Dorchester protestors rally against British Heart Foundation animal testing
'Dorchester Against Vivisection' group are protesting outside the charity shop on the High Street
A socially distanced protest is happening outside Dorchester's British Heart Foundation shop at 12:30 today.
The 'Dorchester Against Vivisection' group are protesting against the Charity because according to the group they spend as much as £600 million on conducting animal experiments.
It is happening on World Day for animals in Labs, which was founded in 1979 by Animal Defenders International and National Anti-Vivisection Society.
The latter group was the world's first organisation to campaign against animal experiments.
They work with government officials, licensing bodies, inspectors, scientists, academics and a range of stakeholders to achieve progress for animals used in laboratories.
John Thibeault is one of the Dorchester Against Vivisection's organisers, he said:
"It's world day for lab animals and there's going to be so many groups throughout the UK protesting outside laboratories and universities we've decided to do it outside the charity shop as they fund Vivisection.
"We feel very strongly that we don't need to test on animals, there's lots of evidence that , there are alternatives that have proved effective - we need to end this barbaric practice, it's gone on too long.
"Us being there is raising awareness about what is happening and last time we did this, we had people coming up to us in the street, thanking us for educating them because they didn't know that the British Heart Foundation were doing this.
"The whole purpose is not to intimidate elderly volunteers in there, it's to raise awareness and make the public aware of the cause.
The group formed last year and have regular outreach events to do with the subject matter, they meet every Wednesday.
Greatest Hits Radio Dorset contacted The British Heart Foundation for a comment, here is what Dr Charmaine Griffiths, Chief Executive of the charity, said:
"Heart and circulatory disease affects the lives of 7.6 million people in the UK, which is why we're dedicated to finding better tests, treatments and cures. To do this, we fund vital research using cells grown in the laboratory, computer models, human volunteers and animals when that is necessary.
"Every application for research funding goes through a rigorous review procedure. We proactively encourage the replacement of animals with other research methods and, when this is not possible, ensure the work involves only the minimum number of animals. We require researchers to apply the highest standards to animal welfare.
"BHF research has been crucial to the discovery of life saving breakthroughs for heart patients over the last 60 years. But there is still so much to be done and, for the foreseeable future, that will involve using animals in research."