The Hillgrove Campaign #8

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The Hillgrove Campaign ~

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0121 632 6460

SAVE THE HILLGROVE CATS, BOX CB, 111 MAGDALEN RD, OXFORD. OX4 IRQ

ter· it's been·

SEPTEMBER 6TH RALLY AND DEMONSTRATION The forecast was rain but the sun shone all day! Over 2,000 people gathered at The Leys Recreation Ground in Witney to hear speakers condemn Hillgrove farm. For many people it was their first ever demonstration and many had travelled a great distance to be there and show their disgust at the outrageous cruelty. Music was played over the P.A. system while we waited for a queue of over 20 coaches which, we heard, were waiting to be searched by police. Songs such as "Tubthumping " by Chumbawamba, Bob Marley 's "Mr Brown" and The Manic Street Preacher's "If you tolerate this your children will be next ".

There was a relaxed atmosphere as people ate Veggie's delicious food and sat on the grass chatting to friends and new acquaintances.

VERNON COLEMAN First to speak was Dr Vernon Coleman who criticised Tony Blair and the labour government for breaking so many promises - promises that probably got them into power. The animals have been betrayed by Tony Blair. Accompanied by 2,000 voices, Vernon Coleman chanted "You can 't trust Tony Blair" .The crowd laughed and cheered and shouted through an excellent uplifting speech by Vernon Coleman.

People heard every word that Vernon had to say, despite the police's efforts to drown him out by flying their helicopter directly overhead. How immature! What are they afraid of? Answer : The truth.

CHRIS ILES Next up was Chris lies, who gave an emotional and angry speech about the nightmare experiments and conditions in laboratories . He should know as he worked undercover as an animal technician for 2 years. He saw the suffering of animals including rats, mice, cats and monkeys. Chris is an exceptional man because people who can do that sort of work and hide their feelings are few and far between, but it is probably one of the most important tools in the fight to expose the truth about vivisection.

CELIA HAMMOND Chris got a huge roar from the crowd and next to speak was Celia Hammond, who gave a short speech straight from the heart. She was furious with the police for their part in protecting such evil. She said the cruelty at Hillgrove Farm was intolerable and she admired the campaign for their determination to close it down and end the suffering . Celia received rapturous applause and by this point the atmosphere was electric - the cheers from the crowd were deafening. Real spine-tingling stuff.

Last to speak was Robin Webb (press officer for the Animal Liberation Front} who also gave a rousing speech to the delight of demonstrators who cheered his words with great enthusiasm .

THOUSANDS Thousands of people were united that day and we all felt victory was inevitable. Right now the only losers are the cats and kittens at Hillgrove , but when we win, Brown , TV, Police and the vivisection industry will be left reeling from an inevitable defeat. The campaign asked every individual in the crowd to bring a friend to the next demo on 17th October. That would instantly double the numbers! A simple but highly effective action to take.

MARCHING After the speeches, the crowd marched into Witney, down the High Street and up the Burford Road towards Hillgrove Farm. The crowd chanted "Close Down Hillgrove Farm" and blew whistles. Again there was a wide range of people of all ages . The police were out in force of course. Eventually the crowd were stopped at the exclusion zone about half a mile from Hillgrove Farm. .

The exclus ion zone covered oart of the Burford Ro.ad and Drv Lane (which runs oast the

entrance to Hillgrove Farm.)

The crowd were still extremely good-natured and peaceful.

About 30 determined protestors made a break for it across the fields and headed for the farm. The rest of the crowd headed back towards Witney.

As people neared the town , the police became extremely heavy-handed . They pushed, shoved and verbally abused peaceful people.

If anyone has any information on the illegal behaviour of police officers, please don't let them get away with it. Write to us with full details of what you saw, write and complain to the media and to the police. If you were a victim of their thuggish behaviour sue them.(see article on suing police) The police made a few nonsense arrests to try and justify their huge presence (If you were arrested send us your details).

HARLAN AND P.I.C. After people left the Hillgrove Demo there were some surprise demos at Harlan Olac (breeders of rats, mice and rabbits for vivisection) and The Pig Improvement Company (heavily involved in the genetic engineering of pigs).

Again the police went completely over the top arresting people when there was no violence, damage or anything stolen! We expect any charges to be dropped in the future.

STOP PRESS-ALL P.I.C.CHARGESHAVEBEENDROPPED There was a lot of media interest on the day and a lot of local coverage in the following few days, but not a great deal in the national press (unless there is a riot they don't want to know!).

The demos at Hillgrove are evolving and developing into something different every time.

No two demos are ever alike. New people are becoming involved all the time.

You can be sure October 17th will bring something new to the campaign and give people something to talk about for months to come!

Don't forget BE THERE FOR THE CATS!

OPERATION6RING A FRIEND Just think-if everyone who came to a demo at Hillgrove Farm brought along just one friend. we would double our numbers instantly. So simple yet ao effective!

The strength of numbers saya a thousand worda. Nobody can argue or fail to be moved by the eight of thousands marching towards Hillgrove Hell Hole. We are there to register our disgust in the moat powerful way. The Hillgrove Campaign will continue to grow and pleaee don't forget that you are part of that. ao come on. get out there and get recruiting new people in the battle to save the Hillgrove Cate.

Ae you will have now realieed. the demo date has been changed from the 18th October to Saturday 17th October. We apologise for any confusion caused but remain adamant that to change to a Saturday is the right decision. We will be seen and heard by a lot more people on a Saturday. and the potential to be more effective is greatly increased. Please use the two contact numbers on the day: 0121 6:326460 & 0171 278:3068. If you have got a mobile phone please phone the number through to the campaig n during the week before the demo. We realise that changing the demo to a Saturday may cause problems if you are part of a sab group but hope that you will understand that Hil lgrove National demos are not every week and that you will stick with ue and continue to play your part in thie hietoric struggle. LET US NEVER FORGET THAT THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST HILLGROVE FARM. HAND IN HAND WITH THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST HUNTINGDON. 15 SHAKING THE VIVISECTION INDUSTRY TO THE CORE AND YOU ARE PART OF THAT.

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SOUTH OXFORDSHIRE COURIER

Thursday, September 10th, 1998 Page 9

CL.OSE HILL.GROVE FARM The statement below is one we would like M.P.s, Vets, Doctors, Celebrities etc to sign up to. This can be very useful when it comes to drawing press attention onto Hillgrove Farm. So if you know anyone in the above categories or similar, please get them to sign up to it. Thank you.

"I/We would like to state that it is abhorrent to breed Cats and Kittens for vivisection laboratories. Hillgrove has sold kittens as young as 13 days old and was described by one exworker as "cruel and disgusting" This practice should be stopped and Hillgrove Farm should be closed down " 5 Signed.................................... Print Name ...................................

Date ............. .

IMAGINE We recently received this letter anonymously: "I rang Hillgrove the other day and at first I got a woman who I think was Katherine Brown. After a few minutes she hung up so I retried and was soon passed on to Christopher Brown who became quite abusive. I kept ringing for two and a half hours and used up a £4 phonecard as I was ringing from different phoneboxes.

Brown really lost it and started shouting at me, it was really good to know that I'd got to him and I'll definitely be using at least a £5 phonecard every week. Never let up on them!"

We would like to distance ourselves from this sort of behaviour, because whilst you are on the phone vivisectors cannot get through to place an order for 2 week old kittens, and also to wind Mr Brown up may help to finish him and his cat breeding business which would mean that Hillgrove Farm would close and the cats would go free. We can't have that now, can we?

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Apparently, because of all the phonecalls they have received, Hillgrove have started to use their fax line as a second phoneline so if you want to phone with any questions try: Tel: 14101993 703120 Tel & Fax: 14101993 700528 Please phetocepy dais page and pass it en te family, friends, werk •ates and th.e nice man/woman la the street •

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TRAN5PORTCONTACT5

More and more people are coming to the Hillgrove demos and a lot more would come but have not got any transport. If you are coming to any of the demos and have any spaces, please contact us and we will be able to fill those spaces. Areas particularly short of contacts are the North East, Cumbria, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Devon and Cornwall, but if you are coming from elsewhere please contact us.

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Press conference by protesters, left to right, Dr Roger Mugford, Heather James, Maureen Hutchinson and Celia Hammond

Legal threat by cat protesters OXFORPSHIRE cat breeder Chris Brown has been accused of keeping his animals in "appalling and inhumane" conditions. , Protesters who want Hillgrove Farm at Minster Lovell, near Witney, shut down are now planning a private prosecution against

kittens, dates of birth, weights and where they were despatched to. Some ended up at university laboraties in Bristol and Liverpool while others were sent to France and

ference called by the Save the Hillgrove Cats . campaign. They have also called for a European Commission investigation.

But the 62-year-old farmer dismissed the allegations as "a load of rubbish," saying Home Office inspectors are perfectly I. that satisfied with conditions .

The operation provides cats for research and breeds up to 1,000 kittens a year. ·Mr Brown has run the business for the last so years.

"Our cats are perfectly healthy and wellcared for. I invited the RSPCA to take a look a month ago and the inspector was satisfied.

"So far this year we have had four unan nounced visits from Home Office inspectors and they had no complaints. Who do you believe? What they are saying is a load of rubbish," said Mr Brown.

The latest allegations were brought at a Press conference in Witney where campaign organisers Greg and Heather James produced a Hillgrove Farm cat breeding record going back to 1989.

I The 46-page document lists mothers,

suffering is an everyday event at Hillgrove," said Mrs James. "Conditions are appalling and inhumane.

"It is a factory farm. The cages are overcrowded, mothers are not given · breaks between litters and some kittens are sold before they are weaned. Some of them are eaten by their own mothers because of the stress ."

The claims were backed by three speakers, Dr Roger Mugford, an animal behaviourist, Maureen Hutchison, vet advisor for the Cat Action Trust, and former model Celia Hammond who runs a cat rescue trust.

"The litter survival rates are abysmal," said Dr Mugford. Ms Hammond said: "If you have to raise laboratory animals, this is not the way to do it."

The campaign has already engaged solicitors to bring a private prosecution against Mr Brown under the 1911Protection of Animals Acts, based on the documents and on statements by two ex-workers . They have also issued a formal complaint to the European Commission.

By DAVIDH(?RNE

h~~ move was announced at a special con- B~~~~:· records show that

'Conditionsare inhumane'claim cam pa1gners r- - - - - - I PRESS •

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CONFERENCE

h 11 h d Save t e Hi grove Cats el a press I conference in Witney on Wednesday I August 12th 1998. Speakers were I Heat h er James - spokesperson for Save the Hillgrove Cats, Celia I Hammond, Maureen Hutchison (vet I adv isor-Cat Action Trust) and Dr Roger Mugford (animal I behaviourist).

Th e purpose of the press conference ■ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - was to prove once and for all that the breeding records do show evidence of cruelty despite the Home Office and the RSPCA saying otherwise. We needed to get the press all together in one room and explain the facts to them in a simple and straightforward way with experts present to back us up. The three other speakers all condemned Hillgrove Farm.

So we had a vet, an animal behaviourist and someone who has rescued cats for 30 years. Really the records spe ak for themselves,but with qualified, professional and experienced people to back them up, that is the end of the argument.

The local T.V.,radio and press turned up. Central News didn't cover the story and although the Oxford Mail did cover it, they failed to mention Celia Hammond, Roger Mugford or Maureen Hutchison!! You can call us paranoid if you w ant by I do find that a little sinister. The whole conference revolved around these three people. Well, that's the press for you!

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The Pfizer Connection Most people have heard of Pfizer (they are responsible for Viagra -the anti-impotence drug that was originally meant to be a heart drug).

Pfizer buy Hillgrove Cats. We know this for a fact because we have seen a delivery note from Hillgrove Farm to Pfizer Animal Facility in Wavre, Belgium.

We rang the man named on the delivery note, a Mr Yves Couniot, a few months ago and he freely admitted that he had just received 12 cats directly from Hill grove Farm.

The delivery note gives the following information:

Deliver to: Pfizer-Animal Facility Mr Yves Couniot 30, Tienne de la Petite Bilande1300 Wavre (Zoning Wavre Nord) Tel: 00 32 10 470 920 Fax: 00 32 10 470 924 Home Office No. PCD 30/8318 Date: 10th March 1997 Delivered by Road Category AAA Born 17.01.97 17.01.97

7-8 weeks old Sire/Dam 49J/N59 49J/N59

(the picture above is poor quality because it is a copy of a police polaroid). Her name is Pebbles. She was rescued from Hillgrovebut was recapturedand returnedto the farm by the lovely Thames Valley Police. As far as we know she is still inside Hillgrove Farm

Pfizer Group Ltd. in the UK can be found at Ramsgate Rd, Sandwich, Kent, CT13 9NJ Telephone 01304 616161 There are animals in the facility in Kent as well as the one in Belgium. we do not know if cats are used at this hell hole, so please write or phone and ask them. Ask them if they use cats at all and if so what tests are being done on them. We know they use dogs for migraine drugs even though scientists admit there is no animal model for human migraine.

Please come to our demo at Pfizer for the sake of all the animals suffering behind their closed doors.

ACTION

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-Write and ring Pfizer (details above) and ask them how they can justify using Hill grove Cats -Come to demo on Friday 9th October, 2pm, Ramsgate Rd, Sandwich, Kent We rang PAR-AIR and were told that it would take 3 days by road to transport cats to Wavre and the same to Lyons (where cats are used by Rhone Merial).

SPF cats have to be transported in air filtered boxes like the one pictured above. To spend 3 days in a small box must be intolerable. Just think those kittens must be sitting in their own faeces and urine for all that time!

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OXFORD'SAWARD WINNINGNEWSPAPER No.673

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Thursday,Septemberloth, 1998

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2 & 4 Ock Street, Abingdon. 01235 553444

PUBLIC MEETING IN LONDON On the 26th of August a public meeting was held in London at the Community Rooms, Millman St. There were nearly 100 people in attendance with many new faces welcomed. Greg Jennings from Save the Hillgrove Cats spoke for 2 minutes and then showed the Hillgrove Video.

Many people were both shocked and moved by the footage of cat experiments. Greg spoke for a further 15 minutes about the campaign, the future and how we will never walk away from the Hillgrove CatsA.fterthis there was a rigorous question and answer session, which lasted for over half an hour, with everyone wanting to know what they could do to help.

ALLin all the meeting was a big successand thankyou to all involved.Rememberif you want to hold a Hillgrove Public Meeting in your area, just pick up the phone and ring us.

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Merial (Rhone Meriaux) buy cats from Hillgrove Farm for testing. Merial also produce "Frontline" flea treatment for cats and dogs .

SOMETHING TO HIDE? Merial refused to speak to Save the Hillgrove Cats despite repeated requests . We want to know: How many cats and kittens they have bought from Hillgrove? What happens to the cats once they have been tested on? What tests are performed on the cats? etc . etc.

TOXICITY Toxicity tests have no doubt been done to see how much "Frontline" it takes to poison a cat and what effects it has on pregnancy. These tests do cause an enormous amount of suffering.

We have a problem with Merial because they are a customer of Hillgrove Farm. They are fully aware of the conditions at Hillgrove - the fact that queens are bred from continuously, mothers eat their own kittens due to stress, kittens are overcrowded, kittens are sold from 13 days old and many are sold to Oxford University and other places for horrific brain and eye experiments.

We believe Merial also test vaccines on Hillgrove cats. There is no need for this. Human vaccines aren't tested on people. Morally speaking why should one healthy cat die to possibly save the life of another?

"Wt> asked Chris Day - veterinarysurgeonthefollowing questions:

Q "ChrisBrown claims his cats are mainly used to test vaccineswhich save thousandsof cats lives. Is this true?"

A "I don't know to what purpose the cats are put. If it is for vaccines then: a) I disagree that this is necessary for the benefit of the cat population at large. I believe that the case for vaccines is still not resolved and there has been a lot of correspondence on this subject (for dogs) in Dog World in the last 12 months. I have contributed some of this correspondence. To claim that vaccines are for the benefit of cats is ignoring some important evidence and, in my opinion, all such apparently incontrovertible and 'self evident' remarks should be questioned very deeply before they are accepted. b) My opinion is that, even if vaccines were for the 'general good' we do not have the right to experiment on individuals.

Q "lsthere a way ofproducing and testing cat vaccineswithout using live cats?" .A "Yes. Smithkline pioneered live cell lines in the sixties and seventies . Whether this option satisfies all the criteria of the 'testing' lobby, I don't know. What I do know is that I believe clinical trials, 'in the field' in typical disease outbreak situations are far more likely to be meaningful and to give valid results."

DANGER People are becoming ever more aware of the dangers of vaccination . The MMR jab for babies is forever in the news and many babies have been brain damaged by whooping cough vaccines.

Recently "Your Cat" magazine published an article on some worrying cases of side effects of vaccines on cats. There were reports of cats developing tumours at the site of injection and some kittens mysteriously fading away and dying after their first jab.

Flea treatments such as Frontline (made by Merial) are sold by vets all over the country. Some flea treatments (not Frontline) are organophosphate (OP) based and most people are now fully aware of the dangers of these chemicals, yet until recently most vets would happily take your money and hand over OP flea treatment. Frontline is advertised as OP-free but who knows what long term effects will come to light in the future?

"Your Cat" magazine (September) also did a feature on natural flea protection which is chemical-free and safe for your cat.

DEMO Six peaceful protestors turned up on 27/8/98 complete with banners and leaflets and a long list of questions for Merial. Of course there was a heavy police presence. Merial had sent their workers

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home early and locked all the doors. The local press and radio turned up and told us that Merial had denied everything!

Staff from Merial were spotted sneakily taking photographs of us from an upstairs window which they were quite welcome to do-after all we've nothing to hide. We had a lot of support from workers at the Canon offices nearby.

After a couple of hours and no sign of Merial coming out to answer questions, we decided to call it a day and went on to an impromptu demo at nearby Huntingdon Life Sciences.

If Merial have nothing to hide, then why won't they talk to us? See if you have more luck than us!

ACTION

-Write to Merial at:

Or better still ring them: Telephone:

Sandringham House Sandringham Avenue Harlow Business Park Harlow

141 01279 775858

Jl)N$JPJllcr:Jlj]({)JfN Preciselytwo weekslater,four animal rightsactivistsca"ied out an inspectionat Merial'sofficesin Harlow.

At around 4pm the receptionistaccidentallylet in two activistswho, armed with a camera,made their way up to the 1stfloor. The two askedMerial staff about Hit/groveFarm and fonnily enoughnobodyhad even heard of it! Despitehaving had a demo on their doorstepjust two weekspreviously!

The activistsproceededto searchfor evidenceof the fate if the Hillgrovecats and some office staff became aggressive.The staff wereremindedthat catsat Hit/groveFarm wereso stressedthey sometimesate their own kittens.

The replywas: "I don 't care,you 're trespassing."

Merial of coursephoned thepolice who took about 15 minutes to turn up.

The two activistswhogained entry to Merial'splush officeswerea"ested as they left.. Theycausedno damage, did not steal anything, nor werethey violent towardsanybody.

Their crime was to ask questions.Needlessto say,Merial didn 't want topresschargesor make any complaint.

Could it be they didn't want thepublicity?

Grim faced Meri.al staff when confronted with the truth

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Friday, Septemh

OXFORDJOURNAL

THAMESValleyPolicehaveconfirmedexclusivelyto the Journalthat the cost of protecting Hill GroveFannagainstanimalrights protesters has nowexceededan enormous£1million.

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Ing cost to the taxpaying public. Senior Media and PROfficerwith ThamesValley Police,Richard Goodfellow, said: "The operation has now exceeded£1million since it started.

"PolicingHill Groveis an expensivebusiness,but The statementcomes in the sameweekthat wethinkit is the rightthingto do becauseit goesright ThamesValleyPoliceChiefConstableChar1es to the coreof ThamesValleypolicing,which is keepPollatlsaidthenlli'lberof protestersat HillGrove ing lawand order." woulddwindleandfadeaway.

SaveThe HillGroveCatsorganiserHeatherJames If anything, the protests were more vociferous said:"Whenanyonetalksabout moneyandcosts,we this week than ever. have to look at the root problem and that is Chris Thames Valley Police have vowed to continBrown.Wewill not go until he stops breedingcats. I ue protecting Chris Brown and his controveram the cats than sav~ ,:t...._ ~ ___ ....,.more ______concernedabout __ saving ______ sial cat breeding farm - despite the increasing money."The relentless battle being waged by

animalrights protestersto bring about the closure of Hill Grove Farm showed no signs of abating at thMeowreeethakennd500. peopleattendeda rally,marchedto the farm where cats are bred for vivisectionexperiments, and loudly voiced their protest atfarmer Chris Brown, as well as the police who now guard his propertyon a regularbasis whenevera demon-· stratlon or vigil is announced.

Amongthose addingtheirweightto thecats'cause werenewspapercolumnistDr VernonColemanand former SixtiesmodelCeliaHammond. __A total_of 23 people were arrested during the demonstration-for offences raging from assault,

Hillgrove Farm used to employ 11 people to work in the cat sheds. Now on a daily basis there are about 5 - 6 workers and at weekends even less than that. The average day at Hillgrove sees the workers starting at 8am and finishing at 4pm and at weekends starting at 7 - 8 and finishing at 11am - 12 noon.

There are five units at Hillgrove, so that means that at any one time there is only one worker in any of the units, when there should be two in each. It doesn't need Einstein to work out that three workers working four hours each over the weekend is completely unsatisfactory to say the least. If you think there are over 1000 cats at Hillgrove, that works out at each cat getting just 45 seconds attention. Considering the cats have to have their litter trays emptied, be fed and the staff have to fill in the breeding records, does that leave any time for affection and playing with the cats?

NOWAY.

As Hillgrove sinks further into the mire, they have found that they cannot recruit enough staff locally so have taken to employing 17 year olds through a vivisection agency. We do not know who the agency is but have a suspicion that they are either Bantin and Kingman (Hull) or Covance Laboratories (Harrogate). Quite what they know about the complex needs of cats, you could probably write on the back of a postage stamp.

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ing cen Activi 1,000tc cats fr< grueso Hesa eltylw, do that Towl

Ith, 1998

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lblic disorder. Sixof those arrestedwere 10licefor suspicion of violenceat a pre• !Stheld on April 18 and another seven ledat 7pm Sunday evening for aggralSS andcriminaldamageon a pig-breednAbingdon. lbin Webburgedthe crowdof morethan eadyfor "totalwar''to savethe HillGrove eing used,for what the protesterscall, perimentsby drug companies.

Whenyou leavehere and you find crub u to wagewar on that cruelty.Will you

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the already excited crowd screamed

"Yes". Mr Webbthen turned to the policeand said: " If that's incitement,then lock me up now."

Hethen walkedoff the makeshiftstageto the applauseof the protesters.

Thethree other activists who spoke at the Save the HillGrove Cats rally at the Leys Recreation Ground in Witney, Oxfordshire, decried the vivi• section industry which is using cats bred at Hill GroveFarmin drugs tests.

Therewere hundreds of police from six different forces in attendance,with more on stand-by.

Theyclearlyincensed someof the speakers and for· mermodelCeliaHammondsaid: "Peoplehaveto be ableto protest.This is Britain- not a policestate."

~f?~m V@[1JJ()()()~oo 1~ ~m ~©m()()()~~~ This is an old saying, but one we should all have foremost in our minds every day. The cats and kittens at Hillgrove are inside Hillgrove Farm NOW, waiting for SOMEONE to save them. That someone is YOU. If we all hadn't campaigned so hard against Consort Kennels, hundreds of puppies would have been born between last summer (when it closed) and today.

The national demonstrations at Hillgrove Farm are not going to close the place down on thei r own. They are essential but more people are needed on vigils and daily demos.

We are specifically asking people to commit themselves to go to Hillgrove to protest twice between national demos. Please if you can, set yourself a target and GO! The daily demos are so effective. Now is the time to STEP IT UP! Brown is on the rocks and if we all pull together Hillgrove Farm will be closed sooner rather than later.

So please pick two dates from What's happening When and GO! Or better still grab a few friends and just pop down for a few hours of peaceful protest.

DO IT FOR THE CATS! They're relying on you and you are all they've got.

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PUBLIC AWARENESS GROWS A recently formed coalition of animal rights groups in Scotland has pledged to raise public awareness of the horrific conditions for cats and kittens at Hillgrove Farm and expose Glasgow University's continued use of Hillgrove kittens at the Pathology Department, the Royal Veterinary College, Glasgow.

Campaigners have been leafleting and collecting signatures for petitions in the west end of Glasgow, alerting residents to the horrors on their doorsteps. A spokesperson commented "... most people are horrified and upset by the details of how these kittens are raised at Hillgrove and are amazed that a training college for vets vivisects cat. People could be forgiven for thinking that a Vet School would be dedicated to relieving animal suffering, not promoting it".

Media and Press coverage of the demonstration at Hillgrove are rare in Scotland.

However, in a recent article in the Herald Newspaper, a Scottish supporter who had demonstrated at the National Rally on 6th September stated" ...I'm just an ordinary housewife but I read about the campaign and was so moved by it that I went down to Oxford to join the demonstrations outside Hillgrove ...there was a huge police presence but we were just ordinary people of all ages including a woman of 82 walking with a stick ... ".

At the National Rally on 6th September a small but determined group of Scottish supporters travelled to the demo to lend their support to the campaign. In addition two intrepid supporters from Erskine travelled by air, tube, train and bus to attend their first ever demonstration. The consensus of opinion was that, not withstanding the distance involved, it was well worth the effort, and all present agreed they would continue to campaign on behalf of the Hillgrove Cats .

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PAR-AIR quarantine kennels in Stanway, Essex have been the subject of 2 serious allegations of involvement with the vivisection trade, with regard to Consort Beagle Kennels and Hillgrove Farm.In a press release, the Director of PAR-AIR, Mike Parish confirmed past connections but denies any recent transactions. Campaigners met with Parish and asked him to issue a public statement assuring all that he would never, now or at any time in the future, be involved in the vivisection trade. Suspiciously he has refused. As a result of this, campaigners protest weekly outside his kennels and from October 4th will hold regular demos on the first Sunday of each month at 10am.

Police attending these demos have played down campaigners' allegations of violence from PAR-AIR,two regarding the use of a gun, and another where Parish instigated a dog attack on protesters. Typically police chose to ignore these incidents and have taken to harassing protesters. Two females were recently arrested and charged with section 5 and another group were hassled and charged with a ridiculous parking offence.

A very small band of dedicated Animal Rights Campaigners maintain a regular presence at PAR-AIR. More people are desperately needed if these few are to be saved from systematically being picked up and given bail conditions not to attend.

If you can go along to the demos at PAR-AIR please ring: 0976 560352

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No wonderMichael Daviesis misguided .HOW easy it is for Michael Davies to criticise Hillgrove protesters and condemn the Hillgrove cats to a continuing life of misery behind closed doors.

Michael Davies is not imprisoned in a cage destined for a laboratory . Ifhe were, I would protest on his behalf.

Michael Davies says : "Now I don't know exactly what goes on behind the gates of Mr Brown's farm ...." Yet he feels qualified to write half a page on the subject!

We, on the other hand, know the facts and we are the only people who can be relied upon to tell the truth. We have evidence of the cruelty at Hillgrove Farm and in the laboratories. All of which is written, not by us , but by Hillgrove staff and the vivisectors .

To say that because the cats are bred for vivisection somehow that makes it all right is ludi crous. With that sort of logic does Michael Davies believe that children born to slaves should have been kept as slaves?

Save the Hillgrove Cats has never claimed that experiments are carried out at Hillgrove Farm .

Does Michael Davies think it makes a difference to the cats where they endure pain and suffering ?

We use the word kittens because that is what they are and we use the word torture because I think most people would agree that the word best describes any creature having their eyelids sewn together . Simple as tha t.

I would like to know why the Oxford Mail will not print a letter from a local veterinary surgeo n who condemns Hillgrove Farm. Why the Oxford Mail has never mentioned Dr Vernon Coleman (or medically qualified anti -vivisectionist)? Why the Oxford Mail describes Celia Hammond as just an "ex-model" when you know full well she is an expert on cat care and behaviour and has rescued cats for the last 30 years? Why when we held a press conference with Maureen Hutchison (veterinary surgeon), Celia Hammond and Dr Roger Mugford (animal behaviourist) , who all utterly condemned Hillgrove Farm, they were not mentioned in the article?

The whole thing stinks. No wonder Michael Davies is so misguided when he reads such misleading reports in the Oxford Mail.

I though t journalism meant reporting the facts and the full story .

HEATHER JAMES Save the Hillgrove Cats ¡ Magdale n Road Oxford

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--------------------POSTERS

You know about the Hillgrove Cats but there is still 98 % of the population out there who don't and many of them are cat owners who would be sickened and outraged if they did know the truth about Hillgrove Farm. If you are able to put demo or general Hillgrove Farm posters in your area in shops, or if you know of any bookshops and health food shops who would take newsletters, leaflets etc. If you do, the please ring us on 0121 6326460.

We now have big A2 Posters which are ideal for stalls and we can offer these laminated for outdoor use. If you want any, please ring us.

15

VICIOUS TOYS FOR VICIOUS BOYS The pictures below were taken from the Stoelting catalogue of physiology research instruments. This sordid document stretches to over 80 pages and is packed with every animal torture equipment imaginable from treadmills and restrainers to research animal equipment vests.

STEREOTAXICDRILLS The catalogue describes "The stereotaxic drill is a carrier mounted drill for placing holes in the skull in presise stereotaxic coordinates for electrodes ....holes can be drilled in angular as well as vertical planes. this is useful for chronic implants, where different size guide holes can be made through a skull mounted platform. The motor and hand piece have a two step pulley to permit speed range selection"!

SPINALARCH STEREOTAXICEQUIPMENT FOR THE MONKEY, DOG, CAT AND RAT. They write "Arch type stereotaxic instruments are superior in that they enable the investigator to advance the probe from any angle.

The target sight in the animal is positioned at the centre of the sphere of rotation. The arch also pivots up from one side to facilitate attaching headstages, electrocarriers, microinjections apparatus, etc. All preparative surgery may be conveniently be done right on the base plate.

--------------------------FUNDS

Save the Hillgrove Cats is run entirely voluntarily. We were set up to CLOSE HILLGROVE FARM and we will not stop until this happens. Running the campaign on such a large scale is expensive, but one thing you will never receive from us are begging letters. We always aim to distribute everything be it leaflets, posters or videos FREE of charge because the more leaflets that are distributed, the more people know about Hillgrove Farm. The campaign is chronically short of funds so if you can make a donation please do so safe in the knowledge that every penny you donate goes directly towards Saving the Hillgrove Cats.

16

MERIAL DEMOMERIAL DEMOPAR-AIR DEMOS-

PUBLIC MEETING-

PUBLIC MEETINGPUBLIC MEETINGPFIZER DEMOGLASGOW VET SCHOOL-

Thursday 1st October 9am-Merial Sandringham House, Harlow Business Park, Harlow.

Wednesday 7th October 9am- AS ABOVE Sunday 4th October 1998 (and first Sunday in every month) 1 0am at PAR-AIR Kennels, Wa"en Lane, Stanway, Colchester Phone 0976 560352 for details.

Croydon - Thursday 8th October 7:30pm, Ruskin House, 23 Coombe Rd, Croydon 0unction of park lane).

Brighton - Thursday 8th October 7pm, St Peters Hall St Peters Church, York Place, Brighton.

Birmingham - Phone 0121 632 6460 (venue to be announced).

Friday 9th October 2pm, Pfizer Ltd, Ramsgate Rd, Sandwich, Kent.

Phone 01216326460 if you can come.

Saturday 24th October, 12 noon For details phone 01975 783 201

HILLGROVEDATES: ALL ALL ALL ALL ALL ALL

NIGHT VIGILNIGHTVIGJLNIGHT VIGILDAY VIG/LDAY VIGILDAY VIGIL-

Saturday 26th September 10pm - 7am Sunday Saturday 3rd October 10pm - 7am Sunday Saturday 10th October 10pm - 7am Sunday Wednesday 30 September 7am - 5pm Thursday 8th October 7am - 5pm Wednesday 14th October 7am -5pm

NATIONAL HILLGROVE DEM017TH OCTO ·BER 12 NOON AT HILLGROVE FARM

·------------------------------------------------------------------· : PRISONER ADDRESSES :Please write letters of support to the following people, who were imprisoned in relation to Hillgrove Farm. :Adam Gould BP4130 Gregory Marthews Ben Thompson 1HMYOIOnley HMP Bullingdon HMP Bullingdon :Rugby PO BOX 50 PO BOX 50 ;warks Bicester, OXON Bicester, OXON ;cv238AP OX6 0PZ OX6 0PZ l(Adam & Gregory are each serving 12 months. Ben should be out quite soon) I

~-----------------------------------------------------------------MERCHANDISE

Colour Leaflets (AS).......................Free Black & White Leaflets (AS)..•........Free

Black T-Shirts (XL): (HGFbreed cats for torture) ................£5 (kittens saved) ........................................ £5

Factsheets ....................................... Free

Black Hooded Top (XL):

General Poster (A4 Colour) ..........Free Demo Poster (A4 Colour) ..............Free

(kittens saved) ....................................... £ 15 Hillgrove Vldeo ......................................Free

Car Sticker ......... ~ ............................ Free Petition Form .................................Free

Large Poster (A2 Colour) .....................Free

17

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ANIMAL RIGHTS PROTEST MEMO JUST over a month ago I went to Witney, Oxfordshire , to speak at a rally protestingabout Hillgrove Farm, where cats are bred for animal experiments.

I plannedto talk about the Labour Party 's broken promises on vivisection and other animalissuesbut Home Secretary Jack Straw banned the demonstration and police actually stopped me travelling to Witney!

Scores of MPs have written to Mr Straw to ask him what happened to free speech in Britain.

Next Sunday , September 6, I'm going back to Witney to try again.

I intend to tell people why the Labour Party reneged on its promise to have a Royal Commission on vivisection.

And why it reneged on its promise to ban hunting . What w ill Straw do this time?

Will he dare ban another Witney rally?

To find out be there: Leys Recreation Ground, Station Lane, Witney, Oxfordsh ire, 12 noon , Sunday , September6. There will probably be a police helicopter display.

By the way , remember I sued Jack Straw personallyfor my . travelling expenses to Witney- onthe ~ that he waited a day before announcirtg the ban? Latest rumour is that the Government may ask a jJdge to stop me sueing him on the ground s that he is i m m u ne. W h at a wonderful lot Labour are.

!I

C:i..YN LIMMER

Oxfordshire

~,

•· ..

m·

A tranquil area of rur al Oxfordshire has

become the latest battleground for animal rights campa igners, this tim e fighti n g to close down a cat br eeding centre supplying kittens for scientific exper iments.

Sleepy Witney once again finds it self the focus of a natio nal demonstration this month , as several hundred protestors from all over the country gathered to march on Hillgrove Farm, where up to 1,000 cats and kittens are confined in windo wless sheds before being sold off to medical and veterinary research labs at home and abroad .

Animal rights activists have obtained film footage which they say proves the cats and their young live out a miserable existence in cramped cages with no bedding or toys before being sold off to die in "pointless" experiments . It is causing outrage among the nation's army of cat lovers.

The demonstrators , from all sections of WHILE not condoning the violence society, ar e incensed that around one in 10 of some of the demonstrators who newborn incarcerated kittens are dying, that picket Farmer Christopher · others aged eight weeks and under are being Brown's cat farm, I understand sold off at £400 a time, and that cats turned their feeling of betrayal from the into breeding machines become so disturbed Labour Government which , while by their unnatural living conditions that they in opposition , promised to abolish ::;: turn on and eat their young . such places. :::r' , As we walk from a pre-march rally at WitIt now says 2003 is the year they · ' ney's recreation ground on August 6, through will ban cat farms after an election I the twee town centre, past pine shops and cotthey may lose - in the fulln ess of tages, and into the lanes beyond, locals Trish time or as .Sir Humphre y of Yes, Bowman and Jul ie Valentin e, both hotel Minister would say, som e tim e nevworkers, explain why the y had joined pr otes er. tors along with their daughters , Laur a, aged John Bond arg ues that until the nine , and office work er Tracy. elected Government changes the "It 's th e first time we've man aged t o get law Farmer Brown should be out of work in time to join in . I kn ow they allowed to carry on with his legall y don't experim ent on the cat s at th e farm but I correct business with no protest don't agre e with the bu sin ess of making allowed. mone y out of cat s and kitt en s for expe riAs usual Mr Bond is long on ments . I don't wan t it to be going on where I words and short on facts. live, " says Mrs Bowman.

Perhaps when anim a l lovers Later, aft er police blocked off the road vote Labour next time they should put a double cross next to the candidate's name .

Long Hanborough 18

m

.• ~

leading to the farm an d began pushi ng the protestors back towards Witney , I catch up with them again , complaining about the heavy police presence. A total of 300 officers from Thames Valley police flanked by those from neighbo uring forces are deployed to control 500 protestors . Police roadblocks stopcoaches and vans converging on the town to carry out searche s.

Ma ny police are in riot gear, some are on horseback, and several carry video equipment and cameras to film protestors . A police helicopter buzzes abov e our heads.

"I was pushed t o the floor and my friend was pushed on top of me . The policeman on top of us said in my face: 'You're causing an obstruction.' I've lived in Witney for 11 years, some ofmy council tax goes on policing costs .

I pay for them to protect me and instead they protect Hillgro ve. I disagree with it completely ," says Mr s Bowman.

Of 16 an- ests, six are on suspicion of violent disorder at previous protests, 10 are for minor publi c order offences and assault on police officers. Later that day, seven people are an-e sted for aggravated trespass and criminal damag e at a pig breeding centre .

At the pre -march rally, newspaper columni st and anti-vivisectionist Dr Vernon Coleman says the heavy police presence is design ed to make the protestors look dangerous. He crit icises the testing of drugs designed for humans on animals as nothing more than a "rubber-stamping exercise" aimed at getting drugs on the market quick ly.

Coleman, along with the Humane Research Trust (HRT), is calling for animal experiments to be replaced with human tis sue culture and computer tests. HRT says one in 20 hospital beds is occupied by people damaged by prescribed drugs tested on animals .

Farmer Chris Brown, who owns Hillgrove, speaks to the The Big Issue as the protestors are making their way towards his home.

ne,NS

"We're doing this for the benefit of cats and humans and anybody who appreciates ending suffering will be supporting us," he says.

"Those who don't appreciate preventive medicine are the people you're with ."

New Labour made a pre-election pledge supporting the idea of a Royal Commission to investigate the efficacy of animal experiments, but the Home Office says the pledge was not in the manifesto and that manifesto commitments had to come first.

"We've not ruled out a Royal Commission , but we don't believe one is necessary at this stage. The idea is to use resources available to make immediate improvements to the operation of legislation governing animal procedures," says a spokeswoman.

As befits the cat's status as the nation's UK's favourite pet, (we own 7.7 million cats compared with 6.9 million dogs) the Hillgrove felines are winning many friends. A coven of white witches has visited to cast spells and a priest has conducted an open air service outside the farm for them. A 200,000-signature petition demanding Hillgrove's closure was handed to the Home Office in July and 48 MPs have signed a Commons early day motion calling on Home Secretary Jack Straw, who has a holiday cottage locally, to ban the "cruel trade" in cats and kittens for the vivisection industry worldwide.

The Home Office response to irate animal lovers is that Hillgrove is the only establishment in the UK producing special germ-free cats for experiments and if it closed , other animals would be imported to take their place. The Home Office Animal Scientific Procedures Inspectorate says its officers have found no evidence of malpractice at Hillgrove.

However, the activists can scent victory. A tenacio us campaign a year ago succeeded in closing down Consort Kennels, near Ross-onWye, which bred beagles for animal experiments. Meanwhile animal testing company, Huntingdon Life Sciences, was forced to the brink of collapse after a Channel 4 documentary showed its staff mistreating animals.

Huntingdon was salvaged by an emergency £20m refinancing deal this month, but shares stand near an all-time low of 14p compared with lO0p nearly 18 months ago, and the group is forecast to lose £7 .5m this year.

Save Hillgrove Cats campaigner Greg Jennings is confident the farm will close: "It's under siege. The police are propping the place up and acting as a private security force. We wouldn't have started the campaign ifwe didn't think we could close it."

Farmer Brown, whose home has been petrol -bombed, remains adamant that he will not close the cat colony, though he has been

19

7

forced to spend thousands of pounds on extra security measures as the campaign against him intensifies.

The Caravan Club site on his farm has closed since protestors mounted a picket outside his gate, and his bed-and-breakfast trade has also been badly hit. But it may well be the local taxpayers, who are being hit in the pocket by the cost of policing the protests, who will decide Hillgrove's future. · The policing bill had already topped £750,000 before this month's demonstration and another is planned for October. Next week, Thames Valley Police are to be grilled by Oxfordshire county councillors over the policing costs. The force only agreed to the meeting ifit was held in private . Some councillors feel that Farmer Brown, rather than local council taxpayers, should be footing the bill.

Greg Jennings believes the reason for the heavy policing goes right to the top: "This is not about a cat farm in Oxfordshire, this is about the future of the vivisection industry in this country. It's not just a policing thing, it's a political thing. If another vivisection business closes, the industry will start to turn and run.

"The potential spin-off for us is that animal testing companies will look at Britain and see it is too dangerous a place , and the vivisection industry here will be history. " ■ September 14 - 20 1998

LEGALPAGE Please read this information carefully, but don't forget that it is highly unlikely that you will be arrested at a Hillgrove Farm demonstration, so don't have nightmares.

LIBERTY Time and again police officers at Hillgrove Farm don't display their numbers. The official reason for this is " ... all officers should display their individual shoulder numbers, although in certain circumstances where they are required to wear protective equipment for their own safety there are no fitments available for this to be displayed. If an officer is asked for his shoulder number he or she should give it."

We all know that the only thing you get when you ask for their numbers is a mouthful of abuse. Liberty (civil liberties campaigning group) state "There has been a history of difficulties with the police failing to wear identity badges when policing public order protests. At the Wapping dispute this was a feature and also at the anti-Poll Tax demonstrations. In respect of Wapping, the Home Secretary stated that it was an offence contrary to the Metropolitan Police disciplinary code for officers not to wear identification ... I would expect Thames Valley to have a similar provision".

They go on to say "Liberty is interested in taking test cases to try to establish civil liberties principals. It seems to me that if the Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police is failing to ensure that his officers are wearing suitable identification, this may be open to a legal challenge which we may be able to mount on behalf of an interested protestor, possibly with the assistance of legal aid should they be eligible" If you have been prevented from complaining/suing an individual police officer because of the lack of identification, then write all relevant details down, including time, date, place and a brief description of what happened and send it to: LIBERTY, 21 TABARD ST, LONDON SE1 4LA They may be able to take up test cases.

WHATWENEED (1] Please send us details of your arrest (when and where and what charges).

(2] Keep the campaign informed and up to date with details of your case. Don't think we are not intereated because WE ARE. Let us know your court dates (which court) and which solicitor you are using.

[3] Send us photographs and video footage of demos. ihey may help someones case. Don't send in anything that may incriminate a fellow protestor. Aleo aend any footage of police miabehaviour aa it will no doubt help someone'a case against police aggreaalon.

CLAIMS AGAINST THE POLICE Here is a step by step guide to suing the police. Please, please, please do not just accept malicious policing. This is one of the most effective ways of stopping it.

If possible:[1] If someone is arrested or assaulted, please always try and remember the reasons given for the arrest, the police officer's identity, the circumstances surrounding and leading up to the arrest or assault.

[2] If there were any witnesses to the arrest/ assault, it is important that their details are obtained. Also if you're reading this and have witnessed an arrest/ assault please write down your details and what you saw and send it to the campaign address.

[2] If the police assault you in any way and you receive injuries, please ensure that the injury is treated by a police surgeon in custody and at hospital or by a local GP. If at all possible, please also try and obtain photographs of the injury together with an explanation as to how the injury was caused. You can get a friend to photograph your injuries.

20

[3] Please remember how long you spent in police custody before being released, how you were treated whilst in custody and whether any requests, eg for food, solicitors etc were refused.

[4] Before being released, please always try and obtain a copy of your custody record.

[5] Please also try and provide any further information surrounding your arrest (e.g. use of handcuffs, body search, strip search).

[6] It is also important to bring a claim for damages against the police as soon as possible.

Above is a brief outline. If you want to take action against the police contact Mr. Manzoor at Irwin Mitchell Solicitors on 0114 276 7777. They are very competent and specialise in claims against the police.

GOLDEN RULES [1] DON'T EVER TALK TO THE POLICE. They are NOT impartial and they are NOT

on our side.

[2] Complain about your treatment by the police or any other unacceptable behaviour by officers. Please write to: Complaints and Discipline, Thames Valley Police Headquarters, Oxford Rd, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 2NX. Tel. 01865 846000.

Useful Solicitors: [1] Kevin Tomlinson at Kieran & Co. 01246 559065 [2] Tim Greene at Birnbergs 0171 911 0166 [3] Des Murphy 01273 602111

WITNESSES WANTED e

On the demonstration on 31st May at 3:45pm, a tall, slim woman with black bobbed hair was thrown to the ground, handcuffed and led away. She was later charged with Violent Disorder. She was wearing black pants, hiking boots and a white t-shirt. One person who may have witnesses her arrest was a stocky man, mid/late 20's, wearing a black t-shirt who tried to photograph the incident but was assaulted by a police officer.

• On the demonstration on 18th April at 3:30 - 4pm, a woman was at the rear of the premises next to the wood. There were a large number of people in the area, just as the police burst through the fence, and about 20/30 were stood by the barb wire fence next to a derelict trailer. Police pushed people over and at least one woman was arrested.

• On the demonstration on the 6th September while people were marching back towards Witney, a 30 year old female , five foot seven, wearing black trousers and a peach shirt, was at the back of the march when a car tried to get past. The car ran over her foot and a mounted officer grabbed her wrist, kicked her upper arm repeatedly and beat her with his baton.

• If you witnessed any of these arrests/assaults, or any display of police misconduct, then please write to the campaign address giving a brief description of what you saw and when.

ROGUES

GALLERY

Over the lastfew issueswe have not had the spaceto print pictures of offendingpolice officers.

We can now offer a fine selectionof photos of police officersin printed form or in gloriousfull colour on C.D. ROM. So if you have been assaulted by an officer at Hillgrove Farm, please contact us stating whetheryou want the pictures on CD or on paper. If you have any goodphotos we could add to our collectionthen pleasesend them in.

21

VIGILS All night vigil Saturday 12th September.

About 20 people turned up dressed appropriately for a rainy night. The rain didn't last long however and stopped completely at about 1am. The police seemed a little more relaxed than usual and weren't hopping out of their vehicles every 5 minutes with torches and video cameras.

The time flew with so many different and interesting people to talk to. Just about everybody went off for a walk at sometime to stretch their legs, keep warm and awake and not least to keep the police on their toes. At around 4am the loudest fireworks I have ever heard in my life were set off and would have been heard for miles! Christopher Brown must have thought World War Three had started.

Come along to the vigils! They are an opportunity to meet other campaigners and talk at length which normally most of us never have time to do because we have such busy lives. You are also being effective in bringing about the closure of Hillgrove Farm. The more people who turn up, the more effective we can all be and when Hillgrove is finished you can say "I played a big part in closing that place down". In the next newsletter I want to be writing "there were 200 people at the last all night vigil".

THAT WILL ONLYHAPPEN IF YOU TURN UP!

All-day vigil - Wednesday 16th September Hillgrove workers had already gone into work by the time protestors arrived at 7 am. They normally arrive for work at 8am in the week. Effectively we are calling the shots - a peaceful all-day vigil forces the staff to get up extra early for work. Staff used to go out for lunch at mid-day- they can no longer do this. Just think how effective a surprise all-day vigil could be. We know that the constant presence of demonstrators morning and night at Consort Kennels made workers dread every day. The animals in labs must dread every day and the cats at Hillgrove have nothing to look forward to, so why should the perpetrators of their suffering enjoy their work?

About 20 people turned up and stayed until past 5:30pm. The police tried their best to intimidate but only managed to look pathetic.

There was a lot of support from passers-by, apart from a driver of a Thames Water van who was immediately reported to his head office. Abusive behaviour and rude hand signals should get him the sack.

Then there was our "friend" on his motorbike who exhibited similar behaviour and in doing so nearly swerved his bike into an oncoming car! When a protestor asked the police to do something about it, the reply was "well, if you weren't here he wouldn't have done it!" and the police typically chose to ignore the incident.

It would appear that people who have the potential to cause death or serious injury on the road warrant less police attention than a few peaceful demonstrators who are not breaking the law.

Sounds fair!?

Only one worker came out of Hillgrove that day - Helen Ramsey. She must have been exhausted, looking after 1,000 cats on her own!

Christopher Brown's son was seen entering and leaving a few times. He has now stopped trying to run people over since some protestors have taken action against him and made statements to the police.

Please come to as many all-day vigils as you can. They are VITAL to the success of the campaign.

22

Hillgrovemust close I AM a professionally qualified laboratory animal technician.

During the 1990s I have worked with cats and with Specific Pathogen free (SPF) animals in research laboratories.

It is claimed the cats at Hillgrove Farm are SPF animals.

Following the release of at cats from Hillgrove it came out in the court case that the cats that had escaped to the outside world were immediately returned to their sheds . This is clearly a breach of SPF conditions.

If tb.e cats had made it to the wrong room within the building (for example, a staff room or changing room) they would be considered contaminated. Their return to the colony would also lead to the loss of SPF status of any cats coming into contact with the escapees. · The SPF label which Hillgrove had expired in 1983. It was offered by the Laboratory Animal Breeders Association .

This body is composed entirely of directors and secretaries from companies which breed animals for experiments - - Chris Brown (Hillgrove's owner) was recently a director.

It is hard to believe an attitude of you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours had not developed in such a group. Certainly my professional experience of the industry showed me what a closed, incestuous business animal experiments are.

But does it really matter? SPF cats are appalling models for human illness and injury, as are all animals. Their reaction to treatment differs wildly from ours. The same is true of nonSPF animals.

The cruelty inflicted and the time wasted gaining useless results from animals I have witnessed makes the police bill for Hillgrove demonstrations seem relatively minor. Such a waste of tax money in funding experiment s - - on SPF and non-SPF animals alike - is a disgrace when there is a shortage of beds and nurses in the NHS. All animal experiments are a

Numbers are notdwindling CHRISTOPHER Brown is not your ave rage cat breeder as you would lea d people to believe.

The cats bred at Hillgrove Farm are Specific Pathogen Free (SPF) i.e. they have not been 'contaminated' by the outside world where they would pick up harmless bacteria/germs that all healthy domestic cats have .

How is this achieved? By keeping the cats locked in windowless sheds and never allowing them outside. They are then put in special cat boxes and transferred directly to vivisection laboratories , which can be up to 12,000miles away.

All this is totally unlike proper cat breeders' farms.

Christopher Brown breeds SPF cats that will only be bought by waste of money and resources so perhaps the doubts whether Hillgrove is SPF are just a question of what particular type of a pointless and cruel business is being conducted . Either way it has to close.

Hardening resolve I CAN hardly belie ve my eyes at the article (Oxford Mail, September B) on comments made by Thames Valley Chief Constable, Charles Pollard, claiming that the number of Hillgrove protesters will diminish and, quote, "some will get fed up and others will go to prison " .

He seems very confident in the last as1,ertion.

Is it now the Chief Constable who decides every protester convicted of anything will automatically go to prison?

vivisection laboratories. Th at is why we are fighting to close his farm down - he is the first link in the vivisection chain.

Stating that there is 'no evidence whatsoever' of cruelty at Hillgrove is another example of Michael Davies misinforming your readers. In leaked records from Hillgrove Farm there is clear factual evidence of cruelty. The documentation states that "ten per cent of kittens are eaten by their mothers".

This sort of behaviour is extremely rare in cats and is only caused when the cats are put under severe emotional and physical stress - as any qualified vet will tell you.

He also asks us why don 't we lobby our MPs or demonstrate outside testing laboratories.

We do. His article is only covering one aspect of our overall fight.

We are fighting vivisection on all

levels . We are not trying to emotionall y 'black mail' anyone whe n we talk about and show pictures of kittens that hav e been u sed in 'experimentation'. It is a fact that kittens as young as five weeks old have been sent to Oxford Univer sity to be blinded in 'experiments '.

People have a right to know the whole truth from every angle and everyone concerned and then they can make their own minds up.

We do not have petty, irrational and emotional gripes. We hav e a burning desire to expose cruelt y by campaigning and telling the truth .

Believe me, our members are not dwindling as the Police suggest and we will not go quietly away .

Hillgrove Farm will be closed down.

GLENN LAKE Fairacres Road Oxford

OUR columnistMichael Oaviesc:ertainlyin~urredthf :w,ath of the opponeotsof theflillgri>~ cat,breedif191-ffl_wtth.

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He goes on "We can get an exclusion zone around the farm signed by the Home Secretary", who just happens to be one of farmer Christopher Brown's church _ going chums and also has a cottage in Minster Lovell, implying that they can get one of these at the drop of a hat.

It is quite frightening that a single farmer can command the resources that Mr Brown can, and from th e comments of the Chief Constabl e, will continue to do so right up to Jack Straw.

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.

,

If anything is guaranteed to harden the resolve of the protesters nothing could come close to the remarks of our supposedly unbiased Chief Constable, obviously the police are there to uphold the law but not to make it or abuse it. The chief constable should do the hon ourable thing and resign immediately.

C NICOL WateryLMe

Braclder Northants

He has no concept of selflessmotives AS a middle aged, law abiding, professionally employed and very ordinary person from outside your area, may I reply to the article (Oxford Mail, September 7) in which the Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police, Charles Pollard, stated that numbers of people protesting about the Hillgrove cat farm are falling, and protesters could disappear like New Age Travellers!

First, from my own observations, numbers are in fact gr0wing . There are more new faces at every protest and these are mainly 'ordinary people' who are horrified at the concept of breeding cats for vivisection and death, and who have come to be disgusted with the biased policing of Mr Pollard's Force.

Far from the Thames Valley Force putting these people off, all those that I spoke to were even more determined to exercise their demo cri:iilicright of peaceful protest until this misera ble breeding establishment is closed.

Second, I believe Mr Pollard to be biased against animal rights protests and that he misused the Public Order and Criminal Justice Acts on September 6 when his officers stopped a reported 20 coaches and a number of private cars at varying distances from the Leys in Witney on the suspicion of carrying offensive weapons.

After searching the occupants, police made them walk long distances to the venue of the rally.

One lady on her first protest was amazed to have the contents of her car turned out on the road and to be cautioned about the two packets of drawing pins she had with her.

A bag of potatoes in the car was also searched one by one with the vegetables being placed on the road.

Although legal, this can in no way be seen as 'good policing', but deliberate harassment and intimidation to stop people from protesting about stro ngly held views.

Finaliy, Mr Pollard does not seem to have any concept of the selfless motives of the wide and varied cross section of the public who protest at Hillgrove.

Many of these people travel a long way at considerable expense purely for the sake of the cats and not for themselves.

I would also query the curren t cost of policing mentioned in the article, as other sources put the true costs at nearer ÂŁ1.lm.

The more Mr Pollard tries to stifle democracy by his use of exclu sion zones, his harassment of individuals, and his intimidating threats of arrests and prison, the more determined ordinary people will become to exercise those rights of peaceful protest that we all consider to be a cornerstone of our way of life.

As someone said at the rally, surely this is not Nazi Germany 1934- this is Britain 1998.

It would seem that Mr Pollard is living in the wrong era!

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MARTIN THOMAS Bassetts Pasture Bradford on Avon

can Protesting isno Cruelty behidden crime- itshows :justhowwecare ' FOR the past year I have been a regular protester against the cat breeding farm at Hill Grove, Witney.

During that time, through various sources of research I have learnt of the horrific cruelty , vivisection brings to the three million animals used in live animal experiments in this coun1 ' try alone. ¡ I have also discovered that the vast majority ¡ of these experiments are of no use or benefit to the human race, that many experiments are duplicated at the different laboratories in the race to make a new "wonder drug" which will bring in huge profits for the pharmaceutical companies and may well still be dangerous for human use (such is the case with the thalidomide drug) and that of the three million animals experimented on in the UK, less than 20 per cent of those experiments are actually required by law to be carried out.

These are just a few of the injustices I have discovered, there are many more cover ups in this industry and it will remain that way unless people who care about animals can show their disapproval.

So it came as a surprise to me on July 11 that myself and thousands of other compassionate 1 people would be arrested if we came within a I five mile radius of Witney during the whole weekend, to demonstrate or disapproval of vivisection and Hill Grove cat breeding farm. ' As I am originally from a farm in the Wltney I1 area, I was particularly offended by this threat.

What I would like to ask is why we had a fun' damental right to protest taken away? ! How are we supposed to try and change the ' law on animal experiments if we are not all lowed to protest? And is it such a crime to care?

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Miss H M Large ; Fairford, Glos. '

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- OXFORD MAIL, Tuesday, September 8, 1998

VOICEOF THE

MICHAEL Davies alleges that the protesters involved in the cat farm protests are misguided.

I'm afraid it's Mr Davies who is misguided.

He says the RSPCA has inspected the farm and found no cruelty.

These inspections ar e known in advance to Mr Brown, so evidence of cruelty could be hidden for the inspection.

The reason the protesters picket the farm is because if they can close down the supply source to the vivisection labs the experiments may well come to a halt.

As far as saying that Mr Brown is an innocent party is like saying Hitler was not responsible for the Jewish concentration camps, because he did not actually operate the gas chambers.

As far as his last point that protesters should write to their MPs, instead of demonstrating, because they are ultimately responsible for the existence of places like Hillgrove farm, it's obvious that certain politicians, or their controllers, have a vested interest in vivisection .

Mr Davies, no-one will harangue you for your pathetic attempt at writing a column. I could insult your views, but never your intelligence.

GLYN LIMMER Roosevelt Road Long Hanborough NearWitney

Oh, Mr Pollard HISTORICALLY speaking, Chief Constable Charles Pollard is right when he says protests come and protests go.

Whether his comments, that the Hillgrove faithful will get fed up and call it a day, were as well-timed as they might be is open to debate.

Within hours of one of his top aides calling for co-operation with protesters to promote safety and prevent future disruption, his words could be seen to devalue their aims.

Hardly the stuff of reconciliation.

Perhaps good policing methods do help but so does a careful tongue from the man at the top.

HI