Animal rights extremists get legal aid (16/06/06)
Animal rights activists are receiving tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money in legal aid to fight Oxford University's planned animal research laboratory.
Amongst them is Robin Webb, press officer for the Animal Liberation Front.
Even though the group has committed arson attacks and made death threats Mr Webb claims they are not extremists and deserve the funding.
“I would say we’re radical, in the same way the suffragettes and those who broke the law in pursuit of the abolition of slavery were radical. What is extreme is the abuse of animals for no other reason than greed and profit.”
This has infuriated those in favour of animal testing in medical research as they believe it is just another way of scientists being silenced and intimidated.
Barbara Davies, spokeswoman for Research Defence Society, says animals are vital in curing diseases.
“They should try saying that (this is abuse) to someone whose child has cystic fibrosis, someone whose parent has Alzheimer’s disease. We do need new treatments and drugs and all modern drugs are heavily dependent on use of animals in research and development.”