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    the magazine of the SPEAK campaign

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pdf
    17 views12 pages

    SPEAK OUT Issue 18 Winter 2014

    Uploaded by

    Tino Verduca
    the magazine of the SPEAK campaign

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pdf
    of 12
    Td OOO he SPEAK Cam Speak for the voiceless As our tenth year of campaigning against animal testing at Oxford University draws to a close we would like to recognise the help of everyone who has supported us in so many ways over that decade Thank you to those who have supported SPEAK financially, either by collections, donations or annual subscriptions, some of whom have been with us from the very beginning. Thank you to those who buy and wear our T shirts and Hoodies thereby spreading our message. Thank you to all those who have joined us on demonstrations and marches over the years, sometimes travelling long distances to do so. Thank you to those who regularly stand outside the laboratory for Thursday demos on South Parks Road in all weathers Finally a big thank you to everyone who has worked behind the scones to make the SPEAK campaign both effective and enduring. A MESSAGE FROM SPEAK PNRM Ey enol Cereus SOMEONE NOT SOMETHING See oe os Ome RATS AND MICE Pee Re NEW TECHNOLOGY eee au Re Wu ELECTION 2015 JOIN SPEAK : rd) CRTC ICY | eel at Oxford University Piiaa Secemeeest bil. enema eines Itis always good to see and talk to our many supporters, and if any of you have any views to share or ideas for articles and features suitable for the magazine we will always be pleased to give them consideration. Sg eye ag ACCES eee eed approached by a gentleman asking whether ee ee rae ibut she told him that her friend who was eyes oe ule Le) Evelers Mane ar tke ae He dectined her offer of help, muttering that animals inside eee ego BN ari eer ice ee eS ae monkeys, which involved having their heads cut open and electrodes inserted into their brains, a practice that was first Ce ee ee hee eres ne ei ets Ce en ree eu Cn emia tner ute e) documentary Monkeys, Rats and Me, the details of which are eae He mumbled very quietly ~"Yes but what about all the prisoners being tortured in Syria?” Sho vehemently replied gn Ree Ta WRONG, and amazingly he agreed with her. Reema Ne Rec Pacer a ecard past every week, but on this occasion he felt compelled to, walk by and personally offer his congratulations and say “well Cee yun eee Ree ee re Mase ee €on how to get rd of rats from his property. He was advised to nee aces Ee ete oe ances ee ener a ee a eines Finally, a woman approached the SPEAK stall asking why campaigners were not standing outside McDonalds or K.F.C. protesting against intensive farming, The response was that it Ree een od Cee eR eee RC Cee rea nese ee co ee een ee hee ene ered eee Ae mE a ies Day's i While in Gloucestershire, trying to stop the senseless, feet ee eee ea) approached by a person saying, “I know you, don't I?" They eee ance ct De ees Ree neg esse tl Rec ese cou Teck bystanders as the noisy but peaceful march passed by. They were handed a leaflet, which was to change their lives forever. ee eae oot ah ate inflicted on laboratory animals and the pictures on posters had Dee ee tens eee Sea em eee eg Coc te eed promised that very soon they would join protesters on their ‘Thursday demos in Oxford, which is of course where their Journey fighting for the animals had begun Ce a ac ae ULE ac Een OMEON SOMETH E NOT THE FIGHT TO GAIN LEGAL RIGHTS FOR NON-HUMANS The question of non-human rights has been the subject of philosophical debate for decades but has yet to make serious political and legal headway here inthe UK. While the animal rights movement has made huge strides in exposing animal abuse within institutions such as Oxford University, and the evidence mounts for non-human awareness, the law remains intractable. Nothing has changed for non-humans since the first animal welfare laws were drawn up in the nineteenth century, and the arcane UK legal system denies them any recognition beyond their utility for human use. Recent evidence has demonstrated that, beings as diverse as chimpanzees, birds, rodents, dogs, octopi and many more are not only sentient but in many cases self-aware, and yet all of the above continue to be abused inside institutions, without any legal consideration for their rich emotional lives. Popular wildlife and animal documentaries now attribute emotions previously seen as the preserve of humans, such as love, grief, sorrow and fear, to many non-humans. Why, therefore, as 4 society, are we not seeking justice over prejudice for other emotionally developed individuals? Across the Atlantic, in the United States, a group of lawyers and other Interested professionals, under the banner of the Nonhuman Rights Project, (NhRP), are on the point of breaching the barrier that has kept animals in a legal limbo for centuries. On 8 October 2014 the founder of the NnRP, lawyer Steven Wise, argued in court on behalf of Tommy, a 29-year-old former circus chimp. At its core, this case revolves around Tommy's rights not to be held against his will or to suffer physical and ‘mental torture, with the argument focusing on his autonomy. As we write this, the judges in this case are stil considering the arguments, with the ramifications for Tommy and other non- humans being huge, should the ‘outcome be positive. The NhRP has further cases pending for other captive non-human. Here in the UK, the birthplace of the animal rights movement, surely the time has come for our antiquated animal welfare laws to be swept away and replaced with those that actually reflect the obvious evidence in support of non- human emotion and awareness? When even those who commit atrocities against non-humans, such as some of the signatories of the 2013 Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness, state that these individuals have the capacity to experience similar emotional states to humans, how can we as a society deny them the rights they so clearly deserve? While the political and legal systems have become increasingly hostile towards the animals rights movement in the UK, nevertheless itis ONLY the animal rights movement that ccan take the next historic step forward for non-human. The Animal Rights Legal Centre (ARLC) Is @ new venture that has been established to help realise the goal of legal rights for non-humans. We aim to bring together those who have worked tirelessly to get animal rights recognised with those wno can act as architects for legal change. It is our hope to open the eyes of the public to the seriously prejudicial nature of the law regarding non-humans. We are currently engaged in supporting an academic project examining animal rights end the law. We have various other innovative projects in the planning stages, for which we hope to gain support from the animal rights community. The ARLC is not separate from the grass-roots movement but is made up of seasoned campaigners who wish to ensure that the door to non-human rights, which is now being knocked on around the word, is finally forced open. Their most basic and fundamental interests ~ their pains, their lives, their freedoms - are intentionally ignored, often maliciously trampled, and routinely abused. Ancient philosophers claimed that all nonhuman animals had been designed and placed on this earth Just for human beings. Ancient jurists dectared that law had been created just for human beings. Although philosophy and science have long since recanted, the law has not. SOR ees eee nec aU kL ne aa Seen ee ene nen ene een ee ace ee een etd Pere ene ole enn te ee ee ge tee eae Poe eet Ca eee eee eee ee Pe ee ane er eee er ee en Ne ee ne en ee noe eee een ee et uk mid-1970s and the mid-1990s, but there has been a worrying increase Sm ee eeu eed Dee ue Ce een) pee ect ea eee ee) because they were surplus to Se ee a See ie Pee Re ence Pee ee ee aE ae does not occur naturally: these changes ees ico Pen eet Ce emus suffering, and can include injecting De et a Seek Rud Se aD distressing conditions and side effects. Dee eno Ce a De ore as Pre ee eek Ree eee es Pr seat ‘modified worldwide include goats, pigs, Cee ae ee) Se and Frankensteinesque of all is found in CR ee cia Pee er aon pluck the animal afior it has been See Pee an Gee ere es Cee es nos eee aCe Cee eee eed SNe mas this is to be burned, scalded, drowned, Senet mo Cte ee Cee ea PERC oa cree toe ced Cee ees en Cod substances. None the less just one return indicates such field trials occurred COE re ane Cee Ce died in these trials, or what other bird or Cee ea eo iocc To illustrate the senseless experiments Cee eee three examples follow. In one experiment nce ee implanted into robots; the cells were only PS n ee en CeCe eee er were used during each experiment. It was noted that with each change of brain ee ese ec by the robot. In a different facility rats Pee een) Ree ae De) Ce cue ana CE etn ete oe Ree ee od TN Ee eee ee Ore eee ie pe eae ed better in the dark In a third experiment Ce Cece) Ge ee Dene Cee eR eS Pe eet er See et reer bladders are similar to those of humans Ces Coco We are constantly told by the ‘government, esearch organisations and the media that animal research is. eee urs Oe a eet ris Tem Rea Pee ee Peat eee aT en Nerd Dee ee cor) can ever be identical to the human ee ee pee eee ett URS eRe) bom with the cancer gene can in no way pee eet cd care et CO ee ekg Dee ee ed each of them is a sentient being Coen ud ‘senses, feelings and emotions that we Pe eer na Moe Tee Te ea respond in the same way to the suffering OE teed abused of all and, more than any other, Gee ee Peeters aU ne eg ee Cea loud, like this... three million, three hundred and eight thousand, three hundred and thirty-one... the enormity of it starts to sink in. This is the number of mice and rats used in animal research in 2013; rodents were used in 82 per Ce nee eee os ee eer ee ec aoe Doe ee ea) Ce ue Fe cee cae ake situations were more de-personalised ‘when there were greater numbers of Fe eeu a) Pee keer Ce etc cod ee ce Gene cactus ee eae ac See cal reactionary revulsion where people Pee eee disease, tails and sewers. Of the statistics above, 262,641 were rats, and that’s why I rescue rats. 'm not one of Decree need as eee Cue kas eee eee eee tena Se eee Re ues solving and other supposed similarities ee eeu) See ey experiments teach us nothing about either. af i In their unending desire to understand the human mind, scientists drag themselves to the Sat iod subjecting a highly inteligent, Sa eek eee ae) Pe esas ee Es deprivation, forced swimming Been te Rue ay Cy eRe See ee See eer) frequently grooming one Canc ty eed Cees Sees ee Cnet Sie at! Cee eet) ‘experience of laboratory conditions Reece ea aca heightened, where you have nowhere to hide, nowhere to run, Ree ee Cee Se a) Deu ie usc Perea cena ee cd Cee etad Pree ‘audible to the human ear? | Co Tee ad eo) Sen a Perera) eet eee ears Sa i ott Cer ean cd ee any Oo Te Cee cd Sune tet ee ence et cr} Cee corre ae a master of design, sculpture and Ce ts ‘explore, climb and jump and is Cen Leta Ceo Lear eon amazingly clever! They are not scaly but ere! thermoregulator, comprising only 5 per cent of their total body composition; yet they can dissipate around 17 per cent of Pe ee ec ae) Cee ems Cen am Ser meat ‘even have to like them, but please do try Neer aCe ene) eee we aT ee ee aos NEW TECHNOLOGICAL BREAKTHROUGH PREDICTS AN END TO ANIMAL TESTING Experts claim that experimental drugs will be used on farms of artificial humans as a replacement for live animal testing within three years. Smartphone-sized microchips replicating human lungs, livers and other organs are being used to test the body's reaction to new drugs. ‘They are branded as “human on a chip” and developers hope to create “human farms” to replace animal testing, which is obviously highly controversial. Chips emulating two and four organ systems are already being used, with future versions expected to extend to replicating all the vital functioning organs, including the brain. Uwe Marx, a Berli-based tissue engineer for developers TTissUse, said that the development of a “10 organ chip” was expected within three years in @ move that could “revolutionise drug development’. Mr Marx stated: "In the future, it will be possible, for example, to significantly reduce the number of animals used in pharmaceutical research and to substitute these alternative methods instead of animal testing." According to The Sunday Times, he sald that if their system were approved. it would “close down most of the animal-testing laboratories worldwide". ‘Ateam of Harvard bioengineers also maintains that animal testing land experimentation could soon by replaced by organ-on-a-chip technologies, which would repicate the functions of a human | organ on @ computer chip. Harvard's Wyss Institute has now created a living lung, heart and, ‘most recently, gut - all on microchips. These are not silicon chips simulating the functions of various human organs. Rather, these organs-on-a-chip contain real, living ‘human colls. In the case of the gut, @ single layer of human intestinal cells is coorcad into growing on a flexible, porous membrane, which is attached to the clear plastic walls of the chip. By applying a vacuum pump, the membrane stretches and recoils, just like a human gut going through the motions of peristalsis. Itis ¢0 close to the real thing that the gut-on-a-chip ‘even supports the growth of living microbes on its surface, just lke a real human intestine. ‘The Wyss Institute has also built alung-on-a-chip, which has human lung cells on top, 2 membrane in the middle, and blood capillary cells beneath. Air flows over the top, while real human blood flows below. Again, a vacuum pump makes the lung-on-2- chip expand and contract, just like @ human lung ‘These human organs-on-e-chip can be tested just ike a human subject, and the fact that they're completely transparent makes them perfect for observation. To test a drug, the researchers simply add a solution of the compound to the chip and then observe how the intestinal (or heart or lung) cells react. In the case of the lung-on-a-chip, the Wyss team is testing how the lung reacts to possible toxins and pollutants, and they can also see how fast drugs (or foods) are absorbed, or test the effects of probiatics. This is all extremely encouraging news, and should make scientists using animals in laboratories sit up and take notice, bearing in mind that worldwide more than 100 million animals are controversially used every year to test food, drugs and chemicals, Incredibly, in the UK in 2013 there were 4,121,582 scientific procedures carried out on animals. Last year an EU ban on the sale of cosmetics tested on animals came into force, but scandalously the number of scientific animal experiments carried out in the UK continues to grow in number, despite the fact that the Coalition Government pledged to reduce the use of animals in scientific research — yet another broken promise for animals!!! ELECTION 2015 Xl The nineteenth century saw the Chartists and the Reform League begin the battle for universal suffrage in this country, and by the third Reform Act, votes were given to all men. In 1832 the first efforts were made to secure the vote for women, which was finally achieved almost a hundred years later in 1929. History charts the heroic efforts of the suffragette movement in their battle for the rights of women to vote as equals alongside men, and they are often compared to the present-day battles for the rights of animals. Given the actions that were teken in our past to secure the right of every individual to vote for democratically elected parliament, itis the duty of those individuals to use that vote. But the question then arises of which political party would actin a way that would benefit animals. ‘Think back to the Labour Party manifesto of the nineties, which promised "New Labour — New Life for Animals", stating that ‘Labour has consistently shown itseif to be the only party to trust ‘on animal welfare issues. Labour is the only party with carefully researched policies, and the politcal will to carry them out.” ‘Animal activists, International groups and members of the public believed them, and large donations were made to help ensure their success in the election — but what became of their fine words ‘and promises? Labour said they would support a Royal Commission to review the effectiveness and justification of animal experiments, but there was no such review, and Barry Horne died in prison as a result of a sustained hunger strike in protest against the broken promise. ‘Aree vote on hunting took place, but the resulting bill was so Inadequate that hounds continue to rip foxes to pieces, and the hunt saboteurs are as busy as ever. David Cameron has long ‘made it known that he wishes to repeal the bill, and was only thwarted from doing so by the Liberal Democrets, who, to their credit, also refused to back a widening of badger cull zones proposed by the Tories. Nigel Farage was seen prominently Supporting one of last year's Boxing Day meets, ‘Small steps have been taken by consecutive governments — Labour managed to get animals reciassified in Europe as sentient beings instead of agricultural products — but in real terms nothing has changed. Sows are stil kept in farrowing crates, hens ‘confined to battery cages, and calves ripped away from their mothers at birth — the list is endlessly depressing. Live exports continue unabated — in 2011 and 2012, 130,000 live animals were transported from ports in the south east of England, and there is a substantial trade in calves from Norther Ireland to the continent. ‘Some of these joumeys take up to sixty hours, and the young animals are often reared in conditions that have been outiawed in this country. Sheep destined for slaughter make the joumey in cramped conditions, often with failed water tanks and ventilation systems. Battery-type cages are used to imprison hundrads of thousands of pheasants and partridges to produce the eggs from which fifty million birds will spend their bref lives in sheds and cages before being released fo be gunned down for so-called sport. Wild, animals are stil imprisoned and forced to perform in circuses. Al this suffering and cruelty, and far more, is legal, and no ‘government has yet had the morality or courage to end it; itis

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