http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article735136.ece
Yesterday on the streets of Oxford, however, he had his say — mobilising a crowd of students and dons much older than himself. It was a remarkable feat. For this teenager had inspired a demonstration in favour of animal experiments — and against the violent animal rights lobby.
Pycroft has become a beacon for supporters of medical research involving animals. While the public have largely remained silent in the face of threats, intimidation and outright terrorism by extremists, Pycroft has stood up to be counted.
“Animal testing is a relatively small but essential part of medical research. Without it there would not be a lot of key progress in fighting illnesses and disease,” said the bespectacled, almost geeky youngster. “I think groups sometimes need to put their heads above the parapet.”
It’s no small step. His home not far from Oxford is modest. His family is not one to court controversy. His mother is an occasional writer who recently wrote that her “perfect risk-taking hobby” would be joining the Liberal Democrats.
Pycroft has taken a rather bolder path. Since he publicly spoke out in favour of animal experimentation, he has received abusive e-mails from animal rights campaigners, including some that threatened: “We are going to f****** kill you.”
His parents, on police advice, have changed their telephone number and installed a panic alarm at their house.
“The worry is that I am going to be targeted for property damage or worse,” said Pycroft. “But it is something I am going to have to live with if I am going to get my message across.”
That message has tapped into an undercurrent of support from those who recognise the need for animal research. Almost by accident, he finds himself the public face of an uprising that includes scientists, Oxford students and ordinary members of the public.
How did a teenager who dropped out of school turn into a campaigning hero?
AS A child, Pycroft was close to his grandfather, who suffered from serious health problems. The old man had been born with a defective heart valve and was originally told he would not live beyond 50.
“But medicine moved on and he had an operation in 1980 to have a new heart valve fitted,” explained Pycroft’s mother.
The valve came from a pig. “He was kept alive largely thanks to medical science and his life was extended by about 10 years. He would otherwise have died before Laurie was born, but it gave him those extra years for Laurie to get to spend time with him.”
When his grandfather passed away from heart failure, Pycroft, who was four at the time, was sitting by his side on the sofa. The experience seems to have left a lasting impression.
“Laurie has always had a very strong interest in science and he wrote to the local hospital when he was seven or eight, suggesting an invention for a replacement eardrum,” said his mother.
“He has always wanted to go into medicine and science. He feels strongly that animal testing needs to go on. He now wants to be a neurosurgeon because he thinks the advances are very exciting.”
A bright boy with an inquisitive mind, Pycroft went to a state school and became a member of the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth, a government body that nurtures exceptional children. But he decided to take a year off before going on to A-levels.
Like many a teenager, he became closeted in his bedroom, spending hours on his computer as he earned some money designing websites. Vocal activist he was not.
Nor, indeed, were other proponents of animal testing. In the propaganda war between those who support research and those who want to stop it, the violence of extremists had cowed many people.
Huntingdon Life Sciences, one of the companies involved in animal experimentation, has suffered numerous attacks on its premises and staff.
When Oxford University began work on a new laboratory, protesters frightened off the first construction firm. Fearing similar trouble, Cambridge University quietly abandoned its plans for a new laboratory.
Pitted against the animal rights activists is the Research Defence Society, a body funded by the pharmaceutical industry and universities. It aims to convince the public of the benefits for medicine of research — but has avoided active demonstrations in support of laboratories.
Dr Evan Harris, the Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, said: “About 18 months ago I suggested to the Research Defence Society that there should be a demonstration. It’s important to show the research community we are on their side. There were, however, concerns about whether enough people would turn out and whether it would be provocative.”
Instead it was the anti-experimenters who dominated the streets and a protest against the Oxford laboratory was under way when Pycroft went to visit a friend in the city last month.
Pycroft decided to put his side of the argument to the demonstrators. “He went up to talk to them and some people got quite angry,” explained his mother, who attended yesterday’s march. “He went off with his friends and got a piece of card and a felt tip pen from WH Smith. He made a placard saying ‘Support the Oxford lab’.
“When he went back one of the protesters ripped his placard and someone shouted ‘human excrement’ at him.
Pycroft stayed calm. “He said, ‘Please don’t say that. You have your opinion, but I have mine and am entitled to it’,” said his mother.
The skirmish, however, left him seething inside and when he returned home he set about creating a website, Pro-Test, as a focal point for those who wanted to support scientific research. Some Oxford undergraduates had witnessed Pycroft’s clash with the anti-research protesters and soon colleges and internet discussion groups were humming with debate about whether the laboratory should proceed or not.
Discussions were coloured by the blatant threats of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), the most violent of the anti-research groups.
As this newspaper reported last month, the ALF told its supporters that any academic, student or company connected to Oxford University was, in its view, a legitimate “target”.
Speak, another anti-experimentation group, says it is non-violent but has campaigned vigorously against the Oxford laboratory.
In the face of such intimidation, caution ruled. Student unions and the university thought it best to stay quiet.
Behind the scenes, however, a change of attitude was taking hold. On internet discussion boards many individual students were outraged by the threats. On one site, oxfordgossip.co.uk, a contributor summed up the mood thus: “I’m sick of there being constant protests by animal rights numpties without the sensible, right-minded majority of people who support the lab and scientific progress being able to voice their disagreement.”
Another contributor suggested staging “our own protest”. Another posted: “I have been talking about this to friends and there has been loads of support for the idea. We need to form a rival pressure group to the ALF and Speak.”
As Pycroft’s plan for Pro-Test gathered support, Speak revealed its true colours with a bilious attack on the schoolboy. It described him as a “sad individual” with a “worthless, puerile existence”, and went on to make libellous allegations against him.
The tide, though, was turning.
AS hundreds of people marched through Oxford yesterday in support of the laboratory, Pycroft seemed mildly bemused. “My parents seem to be coping quite well, considering the risks,” he said. “I am extremely proud of what I’ve done.”
From his lone efforts hunched over the computer keyboard, Pro-Test has developed into an organisation with a governing committee and a wide-range of supporters.
“We have had offers of funding from various people,” he said. “But at the moment we’re not taking any donations.”
The public fightback it has inspired yesterday prompted leading scientists to speak out. Tipu Aziz, a consultant neurosurgeon at the university, told the crowd: “What are we seeing here today? We are seeing a return of reason. We are seeing people stand up for themselves, letting scientists defend what they are doing. We are defending our right to better humanity’s plight.
“More than that, we are seeing a return of democracy in the UK.”
Among the Oxford students in the crowd was Duncan Coutts, 24, who is studying for a doctorate in computer science at Worcester College. Holding a banner reading “Vegetarians against the ALF”, he said: “Vegetarians are for animals but even we think that the ALF are daft, raucous, nasty thugs.”
Robert Cogswell, for Speak, denied the protest sparked by Pycroft was a setback. “It is an indictment for the vivisectionists if the only forces they can muster against us are led by a 16-year-old boy,” he said. “We have made clear from the outset that Oxford University is the battleground where the arguments for or against will be won or lost.
“We are going to pursue Oxford University wherever their interests may be.”
However, one contributor to oxfordgossip.co.uk put the opposite view forcefully. “The Speak nutters have this mad idea that medical researchers hurt animals for fun . . . we know that animal testing is pretty horrible, but we absolutely need them to do it if we want to save lives.”
It is a view supported by people in Pycroft’s hometown, including Lloyd Roberts, an elderly neighbour and retired railway worker. “I back Laurie,” he said. “I think he’s absolutely right. It’s about time someone stood up to these people”.
Additional reporting: Abul Taher and Roger Waite
Animal experiments: the facts