'Animal Rights' protest at UCSC

By KATHY SALAMON
Staff Writer

A demonstration against using animals in science experiments erupted into chaos at UC-Santa Cruz yesterday as five people were arrested for blocking offices on campus and five climbed 100 feet up a construction crane and stayed there overnight.

As of press time this morning, five protesters still remained atop the crane.

About 100 people first gathered for the animal rights rally at noon yesterday at the construction site of a new natural sciences building. The protesters say that part of the new building will be used to house experiments on animals.

During the rally, several people blockaded a hallway at Thimann Hall in an attempt to gain access to the labs where the animals are kept. UCSC uses mice and rabbits in experimentation.

Several others climbed the construction crane in order to hang a banner stating "Liberate Lab Animals Now," which depicted a rabbit being dissected.

Meanwhile, campus police waited at the bottom of the crane for the five climbers to come down, but they remained perched on the crane.

Finally, one protester who said he had to go to work came down at about 5 p.m. yesterday. He was cited for trespassing, given a court date and released.

Tom O'Leary, a UCSC spokesman, said another protester apparently climbed the tower sometime last night and joined the others, bringing the total on the crane again to five.

Also, a Stevenson College student was arrested last night for trespassing when he climbed a fence around the construction site in order to deliver food to those atop the crane, O'Leary said.

Jonathan Paul, spokesman for the animal rights protesters, said his group had several demands for UCSC. Among those demands are that the university allows its animals labs to be open for inspection and that the public be kept apprised of what experiments are being done and the usefulness of those experiments.

Paul said the new construction means increased use of animals in experiments at UCSC.

"When a lab this big is built," Paul said, "it's for sure they will start experimenting on dogs and cats."

Paul vowed the animal rights' activists would now be protesting regularly at UCSC.

O'Leary said it's not true the university has any plans to use dogs and cats or any other types of animals in experimentation. UCSC plans only to continue the same sort of experiments it has now, he said.

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