Will Young Leads Celebrity Calls for Release of ‘Love’ and ‘Libby’, Two Beagle Puppies Currently Held by Cambridgeshire Police
Two beagle puppies, Love and Libby, have been held by police since Tuesday morning when Cambridgeshire Constabulary interrupted an attempt to rescue them from a life of animal testing.
The group responsible for the rescue attempt, Animal Rebellion, successfully helped 18 more beagle puppies to freedom before handing themselves in to the police.
A number of celebrities, including Will Young, have publicly called for Love and Libby to be released to safe, loving homes in time for Christmas.
A public demonstration is planned outside Cambridgeshire Constabulary Headquarters in Huntingdon from midday today calling for their release.
At around 5:30am on Tuesday 20th December, 12 supporters of Animal Rebellion entered an animal testing breeding facility, MBR Acres, and freed 18 beagle puppies in the largest ever open animal rescue in the UK.
Local police attended the scene and an additional 2 beagle puppies were stopped on their way to freedom. A video taken outside the front gates showed the puppies wagging their tails in the back of a police car [1].
The two puppies have since been named ‘Love’ and ‘Libby’ by the public and are still held by Cambridgeshire Constabulary. A petition has been launched with over 24,000 signatures calling for their release to safe, loving homes [2].
Multiple celebrities have now spoken publicly in favour of the rescuers and called on Cambridgeshire police to free the two beagle puppies.
Singer Will Young, on his Instagram story, shared:
“Free Love and Libby. Beagle puppies captured by Cambridgeshire Police. I don’t condone illegal activity, however these dogs need to avoid being returned to being tested on or put down. Please urgently support this petition.”
The Pop Idol winner previously made headlines when he handcuffed himself to the front gate of the MBR Acres facility that is responsible for breeding around 2,000 beagles each year for use in animal testing [3].
Megan McCubbin (BBC Springwatch) said of MBR Acres: “It’s a horrific place with terrible welfare standards that you wouldn’t want any animal living in.”
Others calling on Cambridgeshire Constabulary to release Love and Libby include actor, Peter Egan (“a remarkable rescue”), and actresses Charley Webb (Debbie Dingle in Emmerdale) and Roxy Shahidi (Leyla Harding in Emmerdale).
Egan said:
“It is so deeply, deeply sad that campaigners are pushed to this degree, that they are jeopardising their own life and freedom in order to achieve a better life and freedom for these wonderful, wonderful beagles.”
A public demonstration calling for Love and Libby’s freedom is planned from midday outside Cambridgeshire Constabulary Headquarters in Huntingdon [4]
ENDS
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