PRESS RELEASE:

Everyday Kiwis Will March Today in Protest at 12pm

Today at 12 noon thousands of New Zealand animal lovers the length of the country will meet and join forces to demonstrate their disgust at the recent decision by Government to allow the testing of legal highs on animals.

The Auckland march starting at bottom of Queen Street will be a memorial service and silent protest in remembrance of the animals who have suffered and been tortured in the name of testing. The people are sending a strong message the country says NO. There are marches happening in Auckland and throughout the country.

This is a grass roots march of everyday New Zealanders stemming from a Facebook page, many who have never marched before. The march is not affiliated to any particular organisation or political party, but has the full support of all the animal welfare organisations - in particular HUHA and Paw Justice. One of the Co-ordinators of the Auckland march Angela Beer, says people are angry because the law is inhumane and ineffective and because the people have not been listened to. The government has ignored 70,000 signatures on a petition and all public opinion polls and passed this in to law.

The marches are happening on Tuesday 30 July as this is the first day parliament sits, since this became law and the people want the government to know exactly where the nation stands.

New Zealand is sending a clear message, no testing party pills on our animals. This march is about keeping animals and our kids safe. The tragedy is that under this law both suffer. There are other advanced, safer and more effective ways of testing than on animals, they are just more expensive. This is about people and pets, not politicians, pill pushers and profit.

New Zealanders want to tell the government to do their homework and check their facts before they vote on legislation like this. We are marching to show politicians that animal lovers and parents are voters. “We cannot understand why the Government voted this way. New Zealand is known for it’s clean green image however this ruling completely contradicts overseas guidelines that show the testing of recreational drugs on animals to be unethical and unnecessary” says Angela Beer. The UK banned animal testing for party pills in 1997 because there are better alternatives.

This is not a question of voting for the safety of people versus the safety of animals. This is about marching to keep both safe. Testing on animals is horrendous and totally unnecessary when there are far safer and more viable options available to give accurate data and in fact it does the reverse people and animals suffer. The people feel parliament has not had the knowledge to make an informed decision, we implore them to look again. "One of the ministers sitting on the Health Select Committee admitted to having no prior knowledge of the credible non-animal testing alternatives until concerned members of the public handed him the information just hours prior to the vote” says Ms Beer.

The Auckland March will be leave the bottom of Queen Street at noon at Tuesday 30th July. HUHA are co-ordinating marches all around the country. Stand up and be counted. Join us as we seek justice for those who cannot speak for themselves. We also need to protect our international reputation. This law is an embarrassment and a joke to all New Zealanders.

If you would like to find out more about the Auckland march go to https://www.facebook.com/STOPPartyPillTestingOnAnimalsNZ or follow Twitter @spptnz.

For rallies outside of the Auckland area go to www.huha.org.nz

ENDS

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