In a live web chat on the Channel 4 website last night, long-time animal rights activist John Curtin said he wanted a gentler world, based on love and compassion. But he implied, without actually saying it directly, that he is determined to use violence, intimidation and harassment if necessary to achieve it. How big a contradiction does there have to be for John to start to notice?

John also said that he doesn’t agree with other groups like anti-abortionists and Islamic jihadists, just acting on their beliefs. So it’s only the animal rights extremists then John? Thank you for clarifying that. How thoughtful.

Oh no, the protesters are here again!

Again the Science area of Oxford University is flooded with protesters, police and a lot of facemasks and video cameras. Why does this minority feel it has to cause such a fuss over something it simply don’t understand?

Of course I can’t answer that, but how about regulating the sale of megaphones so that people would have to do an IQ test before purchase? At least we would not have to endure the stream of drivel and ‘facts’ at high volume. Why do we need to hear about the 5-week-old kittens that Oxford University apparently “murdered” in 2002? Something uninteresting and irrelevant does not gain relevance by increasing the volume.

Animal rights activist Anita Kumar found herself in what might have been the tricky situation of defending PETA’s record on killing stray cats and dogs on a radio interview this morning for BBC Wales. No problem actually. “There’s a massive overpopulation of cats and dogs” she responded, and euthanazing them is the “only humane thing to do”.

So watch out cats and dogs. Fanatical and ruthless animal rights group PETA are on your tail!

Now here’s a proposition. We have yet to meet anyone from PETA who knows anything about science or research. So why doesn’t PETA let us get on with the genuinely humane task of saving people’s lives - through high quality medical research, a small but vital part of which involves the use of animals. In the meantime, PETA can get on with what it knows best - killing stray animals!

The Junk Medicine column in Saturday’s Times took a thorough look at the claims in a leaflet by Europeans for Medical Progress, that was censured last week by the Advertising Standards Authority. Science journalist Mark Henderson called EMP leaflet “an outlandish example of dubious hyperbole masquerading as scientific fact”. He continues with a good explanation of why animal research cannot be blamed for drug side effects. 

I’d be interested to know what has prompted the toning down of SPEAK’s latest suggestion that their members phone up to complain about an Oxford University department Christmas party.

Recently, SPEAK have incited two of these phone-ins.  The first was aggressive and self-aggrandising:

SPEAK has insisted from the outset of this campaign that we plan to highlight exactly the sort of people that work inside the animal labs at Oxford. We believe that those companies dealing with such people have a right to know exactly who they are doing business with in order for them to make an informed decision. Animal abuse at the university exists because of the lies told by those that work in those departments torturing animals and animal abuse will continue as long as such people are allowed to peddle their lies. SPEAK will never allow those lies to go unchallenged despite the best attempts by Oxford University to muzzle us in the Courts.

We also said: nothing Oxford University does will escape our attention and we meant it!

SPEAK

Like science, maths (or math to our US friends) doesn’t appear to be a strong suit for antivivisectionists. A letter in today’s Guardian from Adolfo Sansolini of the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection just doesn’t add up.

He implies that polls show decreasing support for animal research. He bases his conclusion on the following poll results:

1995 Harris poll “Is it all right to use animals in experiments to test new drugs?” 40% said yes
2001 ICM poll “Do you support or oppose the use of animals in scientific testing of new medicines for human consumption?” 46% agreed
2005 ICM poll “Do you agree or disagree with the use of animals in experiments to test new medicines?” 50% agreed

There are dangers in comparing apples with oranges, but this looks like increasing support to me.

We get some absurd emails at RDS. Here is a recent example, unedited. Perhaps he believes in a flat earth as well?

Dear All at RDS
Thank-you for confirming my suspicions; Your promotional film on CH4 next week proves you are worried that the public is becoming increasingly aware of the truth behind vivisection. (I note there is not one scientist invited to speak against vivisection just an animal rights protester, very balanced!!) Imagine if the scientific AV movement decided to do a similar TV prog.!!!!

If you’re curious to know how the shrimp’s ‘rocking dance’ has forwarded scientific knowledge, then check out RDS’ new leaflet An A to Z of laboratory animals.

It describes some of the common, and not so common, animals used in research and gives these unsung heroes credit for their participation in bio-medical discoveries.

The leaflet can also be downloaded so that you can show all your friends!

A question put to RDS today by a radio station is whether there can be a campaign to save the dog which is going to be killed on a Channel 4 programme next week. Unfortunately for those animal rights groups, sensing an emotive campaign, the programme was pre-recorded. So the answer is no.

In any case, it doesn’t make sense. Every day more than 20 dogs are killed by local authorities because they have no home. From July 1998 until the end of 2004, the leading animal rights organization PETA has been accused of killing over 12,400 dogs, cats, and other (unwanted) “companion animals” at its Norfolk, Virginia headquarters. Additionally, every day over 1,500 animals are killed for us to eat as meat in the UK.

Dogs represent less than 1 in 500 animals used in research, but the medical benefits are enormous. Only today in the prestigious journal Nature we have the announcement that scientists have deciphered canine DNA. This will give insights into many human and dog diseases and may lead to new treatments and cures for the future.

Back to our fanatical friends at the deceptively named ‘Europeans for Medical Progress’. Their response to today’s ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority was quoted in The Guardian as a claim that RDS “fear us”. Well – we are quaking in our boots! Strange to see no news of this announcement so far on their website. They are normally so eager to expose what they call the ‘real evidence’.

The building has started! It’s amazingly menacing; police everywhere, security and builders with balaclavas, an extra few feet on the fence surrounding the building site, behind which you can hear the sweet sounds of construction. And of course the token handful of protesters.

I work near the new Oxford Animal Laboratory and am absolutely delighted that it is back on.

Today we had a ‘big’ demonstration: at least 20 or so protesters and the token megaphone were marching around town. The megaphone hollering ‘Stop the Oxford Lab!’, which was rather creatively replied to by the other 19 with ‘Stop the Oxford Lab’. Who needs Bob Dylan to capture the imagination of a protest movement? It is a good thing their scientific arguments are as intelligent as their chants.

We are amused to see that the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection is seeking a Science Co-ordinator. They want “someone with scientific knowledge who can present the case against animal experiments”. Presumably they haven’t noticed the contradiction. No wonder they make so little progress. We imagine BUAV will take that page down quickly!

Have SPEAK been caught on the hop with the announcement from Oxford University that work is resuming on the research centre? A recent post on the SPEAK website urges its supporters to “make 2006 a year to remember, a year in which we see Oxford University abandon their plans”, and claims that victory “is tantalisingly close”.

Ho Hum. What about the rest of 2005? We shall see!

Great news!  Oxford University has just announced that building work has restarted on its research centre. The work stopped in July last year when the main contractor pulled out because of intimidation and harassment by extremists.

The University’s Registrar, Mr David Holmes, said: “Completing the project will be good for animal welfare, good for medical research and good for the treatment of life-threatening conditions all over the world.” I couldn’t agree more, and I’m sure most others feel the same - surveys have shown that most people can see the need for animals in medical research and abhor violence in the name of animal rights.  And completion of the building will also be good for local residents and students who, as GeorginaTheGiraffe blogged recently here, are heartily sick of the antics of the antis.

Dr Simon Festing, Executive Director of RDS, said this morning:

"The medical research community welcomes the restart of the Oxford building project. This research centre is vitally important for the future of biomedical research in the UK. The half-finished building stands as a symbol of our ability to continue essential animal research in the face of intimidation and harassment by animal rights extremists.”

“The government and criminal justice system are finally tackling extremism so that we can continue to use animals in research to overcome serious medical conditions like stroke, Parkinson’s disease, cystic fibrosis and malaria. The new Oxford research centre will provide top class facilities for such research, and also for the animals that will be used, a point that the extremists apparently choose to ignore."

SPEAK are claiming a good turnout for their day of action against Vodafone. Surprise surprise. One man and a dog would be a triumph for SPEAK!

Well I went to my local Vodafone store and there wasn’t a protestor in sight. SPEAK claim “not one negative comment was received”. No surprise this time. I imagine people have got better things to do than invite a torrent of abuse from aggressive animal rights campaigners!