Humane Society takes in four rescued beagles
Normally, the Butler County Humane Society takes in stray animals from the community. But recently four dogs came from more than six hours away to be sheltered by the organization.
The Humane Society in Connoquenessing Township now has four 8-month-old male beagles that were just a few rescued last month from a Cumberland, Va., breeding facility that recently was shut down for violating federal regulations.
The new arrivals are a little skittish, according to Cari Ciancio, executive director of the Humane Society, but she also said they are like most other beagles and are “very docile, friendly animals.”
“They don't know how to walk on leashes; they are friendly but shy,” Ciancio said of the new dogs. “Butler seems to love its beagles, so I don't imagine that these guys are going to be here very long.”
The Envigo RMS facility in Cumberland County had been under increasing scrutiny for months, drawing concerns from animal rights groups, members of Congress and Virginia lawmakers, who passed animal welfare measures this year intended to tighten up the facility’s requirements and strengthen state oversight.
Repeated federal inspections since Envigo acquired the facility in 2019 have resulted in dozens of violations, including findings that dogs had received inadequate medical care, were malnourished and were housed in filthy conditions, and that some had been euthanized without first receiving anesthesia. Hundreds of dogs also have been found dead at the facility, according to the Associated Press.
On July 1, Envigo and the government jointly filed a transfer plan that called for the removal of “all” of the facility’s beagles by the Humane Society of the United States, which will transport the dogs to shelters where they can be adopted.
Ciancio said the beagle admission has been in the works for about a month, as animal shelters across the country have been taking in some of the 4,000 from the breeding facility.
Some of the relatives of the four Butler County beagles — named Valor, Freedom, Liberty and Courage — are not far away. The intake by the Butler Humane Society was a collaboration with Animal Friends, the Washington Area Humane Society, the Beaver County Humane Society and Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh, which all took in some beagles.
The Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh was in contact with the Humane Society of the United States, which is leading the distribution of the freed beagles. Carla Prince, relocation manager for the Pittsburgh group, said the organization needed others in the region to take some of the animals.
“They reached out to all their partners with us being one of them,” Prince said. “Knowing that we wanted to take as many as we could, but we couldn’t possibly take them all at one time, we reached out to several of our local shelters and asked if they wanted to be involved in this wonderful transport.”
Ciancio said the collaboration is one of the biggest in the history of the local Humane Society, and is the first time she can remember five shelters coming together for one cause.
Cody Hoellerman, chief community engagement officer for Animal Friends, said Western Pennsylvania has a lot of empathy for animals.
“The call went out that there was a large number of animals that needed our help, and we did what we do best,” Hoellerman said. “We've got such a compassionate, animal-loving community here that we know that we can really help these dogs and help them find loving families.”
Ciancio also said she was initially unsure if the Butler County Humane Society would be able to shelter the dogs, in part because the shelter has been crowded because of a higher rate of recent intake.
“Unfortunately due to the overcrowding, and we had that (parvovirus) case, we weren't sure if we would be able to do it,” Ciancio said. “We heard all these animals were already vaccinated, so we decided to take the four.”
While there are only four beagles that will be adopted through the Butler County society on a first-come, first-served basis, Ciancio said she hopes people will look at some of the other animals at the shelter and consider giving them a home. With the shelter being so crowded, Ciancio said there is a good variety of animals in the shelter, even aside from the new beagles.
“The demand is going to be much higher than what we have right now, but what I would let people know is we have many wonderful dogs and cats here,” she said. “We have a bunch of really great dogs. If people were wanting to adopt a pet right now, this is the time to do it.”
