Animal rights campaigners protested against the
University’s plans for a new animal holding facility last
Saturday. Demonstrations throughout the week, led by SPEAK, ‘the
voice of the animals’, culminated in 150 protestors on Broad
Street issuing the University with a list of demands. These
include abandoning the £18 million building, which they believe
will lead to increases in animal testing, and the freeing of the
‘Oxford Two’, a pair of rhesus macaque monkeys who have
been in captivity for 15 years and subjected to artificially
induced brain damage. The University has dimissed both demands
claiming the number of animals tested should not increase and
that the ‘Oxford Two’ were terminated four years ago.
This claim was met with scorn by SPEAK, who have demanded
independent verification, saying the University will “have
to do better than that”. There were no arrests and the protest was described by an
eyewitness as “angry, but peaceful”. However, away from
the scene, contracters’ car tyres were slashed and paint was
poured over them.ARCHIVE: 3rd week TT 2004
Protest for the Oxford two
