Bleeding Licence

Bleeding Licence

The Home Office has granted a single project licence that covers both MBR Acres (the beagle breeding facility at Huntingdon) and its sister company, B&K Universal Limited (where ferrets, guinea pigs, rats and mice are bred in Hull). This licence allows them to put animals under procedures to:

  • harvest their organs for sale
  • drain their blood for sale by:
    • repeated partial bleeding or
    • full terminal bleeding (bleeding to death)

At MBR Acres there is a colony of beagles kept exclusively for bleeding which consists of some ex-breeders, surplus stock and those deemed unsuitable for sale, and a room dedicated to bleeding and killing dogs and puppies. The dogs in the bleeding colony may be bled up to four times a month, obtaining a maximum of 15% of their circulating blood volume, typically from the jugular vein. These dogs are kept for several years enduring absolute misery. According to inspection reports, some dogs had been bled hundreds of times.

Terminal  bleeding
Approximately 86% of the dogs in the bleeding colony are put through a procedure called terminal bleeding, in which every drop of blood is pumped out of their bodies. Then their internal organs and other body fluids suchs as bile can be extracted to be sold for experimentation. The preferred method to obtain maximum volume of blood is cardiac puncture, which literally means bleeding from the heart. The dogs are alive when the draining of blood first starts as the pumping of the heart helps to speed up the process and to avoid contamination with euthansia drugs.

Here you can read a redacted version of the project licence the Home Office has granted to MBR and B&K Universal to bleed and harvest body parts from the animals they breed.

MBR full licence was released via a FOI request in 2021. It was then renewed in 2023. Although only the Non-technical Summary was made public, it is safe to assume the licence released in 2021 remains the same as nothing has changed at MBR.






Key notes from bleeding licence:

 

Protocol 1: it is a terminal procedure as all of the dog’s blood is extracted, and therefore the  dog dies in the procedure. Bleeding is conducted under general anesthetic. On average 14 litres of dog blood were taken from about 50 dogs per year. The blood is obtained through cardiac puncture, cannulation or venepuncture of the femoral artery or cranial vena cava.

Steps in this protocol 1

1. Induction and maintenance of general anaesthesia using a route and agents suitable for species as agreed with the NVS. 

2. The level of anaesthesia will be assessed by pedal and eye reflex. 

3. The maximum blood volume will be obtained through cardiac puncture, cannulation or venepuncture of the femoral artery, cranial vena cava and or other superficial veins.

Protocol 2: bleeding is carried out on live dogs without anaesthesia. Dogs get bled around 52 times a year and they can extract up to 190 mls/month (15% of their blood volume). On average 8.3 litres of blood per year is extracted from 35 live dogs. Dogs who can’t continue to be bled alive are moved to protocol 1 and bled to death under terminal anesthesia. 

Steps in protocol 2

1. The animal will be restrained and the area surrounding the withdrawal site may be shaved to allow improved access. 

2. Local anaesthesia and or vein dilation topical creams may be applied. Blood samples will be drawn from superficial vessels using cannulas or needles. This may be repeated provided that no more than 10% blood volume is removed in any 24 hour period and no more than 15% in any 28-day period. 

3. Kept alive at the establishment for prospective reuse under this procedure. 

4. Animals may be killed or may be terminally anaesthetised and blood collected if not longer usable.

5. The withdrawal sites will be rotated and must be fully recovered from any abnormal reaction before re-use is undertaken at the same site. 

Retrospective analysis of their bleeding licence 
All project licences granted by the Home Office to used protected species (dogs, primates, horses and cats) are required to undergo a retrospective analysis which is conducted by ASRU.

A Camp Beagle supporter fought for three years to get the retrospective analysis of MBR Acres bleeding licence, and after winning a first tier tribunal dispute against the Information Commission Office and the Home Office in 2025, the retrospective review reports were obtained.

Key points from this review:

  • Beagles in the bleeding colony were bled 422 times over a five year period to draw small amounts of fresh blood without the use anaesthesia.
  • 103 beagles were bled to death under general anaesthesia – accounting for  86% of all the dogs used for bleeding.

When reading them please bear in mind that as their bleeding licence covers both MBR Acres, the beagle breeding unit, and B&K Universal where mice, rats, guinea pigs and ferrets are bred, this retrospective assessment reviews the bleeding practices taking place at both sites.

  • Retrospective review of their 5 year bleeding licence (2018 to 2023). Read More Here
  • Retrospective review for their licence 2013 to 2018. Read More Here

Note the older licence reviewed here makes reference to beagles kept at B&K Universal in Hull, as this was the case before 2017, but since then all beagle breeding takes place at MBR Acres in Huntingdon.