Animal activists move campaign to Oxford
Oxford University has become the target of a concerted campaign by animal rights activists, furious at the University's decision to construct a new 'research hotel'.
As The OxStu reported in February, the University is currently building a new £18m animal housing unit, in what it claims is an attempt to bring the animals housed in Oxford under one roof in a "programme of replacement and refurbishment". Despite originally claiming that the building would not be used for testing, Oxford has recently back-tracked, admitting that the facility, currently in construction in the South Parks Road science area, will contain laboratories for testing animals.
SPEAK, a campaigning group originally set up to fight against the proposed animal testing laboratory at Cambridge, have announced that they will be targeting the University in a bid to force them to abandon the building. Robert Cogswell, a spokesman for the group, told The OxStu: "We are not violent, as the vivisection industry would have you believe. We are here to organise peaceful protest within a legal framework."
On April 10th around 100 protesters lined Oxford's streets in a march to the science area in South Parks Road. SPEAK claim that "this is only the beginning," and are currently in the advanced stages of planning a national demonstration "with 1000 plus people, in Oxford, hopefully within the next three months". They have also called for a debate against the University at the Oxford Union, saying: "If they have nothing to fear, let us engage in public debate."
On March 30th, supplier Travis Perkins announced that it would no longer be delivering to the South Parks Road area. The RMC Group, thought to supply ready-mix concrete to the site, are next on the protesters' list. The OxStu has learned that several University staff members have been 'visited at home' by protesters, who claim not to resort to intimidation, and The OxStu understands that a motion will be tabled at Friday's OUSU council, pledging "unconditional support against campaigns of terror and intimidation directed at Oxford University students and staff." A SPEAK spokesman told The OxStu: "We're not against students; we want to cause the least amount of destruction possible for them." A University spokesperson told The OxStu: "Work on the site is continuing as normal, and we are committed to building the new biomedical research facility which will provide the very best environment for those animals used in research at Oxford."
22nd Apr 2004