Anti Vivisection Protest, Coleshill

[Jnañamati]

Support requested for anti vivisection protest.

John White is leading a protest in Coleshill against the development of a new Vivisection Laboratory by a company called Willmott Dixon, on behalf of Leicester University.

I have been in contact with John this morning. What he needs mostly is company as this is a lone protest at the moment. John told me that he has gained a lot of support from the public only experiencing a little trouble overnight last night which he suspects was in some way organised by Willmott Dixon.

If you think you might be able to help in by going along and keeping John company please do make contact with me at the Buddhist House on 0116 286 7476, or email: [e-mail] for more
details, or by going there directly. John is outside Chantry House
on the High Street, opposite the Town Hall. He is not asking
for food or refreshment as this is a hunger protest/strike.

The Amida community is open also to the possibility of organising a group protest if there is enough support for this. If you are interested please let me know.

Simon

[Modgala Duguid]

So glad you are supporting him and writing simon, please pass on my good wishes and encouragement. I wonder if we could do something when we are up for the order retreat?
Namo amida /bu

[Sahishnu Joy Marston]

Hi Simon I would like to get involved but when and where?

[Robert McCarthy]

Thank you Simon for the report, It is so sad that there is no ethical barrier to the torture that is the lives of animals commodified for human consumption. Whatever it takes to bring the best textured, juciest taste at the cheapest price, it will be done.

[Jnañamati]

Letter to Leicester Mercury:
Yesterday afternoon I traveled to Coleshill to see John White, who is protesting outside the offices of Willmott Dixon, a construction company involved in the development of a new vivisection laboratory for Leicester University. John is on hunger strike for the duration of his protest. My attention was brought to this action by one of our long standing members and veteran campaigners for the animal rights movement with whom John had had contact and obtained advice, this being his first hunger strike. Speaking to John I was appalled by the level of investment by Leicester University into such projects and after looking at the 'Stop the Leicester Animal Lab' website, my eyes were opened to the extent to which animals are routinely being used, largely it would seem simply to uphold and support the lifestyle choices of human beings. As a Pureland Buddhist such willful neglect of the suffering of fellow sentient beings touches me deeply and I am writing to give voice to my support for John in his campaign and in the hope that the Leicester Mercury will help in some way to bring peoples attention to this issue. I am heartened by the commitment and courage of John. After meeting him and some other protesters from the West Midlands Animal Rights group I am also now conscious that there are not an insignificant number of young adults like him who are acting from a similar position of compassion for the benefit of other living beings. It is my view that such a willingness to put oneself into often risky and challenging situations for such a worthy cause should at least be given some attention, if not recognised in ways that support the important issues pertaining to the welfare of animals that it highlights. That we take for granted that the companies we use and the large organisations that are prominent in our area are ethical, is at best evidence of neglect on our part, and at worse, tacit compliance with an industry that should be wholly unacceptable in our modern 'advanced' society.

[Jnañamati]

Here are some websites directly involved in the actioned featured here. One is the Leicester based group campaigning on this specific issue, No Leicester Lab. You can sign up for email updates and take action by contacting some of the companies involved. The other is Birmingham Animal Rights Collective, the group that John belongs to. The website has a blog and posts past actions and those planned for the future. Namo Amida Bu

[Satyavani Robyn]

Glad you're able to support John and his cause, Simon.

[Jnañamati]

Thanks for your message Robert, and yes of course I will pass on your good wishes when I next have contact with John. I went to see him myself outside the company building this afternoon. He seemed to be in good spirits having received quite supportive comments from passers by and having drawn in support from other campaigning groups and individual sympathisers. I was heartened to witness a man in his sixties arrive with some waterproof clothes (it had rained overnight and most of the day) commenting that he had seen what John was doing on an Anti vivisection website and thought he would come down to communicate his support, telling us that he had been involved in direct action and protests himself on these issues for the last 20 years. We hope to do some more as an Order to support the ongoing campaign that connects John with a group active in other ways in the area, perhaps also drawing on the strong inter faith network we have here in Leceister.
Warm wishes
Namo Quan Shi Yin Bosat

[Robert McCarthy]

Please Simon pass on my best wishes to John the lone and hungry campaigner.