# Hillgrove Farm, The predecessor to HLS (Huntingdon Life Sciences)



## testmg80 (Jul 28, 2008)

This might be old news for the older people here, but informative to the newer people. I was doing a search for Farmer Smith's cat farm which was a lot more horrendous than this one, that one was burned down by the townspeople, they were so enraged. I got this info from the BUAV.

ANTI VIVISECTION MOVEMENT REJOICES AS HILLGROVE FARM CLOSES
Posted 13 August 1999

Animal Aid is delighted at the news of the closure of Hillgrove Farm and congratulate the Save the Hillgrove Cats campaign, whose tireless efforts produced this success.

Hillgrove Farm were the UK's largest breeder of cats for vivisection. Every year they supplied over 800 cats to British laboratories alone. Former Hillgrove workers talked of the barren conditions the cats were kept in and the way the breeding females were worked to exhaustion. Internal documents showed that mothers were so distressed that they were killing and eating their own kittens.

The 1999 Animal Aid Mad Science Awards (AAMSA) - given every August for pointless and grotesque research - focused on cat (as well as dog) experiments. One AAMSA winner was the drug company *SmithKline Beecham*, which used more than 100 cats supplied by Hillgrove Farm for migraine experiments. The anaesthetised cats had tubes inserted into their blood vessels, holes cut in their sculls and electrodes positioned in their brains. An electrical current was applied and various experimental drugs injected.

Such experiments, in Animal Aid's view, are sickening and worthless. It is useless studying migraine in cats, given that many of the symptoms human sufferers experience are impossible to detect in these animals. How would the researchers know if the cats are experiencing nausea, tunnel vision, numbness or even headache? And how can they know what effect an experimental drug has on such symptoms?

The impression has been given today by the RSPCA - and by Hillgrove repeatedly in the past - that Hillgrove cats are used almost exclusively for veterinary research. These migraine experiments make nonsense of such statements. A substantial proportion of cat experiments in UK labs have nothing to do with veterinary medicine. But it is in any case immoral to abuse healthy animals for whatever purpose.

Some are lamenting the passing of Hillgrove, saying that cats will simply have to be brought in to UK labs - perhaps from overseas - where conditions could be worse. That is no argument to continue with an immoral and vile trade. Campaigners against the laboratory use of cats - and all other animals - will take heart from this victory and shift their focus to whoever seeks to take the place of Hillgrove.

SmithKline Beecham will be the subject of an Animal Aid Award for Mad Science demonstration this coming Monday.

Time: Monday 16 August. 11am
Place: SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, New Frontiers Science Park, Harlow, Essex

Two larger-than-life 'mutilated Hillgrove cats' with electrodes implanted into their skulls will be on hand to mark the event and attempt to hand over the AAMSA Diploma. In addition to the presence of the stunningly graphic cat costume, Animal Aid supporters will be protesting outside the company. This is to bring home to the public the horrific nature of the experiments taking place on cats and dogs around the country.
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Friday, August 13, 1999 Published at 11:32 GMT 12:32 UK

UK Politics Controversial cat farm closes

Animal rights campaigners are celebrating the closure of Hill Grove Farm, the last establishment in the UK to breed cats for scientific research and testing. 
RSPCA inspectors worked through Thursday night to remove more than 800 cats and kittens from the site in Witney, Oxfordshire.

The charity has set up a hotline for prospective owners who can give a new home to any of the animals which were once destined to be used in scientific experiments.

Heather James, of Save the Hillgrove Cats, said: "This is one of the happiest days of my life."

The BBC's Richard Bilton: "Animal rights activists now say they've got what they wanted" 
Farmer Christopher Brown, who has run the cattery with his wife Katherine for the past 30 years, sought the RSPCA's help to find homes for his stock after deciding to retire from the breeding business.

Violent protests

In recent years, the area around the farm has been the scene of mass demonstrations and violent clashes between police and protesters demanding the farm's closure.

Since March 1997, Thames Valley Police has spent £2.8m protecting the farmhouse and breeding pens.

At least 350 people have been arrested and 21 have been jailed for public order offences, many losing their liberty for a year.

The Browns have also been subjected to a sustained and often violent hate campaign.

'A wonderful day'

Animal activist and television writer Carla Lane said the news of the farm's closure was "magnificent".

"This is absolutely brilliant. It is a wonderful day for all those who care about animals.

"What happened there was horrific. Those poor animals were born and bred for vivisection and experimentation.

"I'm sure the RSPCA will have no difficulties in finding homes for these lovely cats."

Robb Webb, a spokesman for the Animal Liberation Front, said: "Mr Brown has always said he wouldn't close the farm, but it is clear that animal rights activists have through constant protest, pickets and raids, encouraged him to end this obscene business that offended everyone."

The farm has become a virtual fortress since animal rights protesters began targeting it more than two years ago.

The Browns hired security guards after they were subjected to repeated death threats and had letter-bombs sent to their home.

"My car has been firebombed, my house burnt and the windows on my house broken on many occasions," Mr Brown said.

"I have been beaten-up, my wife has been attacked and my staff have been attacked.

"I am surprised by just how vicious some of these people are, but they have been misinformed.

"I have simply bred cats here and no medical research has taken place here.

"The cats have received no medication whatsoever, there has been no need."

Farmer laments cats' departure

Mr Brown denied that the protesters had driven him to give up his business.

"Their actions have merely encouraged me to stay on and I have been determined not to give in," he said.

Mr Brown added: "Having reached the age of 61 I feel it is the right time to retire and I look forward to running the arable side of the farm for a few years to come."

Mr Brown said seeing the cats leaving his farm was "an immense wrench".

RSPCA appeal

The operation to safely remove the cats was kept as secret as possible because of fears that animal-rights protesters would converge on the premises and disrupting the removal.

Before the cats were removed they were checked, vaccinated and microchipped by RSPCA vets.

Chris Laurence, the society's chief veterinary officer, said: "All of the cats from Hill Grove Farm are healthy and used to human contact.

"Our aim now is to provide a brighter future for these animals by finding loving new homes for each one."

Anyone interested in adopting an RSPCA cat should contact the charity's national cat rehoming hotline on 0906 256 0256.

BBC News | UK Politics | Controversial cat farm closes

Animal Aid: ANTI VIVISECTION MOVEMENT REJOICES AS HILLGROVE FARM CLOSES

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