Hundreds march in Oxford to oppose new torture lab

On Saturday 29 January 2005, SPEAK Campaigns held their second national march and rally against Oxford Uni`s new animal lab that is still in the process of being built.

posted  12-2-05

Once again, WMAA organised a coach to Oxford and filled it with ease! So many people wanted to go from the West Midlands, that a minibus and several car loads were filled aswell. When we arrived at the coach park, we met up with the coach from Liverpool and Manchester. None of us knew Oxford particularly well but we set about finding our way to the meeting point on Broad Street. We ended up marching through the busy streets, with our banners aloft and chanting `Stop the Oxford Animal Lab`!! We arrived at the demo meeting point and the crowd already there roared as we marched towards them!

The crowd on Broad Street swelled to at least 600 people! It was great to meet up once again with compassionate people, literally from all over the UK. Many of them were good friends we had known for years but there were an equal amount of new young faces, which was great to see. Mel Broughton(pictured) gave an inspirational speech about the campaign so far. He reminded us that the lab building site had lay silent for the last 6 months, with no work taking place whatsoever!! He also reminded us that Oxford Uni had pledged that work would restart soon and that they were still intent on completing the project by the end of 2005!!

With our array of banners and placards, a noisy march set off round the city streets, but unlike July`s national, a far better route had been negotiated with the police! Many hundreds of shoppers and tourists saw and heard us as we poured down the packed streets. They were left in no doubt of why we were there or of our determination to continue this battle until the whole project is shelved and the money is instead invested in state of the art scientific research that does not involve the torture and murder of innocent animals. As we walked down South Parks Road, the huge half built lab(see picture) was heavily protected by police officers, some of them even on horse back!

The march came to a standstill and everyone gathered opposite the building site to listen to more speeches. Veteran campaigner Gail Record(pictured) gave a short but excellent speech. Gail is severly disabled but she has never let this minor detail get in the way of her determination to stop animal cruelty. She is 100% committed to the cause, no matter what obstacles the authorities throw in her path! Next up was Andre Menache, Animal Aid`s scientific consultant. For those that were not already aware, he spoke of the huge weight of scientific evidence that backs up all our campaigning - the proof that animal testing is dangerously misleading and delays medical progress.

Everyone turned towards the half built death camp and a minutes silence was held whilst we contemplated the horrific cruelty that would take place inside, if we don`t fight hard to stop it going ahead. The march restarted and we headed back towards the starting point on Broad Street. Police vehicles lined up to ensure the march remained on the arranged route. Protesters at the rear of the march attracted unwanted attention from the police when it became clear to them that if they didn`t start something, the march would be entirely peaceful. Despite their attempts to start trouble, the march remained peaceful and there were no arrests.

Back on Broad Street, Mel Broughton of the SPEAK Campaign spoke once more. He asked us to stay focused and to support the weekly demos at the site whenever possible. He reminded us once again that Oxford Uni and the government were making arrangements to continue the construction work, and he spoke of our duty as compassionate human beings - to protect all those that they seek to torture, maim and kill. Click on the campaign logo below to go to the campaign website where you can learn many ways to help.

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