Southern Animal Rights Coalition

[
thumb|right|220px|Protest_at_Wickham Laboratories, September 2007 [http://www.swatonline.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=76&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0 Wickham National Demo 2007] , published by "Stop Wickham Animal Testing".] ] The Southern Animal Rights Coalition (SARC) is an umbrella organisation for groups campaigning against animal abuse in southern England. cite web
title = About SARC
publisher = "Southern Animal Rights Coalition"
url = http://www.sarconline.co.uk/about
accessdate = 2007-11-08 ] SARC campaign on a variety of issues, one being focusing on pets. They also campaign against animal testing, furs, wild boar farms and more recently foie gras and greyhound racing. The group campaigns, investigates and exposes animal cruelty whilst promoting a cruelty-free lifestyle.

The coalition supports animal rights groups in the south of England, including those in the following counties; Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset, West Sussex and Wiltshire [ [http://www.sarconline.co.uk/groups Local Groups] , "Southern Animal Rights Coalition".] as well as working with other regional networks.

Campaign history

Wickham Laboratories

Keith Mann and a trusted collague, who to this day is still unknown,Mann, Keith. "From Dusk 'til Dawn: An insider's view of the growth of the Animal Liberation Movement". Puppy Pincher Press, 2007, p. 625.] in 2003 raided the research laboratory and removed 695 mice that were being used to test Dysport. He was then arrested by detectives at his home and the mice were returned to the laboratory.Mann, Keith. "From Dusk 'til Dawn: An insider's view of the growth of the Animal Liberation Movement". Puppy Pincher Press, 2007, p. 630.] He argued that the tests were illegal because the product was being tested for cosmetic purposes, Botox which is banned in Britain. [http://www.sarconline.co.uk/botox/index.html Botox Horror] , "Southern Animal Rights Coalition".] A court rejected his claims, and found that the tests were in compliance with UK regulations because Dysport is used for therapeutic purposes to prevent muscle spasms. [http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sparex/Animal-protester-jailed-after-court.1014793.jp Animal protester jailed after court threat] , "Portsmouth Today", 30 April, 2005.] According to SARC, they received the paperwork which revealed that cosmetic Botox was still being tested on animals and began working for a total ban on cosmetic tests, and for all Botulinum toxin to be tested using non-animal alternatives.cite web
title = Stop the botox horror
publisher = "Southern Animal Rights Coalition"
url = http://www.sarconline.co.uk/botox/index.html
accessdate = 2007-11-08 ]

"Stop Wickham Animal Testing (SWAT)" was then launched by campaigners and is supported by SARC and its members. [ [http://www.swatonline.co.uk/index.php?module=htmlpages&func=display&pid=1 SWAT :: Stop Wickham Animal Testing ] ] [ [http://www.swatonline.co.uk/index.php?module=htmlpages&func=display&pid=7 About Us] , "Stop Wickham Animal Testing".]

Lobster Liberation Front

The website was then sent messages in July 2004 by a group calling themselves the Lobster Liberation Front (LLF) to claim responsibility for a campaign of vandalism aimed at a lobster fisherman in Dorset. The group later spread to Wales, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/3834055.stm Lobster pot sabotage inquiry] , "BBC News", 24 June, 2004.] Scotland, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4858028.stm Lobster liberation claims probed] , "BBC News", 30 March, 2006.] and further to Italy, Spain and Turkey. [ [http://www.directaction.info/news_aug07a_05.htm BITE BACK Magazine ] ] [ [http://www.directaction.info/news_sept01_05.htm Lobster liberated in Italy] , "Bite Back", September 1st 2005.] [ [http://www.sarconline.co.uk/lobsters/liberation/index.html Lobster Liberation] , "Southern Animal Rights Coalition".]

The groups methods include liberating lobsters and sabotaging lobster pots or fishing boats. cite news
title = Activists' 'war' to save lobsters
publisher = BBC News
date = 2004-07-30
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/dorset/3939111.stm
accessdate = 2007-11-08 ]

The website was again used by the LLF in April 2005 to claim responsibility for further attacks on a fishermen's nets in Dorset.cite news
title = Lobster 'front' targets fisherman
publisher = BBC News
date = 2005-04-19
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/4461247.stm
accessdate = 2007-11-08 ]

The Boar Wars

They also uncovered a European Union directive as well as two conventions which states that Wild Boar in the UK should be released back into the wild, while the government however are considering a cull of the rare number of wild boars currently free.cite web
title = Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora
publisher = eurlex
url = http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31992L0043:EN:HTML
accessdate = 2007-11-08 ]

Pet shops

The groups interest in protecting pets started with supporting the Animal Protection Agency’s campaign against pet fairs,cite web
last = Newman
first = Chris
title = Animal Rights & the Future of the Pet Industry
publisher = "Reptile & Exotic Pet Trade association"
url = http://the-shg.org/OATA.htm
accessdate = 2007-11-08 ] the campaign coordinated against Furry Friends pet shop followed, whilst also calling upon the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) to prosecute the owner of the shop for acts of animal cruelty. [ [http://www.sarconline.co.uk/porter/action Prosecute Porter: Take Action] , "Southern Animal Rights Coalition".]

The evidence was based on the raid by animal rights activists from the group Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC). Grace Quantock, Linus Harrison, Sarah Whitehead and Helen Luff removed three hundred birds, over forty rabbits, an estimated fifty rats, and an unknown number of guinea-pigs from a breeding centre that supplies the shop. They were later convicted of burglary. A spokesperson from the RSPCA said that the animals seemed to be in good bodily condition, but some of the cages were too small and the animals were in cramped conditions. Philip Porter who sold the animals defended the conditions, showing concern for the baby rabbits left behind and the stress caused to his dog by the smashed window. [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article687422.ece Animal extremists raided pet shop to free birds and rats] , "The Times", July 14th 2006.]

According to SARC, by December 2006 Furry Friends had announced that they would no longer be selling pets in the shop, due to the on going protests. [ [http://www.sarconline.co.uk/porter/news/2007/050107.html Prosecute Porter: Victory] , "Southern Animal Rights Coalition", 5th January 2007.]

ave The Goats

In October 2007, SARC said that they had forced the Ministry of Defence to consider stopping the diving research on live goats by the defence research organisation QinetiQ at their Alverstoke Laboratory in Gosport. According to the group, the animals were tested in hyperbaric chambers, in order to simulate under water pressure, to attempt to research the symptoms and possible cures of decompression sickness and to study deep-sea rescue.

The tests were suspended in March with a committee of experts looking into alternative research models, such as computer-modelling and safe human trials, in an attempt to simulate the effects of decompression sickness, or 'the bends', caused by ascending too quickly. [ [http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/latest/Military-goat-tests-to-be.3377810.jp Military goat tests to be stopped] , "Portsmouth News", 15th October 2007.]

It was then announced in February 2008 that the Ministry of Defence had scrapped the experiments with goats, claiming that they were essential although they had now collected all the information necessary. [ [http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/latest/display.var.2025024.0.goat_experiments_scrapped.php Goat experiments scrapped] , "Southern Daily Echo", 7th February 2008.]

Foie Gras

In January 2007 the campaign "Delicacy of Despair" against foie gras was launched, targeting restaurants which serve duck liver that the group claim is enlarged as a result of force feeding. [ [http://www.sarconline.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=390 Portsmouth Foie Gras Protest] , "Southern Animal Rights Coalition", 10th January 2007.] [ [http://www.sarconline.co.uk/foiegras Foie Gras - Delicacy of Despair] , "Southern Animal Rights Coalition".] Since the campaign began, there have been restaurants that have stopped selling the dish in Hampshire, Somerset and Sussex. [ [http://www.sarconline.co.uk/foiegras/victories/index.html Sarc :: Foie Gras ] ] The first restaurant owner the activists targeted with protests, Bistro Montparnasse in Southsea, said that he felt victimised and singled out because other places at the time were selling the delicacy. [ [http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/Foie-gras-demo-held-outside.1971226.jp Foie gras demo held outside restaurant] , "Portsmouth News", 12th January 2007.]

Portsmouth Greyhound Track

The campaign to close the Portsmouth Greyhound Track began later in June 2007 after the track was initially painted in January with animal rights slogans, an action claimed by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). [ [http://www.sarconline.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=430 Portsmouth Greyhound Track Campaign Launched] , "Southern Animal Rights Coalition", 5th June 2007.] [ [http://www.directaction.info/news_jan03b_07.htm Greyhound Track Daubed in Paint] , "Bite Back", 3rd January 2007.] Since, the track has seen regular demonstraitons, has been vandalized twice more and is apparently for sale after more damage was done to equipment at the track later on in the year. [ [http://www.directaction.info/news_mar03_07.htm ALF Makeover for Greyhound Track] , "Bite Back", March 3rd 2007.] [ [http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/southcoast/2007/11/386200.html Portsmouth Greyhound Track Visited for Third Time] , "Indymedia UK", 20th November 2007.] [ [http://www.sarconline.co.uk/greyhound Close Portsmouth Greyhound Track] , "Southern Animal Rights Coalition".]

Other

Activists have campaigned against fur retailers in the south for many years with some shops going fur-free in Portsmouth and Winchester in Hampshire and Christchurch in Dorset as a result. [ [http://www.furfreesouth.com/action/heroes/hampshire/portsmouth.html High Street Heroes: Portsmouth] , "Fur Free South".] [ [http://www.furfreesouth.com/action/heroes/hampshire/winchester.html High Street Heroes: Winchester] , "Fur Free South".] [ [http://www.furfreesouth.com Fur Free South] , "Southern Animal Rights Coalition".] [ [http://www.furfreesouth.com/action/heroes/dorset/christchurch.html High Street Heroes: Christchurch] , "Fur Free South".]

Chapters

SARC chapters work directly with the coalition and their campaigns and/or have an alliance with the coalition. Since 2007, there have been chapters established which continue to campaign in; Brighton, [ [http://www.sarconline.co.uk/groups/westsussex.html Local Groups: West Sussex] , "Southern Animal Rights Coalition".] Guilford,Issue 9, Pg16, "SARCnews", 2007.] Portsmouth, [ [http://www.sarconline.co.uk/groups/hampshire.html Local Groups: Hampshire] , "Southern Animal Rights Coalition".] Southhampton,Issue 9, Pg16, "SARCnews", 2007.] and Taunton, also known as "Taunton Animal Rights Activists (TARA)". [ [http://www.sarconline.co.uk/groups/somerset.html Local Groups: Somerset] , "Southern Animal Rights Coalition".] Issue 9, Pg16, "SARCnews", 2007.]

ee also

* Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC)
* SPEAK Campaigns
* Western Animal Rights Network (WARN)
* Behind the Mask
* Animal rights movement
* Leaderless resistance
* Animal rights
* Animal testing

Further reading

*Mann, Keith, (2007) "From Dusk 'til Dawn: An Insider's View of the Growth of the Animal Liberation Movement", Puppy Pincher Press, ISBN 978-0-9555850-0-5
*Newkirk, Ingrid, (2000) "Free the Animals: The Story of the Animal Liberation Front", Lantern Books, ISBN 1-930051-22-0

External links

* [http://www.sarconline.co.uk Southern Animal Rights Coalition (SARC)]
* [http://www.taraonline.tk Taunton Animal Rights Activists (TARA)]

Campaigns

* [http://www.sarconline.co.uk/botox Stop The Botox Horror]
* [http://www.swatonline.co.uk Stop Wickham Animal Testing] (SWAT)
* [http://www.sarconline.co.uk/lobsters/index.html Lobster Liberation]
* [http://www.sarconline.co.uk/boar The Boar Wars]
* [http://www.furfreesouth.com Fur Free South]
* [http://www.sarconline.co.uk/porter Prosecute Porter] "Campaign ended December 2006"
* [http://www.savethegoats.com Save The Goats] "Campaign ended February 2008"
* [http://www.sarconline.co.uk/foiegras Foie Gras - Delicacy of Despair]
* [http://www.sarconline.co.uk/greyhound Close The Portsmouth Greyhound Track]

References