Envigo Beagle Factory’s Former Vet—Now Licensed in Indiana—Indicted on 17 Cruelty Charges: PETA Statement

For Immediate Release:
June 26, 2025

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-531-7261

Cumberland, Va. –

Please see the following statement from PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch regarding the Cumberland County, Virginia, grand jury’s June 24 indictment of Dr. Dawn Marie Gau on 17 misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals. Gau was the attending veterinarian at Envigo’s Cumberland beagle factory farm, which supplied dogs to laboratories all over the world for experimentation. PETA’s undercover investigation of Envigo during Gau’s tenure there prompted U.S. officials to cite the company for dozens of violations of law and execute a search warrant, ultimately leading to the facility’s closure and the liberation of nearly 4,000 surviving dogs. Indianapolis-based Pet Wellness Clinics lists Gau among its veterinarians now, and a license affiliates her with the chain’s location near Pendleton, Indiana.

PETA’s undercover investigation documented apparent crimes that the grand jury would never have known about otherwise—including Dr. Gau’s prolonged, botched attempt to put down a conscious dog as she bled from her legs and her failure to prevent a worker from killing a conscious puppy via an excruciatingly painful injection into the heart. We thank the Virginia Office of the Attorney General’s Animal Law Unit for its painstaking probe and resolve in holding Gau accountable for these acts and many more. Indiana’s animal guardians would be wise to steer clear of Gau as she’s prosecuted on cruelty-to-animals charges.

Last October, Envigo was ordered to pay more than $35 million in penalties, including $22 million in fines, following its guilty pleas to a criminal charge of conspiracy to violate the federal Animal Welfare Act and a felony charge of conspiracy to violate the federal Clean Water Act—the first-ever federal convictions of a supplier of animals for experimentation.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.