Today, my 20 min. bike ride to work was interrupted by a very peculiar situation on the street… but first a little bit of background information…

All started last July, when people from pro-animal and animal-rights groups “occupied” a small area next to the university, where the pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim plans to build a massive research building for animal vaccines, focused on pigs (the main protein source in Germany) by the end of 2012.

© dpa

© Oliver Hausen

Boehringer Ingelheim chose Hannover and it was no random location… the University of Veterinary Medicine is so close that all the main labs are around the future building. The agreement that the university and Boehringer Ingelheim have represents opportunities for many labs to start cooperations and new projects there as well as a chance for many students to work there.

After the decision was made, supported by the Dean of the university and Hannover’s Major, different groups started to be annoyed. First the people living around the selected place, then the people that own little gardens there, and then the pro-animal groups that are against the use of animals in research (among other things).
The main worries from the people are that they will get “something” from the pigs, that their kids will get sick, that there will be a lot of traffic, that the pigs will be too loud or dirty or too smelly, contaminations, and others are worried about the pigs quality of life and if it really justify to have them here.

From: www.schweinerei-hannover.de

We have been discussing the situation for months among my colleagues. It’s a complex issue because it involves people, animals, science, quality of life, and many other issues that touch closely personal sensibilities… and that makes the whole thing very complicated.
I’ve heard many comments:
1.- “Why don’t they go somewhere were they will not be bothered at all… they could go to India – and after a small silence and a laugh – or to Chile… hahaha!”
(Bad joke, after my killing glance everyone looked somewhere else and changed the topic…)
2.- “Why are they so against research?”
3.- “It is my house and I’ll not allow dirty pigs around!”
and so on…

I think that a main issue here is that there has not been a lot of information to the residents of the area or to the pro-animal groups, so people is afraid that they will get sick if they start a research with pigs there, etc… as always, all the problems arise from bad communication, the damn communication vacuum left space to all the urban legends to be created…

Problems started a month ago or so, when the university called the police because of a couple of paint-related incidents at the virology department, and also here, at the pathology department. “Stop animal experiments” or red paint on the buildings… not nice at all…

© Christian Elsner

I had fun watching the situation, while biking pretty slowly I took my time to look at the people and to have a nice view of this chaotic scene… it was sad that I didn’t take my camera with me today though…

The people that used to be “occupying” the terrain were just standing there, grouped and quiet, looking sleepy and astonished, answering the questionnaires from the police.

© Christian Elsner

The police was standing there, looking pretty bored…

© Christian Elsner

I mean, 2-5 were doing the questionnaires and the other 500 were just wandering around, sitting in their vans, chatting, sleeping or drinking a little bit of water… Cranes were starting to move the few constructions they made: a couple of tents, toilettes and the big dinning/social tent they use to have…

Anyway, for me it was very impressive to see this massive deployment of police force for those 35-40 squatters.

© Christian Elsner

Streets were closed, helicopters over our heads, “massive” policemen watching and securing the area… my real action Hollywood movie!. There were at least 60 police vans, 20 police cars, 4 police trucks (those you use to control riots), plus special police riot squads from other cities that came to help… lots of resources, uh?

I forgot about the horses… yes, horses too! © Christian Elsner

Now at work I’ve heard all sort of stories… the “cleaning mission” (as they call it at the local newspapers) started at 5:30am and the guys “occupying” were not surprised. A couple of girls used concrete to stick themselves to the ground, and then the police had to use special instruments to freed them and move them around… I don’t know why the police couldn’t guess this old-style mafia trick!. There were also other two guys living on an oak, and it took a while for the police to pull them down… I guess.

© Christian Elsner

I’ve been analyzing it for a while, trying to make up my mind… It’s fun to try to get an answer though, I’ll talk with my pillow tonight… or to a friend while drinking a cold beer!

What is your view of these kinds of problems? (from your researcher view but also as a citizen and a family person)… Do you think there is any understanding between pro-animal groups and researchers? What is our role as scientists?

I’ll keep you updated on the next hours… but there is still a police van parked in front of the back entrance of our institute… You never know, just in case!