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18 face burglary charges after beagles freed from animal testing centre near Huntingdon
Defendants will appear before Cambridge magistrates on July 25
Eighteen people have been charged with burglary after the ‘rescue’ of 20 beagle puppies from an animal research site in Cambridgeshire. Two of the beagles were later recovered by police.
The charges follow an incident at MBR Acres at Wyton near Huntingdon in December 2022 after a break in at the facility where beagles are bred for research.
The defendants will appear before Cambridge magistrates on July 25 for a plea hearing according to a statement released today by the campaign group Animal Rising who believe any subsequent trial will be a “significant moment” for the issue of animal testing.
Dan Kidby, Animal Rising co-founder and co-director said: “This case is not about burglary, rather it is about putting the animal testing industry on trial.”
“The animal testing industry loves to stay in the shadows, shielding itself from popular opinion. These beagle rescuers now given it nowhere to hide and the public is going to see the true face of testing on animals.”
He said the site, MBR Acres, is responsible for breeding around 2,000 beagles each year to be sold for animal testing at 16 weeks old.
Supporters of the group previously rescued five beagles from the facility in June 2022, but the Crown Prosecution Service dropped the burglary charges after 2 weeks.
