Gemma and Tink, two female beagles rescued from the Envigo facility in Virginia, who now have a new home in Belchertown with owner Susan Howe and four other beagles. Photo courtesy of the MSPCA-Angell.

Throughout much of this summer a massive rescue effort has taken place under the leadership of the Humane Society of the United States, to work with its rescue partners nationwide to relocate and adopt out nearly 4,000 beagles from a troubled Virginia breeding facility run by the company Envigo.

As hundreds of these dogs have come to Massachusetts starting back in June and through late-August, many have since found new homes locally through various animal rescue groups and shelters such as the Northeast Animal Shelter, the MSPCA-Angell, the Dakin Humane Society, the Animal Rescue League of Boston and Second Chance Animal Services.

One adopter, Susan Howe of Belchertown, owns six beagles — all of which are rescues but with different stories and backgrounds. The two latest additions to her home, Tink and Gemma are 3 and 4-year-old former breeding females from the Envigo facility.

Howe, an adopter of rescue dogs throughout her life, started out with two beagle mixed-breeds by chance and eventually adopted another beagle named Scout, which came from a research laboratory, and then a fourth beagle rescued from a rural environment.

“I wasn’t really in the market for two more dogs,” Howe said. “But this case hit and I thought, well, this is exactly the industry that I’m trying to shift the winds of.”

Howe, a former academic and scientific researcher, runs The Aisling Center, a nonprofit looking to end the use of dogs in research and product testing and accelerate technologies that work more “ethically, cost effectively and efficiently to improve human and animal health,” as well as move away from animal testing entirely.

Tink, her first Envigo beagle rescue, joined her home in June, followed several weeks later by Gemma, her second, who was also pregnant at the time of her rescue and had just given birth.

Howe said that Tink and Gemma were likely bred each time they were in heat at the Envigo facility in order to produce multiple litters of puppies per year; with the puppies eventually being weaned off and separated from their mothers to be sold, used in research or later used for breeding themselves.

From her various experiences with rescue dogs of all different backgrounds Howe found some commonalities and key differences between these Envigo beagles versus other dogs she has rescued before — things new and prospective adopters of these beagles may wish to keep in mind.

One notable distinction Howe noticed as that Tink and Gemma were never toilet trained. Kept largely in cages with many other dogs day in and out, Howe said it’s a “whole new training” for these kinds of dogs and challenge for them to have to learn to only pee and poop outside.

“So in that way, they’re like puppies,” she said, adding that in order to teach them how to do basics such as this, that having a second dog in the house can be an asset.

“Having an owner that’s at home all day is very good.” Howe added, saying she’s lucky to be able to work from home, but noted that not everyone has this option and that it doesn’t necessarily disqualify an adopter, but also isn’t ideal.

She recommended against owners who may have several young children or those with a dynamic lifestyle that will cause them to travel a lot from adopting one of these beagles saying “this probably isn’t the right type of dog for them to bring into their household for the dog’s sake.”

Gemma and Tink, two female beagles rescued from the Envigo facility in Virginia, who now have a new home in Belchertown with owner Susan Howe and four other beagles. Photo courtesy of the MSPCA-Angell.

She said a key aspect for these beagles is a quieter environment with routines built for them to reduce their stress and anxiety.

“We’re trying to replace a very traumatic routine with a new routine,” Howe said. “That’s what I’m learning about these dogs is that they’ve lived in captivity. They’ve had a very small world, stressful world with only a few things happening.”

Without a routine, Howe said that Tink and Gemma can be prone to barking and act up in response to changes, particularly when they see or hear someone or something unfamiliar.

They also came from an environment with hundreds of other dogs all living in a warehouse, where many of the dogs would be barking simultaneously and near constantly, Howe added.

In a personal belief of hers, Howe is against crate training, and said she is particularly not in favor of it for these kinds of beagles because “they’ve been in crates their whole life.”

Nevertheless, Howe noted some of the beagles do “take refuge” in their crate if the door is left open as well.

“That’s a security space for them, but they’re not stuck in there,” Howe said. “They have a door open, they can come and go, and some of them just like to sleep in there.”

While Howe hasn’t personally experienced this with her rescue beagles since she doesn’t use crates, she said anecdotally that “a lot of people” that have taken these beagles notice the beagles preferring to go into their crate.

“That’s all they’ve ever known,” she said.

Howe added that the Envigo beagles don’t walk on leashes well either.

“They’ve never been on a leash before, you know, so it requires an owner to have a lot of patience and a lot of understanding that this dog is not going to just come into your family and instantly know the sort of rules and regulations that we have for dogs,” Howe said.

Despite the potential challenges adopters may face integrating these dogs into their homes, Howe said in the end that they are “not much different” than any other rescue dogs and that their past traumas are simply variations of traumas seen in other rescues, but that at the same time that each dog is unique and doesn’t fit a specific mold.

“In the end, they’re the most amazing dogs. They’re so loving, they’re so forgiving, they’re so snuggly and cuddly and curious and mischievous and funny,” she said, noting the breed’s gentle and friendly nature. “They’re great dogs.”

Howe added she’s seen “so much transformation” with her two Envigo beagles since taking them in, and noted that they socialize well with her other dogs, having built trust and wanting to play together.

Gemma and Tink aren’t alone either, the MSPCA-Angell, one of the groups which has helped to rescue hundreds of beagles, posted other successful adoption stories online.

Among them, one beagle named Gigi has begun “living her best life” with her new family, another named Dozer is getting along well with his new family’s kids and likes to play with his fellow household pets, while a pair named Wendel and Sydney who found new homes all the way in Ottawa, Canada, according to the MSPCA-Angell.

Others such as Hooper is said to be energetic and is “lovingly tormenting” the older dogs in his new home, while pair Attie and Ziva are loving the outdoors in their new home together and another beagle named Liberty is settling in with two fellow beagles — one of which is a former laboratory dog, the MSPCA-Angell added.

Successful Envigo Beagle Adoptions through the MSPCA-Angell and Northeast Animal Shelter

Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.

Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your California Privacy Rights (User Agreement updated 1/1/21. Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement updated 7/1/2022).

© 2022 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local.

Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site.