April 27, 2007

An 88-year-old woman will dress up as a prisoner and sit in a small cage in Oxford today in protest at animal experiments being carried out on a macaque monkey at Oxford University.

Joan Court from Cambridge, who plans to fast during her two-day protest, is protesting during World Week for Animals in Laboratories.

Her demonstration is backed by the campaign group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta). Peta wants to raise awareness about Felix the monkey, who is being used by scientists at Oxford University to research brain diseases such as Parkinson's.

Peta members will hold signs reading, "Save Felix - Oxford, Stop Primate Torture" and hand out leaflets describing what they regard as the cruelty, waste and uselessness of animal experiments.

Peta's manager of special campaigns, Anita Singh, said: "Felix is a highly intelligent, social animal whose life has been reduced to deprivation and pain.

"Whether it's poisoning mice with toxic chemicals or cutting into the skull of a monkey and inducing symptoms of a disease that non-human primates do not even naturally get, animal experiments are cruel, wasteful and unreliable."

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full story:
http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/research/story/0,,2065845,00.html