24 June 2005
Demonstrations Against Animal Researchers
Animal rights activists are preparing for three days of protests against vivisection starting this Sunday in Wellington.
Protests start at Parliament grounds, Sunday, 1pm, to coincide with the beginning of a three-day vivisection conference.
The Australia and New Zealand Council for the Care of Animals in Research and Teaching (ANZCCART) conference is being
held at a secret location in an attempt to avoid the protests, but the National Anti Vivisection Campaign (NAVC) says
protests will go ahead outside laboratories and other vivisection related locations around Wellington.
"ANZCCART members include all the major animal research organisations in Australia and New Zealand. Despite all the talk
from ANZCCART about reform, the number of animals being used in experiments in increasing, and the vivisectors refuse to
allow any public scrutiny of their experiments, even those paid for with public money" said NAVC Director Mark Eden.
"They are scared of open discussion and debate because they know the public are opposed to animal cruelty, and they
know that they cannot justify animal experiments either ethically or scientifically" he said.
Protests will continue around Wellington on Monday and Tuesday, at locations to be announced. "Wherever they go, we will
follow them, until they stop torturing animals," says Mr Eden.
The ANZCCART conference was originally scheduled to be at the National Library in Wellington, but last week it was
announced that ANZCCART had cancelled the conference booking and were going to a hidden location.
About 300,000 animals are used for experiments in New Zealand universities, pesticide and chemical manufacturing and
government research institutes each year. Birds, cats, dogs, goats, guinea pigs, mice, horses, pigs, rabbits, rats and
sheep are amongst the species used.
These experiments involve mutilation, genetic modification, live dissection, deliberate infection with painful diseases,
animals are drugged, poisoned with toxic chemicals and tormented in physiological tests.
ENDS