Southern Animal Rights Coalition
| File:Southern Animal Rights Coalition.jpg | |
| Formation | 2003 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Tom Harris, Nicola Tapping |
| Extinction | 2010 |
| Purpose | Animal Rights |
The Southern Animal Rights Coalition (SARC) was an umbrella organisation for groups campaigning against animal abuse in southern England. It was founded by Tom Harris (also known as Tattoo Tom) and Nicola Tapping.[2] SARC campaigned on a variety of issues, including animal testing, furs, wild boar farms, puppy farming, foie gras and greyhound racing. The group campaigned, investigated, and exposed animal cruelty whilst promoting a cruelty-free lifestyle.
The coalition supported animal rights groups in the south of England, particularly those in the following counties; Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset, West Sussex and Wiltshire [3] as well as working with other regional networks.
Campaign history
Wickham Laboratories
Following a 2003 animal liberation raid on Wickham Laboratories Ltd in which Keith Mann, Melvyn Glintenkamp and unknown colleagues removed 695 mice[4], SARC launched a campaign against the facility.[5] After reviewing documents seized during the raid, SARC claimed that some of the tests were illegal, as they were being conducted for cosmetic Botox purposes.
Lobster Liberation Front
SARC received messages in July 2004 from a group calling itself the Lobster Liberation Front (LLF) claiming responsibility for a campaign of vandalism targeting a lobster fisherman in Dorset.[6] The group later expanded its activities to Wales,[7] Scotland,[8] Italy, Spain, and Turkey.[9][10]Their methods included liberating lobsters and sabotaging lobster traps or fishing boats.[11] The website was again used by the LLF in April 2005 to claim responsibility for further attacks on fishermen's nets in Dorset.[12] SARC founder Tom Harris appeared on Channel 5 News to defend the actions.[13]
Pet shops
In 2006, a campaign called "Prosecute Porter" was launched and coordinated against Furry Friends pet shop in Barnham, West Sussex. The owner, Phil Porter, was breeding animals for his shop on an old Ministry of Defence fuel depot. Evidence of animal cruelty was obtained during a raid by SARC activists, including Sarah Whitehead, during which birds, rabbits, rats, guinea pigs, and 12 dogs were removed. SARC claimed that dogs were kept in veal crates and that animals were kept in filthy conditions.[14]
Inspector Lamport (RSPCA) stated that, "The whole area was dirty and unhygienic and teeming with flies. These conditions would have violated the Five Freedoms and would have been an unacceptable standard of care."[15]Phil Porter defended the conditions, expressing concern for the baby rabbits left behind and the stress caused to his dog by the broken window.[16] Judge John Sessions noted, "Particular concerns included lack of cleanliness and questions about the adequacy of water and food."[17]
After the animals were removed, SARC continued to protest at the pet shop and urged a boycott in the local area.[14]
Save The Goats
The Animal Liberation Front removed nine goats from QinetiQ's Alverstoke laboratory, a former Ministry of Defence base, in July 2006.[18] In October 2007, SARC claimed victory after the Ministry of Defence suspended diving research on live goats by QinetiQ at their Alverstoke Laboratory in Gosport. Between 2000 and 2007, a total of 406 procedures were carried out on goats at the facility.[19] According to the group, the animals were tested in hyperbaric chambers to simulate underwater pressure, researching the symptoms and potential cures of decompression sickness and studying deep-sea rescue. The goats remained in the chambers for up to 24 hours and were often tested multiple times.
The first recorded use of goats in diving tests dates back to 1907, when John Scott Haldane used goats because he believed they were roughly the same size as adult humans; he also used pigs to represent overweight divers.[20]
In July 2006, animal rights activists made headlines by breaking into the military base and stealing nine goats.[21] Jilly Cooper later based the character Chisolm in her novel Jump! on one of the stolen goats, dedicating a chapter to the activist's raid.[22] The characters Nuala and Brunhilda are based on SARC founders Nicola Tapping and Tom Harris.
SARC's campaign against the testing was supported by then MP Mike Hancock, who stated, "We know that much of this experimentation is a duplication of previous work... I've been there and seen the goats and chambers used. What goes on is appalling... We know how far submarines can dive and the capabilities of humans in decompression situations... When it's already been done before, it is very difficult to justify its continuation. There is no reasonable excuse." Robert Goodwill MP also spoke out at the time, stating, "The value of these experiments seems minimal. I am surprised that the Government continues to allow them to proceed." Following the raid, SARC held regular and persistent protests outside the facility, urging supporters to pressure the MoD and MPs to halt the experiments.[15]
The tests were heavily criticised after SARC discovered that the French MoD had abandoned animal research in favour of complex computer simulations and safe human trials. It was also found that the experiments were duplications of existing research.
Following pressure, the tests were suspended in March 2007, and a committee of experts began investigating alternative research models, such as computer modelling and safe human trials, to simulate the effects of decompression sickness (the bends).[23], [24]
In February 2008, the Ministry of Defence announced the scrapping of the goat experiments.[25][26] The Ministry of Defence stated, “The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has today announced the end of its immediate requirement for testing on live goats as part of its hyperbaric research in support of the MoD’s Submarine Escape Rescue and Abandonment System (SMERAS) … and the review has concluded that the remaining associated areas of uncertainty in submarine escape and rescue relate to events that are considered highly unlikely, and do not therefore need to be addressed by means of animal testing.” Following this announcement, SARC campaigned for the release of the remaining goats, and the 28 remaining goats were subsequently rehomed to the Buttercup Goat Sanctuary.
Foie Gras
SARC founder Tom Harris asked Mike Hancock MP to raise a question with then Minister for Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Ben Bradshaw MP concerning a ban on the importation of foie gras.[27] Ben Bradshaw's positive response generated national media coverage. He suggested a boycott as a viable approach, given the Treaty of Rome's limitations on import bans, and stated, "We do believe that the production of foie gras using force-feeding gives rise to serious welfare concerns. The most effective action is for individuals not to buy foie gras if they dislike the way it is produced. We hope that public pressure will contribute to an end to this practice."[27]
France's national foie gras farmers' committee, Cifog, responded, accusing Mr Bradshaw of caving to animal rights lobby groups. Marie-Pierre Pé, a spokesperson for the group, stated, "These groups have singled out foie gras as an easy target, but their ultimate goal is to ban meat-eating in general."[27]
See also
- Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC)
- SPEAK (animals)
- Western Animal Rights Network (WARN)
- Behind the Mask (ALF)
- Animal rights movement
- Leaderless resistance
- Animal rights
- Animal testing
References
- ↑ Wickham National Demo 2007[permanent dead link], published by Stop Wickham Animal Testing.
- ↑ "About SARC". Southern Animal Rights Coalition. Archived from the original on 30 April 2010. Retrieved 2007-11-08.CS1 maint: Unfit url (link)
- ↑ Local Groups, Southern Animal Rights Coalition. Archived 7 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ The Telegraph. "Animal rights man faces return to jail". Archived from the original on July 6, 2016. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Terror attack fear at animal labs". Portsmouth News. Archived from the original on October 18, 2005. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Saville, Richard. "Lobster Liberation Front declares war on fishermen". Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 July 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Lobster pot sabotage inquiry Archived 26 June 2004 at the Wayback Machine, BBC News, 24 June 2004.
- ↑ Lobster liberation claims probed, BBC News, 30 March 2006.
- ↑ "BITE BACK Magazine". www.directaction.info. Archived from the original on 23 June 2007. Retrieved 19 February 2008. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Lobster liberated in Italy Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Bite Back, 1 September 2005.
- ↑ "Activists' 'war' to save lobsters". BBC News. 2004-07-30. Archived from the original on 3 December 2008. Retrieved 2007-11-08. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Lobster 'front' targets fisherman". BBC News. 2005-04-19. Archived from the original on 4 June 2006. Retrieved 2007-11-08. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Lobster Liberation Front". Channel 5 News. 30 July 2004. Archived from the original on 31 May 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Protesters 'driving out' pet trader". The Argus. Archived from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 15.0 15.1 SARCnews Issue 7
- ↑ Animal extremists raided pet shop to free birds and rats[permanent dead link], The Times, 14 July 2006.[dead link]
- ↑ Payne, Stewart. "Animal activists freed over filthy breeding centre". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on February 25, 2009. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Cruelty campaigners grab research goats, Portsmouth News, July 28, 2006.[dead link]
- ↑ "Goats used in Navy tests for 'the bends'". Southern Daily Echo. Archived from the original on 7 November 2019. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Haldane, 1st Viscount cr 1911, (Richard Burdon Haldane) (30 July 1856–19 Aug. 1928)", Who Was Who, Oxford University Press, 2007-12-01, retrieved 2019-11-07
- ↑ "Cruelty campaigners grab research goats". www.portsmouth.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 November 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-07. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Cooper, Jilly (2010). Jump!. Great Britain: Bantam Press. p. 131. ISBN 9780593061541. Search this book on
- ↑ Shachtman, Noah (October 17, 2007). "Goats Tossed from U.K. Navy Dive Tests". Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2019 – via www.wired.com. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Military goat tests to be stopped, Portsmouth News, 15 October 2007.
- ↑ Goat experiments scrapped, Southern Daily Echo, 7 February 2008.
- ↑ "MOD to stop experiments on goats!". Animal Aid. February 7, 2008. Archived from the original on 7 November 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 The Telegraph. "Minister Urges Foie Gras Boycott". Archived from the original on May 4, 2008. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)
External links
Campaigns
- Stop The Botox Horror
- Stop Wickham Animal Testing (SWAT)
- Lobster Liberation
- The Boar Wars
- Fur Free South
- Prosecute Porter Campaign ended December 2006
- Save The Goats Campaign ended February 2008
- Foie Gras - Delicacy of Despair
- Close The Portsmouth Greyhound Track
This article "Southern Animal Rights Coalition" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Southern Animal Rights Coalition. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
