Author
gretchen
does this need an edit, its pretty short
Monday, February 12 8:51 AM SGT
British animal-rights protests end with 87 arrests
LONDON, Feb 11 (AFP) -
British police arrested 87 animal-rights activists on Sunday during synchronised and sometimes violent protests against animal testing laboratories throughout southern England,
authorities said.
Of those arrested, 81 were arrested at the Bayer research laboratory in Stoke Poges, northwest of London, when demonstrators smashed windows, upturned cabinets and
destroyed machinery at the centre, police said.
Over a hundred protestors had gathered to demonstrate against animal testing at the laboratory. Police decided to intervene when an alarm in the building was triggered after
activists got into the research centre.
Elsewhere, in Weybridge, south of London, another activist was arrested during a similar demonstration at a laboratory of global pharmaceuticals giant Glaxo-SmithKline where
around 150 protestors had gathered.
Police said that windows were also broken during the protest, while some activists managed to get inside the building and cause minor damage.
Militants were also arrested during a similar attack against a Glaxo-SmithKline lab in Slough, Berkshire, police said.
Other anti-vivisection protests took place at a Novatis laboratory in Frimley, south of London and Roche plants at Bushey and at Wheathampsted, Hertfordshire. An Eli Lilly
laboratory near Windlesham to the west of the capital was also threatened but activists dispersed when police arrived.
"A major investigation will follow and we will do everything necessary to bring charges against those involved," a senior police officer said.
However the protest organisers were unrepentant.
The campaign was aimed at clients of Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) -- one of the world's foremost product testing and development companies -- said Heather James,
spokesperson for the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) group.
"They are being targeted now and will be targeted from now on," she said.
"We asked them if they were going to continue to use Huntingdon and they have refused to answer.
"All those companies have underestimated how determined we are."