“It takes a massive network of compassionate, expert shelters and rescues to make an operation of this scale possible,” said Lindsay Hamrick, shelter outreach and engagement director for the Humane Society of the United States. “We are deeply grateful to each organization that is stepping up to find these dogs the loving homes they so deserve.”

Once the beagles arrive at their shelters in Maine, they are required by the state to go through a two-week quarantine while shelter teams assess their medical and behavioral needs. Once they clear those assessments, they will be available for adoption.