World Day for Laboratory Animals - SHAC Demo

Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) are holding a national demonstration to mark World Day for Laboratory Animals.  The demo will take place from 11am on Saturday 26th April 2008 in Horsham Park, Horsham, West Sussex.  There will be a march round the town centre finishing at Novartis, a multinational drugs company and customer of Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS).  More details can be found at www.shac.net/worldday.html

Transport from Bedford/Luton:

Bedford Animal Action are organising a minibus to this demo.  Pick-up points will be in Bedford and Luton, details to be confirmed nearer the time, and tickets cost £20 each, or £10 unwaged.  Due to past experiences we are asking that all tickets be paid for in advance.  We hope that this does not cause too much inconvenience, however we have in the past lost substantial amounts of money when hiring minibuses and coaches due to people pulling out on the day, and we cannot afford to do this again.  If you would like to book a seat please send a cheque or postal order, payable to Bedford Animal Action, to the address below or bring your money to the next meeting in March.  Please remember to include your address so that we can send your ticket out to you.

Posted in Action Alerts, Events |

AstraZeneca - HLS Customer Demo

AstraZeneca, a multi-national pharmaceutical company, uses Huntingdon Life Sciences to carry out animal experiments on its behalf.  Despite assurances in the late 1990s that the company would not be using HLS, AstraZeneca have more recently been caught out.  According to inside information AstraZeneca are once again using the services of HLS to carry out animal testing.

Bedford Animal Action will be organising a demo against AstraZeneca on Friday 14th March from 11am onwards.  Please come and join us if you can.

AstraZeneca can be found at:

Horizon Place
600 Capability Green
Luton
LU1 3LU
Tel: 01582 836000
Fax: 01582 838000

For a location map of AstraZeneca visit http://www.multimap.com/maps/?hloc=GB|lu1%203lu#t=l&map=51.86608,-0.40 803|16|4&loc=GB:51.86608:-0.40803:16|lu1%203lu|LU1%203LU

Posted in Action Alerts, Events |

AstraZeneca - HLS Customer in Luton

AstraZeneca, a multi-national pharmaceutical company, uses Huntingdon Life Sciences to carry out animal experiments on its behalf.  Despite assurances in the late 1990s that the company would not be using HLS, AstraZeneca have more recently been caught out.  According to inside information AstraZeneca are once again using the services of HLS to carry out animal testing.  Please contact AstraZeneca’s office in Luton to let them know about HLS and ask them to reconsider using their services (remember to keep all communications polite):

AstraZeneca
Horizon Place
600 Capability Green
Luton
LU1 3LU
Tel: 01582 836000
Fax: 01582838000

If you are interested in joining us to protest against AstraZeneca in Luton, please get in touch as we are hoping to organise some demos in the near future.

Posted in Action Alerts |

NIRAH Director Apologises to Councillor

NIRAH Director Ronnie Murning has been forced to publicly apologise to Tony Hare, formerly a councillor on Bedford Borough Council, for comments made about him in an email.  Tony Hare recently won his legal case against Ronnie Murning, who now has to pay damages and print a public apology in both local newspapers.

The exact content of the email has not been disclosed for legal reasons however in his apology Ronnie Murning has admitted he ‘wrongly used obscene language and wrongly used obscene references to Cllr Hare’s private life’.  Cllr Hare found out about the email when Ronnie Murning inadvertently sent it to some unintended recipients.

The full report can be found on the Bedfordshire Times and Citizen wwebsite at www.bedfordtoday.co.uk/bed-news/Maverick-Hare-wins-apology-from.375389 6.jp

Posted in News |

Zoo Awareness Day - Demo at Whipsnade Zoo

(photo courtesy of CAPS)

Every year the Captive Animals Protection Society (CAPS) holds a Zoo Awareness Day to raise awareness of the suffering of animals in zoos.  This is held on Easter Monday, one of the busiest times of the year for zoos.

Bedford Animal Action will be marking this day with a demonstration outside Whipsnade Zoo.  Please come along and give your support if you can.  Leaflets and placards will be provided.

We will be meeting from 9.45am on Monday 24th March, Easter Monday, outside the main entrance of the zoo.  Directions can be found on Whipsnade Zoo’s website at http://www.zsl.org/zsl-whipsnade-zoo/planning-your-visit/how-to-find-u s,160,AR.html.

More information on Zoo Awareness Day can be found on the CAPS website at www.captiveanimals.org/zoos/zad2008.html

Posted in Action Alerts, Events |

BAA MySpace

Bedford Animal Action now has a new MySpace page:

 http://www.myspace.com/bedfordaa

 Please have a look and let us know what you think.

Posted in News |

February Meeting

The next Bedford Animal Action is scheduled for Tuesday 12th February 2008 from 7.45pm at the Phoenix pub, St John’s Street, Bedford.

Please note that this is the second Tuesday of the month, and not the first as usual.

If you have any items for discussion please email them to info@bedfordanimalaction.org for inclusion on the agenda.

Posted in Meetings |

Chimp Death at Whipsnade Zoo - Demand an Inquiry

(photo courtesy of CAPS)

Last year Whipsnade Zoo made the news when it shot one of its chimps dead after it had escaped.  Campaigners from Bedford Animal Action have been in contact with South Beds District Council, the local authority responsible for licensing the zoo, and DEFRA calling for a public enquiry into the tragedy.  It seems at present that both organisations are attempting to ‘pass the buck’ claiming that they have no authority to hold a public enquiry and that this is the responsibility of the other organisation.

Posted in Action Alerts |

NIRAH Given Government Go-Ahead

The government has recently given NIRAH the green light.  It has the power to call-in large-scale developments for further scrutiny and a final decision if there any concerns, however Bedfordshire County Council have now received a letter from the Secretary of State informing them that they are happy for the project to go ahead.  For the full report see the article in the Bedfordshire on Sunday 30th December 2007:

http://www.bedsonsunday.com/bedsonsunday-news/displayarticle.asp?id=24 4674

Posted in News |

Street Collection

Today we had a successful information stall and street collection in Bedford.  We raised a total of £66.49.  Thank you to everyone who turned out to help despite the freezing cold weather and thank you to everyone who stopped to donate.  We are hoping to have another street collection next year, but perhaps in the summer when the weather is better, so watch this space.

Posted in Events |