Lucky Penny

This week, a very special client had the chance to meet the attorney who saved her life.

Penny, a 3 year-old beagle, visited Harvard Law School to meet Mary Hollingsworth, director of the Animal Law & Policy Clinic, whose work led to her release from an inhumane breeding facility.

In 2022, the story of 4,000 beagles being rescued from Envigo RMS, a company that breeds and sells animals for research, made headlines nationwide. In her role as senior trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, Hollingsworth and her DOJ colleagues spearheaded the litigation that led to their release, saving the puppies from dire and inhumane conditions.

Hollingsworth told the story of the case to her Animal Law & Policy Clinic students in their final clinical seminar of the semester, as Penny trotted across the classroom, greeting each student with a friendly sniff.

“We were asked to bring a civil case, so I did a walk through of the facility the first day of the warrant to help paint a picture that we could then put into our motion for a temporary restraining order, after filing the complaint,” Hollingsworth said. She and her DOJ colleague travelled to Cumberland, Virginia before filing the civil lawsuit on behalf of the United States against Envigo RMS alleging that the company failed to provide proper care to thousands of beagles, violating multiple Animal Welfare Act standards.

“As you know, I have seen a lot of dogfighting cases and puppy mill cases, but by the time my colleague and I got through the maternal ward of the facility, we were fighting back tears. It was one of the most ghastly things that I have ever seen,” reflected Hollingsworth.

Following inspections and a criminal search warrant, a federal court granted a temporary restraining order to protect the animals. As a result of a court-approved transfer plan, approximately 4,000 beagles were removed from the facility and made available for adoption through the Humane Society, ending what officials called “needless suffering” due to animal welfare violations. In a settlement, Envigo RMS agreed to shut down the facility.

Penny was rescued by the Humane Society and adopted by Liza Oliver, associate professor of art at Wellesley College, who says that Penny has come a long way since her first days outside the facility. After being forced to breed at a premature age, Penny suffered severe health consequences. She had a distrust of men and struggled with the outdoors. Since being adopted by Oliver, Penny has made a full health recovery, become more trusting, and lives a good life in her safe, loving home.

If her tail-wagging jaunts around the classroom are any indication, Penny has many happy days ahead, thanks to the work of Hollingsworth and her DOJ colleagues.

“It’s one of the cases that matters to me the most,” Hollingsworth told her students. “I hope that you will have a case like that in your lifetime: something that you feel passionate about and that sticks with you.”