Save the Newchurch Guinea Pigs
| Save the Newchurch Guinea Pigs | |
|---|---|
| Location | Newchurch, Staffordshire, England |
| Goals | Closure of Darley Oaks Farm. |
| Methods | |
| Status | Ended |
Save the Newchurch Guinea Pigs (SNGP) was a six-year campaign by British animal rights activists to close a farm in Newchurch, Staffordshire that bred guinea pigs for animal research. The owners, three brothers trading as David Hall and Partners, announced in August 2005 that they were closing the business as a result of the pressure from activists, which included harassment, damage to property, and threats of physical violence.
Set up in 1999, the campaign became notorious in October 2004 when the remains of Christopher Hall's mother-in-law were removed from her grave in St Peter's churchyard, Yoxall, an act condemned by several animal rights groups, including Save the Newchurch Guinea Pigs itself. The BBC and Burton Mail newspaper received correspondence in April 2005 signed the Animal Rights Militia claiming responsibility.
The remains were recovered in May 2006 when police searched woodland after receiving information from an activist they had arrested. Prosecutors were unable to prove that the disturbance of the grave was linked to the campaign, but four activists were jailed for conspiracy to blackmail, after admitting using the removal of the remains to put pressure on the Halls.
Save the Newchurch Guinea Pigs (SNGP) was started in 1999 after an Animal Liberation Front raid on the farm, during which 600 guinea pigs were removed. Video footage of the farm showed dirty, barren, crowded conditions inside the breeding sheds, as well as unhealthy and dying guinea pigs.
Regular demonstrations took place on the roadside near the farm. The campaign published the contact details of anyone connected to the farm, from the owners and their family to the businesses that traded with them, and the local public houses that the Hall family frequented. Campaigners were urged to contact anyone associated with the farm, however loosely, and pressure them to end the relationship, a tactic known as secondary and tertiary targeting.
The targets found themselves on the receiving end of thousands of telephone calls, emails and letters, they have receive profanity and name calling in their letters, emails and phone calls. The targets found unsolicited junk-mail, spam mail, false allegations of rape. The targets have had their garbage cans getting knocked over by vandals. The targets have also received, hoax arson threats, arson threats, hoax bombs, bomb threats, and death threats. Fireworks were let off by the house in the middle of the night, and graffiti was sprayed on their property and around the village. The targets have also become targets of funeral protesting. Police logged over 450 separate criminal acts over a two-year period.
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