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After a four-day trial at Norwich Crown Court, Rose Patterson, Sarah Foy, and Rosa Sharkey have all been found guilty of theft after the rescue of three lambs from King Charles III’s Sandringham Estate in May 2023. Sentencing to follow today. Despite the verdict, Animal Rising claims that the rescue and subsequent trial have helped to put a spotlight on the reality behind animal farming in the UK, with over 10 million sheep being slaughtered yearly [1]. The controversial resc

Animal Rising vows further factory farm exposés as group says three-week action marks beginning of long-term campaign to end factory farming. Animal Rising campaign lead Michelle Farnham has today (22 September) walked free from a pig farrowing crate in Trafalgar Square after spending 21 consecutive days and nights confined inside it, without leaving once. Michelle emerged from the crate at 11am, after first entering it at 7am on 1 September, completing an extraordinary physi

Six Animal Rising campaigners have today (22/09/26) been formally acquitted of all remaining charges relating to blockades of dairy giant Müller during the group’s 2022 ‘Stop the Supply’ campaign. The Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence against them after an Animal Rising Supreme Court victory earlier this year which clarified how public nuisance law applies to campaigners on private land. The six had faced charges of public nuisance and conspiracy to commit crimina

Wildlife presenter and former RSPCA president Chris Packham joined Michelle Farnham inside a pig farrowing crate outside the National Gallery today, where she has been living for over a week to highlight suffering on British factory farms. Animal Rising campaign lead Michelle Farnham is living inside the crate 24 hours a day as part of a living art installation outside the National Gallery. She does not leave the crate at any point, day or night, from 1 to 22 September. [1] F

This morning (01/09/26) Animal rights campaigner Michelle Farnham entered a pig farrowing crate outside the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square where she will remain for 21 days, as Animal Rising launches its campaign to end factory farming in Britain by 2040. The action coincides with the release today of never-before-seen footage following a month in the life of Luna, a sow confined in a farrowing crate on a British factory farm. Animal Rising are calling for the release o

A Supreme Court ruling today (14/07/26) [1] upheld the acquittals of six anti-dairy campaigners who disrupted dairy giant Müller’s Droitwich site in 2022. Animal Rising argues the decision marks a crucial victory for protest rights in the UK, setting a precedent that public nuisance laws cannot be used sweepingly to prevent peaceful protest. [The defendants outside court in May 2025] In September 2022, Animal Rising (then Animal Rebellion) launched a two-week campaign of prot

The Crown Prosecution Service has dropped charges against four Animal Rising campaigners who ran onto the tracks at Doncaster Racecourse in 2023, after a series of jury refusals to convict defendants for protesting horse racing. Campaigners argue that the repeated failure to secure convictions, combined with growing public antipathy towards the controversial sport, signals a turning point for the future of horse racing in the UK. The four had been due to stand trial for publi

Defendants (From L-R): Ben Newman, Beau Sebastian, and Dan Kidby. In June 2022, three men rescued five beagle puppies from MBR Acres [1] In the fifth and final “Beagle Rescue Trial”, three defendants have all been convicted of burglary following several days of trial. The three were charged with the burglary of five dogs from MBR Acres in June 2022. The jury passed a majority 10-2 verdict after nearly 10 hours of deliberation. The conviction comes as pressure mounts on the Ho

Defendants (L-R): Jennifer D’Netto, Andrew Houghton, Dev Vyas, Rose Patterson, and John Sasportas This afternoon, following over two weeks of trial and deliberation spanning three days, a jury at Peterborough Crown Court has acquitted five defendants charged with burglary after the rescue of 18 beagle puppies from MBR Acres in December 2022 [1]. MBR Acres is understood to be the UK’s only facility breeding dogs for the animal testing industry and has been subject to massive p

Photo taken at a demonstration against adding Life Sciences to Key National Infrastructure (5/1/26) Last night, a letter signed by dozens of cross-party MPs, celebrities including Dame Joanna Lumley and Amanda Holden, and animal organisations such as Animal Rising and PETA, was sent to the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood MP [1]. The letter calls for an immediate closure of MBR Acres, the only site in the UK breeding dogs for the animal testing industry, alongside the safe reh

Dear The Home Office and Secretary, Shabana Mahmood MP, We write to you as an incredibly deeply concerned and caring group of public figures and animal lovers. We are calling for the immediate closure of the puppy breeding facility, MBR Acres, as part of an urgent transition away from all animal testing in the United Kingdom. MBR Acres, as you may know, is a facility in Cambridgeshire with the sole purpose of breeding beagle puppies for the utterly unnecessary animal testing

Nine Animal Rising campaigners were sentenced today (27/02/26) at Wolverhampton Crown Court for “conspiracy to commit criminal damage” as part of an Animal Rising campaign that targeted dairy giants Müller, Arla, and Freshways dairy facilities, immobilising dairy trucks and leading to milk shortages across the nation. [1] [Müller trucks immobilised by campaigners in 2022] All 9 pleaded guilty on 14/11/25 at Wolverhampton Crown Court to conspiracy to commit criminal damage, a

Three Animal Rising campaigners were sentenced today (25/02/26) at Southwark Crown Court after pleading guilty to “possession of items with intent to damage property” after taking part in Animal Rising’s dairy campaign which targeted Müller, Arla and other dairy suppliers. The three individuals pleaded guilty in Southwark Crown Court on 13/05/25 They were each given 12 months conditional discharge, £760 contribution towards court costs and a victim surcharge of approximately

Four of the five defendants convicted of burglary following the rescue of 18 beagle puppies from the MBR Acres breeding facility in December 2022 have today been sentenced at Cambridge Crown Court, bringing the first trial in this landmark legal case to a close. The case, the first in the UK to test the “Open Rescue” tactic before a jury, has drawn national attention to the use of dogs in animal experimentation and the legal boundaries of direct action taken to prevent animal

Four defendants have all avoided immediate custodial sentences after being convicted of Burglary, with sentences ranging from suspended custodial sentences to conditional discharges. Yesterday, following a 7-day trial at Peterborough Crown Court, four defendants were convicted of burglary after deliberation lasting approximately 5 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 t

Defendants (L-R) Ash Faulkner, Ben Thomas, Matilda Dunlop, and Michael Sykes. Second Guilty Verdict For Beagle Puppy Rescuers In Watershed Legal Case After a 7-day trial at Peterborough Crown Court, four defendants have been convicted of burglary after deliberation lasting approximately 5 hours. The trial came after they rescued 18 beagle puppies from MBR Acres, a site breeding animals for testing, in December 2022 [1]. The defendants are due to be sentenced tomorrow morning,

Defendants (From L-R): Alan Guthrie, Louisa Hillwood, Thomas Cusick, and Kat Chan. 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 offenc

This morning, an open letter signed by Chris Packham, Lush Cosmetics, several law firms, and pro-democracy groups was handed into the Home Office [1]. The open letter, addressed to the Home Secretary, called on her to withdraw a proposed Statutory Instrument that would add the Life Sciences sector to Key National Infrastructure under the Public Order Act 2023 [2]. The Home Office proposal would place animal testing facilities in the same legal category as airports, motorways,

Today, in collaboration with Animal Rising, Dame Joanna Lumley has launched an animation showing conditions inside MBR Acres and the rescue of 18 beagle puppies in 2022. MBR Acres breeds beagles for use in animal testing, primarily toxicology. Earlier this week, five individuals were convicted of burglary in relation to the 2022 rescue [1]. 13 more are due to face charges in the same case across three separate trials in early 2026. Another three are due to stand trial for a

Defendants (L-R): Lewis Elliot, Ben Newman, Hannah Hunt, Nathan McGovern, and Eben Lazarus. After a 12-day trial at Cambridge Crown Court, five defendants have been convicted of burglary after deliberation lasting approximately 3 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 first of four trials in this case, with 13 other individuals due to face charges of burglary, including