Bay Area March in Support of Bill to End Federal Funding of Dog and Cat Experiments

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(Credit: Direct Action Everywhere)

September 26, 2026, Emeryville, CA -- Bay Area residents rallied outside of the Novartis research facility in Emeryville and then marched through the Public Market and surrounding streets on Saturday, calling for an end to animal experimentation. With the group were several rescued lab beagles. The demonstration, which was organized by the animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), aimed to raise awareness about the COMPACT Act (H.R.10522), a bipartisan bill that was introduced on Wednesday to end federal funding for experiments on dogs and cats. If passed, it would cause a major reduction in dog and cat experimentation in the U.S., and advocates hope, pave the way to ending all animal experimentation. During the march, advocates passed out hundreds of leaflets to the public with instructions for asking their California representatives to co-sponsor the COMPACT Act.

“For years, investigators have risked their personal freedom to expose the horrors of the dog experimentation industry and rescue the animals,” said DxE Lead Organizer Almira Tanner. “People have learned how beagles are confined 24/7 in wire cages and subjected to surgeries without anesthesia, and the public is overwhelmingly against this cruelty. We are grateful that legislation is catching up to public sentiment, and we are hopeful that the COMPACT Act is the first step to ending all animal experimentation. We’re calling on our California representatives to co-sponsor this historic bill.”

In 2017, DxE investigators exposed the horrific conditions inside one of the country’s largest breeders of dogs for experimentation, Ridglan Farms in Wisconsin, which shuttered last month following nearly a decade of activist pressure. One of the rescued Ridglan beagles was in attendance at the march.

The demonstration featured numerous speakers, chanting, drums, and large, attention-grabbing banners and signs reading “Save the Dogs.” 

Novartis conducts experiments on animals, including beagles, cats, rabbits, mice, guinea pigs, sheep and pigs.

Protests against animal testing also took place in cities across the country on Saturday, including in San Diego, Massachusetts, and upstate New York. In New York, hundreds of people protested at Marshall BioResources, the last remaining major breeder of dogs for experimentation in the U.S.