Hundreds of protesters march in Oxford to oppose the new torture lab

26-7-04

50 protesters packed onto the West Midlands coach on Saturday and joined around 500 others at the first national demonstration in Oxford against the Univerties new animal torture lab. Everyone was on a real high after the fantastic news that Montpellier and RMC(builders and concrete suppliers) stopped working at the lab earlier this week! A wide selection of banners and placards had been purposely made for the demo and despite media reports about how the police would restrict the protest, the day passed off without incident and was highly effective.

Everyone gathered in Broad Street in the heart of the city and listened to a speech by SPEAK Campaign co-ordinator, Mel Broughton. Protesters then assembled behind the huge banners and began to march down the road. The noise from megaphones, horns and whistles was at times deafening!! A large number of leaflets were handed out to the general public, informing them how they can help the campaign to stop this animal hellhole being built. Some campaigners wore monkey costumes to highlight the fact that the new lab will test on our closest relatives.

The march arrived at the building site where a rally was held on the opposite side of the road. A short speech was given by the 85 year old activist, Joan Court, who a week ago held a 48 hour hunger strike outside the lab site! Another speaker was Greg Avery from SHAC, the group campaigning to close down Huntingdon Life Sciences. These speeches were fantastic and so inspirational for the crowds of people, many of whom were on their first demonstration. Media attention in the demo was brilliant, with several TV cameras and dozens of other photographers!

Mel Broughton took the megaphone again and asked everyone to turn and face the building site whilst a minutes silence was held for the 1,000`s of animals that have been tortured at the hands of Oxford University over the years. Many people were moved to tears, knowing that 1,000`s more innocent animals will suffer and die inside this new lab if it ever gets built. At the end of the minutes silence, the crowd roared in defiance and Mel called on everyone to get invlolved with SPEAK`s legal campaign to stop the lab as much as possible.

The march set off again past the building site and went a different route back to the starting point at Broad Street. The demo concluded with more speeches from Mel Broughton and Jonny from the campaign against Newchurch Guinea Pig Farm. Protesters went away still celebrating the massive victory of Montpellier and RMC pulling out but absolutely determined that if and when new companies are found to build this animal auschwitz, we will expose them and not rest until Oxford Uni scrap the project or promise to stop all animal testing in favour of state of the art research methods that will actually help medical progress.

To learn more about the campaign and how you can get involved in many different ways, please click on the SPEAK logo to the left and explore the campaign website.

BACK TO HOMEPAGE