Animal rights campaigners have taken their protest to the gates of AstraZeneca after claiming that the firm has taken delivery of 300 beagles for testing. The pharmaceutical giant, based at Alderley Park, uses dogs for testing drugs, including those used for treating asthma, diabetes and arthritis. More than 100 people turned out to the office on Saturday to campaign for their freedom after they were brought over from Sweden following the closure of its breeding programme. Vicky Fraser, 36, who organised the peaceful protest on behalf of Cease Animal Research and Experiments (CARE) said: “We are not being militant about this, we believe these surplus dogs should be offered the chance to be re-homed. “We’ve got a waiting list of 900 people who have said they would like them. I have supported the British Union Against Vivisection (BUAV) since I was 11 – when something like this comes so close to where we live we decided we should do something about it. “We were thrilled with the amount of support we had, a lot of drivers parked up and came back and spoke to us and lots honked their horns in support. “We just want to raise awareness that this is happening. Most people don’t know what’s going on.” The protest, during which campaigners laid a flower to represent each dog, was the second in two weeks, with a similar campaign by members of the Manchester Animal Action a week earlier.
