Around 4,000 beagles rescued from US breeder searching for new homes

Yasmin Bodalbhai reports on one of the biggest ever dog rescue efforts in the United States

Around 4,000 beagles have been recovered after what is thought to be one of the largest dog rescue efforts in the US.

The dogs were being bred in a Virginia-based facility to be sold to laboratories for drug testing and experiments.

Charities are now on a mission to rehome the dogs after shutting down the company due to animal rights violations.

The facility which is owned by a company called Envigo RMS, was sued in May by the US Department of Justice which accused it of multiple acts of animal cruelty.

Officials had found that some of the dogs were being killed instead of receiving veterinary care for easily treatable medical conditions.

Inspectors also discovered they were being fed with food that contained maggots, mould and faeces, while some nursing mothers were denied food at all - they also found that 25 puppies had died from cold exposure.

Despite denying allegations, the company announced it would close the facility and place dogs under the care of animal rights charity Humane Society, CBS News reports.

Around 200 of the dogs have already been rehomed in southern California.

Charities say many of the animals show signs of trauma, and some had never been held or did not know how to play.

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