This Is Why Nearly 50,000 People Have Just Written a Letter to Theresa May

Today, we delivered an open letter, signed by almost 50,000 compassionate people, to the Home Office asking Home Secretary Theresa May not to grant a licence to a breeding centre that could send over a thousand dogs a year to laboratories for terrifying experiments.

RT if you agree with these protesters that breeding dogs to be sent off to laboratories is WRONG #EndAnimalTesting pic.twitter.com/Xl0N3xBRdD

— PETA UK (@PETAUK) June 10, 2016

When the American-owned company B&K Universal originally applied for planning permission to build the breeding facility in Grimston, near Hull, it was roundly rejected by the local council. But in terrible news for dogs, that decision was overturned by central government officials. Now, the Home Secretary is the only person who can stop this, by withholding a licence to breed animals.

If this breeding centre is built, mother dogs would be permanently confined to a sterile, windowless prison and forced to churn out litter after litter of puppies every year. When needed, these puppies would be shipped off to another unnatural environment – a laboratory. There, they could endure painful procedures such as being forced to inhale high concentrations of pesticides, being given heart attacks and being exposed to toxic chemicals, after which they would be killed and dissected.

In fact, because the proposed facility doesn’t even include any outside runs for the dogs – contrary to EU recommendations – Cruelty Free International took the Home Office to court, questioning why this facility was granted an exemption from the requirement to provide outdoor runs.

Disgracefully, the Home Office stated that the beagles – members of an active, playful and inquisitive breed – do not need to be provided with outdoor runs, and the London High Court has just declared that this exemption was made on lawful grounds, even though the law requires outdoor runs whenever possible.

All dogs should have the chance to see, smell and experience the outside world. The justification for denying them this basic right is deeply flawed, and we’ve written a detailed letter to the Home Office to that effect. Dogs who are denied access to the outdoors frequently suffer from problems such as canine compulsive disorder, which includes behaviour such as spinning, self-mutilation and repetitive grooming. Beagles should be allowed to express their personalities and behave like dogs – not treated like walking test tubes by experimenters.

In addition, if this appalling breeding centre is allowed to go ahead, it could pave the way for more facilities like this to be granted licences in the UK – and we simply can’t allow that.

Thank you to everyone who has spoken out against this cruelty. We’ll keep you posted on what’s happening next in the campaign and how you can help.