The end of Joan's Hunger Strike and the beginning of the end for the Oxford Animal Lab!

At 1pm on Saturday 23rd April 2005, Joan Court completed her 72-hour hunger strike in support of the SPEAK campaign and the fight to stop the new Oxford animal lab. After three days without food and drinking only water; a task that any person would find difficult but for Joan, who is 86 years old, the achievement carries even greater resonance.

Throughout the three days, Joan has kept her vigil in Oxford city centre and has been the focus of much public and press attention. She has used this opportunity to inform and educate the people of Oxford and elsewhere about the real nature of animal abuse inside the university's labs. As Joan sat in the rain on Saturday morning and waited for the 1pm deadline to arrive supporters and friends gathered to mark the end of what has been a very important week for all those engaged in the campaign to stop the new Oxford animal lab.

Joan gave interviews to the media as the final countdown to 1pm was called out and a large pan of vegan stew was delivered by one of the local campaigners, who have throughout this event provided 24-hour support for Joan and made sure that she was safe at all times. Joan got to her feet and accepted the cheers from all those gathered and took her first mouthful of food in three days. Despite the privations of being outside for 72 hours and sleeping in the back of a van at night, Joan proved to be as strong and dignified as ever.

SPEAK would like to extend a special thank you to Susthama Kim of the Amida Trust who participated with Joan on her hunger strike until Friday evening before leaving for London for a 'Free Tibet' demonstration. She was replaced by Dharmavidya of the Amida Trust who accompanied Joan until the conclusion of her fast. A special thanks also to our local supporters who provided round the clock support and security for Joan. You know who you are; we couldn't have done it without you.

It was noteworthy that Simon Festing of the Research Defence Society (RDS) had not tried to gatecrash the end of the hunger strike as he did the start. Clearly there are limits to his commitment to defending animal research and exploiting the sick human beings he parades in front of the media, but then he has had a very bad week in his career to save animal experimentation from the searching lights of serious scientific and ethical debate.

Characteristically, Joan was puzzled by the cheers and admiration she received from the twenty supporters who had gathered in Oxford City centre. The previous 72 hours had seen another very important phase in the campaign against the university and its plans to try to complete the lab on South Parks Rd. Thousands of people had seen the banners and placards that acted as Joan's backdrop, hundreds of people had signed the petition to stop the animal lab and many people who had previously supported the idea of the new lab have changed their minds once they learnt the truth.

On behalf of all those engaged in fighting animal abuse we congratulate Joan on a truly remarkable achievement and for being such an inspiration to us all. Oxford University has demonstrated that they will only tolerate free speech when it doesn't include them as the subject. In the last few days they have banned a debate inside one of their colleges which was due to be addressed by a spokesperson from SPEAK and had been organised by an independent student union debating society. The question of the new Oxford animal lab is one which this university has shown a Mafia-like zeal to stifle. It has included bullying and coercion against any of its members and employees who have dared to align themselves with the university's opponents, and let's not forget the fact that workers employed by the university have attacked 70-year-old animal rights protestors. The animals inside the university's labs and those that would fill the partially built site on South Parks Rd, if it were ever to be completed, are also the victims of this same mindset.

SPEAK are calling on all those who are fighting injustice to join us in Oxford on Saturday 23rd July for the biggest demonstration in recent times. Now is the time to make history and bring about the beginning of the end of animal suffering and a science based on violence and arrogance. Please join us and march for freedom and justice for all animals - the FREEDOM for science to move away from the dictatorship and fraud of animal experimentation, the FREEDOM for all animals to live a life free from pain and suffering, and the FREEDOM for our right to stand up and speak out.

A venue will be announced very shortly.