Not-Guilty Verdict For Beagle Puppy Rescuers In Landmark Legal Case
- Animal Rising Press
- 9 minutes ago
- 3 min read
After a 7-day trial at Cambridge Crown Court, four defendants have been unanimously acquitted of burglary after deliberation lasting approximately 2 hours. The trial came after they rescued 18 beagle puppies from MBR Acres, a site breeding animals for testing, in December 2022 [1].
This is the second of four trials in this case, with the first group of five being found guilty of the same offence [2]. The two other trials in this case are due to begin later this Spring.
This landmark legal case is the first time “Open Rescue” has seen a courtroom inside the UK; all defendants in the trial relied on the defence of “honesty” and denied the element of dishonesty required to prove guilt in charges under the Theft Act 1968 [3] [4].
Animal Rising has claimed that this verdict is “a clear public voice condemning MBR Acres and animal testing, more broadly.”
Following more than a week of trial, Louisa Hillwood, Thomas Cusick, Kat Chan, and Alan Guthrie have been acquitted of burglary by a jury of 12 of their peers at Cambridge Crown Court.
Speaking after the verdict, Louisa Hillwood, 31, an Operations Manager, from Australia, living in Hackney, said:
“A jury of 12 of our peers has made abundantly clear to the world what many already knew: the British public sides with those rescuing dogs and not those needlessly and cruelly testing on them.
This nation of animal lovers has shown its true colours and chose to declare that it is perfectly lawful to rescue beagle puppies from a hellish fate in the animal testing industry.”
During the trial, the jury heard evidence as to each defendant’s beliefs about animal testing and MBR Acres, more specifically. Defendants described what they believed to be a “bleeding license”, which enables the facility to conduct “terminal blood testing” on animals, whilst also harvesting “bio-products” from healthy dogs on site; the existence of this license - properly a Project Licence - was confirmed by the Crown during their case.
Defendants also described reading about the ineffectiveness of, and the lack of empirical basis for, animal testing in sources such as the British Medical Journal, Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, and the National Institute of Health [5].
Three defendants, Ms Hillwood, Ms Chan, and Mr Guthrie, were represented by Sarah-Jane Ewart, Margo Munro Kerr, and Meghan Curran (All of One Pump Court Chambers) respectively. Thomas Cusick represented himself.
Thomas Cusick, 26, a Campaigner, from Manchester, said:
“We hope this verdict sends a clear message to MBR Acres that their horrific practice of breeding dogs for utterly unnecessary and absolutely cruel experiments is being firmly rejected by those living in the local area.
We hope this verdict puts pressure on the Home Office to step in and save the lives of the puppies we couldn’t save.”
A petition calling on the Home Office to shut down MBR Acres and rehome all the beagles organised by Animal Rising has gathered more than 100,000 signatures [6]. Further trials in this case are scheduled to begin on 26th January and 23rd February.
ENDS
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About Animal Rising
The group has used a variety of civil disobedience and nonviolent direct action tactics, notably blockading McDonald's distribution centres in May 2021, blockading dairy industry sites in September 2022, rescuing 23 beagle puppies from the animal testing industry in 2022, delaying the Grand National race in 2023, rescuing lambs belonging to King Charles II in May 2023, and carrying out the UK’s largest undercover farm investigation in 2024.
High-quality pictures and videos: https://show.pics.io/animal-rising-breaking-news
Footage from inside MBR Acres: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1dJhwIlmJ5uR9vwuKXGJ3VT3sxYmX0JT-?usp=drive_link
All images and videos in this file, on our social media, and website can be used with credit to Animal Rising under ‘fair use’ for the purposes of reporting.
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Notes To The Editor
[3] Open Rescue is a means of rescuing animals from suffering and captivity inside laboratories, breeding facilities and industrial farms that does not hide the identity of the rescuing humans, who will hand themselves in to the police once the animals have been taken to safety. It was introduced as a tactic by Animals Victoria in Australia to show nonviolence and transparent tactics by those taking action for animals.
In the context of the UK, the open rescue tactic is an attempt to create strong case law foundations to give a legal basis for the rescue of animals from animal testing, farms, or other industries. The potential legal ramifications of trial outcomes could force large-scale changes to UK law.