Posted on 02/16/2006 8:23:14 AM PST by moatilliatta
Students are mobilising for the first ever demonstration in support of Oxford’s animal lab
STUDENTS are organising the first ever demonstration in support of Oxford’s new animal research facility. The pro-lab movement is being spearheaded by a 16-year-old A-level student from Swindon, who calls himself Laurie.
Extensive preparations are already underway for the demonstration, which will be held on 25 February, to coincide with Speak’s next monthly protest. The march is being organised by Laurie’s newly formed pressure group called Pro-Test.
The group’s website, which has been receiving over 300 hits an hour since it went online on Monday, suggests that demonstrators wear white lab coats to show their support for the scientific community. Pro-Test quickly attracted attention from students. One finalist, who asked not to be named, has been working closely with Laurie. She said she hopes the march will “get people involved and promote scientists’ right to work without fear of harassment or intimidation.”
She added, “I think peaceful demonstrations are a valuable form of political action but they tend to be used by extreme groups too often. I envisage this as trying to reclaim that for Oxford students.” Mel Broughton, co-founder of Speak, said that his organisation recognises Pro-Test’s right to organise a demonstration but believes it will be “no threat” to Speak, who he claims have a majority of public support. Broughton added, “I hope he’ll be subjected to the same kind of policing we are.”
Pro-Test have been discussion with Thames Valley Police but plans for the march are yet to be finalised. Rachel McQuilliam, a spokesperson for the Police said, “This event will be policed to ensure it passes off safely and with the minimum disruption to the rest of Oxford. The number of resources used to achieve this will depend upon several factors, such as the number of protestors, other events occurring on the same day, and will be allocated as part of a detailed planning process.”
Pro-Test said they were optimistic about turn out for the march, “I hope that everyone who wants to have a say in a peaceful way will turn up. I suspect that might be quite a few, but it depends on the day.” Laurie added, “From the comments on my blog, the student reaction seems very positive.”
Laurie first had the idea for Pro-Test after visiting friends in Oxford last Saturday, the day of a large animal rights protest. When he saw Speak protesters he began shouting, “Build the Oxford animal lab,” in response to their chant of, “Stop the Oxford animal lab.” Later in the day Laurie produced a simple banner that read, “Support progress - build the Oxford lab,” using it to conduct a silent protest opposite Speak supporters.
Jon Foulds, a second year Classicist at St John’s, stopped to show solidarity with Laurie’s demonstration. He said that some animal rights protesters had reacted violently to Laurie’s protest, ripping his sign apart. “The protesters want to give the animals a voice in public, but when a tiny group tries to speak up for the scientists, they are the victim of abuse and physical violence,” he said.
Laurie was confronted by protesters throughout the afternoon, one man demanding to know whether Laurie would “torture his dog”. Laurie described the protesters as “an unruly rabble” but he added that, “Some protesters tried to engage in intelligent debate with me.”
Laurie’s fellow demonstrator Caitlin, said, “We got quite a lot of support but a lot of people did go past swearing angrily.”
A University spokesperson said, “We know that very many people are supportive of the potentially life-saving work carried out in research establishments, such as Oxford. However, the actions of a minority of animal rights protesters makes it increasingly difficult for people to air their views because of concerns about harassment, intimidation or threats of violence.”
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