Bedford Animal Action

Bobby Roberts Circus at Huntingdon Racecourse

(photo courtesy of CAPS) 

Bobby Roberts circus is visiting Huntingdon Racecourse near Brampton in Cambridgshire next week and campaigners from the area are hoping to organise demos to protest against their continued use of animals.  If you can help please get in touch and let us know which dates and times you can make.  Demos are being planned to coincide with the following performances:

Wednesday 26th March – 7pm
Thursday 27th March - 2.30pm and 7pm
Friday 28th March - 2.30pm and 7pm
Saturday 29th March - 2.30pm and 5pm
Sunday 30th March - 2.30pm

Please note that the Wednesday demo is definite but other demos will be subject to people being available.

For a map of Huntingdon Racecourse visit http://www.aboutbritain.com/maps/huntingdonracecourse-map.asp

More information on circus cruelty can be found at the Captive Animals Protection Society website at www.captiveanimals.org/circuses/index.htm.

Posted in Action Alerts, Events |

Demo Report - AstraZeneca and Staples in Luton

On Friday 14^th March a small group of campaigners from Bedford Animal Action visited AstraZeneca’s premises at Capability Green Industrial Park in Luton.  They didn’t seem to appreciate our presence as most office blinds were drawn from the moment we arrived.  It would appear that the police didn’t like us being there either and decided we had to leave less than an hour after we had arrived.  This was despite the fact that we had previously been in contact with them regarding the demo.  Despite this we were able to protest for about an hour with banners, placards and megaphones and were hopefully successful in alerting their neighbours to their involvement with HLS.  The industrial park was fairly quiet, however some passing workers and motorists showed their support for us, even if AstraZeneca decided to turn a blind eye to the truth about HLS.

As the demo had been cut short we decided to move on to Staples in Luton town centre and proceeded to hand out leaflets to customers.  However our efforts were once again cut short as the police took offence to our perfectly legal and peaceful protest and gave us 15 minutes to leave or face arrest.  We had previously managed to have a conversation with the store manager who informed us that he would be contacting head office to let them know we had been there.  He was a bit more vague though on his own views, claiming that he was ‘just a cog’.  We are sure however that many customers and employees would be horrified to learn of Staples involvement with HLS, if only we had been given a fair chance to let them know.

Both AstraZeneca and Staples appear desperate to hide the truth about their involvement with HLS as evidenced by the aggressive tactics of the police. We will not give in however and they can be rest assured we will be back in Luton in the future.

The Hearld and Post local newspaper covered the demo, their report can be seen at http://www.lutontoday.co.uk/lut-news/Animal-rights-group-holds-Luton.3 887025.jp.

More photos from the demo can be viewed in our photo gallery.

Posted in News |

Bobby Roberts Circus - Complain to Council

Local campaigners have been in touch with council officials regarding the circus as it is taking place on council land.  Northampton Borough Council has apparently banned circuses using animals from its land and this ban has been in force for approximately 20 years.

When questioned a council employee explained that the circus had been allowed on the land as it was not using any animals in its performance.  She stated that the animals present were just ‘travelling’ with the circus as this is what they do, they would get lonely otherwise and it wouldn’t be fair on them to leave them behind.  Animals present at the site so far are Anne, the 55 year old elephant who has caused much controversy in the media in recent years, and an unspecified number of horses.

Despite her age and health concerns, Anne the elephant is not being allowed to retire.  Although she apparently no longer performs in the ring, she is still forced to travel throughout the country with the circus, who claim that she enjoys this, and has appeared in TV adverts and publicity stunts.  According to the council the RSPCA visited the circus in Northampton yesterday and said that Anne was lame, however they are apparently happy with the situation as she is said to be receiving veterinary treatment for her condition.

Please contact Northampton Borough Council to complain about the fact that they have allowed an animal circus to use their land despite a well-established ban on animal circuses.  You may also wish to raise concerns about the welfare of the animals, and Anne in particular. 

Northampton Borough Council can be contacted as follows:

The Guildhall
St Giles Square
Northampton
NN1 1DE
Tel: 01604 837837
Email: enquiries@northampton.gov.uk

Please also contact the Leader of the Council, Cllr Anthony Woods:

Email: cllr.awoods@northampton.gov.uk
Tel: 01604 714431

Contact details for other local Councillors can be found at http://www.northamptonboroughcouncil.com/councillors/mgCommitteeMailin gList.asp?EM=0&ID=0&J=8

More information on circuses can be found on the Captive Animals’ Protection Society (CAPS) website at www.captiveanimals.org.

Posted in Action Alerts, News |

Bobby Roberts Circus in Northampton

(photo courtesy of CAPS)

Bobby Roberts circus is visiting Northampton over the Easter weekend and we are hoping to organise demos to protest against their continued use of animals.  If you can join us please get in touch and let us know which dates and times you can make.  Demos are being planned as follows:

Friday 21^st March (Good Friday) – 1.30pm to 2.30pm and 4pm to 5pm
Saturday 22^nd March - 1.30pm to 2.30pm and 4pm to 5pm
Sunday 23^rd March (Easter Sunday) - 1.30pm to 2.30pm and 4pm to 5pm

The location is Midsummer Meadow, just off Bedford Road (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?num=100&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a &rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=Qcb&resnum=0&q=midsummer+meadow+nor thampton&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl)

More information on circus cruelty can be found at the Captive Animals Protection Society website at www.captiveanimals.org/circuses/index.htm.

Posted in Action Alerts |

Petition to Stop Cull of Grey Squirrels

A petition has been set up by Ark Wildlife Hospital in Milton Keynes to call for an end to the culling of Grey Squirrels in Cumbria and Northumberland.  The grey squirrel has become the unfortunate scapegoat for the demise of British woodlands, songbirds and red squirrels, conveniently allowing the Government to ignore the real issues.  Nearly all problems adversely affecting the environment and wildlife are man-made for example pollution, hunting and loss of habitat to make way for new roads or developments.

Ark Wildlife Hospital have written a report ‘In Defence of the Grey Squirrel’ which you can view here.

Please sign the Downing Street petition which can be found at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Grey-Squirrels/

Posted in Action Alerts |

March Meeting

The next Bedford Animal Action is scheduled for Tuesday 11th March 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 |

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 |