Good Sam, Bad Sam

LC's Campaign Against Vivisection

PORTLAND, OR -- Dr. Jane MacPherson, a researcher employed by Good Samaritan Hospital who is conducting invasive experiments on cats through the RS Dow Neurological Sciences Institute in Portland, Oregon undoubtedly wishes that the Liberation Collective did not exist. The cats that are locked in cages at that facility and who are repeatedly having their inner ears drilled would probably have a different opinion of the activists if they were aware of the campaign that LC has begun against their torturer.

Since the first rally in April, that began in a neighborhood park and continued in a march down the busy streets of Northwest Portland that lead to the hospital, LC has used numerous tactics to get the attention of the institution, as well as to tug at the heartstrings of the local community.

The demonstrations have seen many diverse faces...well dressed neighborhood residents in Italian leather shoes, punk kids clad in black with studs and anarchy symbols adorning their jackets, mainstream student types, young children holding the hands of their parents and nearly every type of person in between. Each month new participants come out after reading about the research that is posted on nearly every phone pole in the city of Portland, thanks to the dutiful LC activists who spend almost every waking hour consumed with fighting for the cats locked within the walls of Good Sam and oppressed animals everywhere.

In all, seven demonstrations have been held, two that ended with a march up to the researcher's home in the West hills that overlook the hospital. Activists have collected over 1,200 signatures from community members concerned that such exploitation is happening merely blocks from where they live, 35 huge banners have been hung from city overpasses during rush hour traffic, radio interviews have been conducted and graphic footage of cat research have been played on local news programming. However, after being ignored by the researcher and her sponsoring institutions for six months, LC was forced to elevate it's fight against Good Samaritan Hospital.

On October 29th, eleven activists took over the corporate offices of the Legacy Health System's feline research program, the company that has the power to stop the needless suffering of these cats. At 10:00 am the morning of the demonstration, before the corporate executives had really settled into their business meetings, members of LC stormed the building and locked down. One activist used an extending ladder to climb up to the roof of the building in order to hang a banner that depicted a cat behind bars and the words, "Sacrificing Our Freedom For Theirs". Six other activists marched right into the front lobby and sat down locking themselves together using lock boxes while three others locked to the back and front gates using Kryptonite bicycle locks. In a show of solidarity, one of the support activists chose to sit down at the front door directly next to one of the locked participants.

After nearly two hours of protests and chanting, the police and members of the fire department finally called an end to the protest by cutting the activists free and placing them under arrest. Each activist was charged with criminal trespassing and criminal mischief and is scheduled for trial in late December.

To be sure, Liberation Collective has only begun and if Dr. Jane MacPherson wishes to continue her research and the torture and mutilation of cats then she will need to be prepared to face the public scrutiny and outrage that LC has worked so hard to bring about.