Readers are divided over animal tests (From Swindon Advertiser)

Readers are divided over animal tests

10:04am Wednesday 1st March 2006 in News By Kevin Burchall

TEENAGE campaigner Laurie Pycroft hailed it as a victory for the "silent majority" as several hundred protesters took to the streets of Oxford to support the building of a new £18m animal research centre in the university city.

But Adver readers are divided about the 16-year-old's Pro-Test stance. Fifty-five per cent have voted against experimenting on animals for scientific research in our latest poll.

They were echoing the feeling among animal rights group Speak, which organised its own rally in Oxford on Saturday afternoon.

Marilyn Harrison, a member of Speak as well as Swindon Animal Concern, said: "I don't find it surprising that a lot of people believe animal experiments are necessary because their PR is very good.

"They prey on people's fear, suggesting that it is a case of either your child or an animal dying.

"It's very dishonest but the effect is to frighten people into believing the experiments are necessary. They say that a lot of breakthroughs are down to animal experiments when in fact experiments have often delayed finding cures."

She gave the example of open-heart surgery. "The procedure was dependent on a heart and lung machine, which tested well on dogs but killed the first human patients," she said.

Laurie's family has been threatened since he began his campaigning, but Mrs Harrison says such threats happen to people on both sides of the argument.

She said: "There have been lots of death threats made to our side as well."

More than 250 people from Speak attended the rally against the opening of the Oxford laboratory and, at one point, the two rival groups stood just a few hundred metres apart across a "no-go zone" controlled by mounted police.

Voices were raised, but there was no direct confrontation.

Laurie, from Swindon, founded Pro-Test to speak up in favour of scientific research and intends to stage more rallies and demonstrations in towns and cities across the country.

Speaking after Saturday's demonstration, he said: "Animal experiments are necessary the suffering of a few animals can vastly improve the quality of life for millions of people.

"This protest truly demonstrated the real strength of feeling about the subject amongst the public in general and it shows that the silent majority are not so silent anymore.

"I feel we have really made a stand here and done something to support progress."