Hillgrove cats farm protests 1997
filmed by undercurrents.org
Save the Hill Grove Cats was a British animal rights campaign set up in 1997 with the aim of closing Hill Grove Farm near Witney in Oxfordshire. The farm, owned by Christopher Brown, was the last commercial breeder of cats for laboratories in the United Kingdom. Eight hundred cats were removed by the RSPCA on August 10, 1999, when Brown announced his decision to retire after a controversial two-year campaign
Hill Grove was one of 3,326 designated establishments for breeding and animal experimentation in the UK; 1,124 cats were used in experiments in the UK in 1998.
At least 350 people were arrested and 21 jailed for public order offences over the course of the campaign. Policing costs rose to £2.8m and a five-mile exclusion zone was put in place around the farm.