PRESENTATION |
Thursday, 12.09.2013 16:00-16:50 Room A |
How a small group of determined activists can make a difference for animals |
Robert Molenaar |
The Anti-Vivisection Coalition (AVC) has achieved successes with a variety of targeted actions to gain public support in which the media has often played a crucial role. At present, the AVC is involved in vital attempts to ban experiments on monkeys in Belgium and dog experiments in The Netherlands at the Landerd Campus laboratories in Schaijk. The campaign to close the Huntingdon Life Sciences laboratories in the UK markedly influenced the emergence of the AVC. They have taken a number of valid pointers from this campaign such as perseverance, professionalism, focus, confidence, bluff, and optimism. In the Netherlands and Belgium the AVC has used these strong points in combination with fun, media-oriented, public campaigns, and a structure for consultation and dialogue involving the opponents. This mix has allowed a small group of activists to make a huge difference for animals in laboratories. |