![\"March](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.animals24-7.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Picsart_26-09-14_18-16-55-115-e1789435046107.jpg?ssl=1\")
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<\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ALBANY, New York\u2013\u2013<\/strong>Animal advocacy marches have historically had a history of dismal failure,\u00a0 but \u201cMarch to Abolish Animal Testing\u201d co-leaders Gretchen Primack, \u00a055,\u00a0 and Ella Magers,\u00a0 46,\u00a0 are taking a distinctly different direction.<\/p>\n The organizers of 1990 \u201cMarch for the Animals\u201d in Washington D.C. advertised that it would attract 100,000 participants.\u00a0 Instead,\u00a0 it actually drew about 20,000 participants,\u00a0 while bankrupting many of the grassroots organizations that actively backed it.<\/p>\n A 1996 sequel \u201cMarch for the Animals,\u201d\u00a0 also in Washington D.C.,\u00a0 attracted fewer than 3,000 participants.\u00a0 Much of the funding donated to organize that march was never accounted for by directors who subsequently disappeared from view within the animal cause.<\/p>\n Instead of trying to concentrate impressively large numbers of participants in one place and time,\u00a0 Primack and Magers have organized a march meant to cover an impressive distance,\u00a0 encouraging fellow animal advocates to join them for hours or days.<\/p>\n <\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n Primack and Magers intend for the \u201cMarch to Abolish Animal Testing\u201d to traverse a 207-mile route from West Capitol Park in Albany,\u00a0 in front of the New York state capitol building,\u00a0 to the Marshall BioResources headquarters in North Rose,\u00a0 New York,\u00a0 in segments of about 15 miles a day,\u00a0 during the two weeks from September 12 to September 26,\u00a0 2026.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>North Rose,\u00a0 in Wayne County,\u00a0 population 571,\u00a0 just south of Lake Ontario along New York State Route 104,\u00a0 is very nearly the ass end of nowhere.<\/p>\n The nearest city of significant size is Rochester,\u00a0 45 miles west.<\/p>\n But the Marshall BioResources facilities,\u00a0 according to federal Animal Welfare Act enforcement records,\u00a0 house nearly 16,000 beagles,\u00a0 <\/strong>2,058 cats and kittens, \u00a013,959 ferrets, \u00a0and 2,108 pigs,\u00a0 all doomed to short,\u00a0 often painful lives and frequently gruesome deaths in service of biomedical research.<\/p>\n <\/a> (<\/strong>B<\/em>eth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n Following the closure of Envigo RMS in Cumberland,\u00a0 Virginia in 2022,\u00a0 and Ridglan Farms in Blue Mounds,\u00a0 Wisconsin earlier in 2026,\u00a0 Marshall BioResources is the last major breeder of beagles for laboratory use in the United States.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (See Lab beagle breeder Envigo cops $35 million plea. Shareholder suits ahead <\/a><\/em><\/strong>and Under-the-table backroom deal frees the last of the Ridglan Farms beagles<\/a>.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The chances of assembling hundreds of people,\u00a0 or even dozens,\u00a0 to \u201cprotest on public property near the gates of Marshall\u2019s facility,\u201d\u00a0 as Primack promised would be the concluding event of the \u201cMarch to Abolish Animal Testing,\u201d\u00a0 would at a glance appear slim.<\/p>\n <\/a> Gretchen Primack.\u00a0 (Facebook photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n But the \u201cMarch to Abolish Animal Testing\u201d has a pair of wild cards going for it,\u00a0 not counting Gretchen Primack and Ella Magers themselves.<\/p>\n Primack,\u00a0 of Woodstock,\u00a0 New York,\u00a0 is a former teacher in the New York state prison system,\u00a0 previously of Silver Spring,\u00a0 Maryland.<\/p>\n Magers,\u00a0 a Miami Beach fitness coach and a 28-year vegan,\u00a0 previously lived in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.<\/p>\n All four of their past communities have been hubs of animal rights activism for nearly 50 years.<\/p>\n The \u201cMarch to Abolish Animal Testing\u201d wild cards that could prove to be aces-in-the-hole,\u00a0 however,\u00a0 are season and geography.<\/p>\n <\/a> Mules pulling textiles down the Erie Canal.<\/strong><\/em> Much of the \u201cMarch to Abolish Animal Testing\u201d route follows the Empire State Trail, running along the tow paths of the original Erie Canal.<\/p>\n Opened in 2017,\u00a0 200 years after digging the Erie Canal began,\u00a0 the 750-mile Empire State Trail is considered one of the most scenic and historic walking,\u00a0 hiking,\u00a0 bicycling,\u00a0 and jogging routes in the entire United States,\u00a0 annually enjoyed by about 9.75 million people.<\/p>\n The portions included in the \u201cMarch to Abolish Animal Testing\u201d route typically attract as many as 400,000 users during the September part of the annual fall leaf season,\u00a0 when the red oaks,\u00a0 maples,\u00a0 aspen,\u00a0 and birch trees along the Empire State Trail burst into flaming colors,\u00a0 before shedding their leaves with the onset of winter.<\/p>\n Barring cold rain,\u00a0 people will be on the Empire State Trail,\u00a0 whether or not joining the \u201cMarch to Abolish Animal Testing,\u201d\u00a0 many of whom may become \u201cfellow travelers,\u201d\u00a0 even if not normally inclined to participate in protests.<\/p>\n <\/a> Martin Luther King Jr. (left) and Dexter King, right, who played his father in the 2002 film The Rosa Parks Story.<\/strong><\/em> \u201cEchoing marches through history, \u00a0from the Salt March to Selma, \u00a0whose toll and toil inspired people across the world,\u201d\u00a0 Primack and Magers posted to the \u201cMarch to Abolish Animal Testing\u201d web site, \u00a0\u201cour aim is to have 1,000 people join us as we push for the dogs to be freed.\u201d<\/p>\n That probably will not happen in North Rose,\u00a0 but could easily happen cumulatively.<\/p>\n The comparisons to the 1930 Salt March led by Mohandas Gandhi and the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery,\u00a0 Alabama,\u00a0 in support of passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1965,\u00a0 must be considered aspirational rather than predictive.<\/p>\n The Salt March, \u00a0a 24-day, \u00a0240-mile demonstration of non-violent resistance to the British salt monopoly and tax in India,\u00a0 began with 78 volunteers trained in non-violence,\u00a0 but culminated in 60,000 arrests,\u00a0 becoming a milestone toward achieving Indian independence 17 years later.<\/p>\n The four-day,\u00a0 54-mile march from Selma to Montgomery,\u00a0 led by Martin Luther King Jr.,\u00a0 joined by 25,000 people,\u00a0 helped to push the Civil Rights Act of 1965 into law even before it finished.<\/p>\n <\/a> Ella Magers.\u00a0 (Facebook photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n Primack and Magers also mentioned the relatively obscure Monks\u2019 Walk for Peace,\u00a0 began on October 26, \u00a02025 at the H\u01b0\u01a1ng \u0110\u1ea1o Vipassana Bhavana Center in Fort Worth,\u00a0 Texas,\u00a0 concluded on February 13, \u00a02026, in Washington, D.C. with final events at the Lincoln Memorial and Washington National Cathedral.\u00a0 Fewer than two dozen people and a dog named Aloka completed that 2,300-mile trek across nine states.<\/p>\n That \u201cwas a much longer trek, \u00a0but its goals were, \u00a0while deeply valuable, \u00a0abstract,\u201d\u00a0 Primack and Magers acknowledged.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the monks are an excellent exemplar because it showed us the benefits of a multi-day action,\u201d\u00a0 Primack and Magers.\u00a0 \u201cAwareness can bloom and bloom over the course of it, \u00a0along with growing local and national and international media, \u00a0community discussion, \u00a0and responses along the way from marchers and witnesses to the march. \u00a0People who might never have considered an issue are given the opportunity to engage with it.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n Goals of the \u201cMarch to Abolish Animal Testing,\u201d\u00a0 according to Primack and Magers,\u00a0 are to \u201cEnd federal funding for animal experimentation.\u00a0 Advocate for reduced taxpayer funding of animal experiments and major investment in modern, human-relevant methods.<\/p>\n \u201cBan the use of dogs in experimentation.<\/p>\n \u201cIncrease transparency and accountability.\u00a0 Push for disclosure, \u00a0independent oversight, whistleblower protections, \u00a0and stricter enforcement\u201d of animal use in biomedical research.<\/p>\n And,\u00a0 finally,\u00a0 to \u201cShut down major breeding facilities, \u00a0such as Marshall BioResources.\u201d<\/p>\n Finished Primack and Magers on the \u201cMarch to Abolish Animal Testing\u201d website,\u00a0 \u201cWe understand that 200 miles is a tremendous commitment; that is the point. \u00a0It is an act of solidarity with animals who have endured far more.<\/p>\n <\/a> Super Hammy.\u00a0 See Lab Dog: A Beagle & His Human Investigate,\u00a0 by Melanie D.G. Kaplan<\/a>.\u00a0 (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n \u201cThe beauty of this action is that everyone can slot in exactly how they wish to. \u00a0There will be people who just come to the Albany or Marshall action, \u00a0or both. \u00a0There will be people who walk for one or four days. There will be people who go the whole route, \u00a0but just walk the first four miles of each day. \u00a0And there will be people who wake up each day and walk 15 miles, \u00a0day after day.\u201d<\/p>\n The \u201cMarch to Abolish Animal Testing\u201d began with 66 institutional endorsements from animal advocacy groups,\u00a0 including from the British organization Save the Dogs.<\/p>\n Save the Dogs,\u00a0 Primack and Magers said, \u201ccoordinated a London march in concert with the Albany kickoff, \u00a0followed by a later march to MBR Acres, \u00a0a Marshall BioResources facility in the United Kingdom, \u00a0with a final day peaceful rally planned to occur alongside the U.S. finale.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n \u201cMarch to Abolish Animal Testing\u201d endorsements also came from the two Waynes,\u00a0 Wayne Pacelle,\u00a0 president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy,\u00a0 and Wayne Hsiung,\u00a0 founder of Direct Action Everywhere,\u00a0 now blogging as The Simple Heart<\/em>.<\/p>\n Speaking in Albany at the start of the \u201cMarch to Abolish Animal Testing,\u201d\u00a0 Pacelle afterward posted to the members of both of his organizations,\u00a0 \u201cAt defining moments in our history,\u00a0 when conscience demanded a fresh look at convention, \u00a0Americans marched.<\/p>\n <\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n \u201cWhether it was for abolition, \u00a0or civil rights, \u00a0or for some other cause demanding redress of unfairness or injustice, people gathered in the community square, \u00a0collectively raised their voices and protest signs, \u00a0and demanded that we do better as a nation.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the wake of freeing the dogs at Ridglan Farms,\u201d\u00a0 Pacelle wrote,\u00a0 that fresh look at convention \u201cinevitably leads us to the front stoop of Marshall BioResources, \u00a0the undisputed giant in breeding beagles and other animals for lab use.\u201d<\/p>\n The Erie Canal,\u00a0 Pacelle recalled,\u00a0 was \u201ca ditch every reasonable person of its day called impossible to construct. \u00a0But it was dug by ordinary hands and is a marvel of human labor and ingenuity,\u201d\u00a0 opened in 1825 after eight years of construction.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not hard to imagine a day,\u201d \u00a0Pacelle suggested,\u00a0 when after centuries of effort that began around the same time,\u00a0 \u201cwe replace dogs, \u00a0cats, \u00a0and other animals with 21st-century scientific methods.\u201d<\/p>\nWhatever the 207-mile trek to Marshall Farms achieves,\u00a0 it is different<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n207-mile route to almost nowhere<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nMarshall BioResources is the last major beagle breeder for laboratories<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nWild cards<\/h2>\n
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(Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\nThe Empire State Trail<\/h2>\n
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(Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n\u201cFrom the Salt March to Selma\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n\u201cMonks are an excellent exemplar\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nGoals<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n\u201cEveryone can slot in how they wish\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nEndorsed by the two Waynes<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n\u201cDemanded that we do better\u201d<\/h2>\n