Hats off to Pro-Test, as finally someone is standing up for science against the onslaught of the animal rights extremists. The unlikely Hero For Science happens to be a 16-year-old school drop-out, Laurie Pycroft. Laurie, who has received death threats from the animal rights extremists, organized a public demonstration against the extremists who have targeted Oxford University because it is trying to build a new science lab. Because of Laurie, the blogosphere has finally erupted in support of science and Oxford - simply do a blog search with "˜Oxford animal rights.'

Charvy Narain, from Action Potential , writes, "Most interestingly, this demonstration was not organized by scientists, but by a 16 year old student, Laurie Pycroft, who was unhappy with the one-sided public debate on this issue. He created a research advocacy website catchily called Pro-test, and went on to organize the march. Though there were plenty of scientists who spoke at the demonstration (as well as the local member of parliament), the mobilizing force behind this march seem not to be scientists."

Emma Byrne writes, "As a student at Jesus College for three years and a journalist on the university newspaper, I routinely witnessed or reported on the acts of intimidation and violence towards university members and contractors working on the project. Seeing builders wearing balaclavas on the site in order to disguise their identities soon became routine."

Edward at Trust People (once an Englishman in Philly) , throws his public support Pro-Test's way: "I think it's important to add another voice to the chorus of support for the Pro-Test march in Oxford at the weekend - it's good to see that you can shower on at least a semi-regular basis and still exercise your right to peaceful protest."

And so does Niki Shisler : "At last though, a small number of students and academics have decided to risk making themselves targets, in order to speak out about the vital work they do. Immediately I heard about the Pro-Test rally, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. I contacted the organisers offering to add my voice to theirs."

Cygnus, from Realpolitik opines, "Let no-one say the internet isn't a powerful tool for public opinion. Laurie Pycroft is doing a fantastic job and he needs the support of as much of the population as possible. Again, I see a recurring theme in my blogs with regards to extremism. We disagree with them… and they threaten violence. But we stand up for what we believe in, we stand up against bullying tactics- this is what Laurie Pycroft is doing, under siege from ALF death threats. Give the man a knighthood."

And Ms. Biology Geek puts it to the animal rights extremists as follows: "REALLY? Pray tell. I'm sure there are thousands of scientists out there who would love to know of these alternatives to animal testing."

P.S. A blog search also shows a very strange silence "“ none of the more popular "pro-science" blogs we've seen over the last few months seem to have weighed in to throw their support to this defense of science. For example, PZ Myers has been completely silent on this topic.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 3rd, 2006 at 1:02 am and is filed under Animal Rights Extremism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. The trackback link is: http://telicthoughts.com/thumbs-up-for-pro-test/trackback/