Sign the petition to shut down MBR Acres and save the beagles!

Free The MBR Beagles!!

Many tests on dogs and other animals cause unimaginable suffering. They can translate poorly into effective treatments and cures for human diseases or provide safety and efficacy data that is not relevant to humans.

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Over 90% of drugs that appear safe and effective in animals do not go on to receive FDA, USA approval.

In 2023, 2,605,528 animals were used for the first time in scientific procedures incl. 2,477 dogs & 1,815 primates. Animals are bred & housed in bleak conditions and then used in tests that can cause immense physical and psychological suffering. We think government-led action is required to radically divert funding and evolve policy to implement the use of existing and the development of new Non-Animal Methodologies (NAMS). We believe the current testing paradigm is failing both animals and humans and is holding back medical advances.

Free The Beagles

The Beagles Needs Us

Why Beagles

Beagles are the preferred choice for laboratories because of their sweet, gentle, people-pleasing personalities. As part of their breed, they are docile and forgiving by nature and as such, less likely to be aggressive or fight back. The breed size also means that they fit more easily into a cage or kennel.

The sad truth is that the very reason they make such great pets and people love them, is the reason they are exploited.

MBR ACRES: THE LAST BASTION OF BEAGLE BREEDING FOR ANIMAL TESTING

those puppies from MBR Acres we gave them the chance of long and happy lives. In animal testing dogs are routinely killed before they’re six months old - but beagles live as long as 14 years naturally!

The site, MBR Acres, is responsible for breeding around 2,000 beagles each year to be sold for animal testing at 16 weeks old. The company also holds ‘bleeding licences’ which allow them to bleed healthy dogs to death to harvest their blood and organs. The site has previously come under fire for welfare breaches with recorded fly infestations, unhygienic buildings, lack of bedding, and dogs without access to outdoor spaces or enrichment.

Celebrities like Will Young, Peter Egan, and Megan McCubbin have all spoken out against animal testing - with Young even handcuffing himself to the gates of MBR in 2021! In 2023, after our rescue, the Daily Mirror ran a story detailing the horrific conditions dogs are kept in at the site.

The House Of Horrors

MBR Acres is a house of horrors. Behind its locked gates in Huntingdon, over 2,000 beagle puppies are bred every year, only to be used, abused, and killed in the name of “science.” You can help us end this forever.

Some puppies are bled and dissected on-site, their organs harvested. Others are shipped off for toxicology testing, where they suffer unimaginable pain - poisoned, force-fed chemicals, then killed.

But this doesn’t need to happen. MBR Acres does not need to kill puppies. Scientists have already created new testing methods that can replace these beagles today!

Here are the powerful, proven alternatives to animal testing:

Organ-on-a-chip technology
AI and advanced computer modelling
Human cell-based testing

These methods are more accurate, more ethical, and they don’t require animal cruelty.

Freeing The Beagles

In 2022, Animal Rising supporters rescued 23 beagle puppies from Marshall BioResources (MBR) Acres, a facility that breeds around 2,000 dogs annually for testing, and has come under fire for welfare breaches (with recorded fly infestations, unhygienic buildings, lack of bedding, and dogs without access to outdoor spaces or enrichment).

Now, the puppies' rescuers face charges and up to 10 years in prison, with trials beginning this December.

This trial challenges the legitimacy of animal testing in the UK, potentially setting a precedent for the abolition of animal testing, and the right to rescue. With rising opposition to outdated testing methods, this case could mark a significant shift. We need your support.

On 25 May 2024, an estimated 400–500 protesters descended upon the camp, as part of a protest billed as "Operation 1,000", in an attempt to attract 1,000 protesters to the camp. Cambridgeshire Police closed the nearby road due to the number of demonstrators in attendance

In July 2023, nine campaigners were found guilty of aggravated trespass, and were given conditional discharges or fines. The Crown Prosecution Service otherwise dropped charges of burglary against 12 people, stating that "the legal test for going ahead [with the criminal prosecutions] had not been met".

In December 2022, activists from Animal Rebellion freed 18 beagles from the facility. Two beagles known as Libby and Love – that were recovered by police – were later returned to the facility, and 14 people were arrested as part of an investigation into burglary and aggravated trespass at the site

Marshall Farms, based in North Rose, New York, is a commercial breeder of dogs and ferrets for pets and scientific research. Marshall Pet Products, a division of Marshall Farms founded in 1993, sells a wide range of food, toys, and other accessories for ferrets and rabbits.

Founded in 1939 by Gilman Marshall, the company is currently the largest ferret breeder in the United States. Ferrets from Marshall are commonly seen in pet shops across the United States, Canada, and, increasingly, Japan; they are also used in biomedicine laboratories, particularly in the fields of viral and parasitic diseases, cardiovascular and behavioral research, and reproductive endocrinology.

Pet ferrets originating from Marshall Farms usually have two small dots tattooed in the right ear, though this practice is not exclusive to Marshall. One dot indicates that the ferret has been spayed or neutered; two indicate that its anal scent glands have also been surgically removed.

Animal rights groups such as PETA have attacked Marshall in the past for breeding animals for scientific and medical research. The firm was the subject of an Animal Liberation Front raid in 2001, in which it was claimed that 10 ferrets and 30 beagles were removed from the complex.

Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and in vivo testing, is the use of non-human animals, as model organisms, in experiments that seek answers to scientific and medical questions. This approach can be contrasted with field studies in which animals are observed in their natural environments or habitats. Experimental research with animals is usually conducted in universities, medical schools, pharmaceutical companies, defense establishments, and commercial facilities that provide animal-testing services to the industry.

The focus of animal testing varies on a continuum from pure research, focusing on developing fundamental knowledge of an organism, to applied research, which may focus on answering some questions of great practical importance, such as finding a cure for a disease.Examples of applied research include testing disease treatments, breeding, defense research, and toxicology, including cosmetics testing. In education, animal testing is sometimes a component of biology or psychology courses.

The Government is Pro Animal Testing

The use of animals for development of products for human use remains necessary. The Government therefore does not agree to end testing on dogs and other animals for testing and research purposes.

Our published Replacing Animals in Science strategy (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/replacing-animals-in-science-strategy) will accelerate the roll out of safe and effective alternatives to phase out animal testing in all but exceptional circumstances, delivering on our manifesto pledge to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing". By streamlining the process for bringing alternatives forward, the Government will accelerate our transition away from animal use, while continuing to support crucial research and innovation.

Scientific advances make the prospects for change better than they have ever been, and we are supporting the acceleration of advances in biomedical science and technologies, to reduce reliance on the use of animals in research. This includes stem cell research, cell culture systems that mimic the function of human organs, imaging and new computer modelling and AI techniques based on very large data sets.

The strategy is backed by £75m of funding to accelerate safe and effective alternative methods, including £30m for the UK Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (UKCVAM) – a new centre to make the path to regulatory approval for new alternatives as straightforward as possible. It also includes £30m for a preclinical translational models hub – an institute that will bring together data, technology and expertise to promote collaboration between researchers.

The strategy includes a target that aims to use validated alternative methods to reduce the use of dogs and non-human primates in dedicated pharmacokinetic (PK) studies for human medicines by at least 35% by 2030. The strategy also sets a target to aim to use validated alternative methods to reduce the use of non-human primates and dogs in dedicated cardiovascular safety studies by at least 50% by 2030.

The strategy builds on our current approach, to actively support and fund the development and dissemination of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research (the 3Rs), and to ensure that the UK continues to have a robust regulatory system for licensing animal studies and enforcing legal standards. The UK has a world leading reputation for the delivery of the 3Rs. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) provides core funding for the National Centre for 3Rs (NC3Rs), which works nationally and internationally to drive the uptake of 3Rs technologies and ensure that advances in the 3Rs are reflected in policy, practice and regulations on animal research.

The Government will continue to support the appropriate use of animals where reliable and effective alternatives are not yet available. Animal testing is required by all global medicines regulators, including the UK’s Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). However, we are determined to work with regulators and scientists as we move towards phasing out the use of animals. Enabling the properly regulated use of animals, while we move away from animal testing, is essential to improving the health and lives of humans and animals and to the safety and sustainability of our environment.

The argument claiming over 90% of drugs fail in human trials, despite being tested on animals, disregards drugs that are tested on animals and found not to be suitable for use in human clinical trials. Drugs fail for a variety of reasons and animals are used for safety screening as well as efficacy modelling. Moreover, not all types of drugs fail at the same rate. Many do better and success rates vary widely by treatment type.

The welfare of animals in science is ensured by the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act (ASPA, 1986) and enforced by the Animals in Science Regulation Unit (ASRU). The use of animals in science is highly regulated, including a three-tier system of licensing, which licenses each establishment, project and individual involved in performing regulated procedures involving animals. The UK Home Office regulator conducts an integrated assessment of the compliance of all licence holders, including on-site inspections. The Government has published and enforces standards for the care and accommodation of all animals bred, supplied or used for scientific purposes.

ASPA mandates the development and application of alternative methods, including non-animal methods, as part of implementation of the 3Rs (the Replacement, Reduction and Refinement of animals used in research). Under ASPA, research which uses animals is only conducted where there is no alternative available, using the fewest number of animals and procedures. Until full replacement of the use of animals in science is possible, the UK’s support of refinement approaches, led by the NC3Rs, works to reduce animal suffering as much as possible.

Department for Science, Innovation & Technology