received anonymously via email:
“On August 3rd, over 60 activists from across the UK came together in the small town of Islip. The plan was to hold a protest march, ending outside the home of Impex director Russell Morgan. Impex transports animals to laboratories across the UK and is an integral part of the industry. Despite the march and the route being well publicised, the police decided to ban it before it even began with an illegal section 14 notice, claiming no one had informed them. The unlawful warnings were ignored, and the march continued as planned, filling the streets with noise, placards, and effigies of Morgan. Around half of the protesters continued up to his gate, where flowers were laid in memory of the animals he has driven to their violent deaths.
The police continued to throw their toys out of their pram, and called for reinforcements, who shoved the peaceful protest back down the road to a busy intersection, where it stayed for about 40 minutes. Everyone in Islip knew we were there and why, with everyone telling us how much they hate Morgan. Unable to resist, the man himself decided to drive past the protest, but was spotted and his car was chased down the road. He didn’t come back. Angry at their loss of power, police picked a female protester, seemingly at random, assaulted her and then arrested her. If they wanted to act out, then so would we.
Police insisted the protest move, so it did, with most attendees heading to the gates of LabCorp, one of Europe’s most extensive animal testing facilities (made infamous by the SHAC campaign some years ago). The staff were not expecting us, and a line of cars built up behind the rapidly locked gates. After queuing and trying to find another exit, the staff decided to crawl into an empty building to wait it out. As more and more police showed up, they eventually chose to drive out, where they were met with a passionate protest. Police threw protestors across the road, but the protest lines held and pushed back. Finally, one car after another managed to squeeze through and accelerate down the road as fast as they could.
As more staff attempted to leave, the cops did our job for us and formed a line, refusing to let protestors cross, but in doing so, put the entire site on lockdown. We couldn’t have done it better ourselves. After giving the staff enough time to stew, we moved on to our final protest of the day: MBR Acres, the notorious puppy factory farm that breeds 2,000 dogs a year for research.
Our timing couldn’t have been better; we arrived as the person who bleeds dogs to death to harvest their blood and organs (yes, you read that right), was just trying to go home. Not on our watch. The police once again put the site on lockdown, and as the gates opened, they once more began throwing people around. It took some time, but the car eventually managed to get through, but not without seeing the passion of a movement that is closing this hellhole down. As vehicles arrived to collect the security, chaos erupted once more, and again when they tried to leave. As the final security guard eventually managed to head home, nearly an hour late, police threw a protester onto the ground in front of his car. Only thanks to the crowd swarming the vehicle was a serious injury avoided. Several other women were also thrown to the ground as the police tried to hold on to what little control they had.
Despite their violence, despite their unlawful orders and made-up laws, the day was ours. Our movement is back, and we’re here till we win. MBR has no toilets, no heating, and no offices. We will close this place for good, brick by brick, supplier by supplier.”
