Huntingdon under renewed attack

By THIS IS MONEY
Updated:

 

A major protest by animal rights protestors against controversial drugs testing firm Huntingdon Life Sciences will go ahead tommorrow. Calls for the action to be postponed amid fears that protestors could be spreading the foot-and-mouth virus have been rejected by the organisers.

A spokesman for the organising group, Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, said he could see no reason why tomorrow's protest, scheduled to take place at HLS's plant in Occold, Suffolk, should not go ahead.

Police, farmers' leaders and ministry of agriculture officials have all called for the action to be put on hold

A spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food said: 'People are free to demonstrate, but at this very difficult time in the countryside we would very strongly urge them to postpone this demonstration.

'People from all walks of life, ramblers, dog walkers and so on have all been very responsible in limiting their movements about the countryside at this time for fear of spreading this virus.

'Tens of thousands of animals have already been destroyed because of this disease and we must do everything we can to limit its spread. That means we don't want large numbers of people moving from one area to another or moving around the countryside.'

The planned protest is the latest in a prolonged campaign against the work of Huntingdon Life Sciences.

A week ago the company's chief executive, Brian Cass, who works at HLS's headquarters in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, was attacked by men wielding wooden sticks near his home.

He suffered head injuries in the assault and police have issued a E-fit image of a man they wish to question about the incident.

Most watched Money videos