“Pure nosiness took us to the office of a dairy farm at 2am. In complete darkness, with the wind howling and music still eerily playing from the radio, we rummaged our way through their cupboards to our hearts’ content. Among the Ready Brek and cow-themed calendars from years gone by, a few items peaked our interest. We chucked them in a bucket and took them with us, including the keys to their tractors. Sometimes we act in rage, sometimes in sheer pettiness. Just another idea of how to fill any sleepless nights.”
Since the campaign started and we last wrote about it, Free the MBR Beagles has gone through quite a few things.
For anyone who still hasn’t heard about it, MBR Acres is a British beagle breeder that sells the dogs to vivisection laboratories. After undercover footage of workers transporting beagles in crates was released, a nationwide campaign started to shut down the farm and release all animals from the premises. A camp was also set up outside of the gates of the farm, with people living there 24/7.
Last week, about three hundred people joined a demo to put even more pressure. Folks travelled from around the country just to join for the day, but also many locals who had no idea about the farm being so close to them decided to participate in the demonstration. Whilst the demo was very calm and it did not kick off, it was a good turnout that will only translate into even more folks joining the next one.
On Sunday some information about a worker loading dogs in a car started circulating. This was big news as since camp was set up, no dogs have been officially taken out of the facility. An urgent call for support was sent and many people arrived in camp to an odd standstill between the police, the workers and folks barricading the exit. In the end, the police allowed the workers to move and so did the external barricade, and whilst folks on the ground do not believe animals were taken out on Sunday or any other previous day, it is difficult to know if workers are sneaking dogs out of the factory farm. It is unknown why anyone would take the dogs out of the factory in a personal car and the most plausible explanation is for rehoming purposes, but that is an unconfirmed guess. For that reason, more daily support has been called.
To appeal to the workers of the facility there is a whistleblower number as well as an email address for anyone to give inside information anonymously. If needed, you can find those contact details on Free The MBR Beagles. At the same time, a recruitment company has offered the workers an alternative job that matches or beats their current salary to get them out of that facility.
From other frontlines and showing support to the campaign, the ALF released two communique in solidarity with the MBR Beagles. In one they explained how they took 33 hens from a factory farm. In another, how they liberated 400+ guinea pigs. We can only guess that ALF actions directly targeting MBR or in solidarity with the campaign will be on the rise.
The next national demo called is on Sunday, 1st of August. It starts at 8 am and the postcode is PE28 2DT. It is organised as a protest and “funeral-vigil”, so they are asking for people to dress accordingly. Masks are recommended.
If you live in the country, we cannot recommend you more to join this campaign. It is a breath of fresh air in the animal liberation movement that could bring back the strength and uncompromised fight that once was. If you’re not, you probably have an MBR near you. Find them, gain information about them and target them! Bring the company down!
WE ARE NOT LEAVING WITHOUT THE BEAGLES
Video by @misartressmel, filmed during the last demo.
“As we walked up to a shed filled with 50,000 innocent lives, there were blue lights behind us and a newer, loud fan system on the shed. It was noisy and tense. We hung back to make sure all was clear and the blue lights continued past us.
We had to crawl under 3m of floor boards into the unknown before standing up surrounded by tens of thousands of hens who deserved to be free. We had limited capacity but we managed to squeeze a few extras in.
That is 33 lives saved. Every one of them an individual who wants freedom, happiness and a good life. Not one of exploitation.
We hope this encourages more people to get active and go save lives! Get down to MBR Beagles. THEY WILL BE SAVED!
ARVAIA is a agricultural cooperative operating in Bologna. They greenwash their actions by creating aliances with activist groups whilst catching wildlife to be released in hunting grounds. On the night of the 19th of June, ALF activists visited the farm and caused around 5.000EUR worth of damage.
ARVAIA published an extensive communiquee related to the action that you can read on the link below. Nevertheless, we believe it would be important to underline a specific paragraph on their press release. Please note the adamant mention of violence against zuccini; “ALF’s violence has affected potato and bean crops, zucchini plants, melons, strawberries, but also greenhouse covers and irrigation.”
Aware of the response that ecological groups were showing against the ALF action, anonymous activists sent the report below:
received anonymously:
“With reference to the sabotage that took place at the ARVAIA COOPERATIVE in Bologna, A.L.F. claims the action.
ARVAIA, contrary to what it declared through the media:
Regularly requires hares trapping and birds shooting, guilty of damaging crops;
Advertise captures as cruelty free interventions, when the high mortality rate of hares is demonstrated even many hours after capture due to shock or to difficulties in acclimatization. Permanent injuries (disabilities) are also frequent;
Omits to report that hares, captured by hunting guards (hunters), are deported to hunting areas and made object of hunting;
Invites the members with misleading confidential communications to participate in the capture activities without declaring their real intent, reporting to the Arvaia members that the purpose is only to move them in the adjacent fields;
Refused, while reporting the opposite, the proposals of associations regarding the installation of passive crop protection, citing economic reasons;
They recently organized a capture of hares in the period of suckling, with cubs in the den. The activity was interrupted only thanks to the intervention of local volunteers.
ARVAIA does not kill directly, but it is responsible for the death of hares and birds when asking the hunters to protect their crops.
ARVAIA communicates falsehoods through the media to drive consensus and maintain an aura of green and zero-kilometers”
Italian:
“Con riferimento al sabotaggio avvenuto presso la COOPERATIVA ARVAIA in Bologna, A.L.F. rivendica l’azione. ARVAIA, al contrario di quanto dichiarato dalla stessa attraverso i media:
Richiede regolarmente interventi di cattura lepri e di tiro ai volatili, animali rei di danneggiare le coltivazioni;
Pubblicizza come interventi non cruenti le catture, quando è dimostrato l’elevato tasso di mortalità delle lepri anche molte ore dopo la cattura per lo shock o le difficoltà di ambientamento. Frequenti anche le lesioni permanenti (disabilità);
Omette di riferire che le lepri, catturate ad opera di guardie venatorie (cacciatori), vengano deportate in zone venatorie e fatte oggetto di caccia;
Invita i soci con comunicazioni riservate fuorvianti a partecipare alle attività di cattura senza dichiarare in via preliminare il proprio reale intento, riferendo ai soci che la finalità sia solo quella di allontanarle nei campi attigui;
Ha rifiutato, pur riferendo il contrario, le proposte di associazioni circa l’installazione di protezioni passive dei raccolti, adducendo motivi economici;
Ha organizzato recentemente una cattura lepri in periodo di allattamento, con cuccioli in tana. L’attività è stata interrotta solo grazie all’intervento di volontari locali. ARVAIA non uccide direttamente, ma fa uccidere scientemente lepri e uccelli per proteggere i propri raccolti, dissimulando la realtà nella comunicazione ai soci e al pubblico per pilotare il consenso e mantenere un’aura green e km0.”
“In January we read an ALF report about a salamander liberation at a UK pet breeder who was selling animals to vivisection laboratories and it peaked our interest.
By chance we stumbled upon an animal delivery at a local Pets At Home. Sticky fingers helped us collect an invoice from the front of the delivery van whilst they were unloading into the store and we found the address of a breeder.
We did some research; the breeder we had found was the biggest Pets At Home supplier in the country, delivering all across England. Surprisingly, that was not the only thing we found. Thanks to a handy list of historical ALF raids against vivisection we learnt that the breeder had already been visited by the ALF during the 80s and 90s, where they liberated hamsters, mice and rats.
It seems that the pet industry has a dirty little vivisection secret. They are not supplying labs that need sterile environment animals, but pet breeders are obviously being used as a cheap resource for uni labs and experiments that do not require toxicology or pharmaceutical handling.
We raided their guinea pig breeding operation. With the amount of pregnant females, we estimate the number of liberated animals to be 400+. They will see nothing but freedom. They will not be a thing people can buy at a Pets at Home, or a test subject to be tortured and then discarded in the name of ‘experimentation’.
Now that we know what they are up to, they should expect us to target them relentlessly. We do not give up.
We want to send our solidarity to the beagles inside MBR Acres, to Camp Beagle and to Free the MBR Beagles campaign. Turns out MBR has a side hustle in the pet industry too! Together we can shut them down and they should fear the escalation that will come.
WARNING: THIS VIDEO CONTAINS DISTRESSING IMAGES OF VIVISECTION.
It’s a Dogs Life is a documentary produced during the 1990s in the UK by a main TV Channel where a journalist goes undercover at a testing facility, filming the day to day of a testing facility for Beagle Dogs.
This documentary would be a huge catalyser in the anti vivisection movement in the UK, resulting in SHAC becoming a world wide campaign.
It is interesting to think that whilst the documentary had no aim to discredit vivisection, it fuelled such a reaction that a massive campaign would grow out of it, with thousands of people fighting against vivisection and state repression becoming so tangible that laws were specifically tailored to stop SHAC from carrying on.
With anti vivisection campaigning growing fast once again, we felt that this documentary was a very appropriate watch as a reminder of what animals go through in the “name of science”.
Essex Animal Defenders organised an action in 2020 where two folks locked on to the entrance of the slaughterhouse, halting the works for the day.
This was the culmination of many years campaigning against Romford Halal Meats, that had been found slaughtering ill and injured animals in every occasion that EAD organised an “impromptu visit”.
The action wasn’t taken lightly. They attempted to take evidence to Food Standards Association and no one did anything about it, even with heaps of evidence showing the multiple breach of regulations by the slaughterhouse.
After the lock on action they were arrested an d charged with aggravated trespass, and have now been sentenced to a combined fine of £1,470 (1722 euros, 2036 US dollars).
They have set up a GoFundMe to raise the funds and we believe no one should go under the repression of the state by themselves. If you are able to support them, please send some money to the gofundme and help them get rid of that fine so they can carry on doing their work comfortably.
