La Mode Verte
Environmental Awareness Through Media ProductionsArchive for Vivisection
Protestors from Over Europe Descend on Paris to Campaign Against Vivisection
www.lemonde.fr 23rd April 2011
A thousand protestors gathered in Paris on the 23rd April to protest against vivisection, or the use of animals in scientific experiments. The gathering was part of World Laboratory Animal Day, of which a counterpart was held in the UK. The protest outside City Hall in Paris was the largest though and saw people travelling by bicycle from the neighbouring countries of Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland to attend. Associated groups to the event included the Fondation Brigette Bardot, Antidote Europe, Gaia, Animaux en péril (Belgium), and EquiVita (Italy). The crowd held coffins bearing the names of different animals commonly used in scientific experimentation along with the words ”utilisés et sacrifiés” (‘used and sacrificed’). The protest centred around what the crowd perceived as a lack of political will within European governments to regulate the practise of vivisection or to find an alternative. Protestors finished their day of protest outside the house of Victor Hugo, the “First president of the French League against vivisection”, and held a moment of silence for the animals.
