Animal rights protest brings town to a halt; CAMPAIGNERS RELEASE VIDEO SHOWING 'APPALLING' CONDITIONS AT FARMS.Byline: ALAN HARRIS ANIMAL rights protesters brought a Warwickshire town centre to a standstill in a rally against factory farming factory farming System of modern animal farming designed to yield the most meat, milk, and eggs in the least amount of time and space possible. The term, descriptive of standard farming practice in the U.S. . Up to 300 banner-carrying campaigners banged drums, blew whistles and used megaphones as they marched through Stratford on Saturday in protest at local factory farming. The supporters of Vegetarians International Voice for Animals (Viva) have released a video which they claim exposes overcrowded o·ver·crowd v. o·ver·crowd·ed, o·ver·crowd·ing, o·ver·crowds v.tr. To cause to be excessively crowded: a system of consolidation that only overcrowded the classrooms. and appalling conditions at two Warwickshire farms. Viva wants the farms closed and factory farming banned. Ursula Bates Bates , Katherine Lee 1859-1929. American educator and writer best known for her poem "America the Beautiful," written in 1893 and revised in 1904 and 1911. , from Viva Mid-lands, said: "The worst thing about factory farming is that it's legal. "We aim to make the people of Stratford very much aware of what is going on on their doorstep, to take it on board and do something about it. "They can join Viva or write to the farms and, if they must eat meat, then buy free range." The demonstration began outside the Civic Hall, where Viva supporters delivered speeches. Young supporter Hazel Cuttell, aged nine, who attends Wolverton Primary School, read out poems explaining why she is vegetarian before the protesters marched through the town centre with police halting traffic as they passed. The marchers held a minute's silence along the way in memory of the animals kept inside factory farms, before ending the parade at St Gregory's Church Priory Hall, where vegetarian food was provided. Viva's senior campaigner, Becky Smith Becky Smith-Wiber (born June 3, 1959 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a former international medley and butterfly swimmer from Canada, who won the bronze medal in the Women's 400m Individual Medley at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada, behind teammate Cheryl Gibson , said factory farming was causing the spread of dangerous diseases. She said: "Over the past decade we've seen BSE See Bombay Stock Exchange. BSE See Boston Stock Exchange (BSE). , swine fever swine fever: see hog cholera. , the creation of antibiotic-resistant strains of salmonella and e-coli and foot and mouth. "We're asking people in Stratford to support our campaign by going vegetarian, sending a clear signal to farmers and politicians that these barbaric, outdated farming systems have to end." The protest was one of several regional marches building up to a mass rally in London on July 13. CAPTION(S): ON THE MOVE: Supporters of Viva march through Stratford (above); a group stages a minute's silence (below right); and Hazel Cuttell (below left) reads out a poem against factory farming. Pictures: MICHELLE MICHELLE Mid-Infrared Echelle Spectrograph SPERRY |
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