Page 21 - Winter 18

A march for
FREEDOM
Supporters demonstation to present 15000 signature petition to RCVS
History was made on 15th January 2018 with the first ever demonstration, according to the editor of the Veterinary Times, to occur outside the headquarters of the council of the RCVS. A group of vets qualified in homeopathy and other complementary disciplines, and concerned owners from all walks of life, marched from Churchill's statue, in Parliament Square outside the Houses of Parliament, to Belgravia House.
This unprecedented action was precipitated by the council's release on November 3rd 2017 of their state- ment concerning complementary medicine, especially Homeopathy. The forecast was for continuous rain, but God or Gaia must have approved of the cause, as the rain largely held off. There were twelve vets, a pharmacist and about 50 owners, which slightly exceeded the 50 people, which the police requested be a maximum.
Winston’s “We will never surrender” has certainly seemed to be the theme throughout this campaign fight- ing for freedom of choice, with the overwhelming support from the animal owning public for the belea- guered vets being 'astonishing and heart-warming'. Banners were raised and off we marched, with Homeopathy Works leading the way, followed by several Vet Council Gone to the Dogs, Homeopathy Heals, a Barking!, and I’m Milly – Living Proof That Homeopathy Works, carried by a Jack Russel.
However the main thrust of the banners was Freedom of Choice, and it was this issue, which brought a lot of people out onto the pavements.
Marching was fun; however getting a group of English to shout We Want Choices, Hear Our Voices loudly is nearly as hard as getting a bunch of politicians to tell the truth. Cheery waves were exchanged with the Stop Brexit campaigners, which was actually pertinent to the day. RCVS council members have made it quite clear that it is EU laws that are currently preventing a complete ban on homeopathy and other complementary medicines in the veterinary industry. As we marched lots of passers-by smiled and waved.
On arrival we were invited in for coffee and biscuits, which was considered to be extremely ironic, as the council had never invited in anyone with any expertise on this subject before. Amazingly the statement was released without con- sulting a single homeopathic vet, academic or researcher,
despite request for representation. This may be the single biggest factor, which has already led to 15700 [at the time of hand-over; Ed] people signing a petition demanding the council withdraw this statement (over four times as many as a counter petition reached).
‘They claim home-
opaths aren’t scientific – is it science to ban something without actually speaking to anyone who knows about it? If they were passing a statement on anaesthetics, would they consult an anaesthetist? Of course they would.’ “This is anti-science”, said one marcher. Another pointed out that the statement claimed; ‘long standing discussions were had within the veterinary community about the efficacy and ethics of complementary medicine’ – but the state- ment fails to mention that these alleged discussions didn’t include actually speaking to a homeopathic vet or researcher! “How can you trust these people to look after the health of the animals in the UK when this is how they behave?” commented a disbelieving owner.
After more singing, chanting and whistle blowing on our part, president May came out looking rather grey and tired. He spoke to a number of owners about their concerns, re- iterating the council line that the statement does not amount to a ban, as long as pharmaceuticals are given first or alongside complementary medicine. Freedom of choice and concerns that people didn’t want to use immune-sup- pressant drugs unless they really need to have obviously fallen on deaf ears. The council delegation then returned inside for no doubt a large meal of coffee and biscuits. We marched a further 100 yards to the excellent White Horse and Bower for sustenance, which was very jolly.
We homeopathic vets are exploring all avenues to protect the availability of veterinary homeopathy, and if this state- ment is not retracted a much larger and longer demonstra- tion is in the pipeline. [Petition has 16500 signatures at time of this publication]
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