March from Albany to North Rose, NY, animal rights advocates will demonstrate at Marshall BioResources HQ gates

ALFREDO AZCARATE VARELA
THE BAJA POST/EDITOR

A fourteen-day March to Abolish Animal Testing, is a groundswell campaign demanding scientific research move away from animal models, steps off September 12 in Albany and will continue marching 207 miles west to Marshall BioResources in North Rose, New York.

The march covers about 15 miles each day and will conclude with a peaceful rally at the gates of Marshall BioResources, one of the world’s largest suppliers of research animals

«The grueling pace of this march is intentional,» said Ella Magers, co-director of the March to Abolish Animal Testing. «It’s demanding, but any discomfort we experience pales next to what animals at facilities like Marshall BioResources endure, they’ve been hidden from the public for far too long, and we intend to make sure they are seen, heard, and fought for.»

The March to Abolish Animal Testing campaign leverages the animal welfare success that led to the recent closure of Ridglan Farms in Wisconsin, where more than 2 thousand beagles were rescued, after having been bred for animal testing. Marshall BioResources, is one of the world’s biggest breeders and suppliers of research animals where an estimated 16 thousand lab beagles are currently being held

Ella Magers and Gretchen Primack, both lifelong animal advocates, took the job at hand, within weeks, dozens of national coalition partners, including Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and Center for a Humane Economy, joined the campaign.

«Ridglan showed what can happen when people refuse to look away,» said Magers, who rescued her beagle, Jane, from Ridglan, where the dog had spent her entire life in a 2-by-4-foot cage. «Thousands of animals finally know life beyond a cage. Now we’re carrying that same determination to Marshall.» In addition to banning the use of dogs in US experiments, the March to Abolish Animal Testing seeks to end federal funding for animal experiments, and an end to laboratory pipeline facilities with evidence of animal cruelty like Marshall BioResources.