Page 6 - Spring 18

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David Tredinnick gave a stirring speech reminiscent of Neville Chamberlain ‘I have a letter’ where he produced the response from Defra confirming that homeopathic treatment had not resulted in any animal welfare issues.
We then set off past the Houses of Parliament led by a Scottish bagpiper. We passed the Brexit protesters and the Stop Bombing Syria protesters and were photographed by quite a few bemused tourists! When we reached the RCVS we gathered in the park opposite where we chanted various slogans and sang adapted versions of Pink Floyd and Beatles songs. Peter [Gregory], Chris [Day], David Tredinnick and I were piped cross the road to the RCVS where we met Stephen May, (President), Lizzie Lockett (CEO) and Ian Holloway (director of communications). The meeting was scheduled for 30 mins but actually lasted for 1 hour and 45 mins. A frank exchange of views took place. We presented over 100 testimonials from clients and also evidence of the harassment that we had received from certain council members and journalists. We discussed the statement, the effect it had had on BAHVS members and the types of evidence that may be acceptable. It became apparent that there was a huge lack of knowledge and understanding of homeopathy by the RCVS and it was difficult at times to find common ground. We agreed to go away and consult on the types of evidence that may be acceptable to all parties. There was an absolute refusal to retract the statement which was disappointing although not entirely unexpected. We re-joined the supporters who had retired after much chanting to the pub!
I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who came on the march; who took a day off work, who booked trains and flights and to everyone who sent their support by being involved in the ‘virtual march’ which flooded the RCVS with e-mails on the day. I think that the vets were well represented and you did us all proud. We certainly made our presence felt and we were able to present our views to the RCVS. We now need to go away and build on this momentum. Some of the Facebook and Cam4Animals groups together with Rachel Roberts from HRI are having a meeting with Stephen May and Lizzie Lockett on 9th May and it will be interesting to see what the outcome of that is. [Read report on website]
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