Make Animal Testing History
June 11, 2009 – 4:00 am
Council Directive 86/609/EEC on the protection of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes, is the European legislation that regulates animal experiments. It is more than 20 years old and urgently in need of updating in order to better protect animals in laboratories and to achieve the ultimate replacement of animals with more advanced, humane alternatives. A revised law has now been proposed.
The Dr Hadwen Trust for Humane Research, together with Four Paws & Humane Society International, have launched a Europe-wide cyber march to demonstrate public support for improvements to Europe’s law on animal experiments.
To join the cyber march or to find out more information on the campaign visit www.makeanimaltestinghistory.org
Bedford Animal Action were in Bedford town centre today holding an information stall and street collection. The day went well, definitely helped by the weather. Thank you to everyone who took an interest or made a donation. If you interested in getting involved please get in touch to find out about forthcoming events or meetings or keep an eye on this website. 
Campaigners from Bedford Animal Action joined others from Northampton and surrounding areas to protest against Peter Jollys Circus continued use of animals in their circus. Demonstrations were held on the opening night near Daventry on Wednesday 20th May and on Friday 22nd May. Peter Jollys website boaststhat they are a ‘Traditonal Circus as it should be’ with over 20 different animals including llamas, camel, horses, ponies, geese, zebra, dogs, cats and an ankole bull in its acts.
On Sunday BAA members and fr
To mark today’s Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) Day of Action we first visited Barclays Bank in Luton town centre. Barclays are one of the biggest shareholders in Europe’s most exposed animal testing laboratory Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS). We visited Barclays from approximately 11.30am and had a good response from the public, handing out leaflets to customers and passers by; a couple of customers even told us that they would be closing their accounts with Barclays.
In order to defend ourselves from these accusations one campaigner attempted to video the encounter with the police. One of the police officers did not like this and tried to prevent us filming saying that we were not allowed to do this. When challenged he said that he had not given us permission to film him. It was pointed out to him that as he was in a public place we were within our rights to photograph and film him. This did not stop him from threatening and trying to seize the video camera. Eventually after being challenged further by us and being unable to justify their actions the police left and we continued to campaign outside the bank until approximately 3pm.
We then decided to pay a flying visit to Staples where we encountered an entirely different attitude from the store manager. He came out to see what was happening and, when asked if he had called the police yet, he said words to the effect of ‘No, we don’t phone the police, why should we, you are allowed to protest’. It’s just a pity that the police and staff at Barclays did not have the same attitude.
On Saturday 25th April campaigners from Bedfordshire travelled to London to join with others from across the UK and abroad to mark the World Day for Animals in Laboratories, an internationally recognised and UN sanctioned event . There was a march through the heart of the city from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square followed by speeches from Caroline Lucas (MEP and leader of the Green Party), and experienced activists and campaigners from the UK and abroad. The day was a huge success with over 2,000 people marching, handing out leaflets and generally educating the public about the plight of the millions of animals used each year for vivisection.
