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Contact: Joe Allman, joe@directactioneverywhere.com

VIDEO: Bay Area Residents March in SF for Bill to End Federally Funded Dog, Cat Experiments

Marchers spoke outside Nancy Pelosi's Office, urging her to support the COMPACT Act

Photos & Videos
(Credit: Direct Action Everywhere)

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October 24, 2026, San Francisco, CA -- Over 70 animal advocates rallied at United Nations Plaza and marched through San Francisco today in support of the COMPACT Act (H.R.10522), a bipartisan bill introduced in September that would end federal funding for experiments on dogs and cats. The march was part of a weekend of action, where 17 cities across the nation protested against animal experimentation.

The demonstration was organized by the animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), with support from Beagle Freedom Project, Muttville Senior Dog Rescue, Northern California Beagle Rescue, and Rocket Dog Rescue. Speakers at the rally included Sherri Franklin, founder of Muttville Senior Dog Rescue; Zoe Rosenberg, DxE animal cruelty investigator; Alexis Deneau with Northern California Beagle Rescue; and Rebekah Robinson, political director of the Save the Dogs Coalition, which is leading the push for the COMPACT Act. 

"I have seen the fallout firsthand. The ones that make it out are traumatized to varying degrees for life," said Alexis Deneau, a volunteer foster with Northern California Beagle Rescue, who spoke at the rally. "They have chronic PTSD that they never fully recover from... They just never fully decompress."

The march made a stop outside the Speaker Nancy Pelosi Federal Building, where constituents who have been contacting Rep. Pelosi's office urged her to co-sponsor the COMPACT Act. Cynthia Perry told the crowd Pelosi’s office recently agreed to meet next week to discuss the bill.

In 2017, DxE investigators exposed conditions inside one of the country's largest breeders of dogs for experimentation, Ridglan Farms in Wisconsin, which shut down in August following nearly a decade of activist pressure. 

If passed, the COMPACT Act would cause a major reduction in dog and cat experimentation in the U.S. Advocates hope it will pave the way to ending all animal experimentation. As of this week, the bill has 18 co-sponsors from both parties, including two of California's 52 representatives, Reps. Young Kim and Lou Correa. On Wednesday, Rep. Ro Khanna said he will join them: asked about the bill by DxE investigator Zoe Rosenberg at a Students for Solidarity event at UC Berkeley, he said "Absolutely. I will co-sponsor it."

"This is how we move legislators from caring about dogs and cats to caring about all animals," said Rebekah Robinson, the political director of Save the Dogs at the rally. "It's not the finish line, but we are getting there."

"About 27 years ago, I was on the Animal Control and Welfare Commission here in the city of San Francisco, pushing for a fur ban, and I had every single door at City Hall shut in my face. They laughed at me,” said Sherri Franklin, the founder of Muttville Senior Dog Rescue, which has rescued over 10,000 dogs. “Today, fur is banned here in San Francisco…And today, doors are opening in those same areas, and things are changing rapidly, daily."

Investigators with Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) enter farms, slaughterhouses, and other facilities to document abuses and rescue sick and injured animals. DxE’s investigatory work has been featured in The New York Times, WIRED, and Vox. DxE activists have been subjected to FBI raids and felony prosecutions for their investigative work. In 2022, DxE activists won the first-ever acquittal in an open rescue case. Visit DxE on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and at directactioneverywhere.com.