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STOP HUNTINGDON Newsletter 1
ANIMAL
10,000 Copies Printed
CRUEL TY 0121 632 6460
STOP HUNTINGDON ANIMAL CRUELTY, PO BOX 381, CHELTENHAM, GLOS GLS0 lYN
Tel. 0121 632 6460
e-mail: info@shac.u-net.com
www.welcome.to/shac
TheHuntingdonCampaign . ---
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THESTORYSOFAR... Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) was formed in 1951 by Professor Alistair Worden. They have two laboratories in the UK, the largest of which is Huntingdon Research Centre (HRC), Woolley Road, Alconbury, Cambridgeshire. Tel: 01480 892000. (Pictured below)
The other laboratory is the Eye Research Centre , Occold, Eye, Suffolk.(Below)
They also own a site in America called the Princeton Research Centre , New Jersey, USA. For many years HLS managed to avoid the glare of publicity, but in 1989 that changed forever. The BUAV undertook an investigation headed by Sarah Kite that lifted the lid on HLS for the first time (the undercover investigations are dealt with in more detail elsewhere in the newsletter). HLS's response was at first silence then an attempt to rubbish the well-documented investigation. HLS weathered the storm and
again their animal abusing future looked rosy. They rumbled on, getting larger. Then in March 1997 Channel Four screened a programme in the "Countryside Undercover'' series called "It's a Dog's Life". This programme threw HLS's fortune into steep decline, as well as their share price. This film had one vital difference from the previous investigation. Hidden· cameras were used that were invisible to the naked eye. For the first time the world could graphically see and hear the animal suffering inside HLS's labs. No ifs, no buts, they were caught red-handed. Two HRC workers were subsequently arrested and charged under the 1911 Protection of Animals Act. Their sentence? A laughable 60 hours community service. The director at the time, Christopher Cliffe, said he couldn't understand why Mash and Waters (the two technicians charged) had pleaded guilty ! Overnight HLS went from a profit-making company to a heavy loss making one and their share price went into free fall - going from well over £1-20 to at one point 9p, yes 9p. As this is written now, two and a half years after "Its a Dog's Life" was shown, HLS's share price stands at a pathetic 13.5p. Just when it looked like things couldn't get any worse for HLS, in June 1997 Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) released undercover video tapes shot inside HLS's lab in America detailing wholesale animal abuse. Companies really began to desert HLS and what was at first a trickle now became a flood. Outside HRC's gates was a protest camp that cost the company £250,000 in legal fees and Sheriff's costs to remove. HLS was truly being attacked from within by
undercover footage and by demonstrators on the outside . Christopher Cliffe showed total arrogance and insisted that the demonstrations and the clear evidence of animal cruelty were of no relevance, a side issue. This was not washing with their customers and Cliffe was looking more and more out of touch. By August 1998 HLS was in real trouble and an extraordinary general meeting was called for September 2nd 1998. This meeting was a farce and the shareholders were faced with a simple choice: liquidation of HLS or accept the "rescue" package put together by Andrew Baker who led a consortium of backers from America . Also 177 million new shares were issued raising some £20 million. The point that is most important to grasp here is that Baker could not raise enough to keep HLS afloat. The sole reason why HLS are still in business today is that the NATWEST BANK agreed to give HLS credit totalling £24.5 million and they put this on a permanent footing until August 31 st 2000. This is why NatWest will be one of the biggest targets of the campa ign. They cynically invested in animal cruelty even
after seeing "It's a Dogs Life." They will come to learn that there is a price to pay for involvement with animal torture . The EGM saw big changes in the boardroom, seeing Christopher Cliffe ousted and all directors bar Roger Pinnington replaced. Andrew Baker became the new Chief Executive with Brian Cass the new Managing Director (see Director's Profile). If HLS thought all these changes would shake off their past they were to be sorely disappointed. After viewing the "rescue package." Barclays Global Investors (the investment management arm of Barclays Bank} immediately sold their stake in HLS plunging them into even more crisis. At the time HLS owned a fourth lab near Wilmslow , Cheshire which contained a specialist Primate Unit. Because of HLS's dire financial situation this lab was closed with the loss of over 100 jobs (shame) and the sale of the site, which is still empty. Worse was yet to come as HLS was, and still is, losing millions. On Monday November 30th 1998 HLS announced more job losses with 100 jobs going at HRC and a further 50 jobs going at the Occold site. The present workforce over the three remaining labs is about 1,300-1,400 people, with staff paranoia and job uncertainty running rampant. Recently in October 1999 HLS announced they are to cease dog experiments at their Occold site and as stated earlier their share price remains rooted in the teens . It is indisputable that if HLS were now left untouched over 5 years they would probably turn the company around and make HLS profitable. This is where we come in. We will not allow them to recover. HLS are holed below the water line. We have them in our sights. With the screaming of the Beagles from ':It's a Dog's Life" still ringing in our ears, we have locked onto HLS and there is no letting go. They are finished. If it takes 3 months or 3 years we will stay with it through thick and thin . Huntingdon Life Sciences are finished. End of story.
There are 70,000 animals waiting to die at Huntingdon Research Centre so there are 70,000 good reasons for a start. After Hillgrove Farm closed on August 13th 1999 and the Hillgrove cats were released to the RSPCA to be homed, we knew our job was done, thanks to a tremendous combined effort of all the supporters of Save the Hillgrove Cats. It was time to start thinking about the next campaign. We successfully paid off all our debts, thanks to you, and started to raise funds for this campaign. We thought long and hard before we finally made the decision to target Huntingdon Life Sciences. Firstly HLS are in a weak position financially. They have never really recovered , from Channel Four's expose "Countryside Undercover - It's a Dog's Life." The programme showed harrowing undercover footage of the barbaric treatment of Beagle puppies. HLS's share price is still at a pathetic 13.Sp and they are ÂŁ24.5 million in debt to the NatWest Bank. HLS has been exposed by three ulildercover investigations. Each investigation told the SAME story - routine, vicious abuse of the animals and the routine breaches of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (and even that offers the animals virtually no protection). Surprise, surprise, after each investigation the animals are STILL suffering violence and torture at the hands of HLS staff. Nothing changes for laboratory animals until we step in and FORCE a change by closing these places down. As a result of these investigations we have hours of shocking video evidence and lots of photos to use as ammunition against HLS There is already a campaign against HLS - The Huntingdon Death Sciences Campaign (HDSC). They have successfully organised national demos, a protest camp, a campaign against NatWest Bank, leafleted "whistle blower cards" door-to-door and caused chaos at HLS shareholder meetings. All this has caused HLS seve,;e problems and headaches as well as keeping HLS in the news. We will join forces with HDSC and work together becoming a much stronger force to be reckoned with. This could be a long battle and we hope you will stick with it just as you did with Consort and Hillgrove. As before all of the literature and stickers etc. concerning HLS and the NatWest Bank are free. We also rely on donation which essential to our survival. Together we can end th imprisoned at HLS. They11 they have any friends. But WE are flere for them~ our strength and WEWI~ W
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"I felt sickened with the knowledge of what was to become of them. They would soon be having noxious chemicals and drugs forced into their small bodies which in a short time would cause them to become ill with diarrhoea and sickness. It was incredible to believe how anyone could harm such gentle trusting animals. I watched as these tiny bundles of pent-up energy threw themselves around their small, bare cells, bored and frustrated. On opening the cage door they would tumble out and hurl themselves up and down the room. As one beagle was released, others would catch sight of it darting around and start barking excitedly waiting for their turn. After just a couple of minutes of frantic activity, they would struggle in my arms as I picked them up to _return them to their cages. Once back in they would throw themselves at the cage door as I closed it behind them. After having worked in the Unit for just a short while I soon discovered that this excitable behaviour shown by the puppies, the darting around and refusing to return to their cages does not last long in most of the dogs. In just a few weeks, those that still ventured out of their cages, and many would not, would meekly return offering no resistance; their spirit broken." Extract from "SECRET SUFFERING - Inside a British Laboratory" by Sarah Kite
NewsletterNo. 1
f the NatWest had not decided to give HLS credit facilities of £24 .5 million HLS would have been forced into liquidation - pure and simple. How dare a Hi"ghStreet bank use their customer's money to prop up the most obscene of places, knowing full well that 99% of their customers would be horrified . This is where you come in. It is a job for all of us to inform everyone out there of NatWest's involvement with HLS. Here are a few good steps to make NatWest pay for investing in animal torture .
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1. Organise a demo outside you local NatWest. There are 1,700 branches nationwide , so everyone has a branch near
them. Here are a few ideas: • Street Theatre , ie. rabbit, dog costume and vivisector in a lab coat with "NatWest Tortures Beagles" on it. • Megaphones are ideal for drawing in crowds to see what's happening (the last thing NatWest want). You can get small ones for £25 or larger ones for £70 upwards (look in Yellow Pages under sound systems). These are an investment as they can make a demo with 2-3 people seem like 20+. It is good to read out experiments and continually use phrases like "Did you know NatWest Bank invest in animal torture." • Visuals - You must be very visual with placards, banners and especially posters of animals undergoing experiments, which we can supply. • Always take a healthy stack of leaflets with you and please remember to be nice to the NatWest customers, talk to them and explain to them why you are there because NatWest customers will know nothing about HLS and may well take a leaflet home, read it and then close their account a few days later. NatWest customers are potentially a huge asset to the campaign. • Go into the bank and hold your demo actually inside the bank for as long as possible. This may mean the bank has to close. 2. Stickers - The campaign has 100,000 (for starters) phone box stickers about NatWest and HLS. So get stickerin' ! These are also excellent for stickering all over NatWest cash machines. 3. Freephone - How convenient that all the NatWest telephone numbers are free.
The main one to concentrate on is 0800 505050. Two other good ones are 0800 004400 which is manned 24 hours and 0800 200 400 which is for booking financial appointments. You can give a false name and address or maybe you could genuinely book one then pull out explaining that a friend told you about HLS and you are cancelling your appointment out of disgust. The other freephone numbers are: (All prefixed by 0800) 777 888 592 934 243 406 815 000 331119 331133 400 999 886 688 255 200 783 567 818 818 922 229 783 5657 331101 281292 854 581 Most of these will be an answer machine. The tapes cut out after two minutes. Blocks of phone boxes are excellent for this as you can go from one to another ringing the number and leaving the phone off the hook, AND IT DOESN'T COST YOU A PENNY! Please remember if the NatWest pull out on 31st August 2000 then HLS are in big big trouble. An action against NatWest is a direct action against HLS. •Friday November 26th - London Day of Action against NatWest (meet 11am, Liverpool St Station, LondonBishopsgate exit) For details ring 01223 476 596. On the day ring 0171 278 3068 •Saturday November 27th - National Day of Action against NatWest - this is the day you should demonstrate at your local NatWest branch from 9am onwards
TheHuntingdonCampaign
GOING UNDERCOV Over the last 10 years HLS has been infiltrated then exposed three times. This, for the first time, gives us a wealth of documents, photos and video footage showing just what goes on inside HLS ...
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n 1981 Sarah Kite (B.U.A.V.) worked undercover in Huntingdon Research Centre (HRC) for eight months. She staited work in the Rodent Toxicology Unit. She could see at first hand what made these people tick. Sarah wrote: "I soon discovered we were not allowed to call blood, blood, we had to call it red staining. Similarly, the killing of an animal at the end of an experiment is described as a sacrifice ." Sarah also wrote of the then Chief Animal Technician, Anthony Ellis: "Ellis was an unpleasant man who over exaggerated his affection towards the animals (when showing round potential workers) . One moment he spoke about dying dogs and the next he was showering them with affection as though he had no responsibility for the fact that they became ill." Sarah described two experiments whilst in the Rodent Toxicology Unit. One was for the food colouring Canthaxanthin, which was used in colouring the flesh of salmon and trout and also used in sun tanning pills. This experiment was carried out for the pharmaceutical company Hoffman La Roche. "Effects included lethargy, hair standing on end, swollen necks and abdomens. Those given high doses had orange fur and tails, with brick red faeces and urine ." The substance was considered so harmful that the staff cleaning out the
animal's pens had to wear oxygen suits. Canthaxanthin was banned at the beginning of December 1988 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) yet HRC were still happily poisoning animals with it six months later. She described another experiment for the tranquilliser Fiucto Trazepam which was a two year chronic toxicity study. Clinical reports recorded: "rats having fits after dosing for up to one minute" and "cages 85, 95 and 100 had large amounts of dark red blood on their trays." The animal's condition was recorded as "gross and ill with greasy wet fur standing on end." One technician described the animals in this room as: "rotting but still alive." After six months undercover Sarah Kite was transferred to the Dog Toxicology Unit. The work she endured in this unit was so harrowing that she could only stand it for 8 weeks. In that time she saw beagles poisoned with pesticides, dental hygiene products, drugs and food wrapping film. In one test (pictured below), 48 Beagles had their backs
shaved then an anti-psoriatic cream applied everyday for 30 days. This resulted in open sores and blisters on the dogs backs. The dogs had their bodies bound in tight sticky plaster and they had
to wear large head collars to stop them pulling at the plasters as they were in pain (as pictured on the front cover). The beagle pictmed was just about to have more cream rubbed into the sores. There is already a whole raft of anti-psoriatic creams on the market. This was no new cure but simply another drug company looking to cash in on a lucrative market. In fact an HLS report from 1972 admitted that "there is a great variation in the skin irritancy response of mice, guinea pigs, piglets, dogs and baboons." MORE POINTLESS ANIMAL RESEARCH FOR PROFIT. Sarah told how "Staff were encouraged not to spend time with the Beagles because it lost time. Time and speed were the essence I was told." Also "Staff were told not to touch the animals because it was 'a waste of time.' It was said the animals became 'spoilt ' and did not do what they were told." Sarah went on to tell "Whilst cleaning out the cages, I regularly found blood, vomit and diarrhoea on the floor. Many dogs were very ill . They were extremely thin with their fur standing on end. They were visibly shaking and often so scared they were unable to leave their cages." Sarah could take no more and left, but not before she had gathered enough evidence that would rock HLS to their foundations as well as gathering a lot of newspaper coverage.
NewsletterNo. 1
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n 1996 Channel Four commissioned Small World Productions to produce a film for their "Countryside Undercover" series. The programme was called "It's a Dog's Life." The person who wemt undercover was Zoe Broughton. The main difference this time was that Zoe was fitted with a hidden camera. What she caught on camera was so shocking it very nearly sunk HLS overnight. The film showed workers at HRC punching and shaking four month old beagle puppies, puppies so frightened they wet themselves, and experiments being faked.
In ner diary Zoe wrote: "The technician shaves the dog's neck and then plunges the needle in. She continues bleeding afterwards - I get blood on my arm and I see the other dogs look and know what is coming. Some grip the floor cringing and a couple try to dart past me and escape." For more information about Zoe Broughton's diary please turn to the centre pages. Scenes from the footage she shot are on the new campaign video. What was HLS's response to "It's a Dog's Life"? They said: 'The company is confident that all staff involved in the safety and welfare of animals are caring and undertake their duties with responsibility and with sensitivity." The probability of Zoe just chancing to be in the only part of HLS where animal cruelty was taking place has got to be nil. Animal suffering is Huntingdon Life Sciences and Huntingdon Life Sciences is animal suffering. Pure and simple.
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n June 1997 Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) released a videotape shot by a Peta member undercover inside HLS's lab in America. To say the video is shocking would be a gross understatement. In one scene you can clearly see a monkey being cut open during a necropsy (an animal equivalent of an autopsy) whilst still alive. In another scene a researcher yells at a frightened monkey: "Calm down before I bite your face!" On another tape, technicians yell and scream as a monkey is strapped down. One says sarcastically: "I'm sure the sponsor will love that." A second technician comments "bring up their heart rates just a little bit more." Whilst a third says: "Yon can wipe your ass on that data." In another incident a technician holds a monkey in mid-air as he administers a tuberculin test material into the animals eyelid. Asked by the undercover investigator if he can do it this way, the vivisector replied: "Nope, not supposed to, never saw it, never did it, can't prove it."
high profile and shocking exposes that is all they can say. The evidence against HLS is overwhelming. It is there in words, black and white and colour photos and most of all it is there in over 70 hours of undercover video footage detailing the most graphic scenes of animal cruelty ever seen. Two words sum up HLS simply, truthfully and powerfully - PURE EVIL!
FRIENDS OF HLS? This following list contains drug companies who are either known to still trade with HLS or else have offered an inconclusive response to enquiries on their relationship with HLS. Please write to as many as you can addressed to the chief executive . ¡Ask them if they are happy dealing with a company who have been investigated three times in the last ten years and on each occasion wholesale animal cruelty has been recorded. Please pass onto the campaign any replies received.
The video tapes are a catalogue of abuse, half the time the so called "experiments" are not even being done as they should be. Again what was HLS's response to this expose? Even after Michelle Rokke (Peta investigator) had uncovered papers that showed HLS were due to conduct an experiment fOFthe Japanese company, Yamanouchi in which 37 Beagle puppies would have a leg bone sawn then snapped with a steel wire, Alan Staple president of HLS in America stated "We are innocent" and went on to state that he felt "violated" by Peta's expose. After all the animal suffering shown, he felt violated! Incredible! Meanwhile Christopher Cliffe - the overall head of HLS - said from Huntingdon Research Centre, Cambridge that the tapes were "misleading, scandalous rubbish." He insisted the behaviour of the staff was nothing more than "tomfoolery." So there you have it. After ten years of
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Astra Charnwood, Bakewell Road, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 5RH Glaxo Research & Development, 891-995, Greenford Road, Greenford, Middlesex, UB6 0HE Nova Nordijk, Broadfield Park, Pease Cottage, Crawley, West Sussex RH11 9RT Novartis UK Ltd, Calverley Lane, Horsforth, Leeds, LS18 4RP Schering Plough, One Giralda Farms, Madison, New Jersey, 079401000, USA SmithKline Beecham PLC, 5B House, Great West Road, Brentford, TW8 9BD Unilever PLC, Unilever House, Blackfriars, London EC4P 4BQ Zeneca Group PLC, 15 Stanhope Gate, London W1 Y 6LN
NewsletterNo. 1
Name: Brian Cass (Managing Director) D.O.B.: 30/5/47 Last known address: 16b The Oval, Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG2 9BA (It is thought he may well have moved nearer to Huntingdon). Cass is as evil as they come. 'He was the Managing Director of Covance Labs, Harrogate for 12 years. Covance is another huge vivisection lab. While he worked at Covance there was an undercover investigation there in 1992 showing unbelievable animal suffering. It was Cass who tried to rubbish the investigation and excuse the cruelty. Now the Managing Director of HLS he will go to any lengths to defend animal suffering. Cass worked at HLS from 1972-74. Cass is also a Director of Mill Quay Residents Association (St. Ives) Ltd. and Mill Quay Moorings (St. Ives) Ltd., 31 Warwick Square, London, SWlV 2AF
EHIS
MAN MUST B
E FOUN~
Name: Andrew Baker (Chief Executive) D.O.B.: 7/12/48 Address: One Central Park West, Apartment 49C, New York, USA 10023 Baker is the man behind the rescue package for HLS at the end of 1998. Baker moves his dealings with HLS under the vehicle of a company called Focused Healthcare Partnership (FHP). Baker is also a director of Unilabs, 27 Hartley St, London WIN lDA Tel:020 7908 7000 (go on give 'em a call). Baker was also the boss of Hazleton (now called Covance) labs.
Name: Professor John Cadwell (Director) D.O.B.: 4/4/47 Last known address: 47 Colne Avenue, West Drayton, Middlesex UB7 7AL (Definitely not now living at this address) Caldwell is a vivisector himself and has his fingers in many animal-abusing pies. This man is dirty with a capital D.
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Name: Susan Gaynor Hide (Director/Secretary) Address: 43 Cruickshank Grove, Crownhill, Milton Keynes MK80EW Tel: 01480 892012 Hide has been the company secretary at HLS for many years.
Name: Frank William Bonner (Head of all research departments) D.O.B.: 21/7/52 Last known address: 2 Beal Croft, Warkworth, Morpeth, Northumberland NE65 0XL (thought to have moved fairly recently) Bonner is the man who oversees the suffering. Surprise , surprise, he is also the current chairman and a director of the British Toxicology Society, 20/22 Queensberry Place, London SW7 2D2
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Name: Julian Torquil Griffiths (Finance Director) D.O.B.: 4/11/52 Address: Cob Hill House, Tang Road, High Birstwith, Harrogate, N. Yorks HG3 2JR Yet another person from Covance vivisection labs, where he was vice-president of finance for 9 years.
Name: Roger Adrian Pinnington (Director) D.O.B.: 27/8/32 Address: 15 Lennox Gardens Mews, London SWlX 0DP Tel: 0171 581 8956 Pinnington is the only remaining director left from before the changeover of directors in September 1998
Asyoucanseetherearethree directors who we think we only have the last known address for. If you have access to follow on bills for B.T. or any of the mobile phone companies for any of the three directors. Likewise if you or a relative/friend works in the tax or National Insurance and know their present addresses then just simply send them to the campaign ANONYMOUSLY
The Huntingdon Campaign The Guardian Wedne
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ENVIRONMEN T
Zoe Broughton spent 1Oweeks secretlyfilmin experimentsin an animaltesting laboratory.She was shocked by what she discovered
berebloc na.ns ·cold VER slnce I was young their cages and don't even move other. The animal technician I used to wonder what when I give them their food. My shaves the dog's neck and then went on behind the job is to look aftera room of 32 plunges the needle in. She continhigh barbed wire of puppies. On the ftrst afternoon I ues bleeding afterwards- I get the huge animal testam asked to check the health of my blood on my arm and lsee the ing laboratory down the road. dogs. I am shown how to do it, but other dogs look and kn.owwhat is I'm not opposed to animal testtrying to check teeth and paws on was coming. Some grip the floor a wriggling little beagle puppy ing lf it's done to advance medcringing and a couple try to dart ical science, and if in the seems almost impossible. Later I past me and escape. Often the techprocess the animals are kept read the Home OfficeGuidelines nicians can't find a vein. I count well and treated compassionateand it states that it has to be done one needle being put in three times ly. I decided to apply for one of by a competent person - how can I and once under the skin prod in the lab's many vacancies adverbe competent on my first day at cllffenmt directions 15 times before tised in the local paper. to see finding a vejn. I feel pretty queasy. work? All the dogs had their own for myself. · distinctive cbaracters and I was · A few days later I got an shocked to find out that they Day 10 I amtold not to use so much intemew for a job as an animal would all be put down. By the end sawdust- "One shovelfulis · ofthedayiwas technician. The pay was about enough and it ,. •••••••••••• ••• • • •••••• needn't be piled £120 for a ftve-and-a-half-day mentally and physically ,·· week. I made myself sound up." There is no 'I spent last keen and stressed that I had bedding and this exhausted. weekend deciding is all the dogs . experience of working with aniDay4The have on the con• • mals. They checked my name to. . whetherto see if it appeared on any animal hardestjob is crete floors. The putting the · campaign lists. Before I'd come smuggle out my HomeOffice young puppies inspectors turn to terms with what I was about favourite puppy' to involve myself in I was work- away after their up. I don't see ing in one of Britain's largest one hour of • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • them look in any of the units animal testing laboratories. exercise in the I deal with - they just stand small concrete corridor between Day _11 don't know what to expect, the two rows of cages. Th~y paw, outside the dogrooms and chat not even which department I will with the technicians. at me with their shitty feet; I pick get sent to or how I will respond to one up, read the number tattooed in its ear and walk the length of Day 15 Another visit from the seeing animals in pain. To fit in. I Home Officers inspectors. This make up a false past. I can hardly the room to find its cage; all the time l seethem outside in the correveal I am a film-maker. But I am while trying not to tread on worried that I may say something ridor - a technician tells me to paws and sllp in the.freshabit.,. . sweep11'if!'fleet I S'Weep !Out It's repulsive and by the end of that might blow my cover. they don't enter my side of the labI am assigned to the dog toxicol- · each day my lab clothes have oratory. I've now seen them arrive ogy unit. I've always had pet dogs, turned from white to brown. twice, but I haven't seen them look but as we enter the building the atadogyet. . Day 8 I have to help qt.ke blood noise and smell hits me. I cannot samples. They call it "doing a · stop my face showing the shock. I bleed". I bring the first dog out and Day 18 1still feel physically sick · notice immediately that the little with nerves. Th.eIndependent puppies are keen to play, whereas sit her on a chair beside me, hold· Television Commission(ITC) has ing both front paws in one hand . the older dogs are wary of human granted me permission to film and holding the chin up with the touch. Some stay at the back of
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whatis going on. equipment is stn It is very bulky a: becauseit is visil
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Day 29 The worsl experiments start pies. The test invc dog in a sling and cal used in the sec
livers. Twoare sil
being injected, so: swell up and on tc
puppies have 10b through the day.' keep saying that · youngfor this typ their veins are t()( have they got the1 puppies wriggle,1 shaken by:the scr feel like a torture soon get their blo
Day 30 I help pre another experim1 chemical toxicity esecompany. Al my department v toxicity of herb.it cides. The man I i measures out the put it into capsul print out the we~ a computer so it< What he actually out one dose corr out seven times a
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Day 32 Walk intt
of my puppies, m
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Newsletter No. 1 lay March261997
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TIie Guardllln WednesdayMarch261997
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lhecamera pedtomybody. i I am worried e every time I lay yet, as the don my 32 pup~es putting each !)jecting a chemi!Jling of human ;as they are e of their legs of this the IOdtests each ie technicians ese dogs are too of experiment as ~mall"- so why so young? If the ey are hit or ff of their necks. I I hold them and lon my ~ds. are the doses for 1t- it is an agrot for a Japanof the tests in re testing for the lesand fungin working with ompound and I ;. He is meant to it of each dose on
n be checked. oes is measure ~y. print this d then make the heweekfar with less ms the dOgsare it dose: these >einvalid. my unit and one nber1619,has
Shortlife beblnd
bars ... Zoe
Brouahton•s undercover flhntng at an animal testing laboratory was mentally exhausting;
omafthe baridestjobs was putttnathe puppies away
afterthelr bour'aexeidae lntheamall concrete con1don betweenthe
rowsofcaaes half a pint oCcongealed bloody faeces around his cage. Thevet looksat him and says it is all right to continue with the daily doses. Day as I'm finding it hard to watch these needles being repeatedly put into the dogs' legs, over and over. One technician gets so angry when he can't find a vein that be shouts, and quickly jabs the needle in repeatedly, oftengoing right through the vein. Twice I have seen him give up and squirt the rest of the liquid into the bin. Day 40 I have had plenty of oppor-
tunities to read the files. I have been writing notes on scraps of paper and have now established which experiments are in which rooms, who's sponsoring which companies, the compounds being tested and how each is being administered.
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Day 45 Today I mmthe pictures of the a,rlma] tecbntdans'pets on the wall-many of them talk non-stop about their lovely pets andthen go back to work. Day 56 We have now ftn.ishedthe experiment with my puppies and today we have to go through the whole blood-testing rigmarole again. I cannot believe the animal technicians' attitudes- they are messing around while trying to take blood. One technician pokes, tickles and fools around with the man be is working with. This makes the process of finding a vein take even longer.
whole project and smugleher out - but I must think of the future oe· the other antmaJsbere and hope that my fllm will help all of them. Day 64 I havejust walked out of the laboratory for the last time. I wanted to say good.byeandpet the dogs, but rve found it so bard loving those about to be put down that I kept my distance at the end. I don't think anybody suspects me. I have followed the whole process with my puppies, from the
settling-in weeks, through experiments to the postmortem. As I was leaving, they told me my chores for the next morning- nobody knew I would not be there, but in the edit suite, assembling the evidence of their cruelty.' ·
Day 57 They've started the postmortems on my dogs. Today I carry my favourite puppy along the corridor to what are known as the Death Row cages. I spent last weekend 'Countryside Undercover:It's A Dog'sLife deciding whether to blow this wtlbe shownonC4 tonight,9pm. • 1"1 •••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••
TheHuntingdonCampaign
EVERY YEAR 180,000 DOGS
UiOO KILLED ATHLS
Dogs are a popular "tool" for researchers was "safety" tested on animals and so Beagle dogs at HRC in 1989. It is an eye in toxicology (poisoning). In fact HLS were Organophosphates. witness account of one Beagle's agony has a whole department devoted to Dog Beagles are the favourite breed for which thousands have experienced before Toxicology. vivisectors because of their placid nature and since. Dogs are particularly bad models for and convenient size. It is heartbrealdng to "In this case the test substance was toxicity testing of substances as their see Beagle puppies wagging their tails at administered by a force-feeding digestive systems are almost completely their torturers. technique known ¡ as oral-gavage. The different to ours and are more animals were restrained and a tube tolerant to bacteria etc. (e.g. dogs pushed down their throat into their can eat raw meat, rummage about stomach. in bins and drink out of puddles The dose of three large syringes etc. without suffering ill effects.) was then pumped down the tube. Basically they are completely No pain release was given and all different. the dogs would be killed for m,_..;...;...;;.;:;;.;jllll~----~ autopsy ... It is clear that pain and In simple terms dogs are poisoned q I by various methods, with different distress was experienced due to chemicals over a period of days, the method and manner in which weeks, months or even years. This is an HLS promotion picture. This is a system of the dose was administered." They die a long, slow, lingering, restraining Beagles which they pioneered! This was not a one off incident at painful death. Then the HRC. In 1994 at HRC an weedkiller, washing powder, kitchen Sarah Kite (BUAV undercover experiment describes "The activity of cleaner or whatever is sold as safety investigator) witnessed the following levodropropizine was evaluated after oral tested. POINTLESS. Remember DDT cruel and painful test carried out on administration to the conscious dog."
-~¡e ._
.
CATS 400 f9LLEDATHLS HLS have, in the past, verbally denied having any cats at all on their premises. We know they were lying. We have a copy of a fax transmission sheet sent from HLS to Hillgrove Farm in 1994 confirming an order for a consignment of cats . Also onlS/2/99, the owner of
Hillgrove, Christopher Brown was followed and seen driving to HLS and through the gates to deliver cats/kittens. Save the Hillgrove Cats phoned Christopher Brown. This is a transcript of the conversation: Christopher Brown: "Hello, Hillgrove Farm" Greg Jennings : "Christopher Brown, you have been seen delivering cats to Huntingdon Life Sciences so don 't deny it. How can you be happy to let cats go to such a place?" CB: "I have no problem with HLS. They have been a customer of mine for quite a few years now." GJ: "Did you see Countryside Undercover where 4 month old
12
beagle puppies were being punched by workers at HLS ?" CB: "I'm happy HLS have cleaned up their act" GJ: "How do you know that?" CB: "Because they said so." Because HLS won't even admit to having cats it is very difficult to find out what is being done to them. We found just one published experiment featuring cats at HLS (because all the
TheHuntingdonCampaign
MONKEYS 1,700 KILLED ATHLS HLS hold over 1,000 primates in their labs making them one of the largest primate facilities in the world. They produce glossy brochures about the "benefits of a small primate." Sarah Kite enquired about working in the primate unit whilst at HLS. She was told women were not employed in the primate unit as they were not considered strong enough.
; r
(
She was left thinking just what was going on in there that needed such brute force as women work with primates in zoos etc. In a 13-week toxicity study on cynomolgus monkeys at HRC, results recorded were: "loss of body weight, vomiting, hair standing on end and increases of chemicals in the liver and kidneys ." HRC has got a specialist inhalation toxicology unit and they see themselves as the leaders in this field. Put simply, inhalation toxicology means holding animals in restraining devices and forcing them, via face masks (as pictured) to inhale poisonous gases and chemicals
IF ITBREATHS HLSKILLIT At HLS if it moves they experiment on it. Also at HLS 7 800 birds, 10,300 fish and an undisclosed amount of cows, sheep and horses die every year. Evidence uncovered by the campaign shows that HLS has been or still is involved in experiments with chicks, cattle, horses (including foals), mules and fish. In one study it describes: "Newly hatched broiler chicks were sprayed with Broilact (a live culture preparation aimed at salmonella in factory farmed poultry) at a
commercial hatchery and delivered on the same day to Huntingdon Research Centre." The chicks were studied then killed. Another study HLS were involved in was on 124 foals. This study was started whilst the mares were still heavily pregnant with the foals . The study talks of "survivors" and "non-survivors." The fact is all the animals imprisoned in HLS are non-survivors.
WELLI NEVER ... In a recent study in Scandinavia researchers from several countries examined dozens of test tube methods to predict toxicity. It was found that a combination of human cells were far superior to experiments with animals for assessing a chemical's lethal dose. Dr. Ekwall noted: "Prediction of human lethal and toxic doses is poor due to species differences between animals and humans, and the toxic mechanisms of the chemicals cannot be directly predicted using current animal tests." 14
Newsletter No. 1
SHAREHOLDERS IN SUFFERING Principle Shareholders Name of shareholder
No. of Ordinary Shares
UBS UK Holding Ltd / PDFM Ltd Group
Percentage Holding
51,706,751
17.77%
47,432,200
16.30%
36,000,000 34,157,333 26,228,734
12.37% 11.74% 9.01%
23,333,333
8.02%
11,000,000
3.77%
1 Finsbury Avenue London EC2M 2PP
BNY Nomineees Ltd 3 Birchin Lane London EC3V 9BY
Stephens Group Inc Quilcap Corp / Quilcap International Corp FMR/ Fidelity International Ltd 229 Nether St London N31NT
Oracle Partners LP 712 Fifth Avenue 45th Floor New York 10019
Focused Healthcare Partners
The table above shows the Principle Shareholders in HLS. Please write to them and ask how they can invest in animal suffering
THE CARING, SHARING CO-OP? Co-op: Can you believe that a company who markets itself on an ethical policy has over one and a half million shares (1.6 million) in HLS? No, neither can we. Apparently the Co-operative Wholesale Society (pare t company) try to dance around this by saying the shares are held by the Co-operative Insurance Society and are therefo e a different part of the company than the Co-operative Bank. PATHETIC! If they think it stops there they have got another thing coming. Whilst doing NatWest demos why not target the Co-op Bank as well? The simple fact is the Co-operative Wholesale Society could sell thei:r share in HLS and if they don't then they will suffer the fallout. When writing to them, mention that you don't think i is good e @ugh for them to claim the shares are held by a different part of the company (so as not to give them the chance to waffle on about it). Write to them at: Co-operative Insurance Society Ltd, Miller St, Manchester M60 0AL. Please pass on to the campaign any replies you receive.
LOCAL DEMOCRACY? Bradford District Council: Unbelievable was what I thought when I saw on the shareholder 's list that a council had shares in HLS. They have just over 8 million shares in Huntingdon, paid for by the local taxpayers. Will Bradford Council have told the local voters about their shares in HLS? I don't think so! Please write to them at: City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, Britannia House, Hall Ings, Bradford BD 1 lHY
SHAREHOLDERS OF NOTE The following companies all own shares in HLS. They will try to claim they are investing the money for a third party (true) and that they have no control over where the investment goes (false). Not only is this claim false it is also a pathetic excuse - No bank deals if it does not want to, pure and simple. Please write to the following asking them how they can justify investing in HLS. Again please try and structure your letter with specific points that do not allow them to write back saying they have "no control. .. blah,blah" . Please pass on any replies. Clydesdale Bank (22,742,617 shares), 30 St Vincent Place, Glasgow Gl 2 HL Phildrew Nominees Ltd (4,801,134 shares), Triton Court, 14 Finsbury Square, London EC2A lPD Midland Bank Trust Company Ltd, Mariner House, Pepys St, London EC3N 4DA Royal Bank of Scotland, 36 St. Andrews Square, Edinburgh EH2 2VB Lloyds TSB Group, 71 Lombard St, London, EC3P 3BS NY Nominees Ltd (10,000,386 shares), 20 Farringdon Rd, London EClN 3NH Bank of Scotland , Head Office, The Mound, Edinburgh EHl 1VZ MSTC Nominees Ltd, PO Box 17447, London, E14 4UE 15
TheHuntingaonCampaign
SCUM ALWAYS RISES TO THE TOP The following list contains some of the names and addresses of people/companies that we recognised whilst flipping through the list of shareholders: Mr Roy James Butterworth, The Old Rectory, Fillingham, Lincolnshire DN21 5BS Tel. 141 01427 668304 Butterworth is a Director of Agenda Resource Management - They are an employment agency who supply school leavers to work as animal technicians (they supplied workers to Hillgrove farm) Mr Paul Dilwyn Sanders & Mrs Heather Fraser Sanders, Rose Cottage, Main Street, Lelley, Hull, E. Yorks HU12 8SN This pair are also Directors of Agenda Resource Management (see above) Paul Sanders is also a Director of the Laboratory Animal Breeders Association and Bantin & Kingman Universal Ltd (lab primate and Beagle dealers). Mr Mark Jeremy Matfield & Mrs Ruth Christine Susan Matfield, 92 Peperharow Rd, Godalming, Surrey GU7 2PN Mark Matfield runs the Research Defense Society. The RDS are the mouthpiece of the vivisection industry. Fancy seeing Matfield as a shareholder, there are NO depths this man will not plumb to promote animal abuse. Victoria Fur Traders Ltd, 19/22 Charlotte Rd, London EC2A 3PB Obviously not happy with skinning animals alive, these fur traders have diversified into an equally obscene form of animal abuse. Miss Laura Jane Prowse, 7 Lions Terrace, Ewyas Harold, Hereford HR2 0ER Prowse has made a career out of animal abuse. We first came across her when she THE PERSON ABOVE HOLDS SHARES IN worked for Consort Ltd. When we closed them down she worked at Quintiles UK at HUNTINGDON UFE SCIENCES (HLS) . THEY EXPERIME NT O N ANIMALS Ledbury,Herefordshire. (Quintiles is a Contract Research Organisation similar to HLS). Now, it INCL UD ING CATS , DOGS, MONK EYS, RABBITS ETC. would appear she even has a stake in Huntingdon.
LETTHEMKNOWWHATYOU THINKOF ANIMALCRUELTY!
FUNDRJIISlNG We aim to make this campaign even larger and more successful than the Hillgrove campaign. We are not money motivated but to run a successful, hard hitting campaign is very expensive. Please, please, please support us financially in any way you can (remember we are volunteers). If you are part of a local group then why not do stalls to support the campaign? We also have standing order forms so you can donate monthly, please contact us for a form. Please make chq's/PO's to: "Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty" and send to our new address on the front of this newsletter. The Consort Beagle Campaign , Save the Hillgrove Cats and now Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty. Different names, but the same team of peopl e involved, constantly learning, updating and winning. To avoid confusion and to reinforce the message that these victories are not flukes but come about by dedication and hard work we now have a constant name above all our work. This name is "Closing Animal Abusers Now". Please remember us in you will because we will never stop fighting for the animals. Written below is the wording you should use if you wish to include us in your will. "I bequeath unto Closing Animal Abusers Now, C/O Kieran & Co Solicitors, of 31 Clarence Rd, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, the sum of ............................free of tax and I direct that the receipt of an authorised officer of the group shall be a good and sufficient discharge of such legacy."
ENTER THE YEAR 2000 AT HLS ! Why spend New Years Eve at a pub or club being charged exorbitant prices when you can be at HLS or a worker 's house ... FOR FREE? Go on, you know it makes sense! And what a great way of entering the New Millenium by targeting animal abusers when they least like it. Meet at the main gates of HLS from 7pm onwards on the 31st December
FLYPOSTING EXPRESS RETURNS 'we have got posters ready and waiting for you to flypost. This is an excellent way of us getting the message across. During the Hillgrove campaign we received many phone calls from people who had seen a poster and had never heard of Hillgrove Farm ... many then came on dernos. We have got posters already packed in 25's, S0' s, I00's and 200's. Just ring us on 0121 632 6460 16
NewsletterNo. 1
FRANKENSTEIN FOODS ... ... TESTED AT HLS Director of Huntingdon Life Sciences, Brian Cass, admitted to the Hunts Post (17/2/99) that HLS is involved with GM food trials. HLS will be conducting invasive toxicity experiments by forcefeeding animals lethal doses of foreign DNA. They will then monitor the inevitable symptoms of toxic poisoning. The animals will then be killed and their vital organs will be examined and compared to another group of organs from animals that were fed a non-GM alternative. Novartis are one of the biggest players in the biotech industry,
Shropshire and York. Novartis also grow maize, which is resistant to the B-Lactum antibiotic. The Novartis maize is being sold in the UK, against the wish and recommendations of many European Commissions. The maize is being sold as processed food and animal feed, and Austria and Luxembourg have banned the sale of these in their countries because of a threat that the antibiotic resistant gene would transfer to bacteria in the gut of livestock and humans. Some bacteria can transfer genes into other species of bacteria that cause disease. GM crops threaten natural diversity and are culturally destructive. Companies like AgrEvo hope to produce infertile GM seeds and get them approved and placed on the National Seed List, which enables seeds to be sold in the UK. AgrEvo produce modified crops to tolerate their herbicide . Liberty and Monsanto produce a herbicide, Roundup, which is packaged with Roundup Ready Seeds. This is a strategy for continued growth in herbicide sales.
together with Monsanto and Astra. (Novartis own a company called Imutran who are involved in xenotransplantation - using pig organs in humans - Imutran are also a client of HLS).
GM herbicide resistant crops could make weeds develop a resistance to new herbicides, which would lead to a reliance on more agrochemicals . Much to the favour of companies like HLS who conduct research for the agro-chemical industry.
Novartis also own Hilleshog who have various GMO deliberate release sites of sugar beet in and around Cambridge and Norfolk, and also Lines, Nottingham,
Claims that research into agrochemicals is motivated by the need to feed the hungry is utter nonsense . Some 90-95% of soyabean harvests and some 60%
of traded maize are not consumed by humans but by livestock. Animal feed is an important focus of genetic research . When people eat animals that have eaten GM feed, those people risk amongst other things eating genes that have transferred into the sort of bacteria that cause disease. These could be in the gut of the animal. When animals do not have the same life expectancy as people, how can animals be used to determine any long term health consequences, and predict allergic reactions in humans - a major concern surrounding GM foods? Test sites are to assess commercial viability, they are neither designed to evaluate safety or to answer questions about contamination of the wider environment. These sites can greatly effect wildlife, birds and small mammals and their source of food like insects through the loss of wild plants - weeds to the multinationals. GM crops could wipe out entire species. News of the Co-Operative Wholesale Society (CWS) pulling out of field scale trials at the end of March this year is good news. A spokesperson from CWS commented: "Our discussions with various parties led us to conclude that the design of this year's trials would do little to allay current environment and consumer concerns." It does seem strange however, that the CWS will pull out of field trials of GMOs but are indirectly still involved in GMOs because they are the parent company of the Co-Operative Insurance Society who are a large shareholder in HLS.
TheHuntingdonCampaign
WHAT YOU CAN DO ... 1. Come to the demos! (See Diary Dates below) Let us never forget that these demos save lives! Each and every demo, vigil etc. will contribute to the closure of HLS. 2. Ring HLS on 01480 892000. Remember the pressure Brown was put under by people ringing morning, noon and night. Now is the time to turn that pressure onto Huntingdon. To block the telephone lines at HLS is even more important. Brown had a monopoly so he could be quite relaxed about missed calls. The same is NOT true of HLS. Every missed called could mean lost business. Lost business to an ailing company is a disaster. So ring, ring and ring again between 9am-5pm. 3. Ring NatWest especially on 0800 505050, 0800 004400 and 0800 200400 (See page 5 for more NatWest phone numbers). 5. Flypast Demo Posters and Shareholders Posters (See page 16).
¡tar .... -3...._,.._...,...._
4. Write to NatWest - J.I. Hartley (Head of Customer Relations), FREEPOST, London EC3 3JL.
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6. Write to these local newspapers highlighting the obscene cruelty inside Huntingdon's labs: It is a battle for the hearts and minds of the people living around Huntingdon and this is part of this battle: Peterborough Herald & Post, 11 Cross St, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE1 1XD
East Anglian Daily Times, 30 Lower Brook St, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP4 1AL
Cambridge Times, 51 High St, March, Cambridgeshire PE15 9JJ
Cambridge Evening News, 7 Crown St, St Ives, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE17 4EB
Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 57 Priestgate, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire PE1 1JW
The Town Crier I Huntingdon Town Crier, Priory House, Priory Lane, St. Neots, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE19 2BH
The Hunts Post, 30 High St, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE18 6AQ
Cambridge Town Crier, Unit 1, Cambridge Technopark, 645 Newmarket Rd, Cambridge CBS 8PB
DIARYDATES Friday November 26th
London Day of Action against NatWest (meet 11am, Liverpool St Station, London-Bishopsgate exit) For details ring 01223 476 596. On the day ring 0171 278 3068.
Saturday November 27th
National Day of Action against NatWest - this is the day you should demonstrate at your local NatWest branch from 9am onwards.
Saturday 11th December
NATIONAL DEMO AT HLS - Meet at the Main Gates 12 noon.
Friday December 31st
New Years Eve at HLS - Meet at the main gates from 7pm.
MERCHANDISE HUNTINGDON LIFE SCIENCES THE FACTS
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HLSLeaflet
NatWest Leaflet
Factsheet
Petition
NatWest Sticker +
C h Ch c he NatWest Bank fund Hunti ngdon li fe clences who experiment o n cats, dogs,
onkeys etc, in tests like the one pictured. AVOIDANIMALCRUELTY. DON'TINVESTWITHTHENATWEST.
HooaeaTop
Register your disgust phone 0800 50505D
Back
Front
r--------------OROERFORM I Every item on this page will be supplied free of
HLSBadge
NatWest Baage
I charge except for T-shirts which cost £5 and Hooded Sweatshirts which cost £15. I Quantity Item I HLS Leaflets I NatWest Leaflets HLS Factsheets I Petitions I Shareholder Posters Posters I Demo NatWest Poster (as leaflet but A4) Larqe NatWest Poster
(as leaflet but A2}
NatWest Stickers HLS Badqes NatWest Badges Videos T-shirts (£5) Hooded Tops (£15)
THE PERSO N ABOVE HOLDS SHA RES IN HU NTINGD ON LIFE SCIENCES (HL S) . THEY EXPER IMENT ON ANIMA LS INCLU DING CATS , DOGS, MONK EYS, RABBITS ETC.
DONATION TOTAL COST
£ £
Name .............................. ................ Address .......................... ................ .
CHANNEL FO UR FILMED AN IMALS BE ING PUNCHED ANO BEATEN AT HLS, BY WORKERS . EVERY 80 SECOND S AN ANIMAL DIES AT HLS!
LETTHEM KNOWWHAT YOU THINK OF ANIMAL CRUELTY!
ShareholaerPoster
DemoPoster
Post Code ............... ............ ........... .
Tel...................................................