Consort beagles
Encyclopedia
The Consort beagles campaign was founded in 1996 by British animal rights activists Greg Avery
and Heather James
, with a view to closing Consort Kennels in Hereford
, a commercial breeder of beagles for animal testing
laboratories.
, including the removal in May 1997 of 26 beagles.
Following the company's closure, the same group of activists set up Save the Hill Grove Cats
, Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty
and other campaigns that have jointly altered the nature of the animal rights movement in the UK.
.
Activists breached the fence causing it to come down, and a handful of protesters crossed the security area and climbed over the compound wall. The area was then secured by three hundred police officers in riot gear, until two masked men appeared on the single storey building holding a beagle they had removed from the kennels. Following an hour of rioting, the pregnant beagle was lowered to a group of around forty people. The dog was later returned to the kennels by police.
Greg Avery
Greg Avery is a British animal rights activist. He is chiefly known as a founding member of several influential animal rights campaigns — focusing on opposition to the animal testing industry — that have dramatically altered the nature of the animal rights movement in the UK...
and Heather James
Heather Nicholson
Heather Nicholson , also known as Heather James, is a British animal rights activist. She is best known for having co-founded three pivotal animal rights campaigns in the UK in the 1990s. In 1997, Consort Kennels in Hereford, which bred beagles for animal-testing labs, was closed after a ten-month...
, with a view to closing Consort Kennels in Hereford
Hereford
Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...
, a commercial breeder of beagles for animal testing
Animal testing
Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and in vivo testing, is the use of non-human animals in experiments. Worldwide it is estimated that the number of vertebrate animals—from zebrafish to non-human primates—ranges from the tens of millions to more than 100 million...
laboratories.
Background
The company closed in September 1997 after a ten-month campaign consisting of daily protests and raids carried out by the Animal Liberation FrontAnimal Liberation Front
The Animal Liberation Front is an international, underground leaderless resistance that engages in illegal direct action in pursuit of animal liberation...
, including the removal in May 1997 of 26 beagles.
Following the company's closure, the same group of activists set up Save the Hill Grove Cats
Save the Hill Grove Cats
Save the Hill Grove Cats was a British animal rights campaign set up in 1997 with the aim of closing Hill Grove Farm near Witney in Oxfordshire. The farm, owned by Christopher Brown, was the last commercial breeder of cats for laboratories in the United Kingdom...
, Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty
Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty
Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty is an international animal rights campaign to close down Huntingdon Life Sciences , Europe's largest contract animal-testing laboratory. HLS tests medical and non-medical substances on around 75,000 animals every year, from rats to primates...
and other campaigns that have jointly altered the nature of the animal rights movement in the UK.
Protest
The campaign came to public attention on April 24, 1997 on World Day for Laboratory Animals, when an estimated five hundred protesters turned up for a national demonstration at the kennels located in a field off the A49, between Ross-on-Why and HerefordHereford
Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...
.
Activists breached the fence causing it to come down, and a handful of protesters crossed the security area and climbed over the compound wall. The area was then secured by three hundred police officers in riot gear, until two masked men appeared on the single storey building holding a beagle they had removed from the kennels. Following an hour of rioting, the pregnant beagle was lowered to a group of around forty people. The dog was later returned to the kennels by police.
See also
- Animal Liberation FrontAnimal Liberation FrontThe Animal Liberation Front is an international, underground leaderless resistance that engages in illegal direct action in pursuit of animal liberation...
(ALF) - Save the Hillgrove Cats
- Stop Huntingdon Animal CrueltyStop Huntingdon Animal CrueltyStop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty is an international animal rights campaign to close down Huntingdon Life Sciences , Europe's largest contract animal-testing laboratory. HLS tests medical and non-medical substances on around 75,000 animals every year, from rats to primates...
(SHAC) - Save the Newchurch Guinea PigsSave the Newchurch Guinea PigsSave the Newchurch Guinea Pigs was a six-year campaign by British animal rights activists to close a farm in Newchurch, Staffordshire that bred guinea pigs for animal research...
- Shamrock FarmShamrock FarmShamrock Farm was Britain's only non-human primate importation and quarantine centre, located in Small Dole, near Brighton in West Sussex. The centre, owned by Bausch and Lomb, and run by Charles River Laboratories, Inc...
- Leaderless resistanceLeaderless resistanceLeaderless resistance, or phantom cell structure, is a political resistance strategy in which small, independent groups , including individuals , challenge an established adversary such as a government. Leaderless resistance can encompass anything from non-violent disruption and civil disobedience...