u/vegandogrunner

There are dogs being tested on right now at a facility just 20 minutes from my home in Sterling, Massachusetts.

I started a petition asking Charles River Laboratories' new CEO Birgit Girshick to do something extraordinary: end all dog and cat experiments immediately, and commit the company to phasing out all animal testing by the end of 2026. The science has already moved on. Organ-on-a-chip technology, AI modeling, organoids—these aren't dreams anymore. They're validated, they work better than animal models, and the FDA Modernization Act 2.0 opened the legal door. The only question is whether Charles River will lead or get left behind.

This doesn't have to mean lost jobs. The people caring for research animals today could become the technicians running the most advanced testing platforms on earth. Worcester could become a center for the scientific revolution we're already living in.

But start with the dogs at 55–57 Union Street in Worcester. Adopt them out today. Sever ties with the breeding suppliers. Then carry that model to every Charles River facility worldwide. One leader willing to make history—that's all it takes.

If this resonates, consider signing and sharing.

Thank you, see you on the 30th!

Chip

https://c.org/L9qSfymZzm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Steve 'Chip' Brown

Email: vegan.dog.runner@gmail.com

On May 30th, animal rights advocates will hold the first in a series of peaceful protests outside a Charles River Laboratories animal testing research facility located at 55 Union Street in downtown Worcester, from noon-4. 

The protestors will be calling on the company to end canine experimentation at the facility and comply with the Massachusetts Beagle Bill (MGL c. 140 § 174D½), which requires research dogs to be offered for adoption rather than killed when no longer needed for experiments.

Charles River Laboratories — the world's largest contract animal research organization — operates active canine research laboratories occupying multiple floors at 55 Union Street. The company's own website advertises "large colonies ready for study starts" and "in vivo" drug testing services at this address.

In vivo testing means live animals are dosed with pharmaceutical compounds, monitored, and killed so their organs can be examined.

Charles River is a documented buyer of beagles from Marshall BioResources, the nation's largest commercial beagle breeding facility, which has accumulated more than 20 federal Animal Welfare Act violations since 2007. The supply chain is established: Marshall breeds them, Charles River buys them, pharmaceutical companies pay for the studies, and the dogs are killed.

Massachusetts law prohibits exactly this outcome. The Beagle Bill, signed into law in 2022, requires research facilities to offer healthy dogs for adoption once their research use ends. Charles River circumvents this requirement by mandating necropsy — requiring that all dogs be killed and dissected at study's end — thereby eliminating any legal obligation to offer them for adoption. The spirit and intent of Massachusetts law is being systematically exploited by one of the most profitable contract research organizations in the world, operating in plain sight in downtown Worcester.

Charles River is currently under civil and criminal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for violations of federal monkey importation laws. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is separately investigating the company for misleading shareholders about its animal supply chain. The FDA has announced a plan to phase out animal testing requirements, calling animal models an unreliable predictor of human outcomes — with more than 90 percent of drugs that pass animal studies failing in human clinical trials.

The science is broken. The law is being ignored. The dogs are dying. And most Worcester residents have no idea any of it is happening twenty feet below street level at a downtown address they pass every day.

That ends now.

Advocates are calling on Charles River Laboratories to immediately cease canine experimentation at the Worcester facility, adopt out all current research dogs to approved rescue organizations, and end its commercial relationship with Marshall BioResources.

Dog lovers, animal welfare advocates, members of the press and all groups or organizations opposing animal testing are invited to join the protest and campaign.

All individuals are welcome. Bring a sign or just bring your voice as we come together to raise community awareness about this urgent issue. 

Date: Saturday, 5/30

Time: Noon-4 

Location: 55 Union Street, Worcester, Mass.

Public Protest of Beagle, Monkey and other live animal research (vivisection) being done by Charles River Laboratories and Biomere.

WHERE: 55-57 Union Street in Worcester, Massachusetts.

WHEN: May 30th, noon-4

WHY: To try to free some beagles and raise awareness this is happening in downtown Worcester.

Bring your own sign if you can or just show up!!

Sign ideas : Stop Animal Testing, Ban Animal Testing Now, Invest in NAMs, Adopt The Beagles, Free The Beagles, Free The Animals or whatever you want!

Posters with animals on them encouraged, my signs will mostly be of the beagles so I would love the other animals to be represented as well!

Email me at vegan.dog.runner@gmail.com with any questions, especially if you are a former or current worker at CRL or Biomere.

Ga·vage (gə-VÄZH) — noun

The forced introduction of substances into the stomach via a tube inserted through the mouth or nose, bypassing the animal's ability to refuse. In laboratory research, beagles and other animals are restrained while chemicals, drugs, or pesticides are pumped directly into their stomachs — typically daily, over weeks or months — then killed and dissected at the study's end.

Also used in foie gras production.

Etymology: From French gaver — "to stuff, to gorge" — rooted in Old French gave, meaning "throat." The word entered medical use in 1874, coined to describe a French doctor's technique for feeding premature infants who could not suckle.

How sad that something that was started with good intentions is used for such ill purposes now.

Here is my letter to the editor submission to the Worcester Telegram and Gazette about beagle vivisection being done at 55-57 Union Street in Worcester, Massachusetts, less than 20 miles from my house.

I hope they print it. I really think the public has a right to know if these companies are following state law.

I'll be holding a protest here on the 30th, hope y'all can join me. This place is like a 5 minute walk from the courthouse or Paladium and as you can see there is a lovely big sidewalk out front to peacefully gather outside to raise awareness.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Right now, two companies who test on animals - Charles River and Biomere - hold APHIS registrations at 55 Union Street.

Biomere holds APHIS registration No. 14-R-0192 and Charles River holds registration No. 14-R-0144, both currently active.

Charles River's own marketing materials for this facility advertise canine research capabilities and available dog colonies.

I have a question for Charles River & Biomere, and I'm asking it publicly because they won't provide me the answer and I can't find it anywhere: are you complying with Massachusetts law?

In 2022, Governor Baker signed the Beagle Bill into law. It is now a legal requirement in this Commonwealth that any dog deemed healthy and suitable for adoption, after its research use has ended, must be offered to a shelter, rescue organization, or private adopter — rather than euthanized. The law has been in effect for nearly four years.

I can find no evidence that either company has adopted out a single dog in that four years. No public disclosure. No partnership with a rescue organization. Nothing.

So I am asking Biomere & Charles River directly: How many beagles are currently housed at 55-57 Union Street? How many dogs have you adopted out since August 2022? What is your adoption plan — and will you share it publicly? And for any experiment currently underway, have you considered whether a non-animal alternative could achieve the same result?

Worcester deserves answers. These animals are our neighbors too.

Steve 'Chip' Brown

We came, we saw, we got our asses kicked. But now the beagles are being freed and sooner than people think animal testing will be a thing of the past.

🆘 PROTEST ANNOUNCEMENT 🆘

WHEN:

Saturday May 30th, noon-4

WHERE:

55-57 Union Street, Worcester, Mass.

WHY:

Biomere and Charles River Laboratories are performing vivisection experiments on beagles and other animals right inside this downtown building in the heart of Worcester.

PURPOSE:

Well, ultimately... I want to get the beagles out of that place, ensure their transition to safe homes and ask this facility to immediately cease all beagle vivisection research permanently.

To do so we must first make the community aware that this is even happening

And before anyone accuses me of forgetting about the other animals.. I am USING the beagles to draw attention to all animals, and hopefully save the lives of some animals along the way.. it is called strategy and if you don't like it, that is fine by me.

Anyone is welcome to attend the protest and bring a sign or speak about any animal you want.. most of my posters are of beagles so I actually encourage this.

We will peacefully and educationally encourage passerby to buy cruelty free as well as pressure local politicians and community leaders to CUT all public funding to labs that use animal testing until they transition to more humane testing.

HOW:

Just show up!!! I will have informational flyers and about 5 or 6 signs, but I definitely encourage people to bring their own signs.

Protest will start at noon and go until 4 but you can come for however long you want.

DM me or email me at vegan.dog.runner@gmail.com with any questions and please be patient as I figure out all the details.

PLEASE come use your voice to speak up for the beagles in Worcester, Massachusetts on May 30th! Thank you!!!

PLEASE SAVE, SHARE AND REPOST THIS EVERYWHERE

#beaglevivisection #dogsofmassachusetts #vivisection #worcestermass #massachusettsdogs