14 arrests after protest group 'frees' 18 dogs from beagle breeding facility near Peterborough

Fourteen people have been arrested in connection with an incident police have described as a burglary at MBR Acres in Sawtry Way, Wyton on Tuesday (December 20).

The controversial site is used as a breeding facility for beagles used in laboratory research and ever since July 2021 protestors have set up ‘Camp Beagle’ outside of its gates in protest.

Cambridgeshire Police have regularly attended the site since then.

On this occasion, police were called at just before 6am to reports of a break-in and a group of protestors at the front gates.

Police have confirmed that 18 dogs were taken from the facility and have not been recovered.

The group has confirmed that 12 of its supporters entered the site at around 5:30am on Tuesday to free the dogs and captured footage of the conditions they were being kept in.

Pictures released by the group show the dogs being passed over the top of the cages inside the facility.

All those arrested were interviewed in connection with burglary and aggravated trespass.

Two men - a 20-year-old of no known address and a 19-year-old from Islington, London - were released on conditional bail until February 21.

Six people - a 29-year-old man from Sheffield, a 23-year-old man from York, a 28-year-old woman from Dalston, London, a 23-year-old woman of no known address, a 22-year-old man of no known address, and a 21-year-old woman from Glasgow – were released on conditional bail until February 28.

Six people - a 33-year-old woman, of no known address, a 23-year-old man from North London, a 32-year-old man from Hackney, London, a 54-year-old man from Stalybridge, Greater Manchester, a 30-year-old woman from Worcester, and a 20-year-old woman of no known address – were released on conditional bail until March 1.

Police remained on the scene for several hours after the incident.

A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Police said: “Police aim to ensure staff at the site can go about their lawful work, while protestors are able to express their views peacefully and safely, within the law.”

A petition for their release has collected over 17000 signatures in less than a day.

In a statement given to Press Association, MBR Acres said it is “a fully licensed establishment and a lawful breeder of beagle dogs that are specially bred for human and animal research in an environment compliant with our licenses”.

“Dogs bred for research need careful rehabilitation not to be harmed by a sudden change to their environment.”