29th July 2006

Animal rights was the topic at the Green party sponsored Coffee House Discussion at Star Anise cafe in Stroud on Friday 28th July. Cllr. Philip Booth, who introduced and chaired the Coffee House discussion (i), said: "The two speakers gave inspiring talks that provoked some of the liveliest discussions the cafe group has experienced."

Eileen Grieves from Compassion in World Farming showed a brief film about the horrors of how farm animals are selectively bred and intensively farmed in appalling conditions then talked about how we could move towards less intensive and more humane farming methods which benefit our health, the environment and are less cruel.

This was followed by Chris Dowdeswell from Gloucestershire Animal Action, who had never given a talk in public before but had the audience spell bound with his inspiring talk about how he got involved in animal rights, organised Gloucesters' first Veggie Fair and campaigned successfully to stop the sale of animal fur in many of Cheltenhams' stores.

The talks were followed by table discussions (pictured above) that covered philosophical questions about whether animals have rights, about how we can act personally and about what is needed politically. A huge range of issues were covered including how we now spend only 10% of our income on food whereas before it used to be 30%, about how the way we farm intensively is a key reason behind BSE, Bird Flu and more and how a Swedish study found that reducing meat consumption by 50% would lead to a 30% reduction in energy consumption.

Comment from participant:

Just to say that the Friday discussion on Animal Rights was excellent - and really engaged our thoughts and minds.  Eileen Grieves of CIWF conveyed so much info so eloquently - and Chris Dowdeswell was inspiring with his personal story of discovery.  One came away quite humbled by the integrity, commitment and humanity of the speakers - and inspired to do more.  It was also so encouraging to find such capable people spreading their message - and changing how people view their food and their lives - quite an evening.


Notes:

(i) Philip Booth in his introduction covered a number of recent issues regarding animals in the press. This included Green MEP Caroline Lucas winning a prestigious international award for animal welfare, David Drew MP signing Early Day Motions about live calve transports, pharmaceutical GM crops in France, the recent rise in animal cruelty cases in Gloucestershire and the rise in animal testing - up to nearly 3 million cases a year in the UK.

Philip Booth also noted how his mother had taken the Thalidomide drug - the infamous cause of birth defects in more than 10,000 children in the early 1960s and was the drug that led to compulsory animal testing for drugs. Philip noted his GP had said it was 'a miracle' that he was not among the birth defects, but ironically this drug if it were assessed exclusively on its results in animal tests would still be passed today. Dr James Schardein, the doyen of birth defect studies, says: ‘In approximately 10 strains of rats, 15 strains of mice, 11 breeds of rabbits, two breeds of dogs, three strains of hamsters, eight species of primates, and in other such varied species as cats, armadillos, guinea pigs, swine and ferrets in which thalidomide has been tested, teratogenic effects have been induced only occasionally.’