Animal Rising, a UK activist organization, seeks to put animal experimentation on trial and the defendants are risking up to a decade behind bars to make their case that they rescued these beagle puppies from a destiny of torture in vivisection labs. UnchainedTV is LIVE from England on key days during the course of this historic trial in Cambridgeshire, England with our reporter Claudia Penna Rojas in England and a team of expert panelists.

Is it a crime to save a life? That question now echoes through the halls of Cambridge Crown Court as the 18 animal rights activists face the possibility of spending the next decade behind bars—not for violence, but for compassion. As one defendant, Ben Newman, told police: “I rescued as many beautiful beagle puppies as I could from a life of hell.”

In 2022, this group of determined individuals from Animal Rising scaled fences and crossed into the grounds of MBR Acres, a licensed breeding facility in Cambridgeshire. Their mission was not covert. It was filmed and broadcast to the public. Wearing T-shirts that asked, “What would you do if this was your dog?” they cradled beagle puppies—bred for laboratory testing—in their arms and carried them to what they believed was freedom.

Twenty puppies were taken that day. Two were quickly captured by authorities and returned to the facility, sparking public outrage. The remaining 18 dogs vanished into a network of care and sanctuary. The activists? They turned themselves in. And now, in a trial that’s drawing international attention, they are accused of burglary. The company insists it operates legally and within government rules. They are invited on any time to comment.

But this is no ordinary burglary trial. The legal framework may hinge on whether the defendant's actions were “dishonest”—a key requirement for conviction under English law—but the moral stakes go far deeper. This is a cultural reckoning over how society views animals, activism, and the concept of property. The prosecution has declared plainly: “It may be uncomfortable for you to think of dogs as goods, but they are, in this case, goods.” It's that mentality that the defendants want to challenge, arguing sentient beings are not mere property and hoping the jury will agree.

For more information, visit: https://www.animalrising.org/trials