On December 1st, 2025, a trial begins in Cambridge, England. Five individuals, including Animal Rising leader Ben Newman, are facing serious criminal charges after participating in a dramatic and self-videotaped rescue mission inside a facility that breeds beagles for laboratory experiments. You will see the video as the daring rescue unfolds. 18 beagles were taken to safety. Two others, named Libby and Love, were recaptured by police and returned to the company, sparking widespread outrage, including celebrity posts condemning the return.

If convicted, Ben and some of his co-defendants could each face up to ten years in prison. Animal Rising says the dogs inside are confined in abominable conditions, bred solely for a life of suffering in toxicology and other painful and often deadly experiments.

Along with saving individual animals, Animal Rising is challenging the very foundations of animal experimentation in the UK. They have vowed to “put animal testing on trial,” arguing that scientific advancements offer more modern alternatives and that the overwhelming majority of animal experiments fail to produce results that help humans, meaning animal experimentation is holding back medical and scientific progress. A petition calling for the facility’s closure has gotten more than 30-thousand signatures.

The facility breeding the beagles calls the activists “extremists” and asserts its operations are compliant with UK regulations. The company is invited on any time to further offer its perspective.

Joining us now are three voices central to this story. Ben Newman, who will go on trial December 1st, Rose Patterson, Animal Rising Co-Director and Greta Fiedler, a legal coordinator who is not an employee of Animal Rising but who supports the organization. Truth Files’ Jane Velez-Mitchell hosts this episode. UnchainedTV will be bringing you LIVE coverage, from England, of key moments in the trial, starting December 1st.