Rise for Animals

Research & public recordsFOIA / open recordsAlternatives advocacyBoston, MA · NEAVS est. 1895 · Rebranded Sept 2020

1895

NEAVS founded

Oldest US anti-vivisection org

47,935+

ARLO records

USDA documents database

20+

Marshall AWA violations

Cited 2007–2019

4% vs 100%

Welch inspection disparity

Solo vs specialist violation rates

Organization Overview

Rise for Animals is the public-facing brand of the New England Anti-Vivisection Society (NEAVS), the oldest anti-vivisection organization in the United States, founded in 1895. The rebrand was announced September 24, 2020, positioning the change as “movement-facing modernization” with the launch of ARLO and an emphasis on accelerating the end of animal experimentation.

Important clarification: NEAVS is distinct from both the Chicago-based National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS, EIN 36-2229588, founded 1929) and the UK-based National Anti-Vivisection Society (founded 1875). These are three separate legal entities despite overlapping names.

Rise for Animals occupies a distinctive niche: rather than conducting undercover investigations or direct rescues, it focuses on research, documentation, and data infrastructure — turning public records into actionable analysis. The organization cites hallmark wins including helping end chimpanzee use in US research and shutting down certain “kitten-killing experiments.”

Organization Details

Leadership & Governance

Executive Director: Ed Butler (current, per IRS 990 filing)
Board President: Sarah Luick
Treasurer: Heather Courtney
At rebrand launch (2020): Nathan Herschler, Executive Director

Financials & Structure

Legal name: NEAVS d/b/a Rise for Animals
Headquarters: Boston, Massachusetts
Employees: 4 (per 2024 IRS Form 990)
FY2024 Revenue: ~$1.19M
FY2024 Expenses: ~$1.53M

ARLO: The Public Records Database

The Animal Research Laboratory Overview (ARLO) is Rise for Animals' flagship data product — a “first-of-its-kind tool” that makes USDA records searchable and downloadable for journalists, policymakers, and academics. The database hosts 47,935+ records obtained legally through FOIA and open records requests, available for free download with no registration required.

ARLO transforms the USDA's opaque regulatory record — scattered PDFs, inconsistent formatting, records requiring formal FOIA requests — into a structured, searchable database. Record types include APHIS inspection reports, APHIS enforcement actions, annual reports to APHIS, and many other compliance/oversight categories.

Facility pages bundle records with structured “lab details,” license/registration numbers, addresses, and legal-context scaffolding indicating whether state open records laws or federal FOIA applies. The Marshall BioResources entity page alone contains 64 documents.

Why This Matters

ARLO's value extends beyond individual facility research. By aggregating records across thousands of facilities, it enables comparative analysis — identifying inspector patterns, violation rates, and enforcement disparities that are invisible when examining individual reports in isolation.

Marshall BioResources Campaign

Key Finding

Rise for Animals provides the most comprehensive public documentation of Marshall BioResources' USDA compliance record. Their “Shut Down Marshall” campaign compiles fact sheets citing USDA inspection reports from 2007–2019, documenting 20+ Animal Welfare Act violations — “often involving inadequate veterinary care or poor living conditions,” including dogs “standing in their own filth in wire cages.”

Campaign Structure

Rise's Marshall work is a layered package: (a) the “Truth About Marshall BioResources / Shut Down Marshall” campaign landing page characterizing Marshall as housing ~23,000 dogs on any given day, (b) advocacy-oriented narrative reporting, (c) a dedicated fact sheet citing government inspection records, and (d) the ARLO document corpus for Marshall-related entities (64 records including APHIS inspection reports and annual reports).

Scale Documentation (Nov 2019)

Amy Meyer's November 2019 article highlighted the July 9, 2019 USDA inspection recording, in a single day, more than 23,354 dogs, 41,688 ferrets, and 2,380 pigs at Marshall's North Rose, NY facility. The article noted the inspection report is difficult to find because the company's name is redacted in government records — a transparency problem Rise's data work specifically addresses.

Petco Supply Chain Linkage

Rise documented the Petco/Marshall Pet Products connection — the same parent entity that breeds beagles for laboratories also sells ferrets and small animals through major pet retailers. They coordinated a national day of action against Petco in April 2021 and alleged (May 2021) that Petco made misleading public claims about not doing business with Marshall BioResources, arguing corporate/ownership overlap that Petco's denials obscured. A formal letter to Petco was published May 6, 2021.

Full Marshall facility profile →

“Inside Marshall” Whistleblower Series (2024)

A three-part series representing the most sustained whistleblower publication effort against a single beagle breeding facility. All installments credit Camp Beagle as the conduit for sharing whistleblower media.

Part 1: “Rare Photos Inside a Mega-Breeder”August 29, 2024

Rise connected with a former Marshall employee; Camp Beagle shared the whistleblower's photos. Documented: emotional detachment in dogs (“not interested in playing”); tattooing puppies at just a few weeks old; puppy deaths with “blood a common sight”; wire flooring causing foot injuries; cages “properly cleaned only once every two weeks”; killing of “non-standard” animals (example: a puppy with different-colored eyes); and an on-site incinerator for body disposal.

Part 2: “Disturbing New Video of Masked Beagles”September 18, 2024

New whistleblower video shared via Camp Beagle showing a beagle restrained on a short leash while being trained to wear a facial mask covering the mouth, nose, and even eyes — preparation for inhalation-style toxicology experiments.

Part 3: “Another Look Inside NY's Infamous Mega-Breeder”December 9, 2024

Additional footage including beagle puppies interacting with a gloved hand, rows of cages, and a young puppy who crawled into wet food and died. Again credited to Camp Beagle.

Full Marshall facility profile →

The Scott Welch Inspector Analysis

Key Finding

In an October 22, 2025 post, Rise for Animals published a statistical analysis of USDA inspection patterns at Ridglan Farms. Every one of 28 inspections over approximately 13 years was conducted by a single USDA Veterinary Medical Officer: Scott Welch. When Welch inspected alone (24 inspections), he found violations only 4% of the time. When USDA specialists joined (4 inspections), violations were documented 100% of the time.

By the Numbers

28 total inspections over ~13 years
25 inspections documented “no violations” (~89%)
24 solo Welch inspections: ~4% violation rate
4 inspections with specialists: 100% violation rate
All 28 prepared by the same VMO: Scott Welch

Systemic Implications

This analysis reframed the Ridglan story from individual facility failure to potential systemic regulatory capture. Rise also compared Ridglan and Marshall inspection patterns, documenting similar enforcement gaps. The work connected inspector behavior to structural limitations of USDA oversight and perceived conflicts where the animal research industry relies on accreditation bodies (like AAALAC International) and agency discretion rather than independent enforcement.

Ridglan Farms facility profile →

FOIA & Open Records Strategy

Rise for Animals explicitly describes using FOIA and state open-records mechanisms to obtain internal lab and oversight documents, then distributing them via ARLO. A 2022 post stated: FOIA “gives us the power to request all kinds of documents we think should be public records” and directed readers to discover public records through ARLO.

The 2020 rebrand press release framed ARLO as making it easier to access “exclusive records of animal abuse from inside labs.” This positions Rise as an infrastructure provider: they do the FOIA work so journalists, academics, and advocates don't have to.

Alternatives & Science Advocacy

Center for Contemporary Sciences (CCS)

Rise for Animals helped launch and continues to support the Center for Contemporary Sciences, describing CCS as a mechanism to replace animal testing via “technology and markets.” This goes beyond messaging into institution-building.

Promoted Replacement Methods

Organs-on-chips, microdosing, cell/tissue cultures, and in vitro testing — presented as non-animal, human-relevant alternatives. Rise publishes recurring “non-animal & human-relevant research news” roundups highlighting New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) and policy-driven shifts, including references to FDA modernization mandates and organoid/tooling initiatives.

Collaboration Network

Camp Beagle

Whistleblower pipeline for the 3-part Marshall series. UK protest camp provides source photos and video from inside MBR Acres/Marshall facilities.

PETA

Co-petitioned on ESA protections for macaques with US Fish & Wildlife Service. PETA's media reach amplifies Rise's data findings.

Direct Action Everywhere (DxE)

Documentation reuse — DxE investigation footage informs Rise's analytical reports and USDA comparison work at Ridglan.

Legal Partners

Animal Legal Defense Fund and Harvard Law School Animal Law & Policy Clinic collaborate on FOIA litigation and rulemaking petitions, including a long-running dispute about USDA inspection policy and primate psychological well-being standards.