A CALL TO ACTION!

The announcement today that work on the animal torture centre in South Parks Road has resumed comes as no surprise to SPEAK campaigners. However, the mere fact that it has taken 17 months to find a contractor illustrates just how effective we can be as a movement. During this period, we have been far from idle and have been planning tactics and strategies, which we will be putting into action in the coming months.

Let’s get one thing clear: this is just the beginning in the next stage of the battle, Phase 1 of which went to the animal rights movement. We should all be proud of what we have achieved there so far - we took on the might of Oxford University, the pharmaceutical industry and the Government and we defeated them. We must now redouble our efforts to defeat them once again.

We have amply demonstrated that the opposition will stop at nothing to continue protecting their institution and the industry of which they are a part. We have detailed the abuse of animals by high ranking researchers for which they have avoided prosecution for criminal negligence and cruelty; we have detailed the suffering of sentient creatures incarcerated in barren cages for over 15 years to be used repeatedly in experiments, and most recently, we have exposed the University’s involvement in the drugs scandal that has rocked the industry, with 2,000 deaths in the UK attributable to the work of those at the University on the Vioxx drug.

Those at Oxford University and beyond who uphold their right to maim, torture and murder animals in the name of humanity will find that we are not so easy to shake off. They can rest assured that we will never go away, never give up as long as the new animal torture centre stands in South Parks Rd. We will be there, dogging their every move, noting every false step and disclosing every lie. There is always a way to uncover the truth; there will always be sympathisers on the inside willing to pass on crucial information. Raising the height of the fences around the development site cannot conceal or disguise the facts.

The next year’s campaign promises to be hard fought, and we will oppose Oxford University every inch of the way. They should know that those in the animal rights movement are at their strongest when their backs are against the wall. Remember, the animals have no one but us and we cannot fail them. Their lives, the lives of the people in this country and the future of vivisection rest in our hands. If we submit any of these to be decided upon by the likes of those who are affiliated to an institution whom we know to have been involved in the Vioxx drug trials, then the future is grim.

We will not let the animals down that are being tortured in Oxford University's labs. That is a promise to those who would like us silenced. So let’s go to it, and finish the job we started. Let’s put an end once and for all to Oxford University’s aspirations to build their ‘state of the art’ hell hole for animals. Starting from now!