I have been plant-based for 13 years and have always been an outspoken person who stands up for what I believe is right. A few months ago, I learned about Camp Beagle, a permanent protest site outside MBR Acres Ltd, a breeding facility in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, which breeds 2,000 Beagles every year in the UK solely to sell them to labs for experimentation. I was gobsmacked when I found out about this. I didn’t think we did this kind of thing anymore and I just couldn’t stand by and do nothing.
With my background in web development and digital marketing and seeing the amazing work being undertaken by animal rights campaigner Wayne Hsiung and his team were doing in the USA with Ridglan Farms (a similar facility that has now permanently closed), I was inspired to create the Save the Dogs UK campaign to raise awareness and carry out an ‘open rescue’ to free the MBR Beagles.
In April 2026, an American beagle-breeding facility of comparable scale – Ridglan Farms in Wisconsin – agreed to release its 1,500 dogs to rescue and wind down its operation. It did so after a multi-year public campaign, peacefully, on a negotiated basis, with the receiving costs underwritten by a coalition of welfare organisations. We decided to write to invite MBR Acres to consider doing the same – meet, talk and agree the peaceful end of this facility and the release of the beagles – in whichever way we can agree, including by direct purchase.
The ‘open rescue’ concept was our initial goal; however, it didn’t translate well in the UK. We don’t have the same laws as in the US and the police operate very differently. Therefore, while that was our initial goal, we soon learned that we needed a different approach, so we worked with a solicitor to draft a compelling offer for MBR Acres.
The open letter we drafted outlines how we want to negotiate the release of the beagles and encourages MBR Acres to wind down their operations. Our Save the Dogs open letter attracted 1,151 signatures in less than 24 hours. Similar work is being done in the USA, as MBR also has a facility in New York. Hsuing, an animal rights lawyer and co-founder of the open rescue initiative The Simple Heart, now has his sights set on closing that down too.
Whatever happens with our offer and our campaign, the fight against MBR and animal testing will never go away. The UK public has shown its support en masse time and time again. We have reached millions of people with our campaign so far and have had over 2,000 members of the public sign up to help in some way.
Also, Camp Beagle is now a fixed protest site outside MBR – and the campaigners will be there until the dogs are free. Their work for these Beagles and for all animals tested in labs is outstanding and continues to inspire others to join the fight against animal testing. They reach millions of people every month and are growing daily. You can donate to the campaign here. All donations are used to cover the essential costs of running Camp Beagle and sustaining its campaign to shut down MBR Acres for good.
Animal testing is outdated and has already been superseded by more reliable, sustainable methods. There is absolutely no need to test anything on living creatures and the government’s plan to phase it out gradually is, frankly, too little too late. We want this cruel practice to stop and we will continue to be vocal in our opposition to it until it does.
Commenting on the success in the US, where campaigners have successfully released beagles from facilities, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) campaign said that the victories are a substantial step toward ending the practice of using animals for research. “These victories are the culmination of years of pressure from Peta and other animal protection organisations … who challenged a system that breeds dogs and other animals only to be confined, mutilated, poisoned and killed in laboratories,” said a statement from Peta.
“Peta will build on this momentum by continuing to work to end the use of dogs, primates and other animals in experiments altogether and replace these cruel, scientifically flawed practices with cutting-edge, superior methods that offer real promise for treatments and cures.”
Click here to find out more about Camp Beagle.
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