The Green Hill Precedent
Senior staff at the company group behind MBR Acres have already been convicted of animal cruelty. In Italy, its beagle farm was seized and never reopened. In the UK, the group bought another.
Who is Marshall BioResources?
Marshall BioResources is a multinational corporation operating beagle breeding facilities across multiple countries. They breed dogs specifically for sale to laboratories.
Their UK operations include MBR Acres at Wyton, Cambridgeshire, and B&K Universal at Grimston, near Hull. A 2021 High Court judgment records both companies as subsidiaries of Marshall Farm Group Ltd, trading as Marshall BioResources, breeding animals for medical and clinical research.
Green Hill, in Montichiari, Brescia, Italy, was the group’s Italian beagle farm, where three senior staff were convicted of animal cruelty.
The Green Hill Case
Inside the FacilityConditions inside beagle breeding facilities. The same company convicted in Italy now operates in the UK.
Green Hill was a beagle breeding facility in Montichiari, Brescia, Italy, run by Green Hill 2001, the Italian arm of Marshall BioResources. It held around three thousand beagles destined for laboratories across Europe.
July 2012
After years of protest and complaints, Brescia prosecutors seized the facility and placed all of its beagles in the judicial custody of the Italian charities LAV and Legambiente, which found them homes.
In all, approximately 3,000 beagles were rehomed. In January 2015 the court confiscated them permanently, so not one could be returned to the company.
6,023 dog deaths were recorded at Green Hill between 2008 and 2012, according to evidence at trial.
The Convictions
On 23 January 2015 the Court of Brescia convicted three senior Green Hill staff of animal abuse and unnecessary killing of animals: executive manager Ghislane Rondot and vet Renzo Graziosi were each sentenced to 18 months, and director Roberto Bravi to 12 months, with a two-year ban from their professional activities. A fourth defendant was acquitted.
The Brescia Court of Appeal upheld the convictions on 23 February 2016, and Italy’s Court of Cassation made them final in October 2017.
Evidence presented at trial included sick dogs being killed rather than treated, some with Tanax, a euthanasia drug that causes cardiorespiratory failure, injected without prior anaesthesia.
What Changed in the UK?
2014
Italy bans breeding dogs for experiments (Legislative Decree 26/2014)
2018
Marshall's UK subsidiary takes over the Wyton beagle site (High Court record)
~2,000
Beagles reported bred each year at MBR Acres for laboratories
Italy closed the door: since 2014 its law has banned breeding dogs, cats and primates for experiments, so Green Hill can never reopen. The UK has no such ban. In January 2018, MBR Acres Ltd, a Marshall BioResources subsidiary, took over the beagle-breeding site at Wyton, Cambridgeshire, from previous owners including Harlan Laboratories. As of October 2026 it is reported to breed up to 2,000 beagles a year for sale to laboratories.
Why This Matters
This answers the “trust the regulators” argument. If regulators were sufficient, a group whose senior staff were convicted of animal cruelty in one country would face hard questions before breeding dogs in another.
The same group continues to operate in the UK, breeding thousands of beagles for laboratories every year.
The UK’s Section 58 exemption means the Animal Welfare Act 2006 does not apply to anything done in the normal course of a licensed procedure — and, unlike Italy, Britain still allows dogs to be bred for experiments.
In short
Green Hill: the questions
What was Green Hill?
What happened at Green Hill in 2012?
Who was convicted in the Green Hill case, and what were the sentences?
How many dogs died at Green Hill?
Is Green Hill connected to MBR Acres?
Can dogs still be bred for experiments in Italy?
Same Company. Same Dogs.
The group whose Italian beagle farm recorded 6,023 dog deaths is the group that owns MBR Acres today.