Mention Animal Rights in some circles and you will be met with some very frosty stares. Hunters, obviously, are not best fond of Animal Rights people, and there are plenty of people throughout the UK, mainly connected to science and research, who live in daily fear of attack on themselves and their families, usually due to being connected to the appalling amount of abuse and cruelty carried out on animals in vivisection labs. And then you get the extreme cases which provide a frenzied feeding session for a media starved of anything sensible to do with themselves, like the dead body being dug up in Newchurch, attributed (without any evidence, naturally) to a bunch of Animal Rights people.

" that's the best bit about our work - inspiring other people to get busy themselves and get active"

The truth is, most Animal Rights people are lovely people, people who care about life in all forms, people who are non violent, compassionate, humble, happy and caring. AND, here in Bristol we have a particularly lovely bunch of Animal Rights people affectionately know as BARC - Bristol Animal Rights Coalition. Started as recently as October 2005, and spearheaded by Nicole, BARC took a stall at the Bristol Vegan Fayre, and within a day had over 80 people sign up to get active. "What a result" said Nicole. "It was fantastic. We had no idea that so many people in Bristol would be interested. We started the group after a few key members of the previous Bristol Animal Rights group left the area, and we soon realised the potential and necessity for a group like ours to flourish into a vibrant active scene."

Nicole and her buddies have not been shy to take to the streets. A regular weekend stall acts as a focus for BARC, to raise money and to rustle up support for demos. "We went and stood outside a shop in Bristol recently that stocked rabbit fur trim boots. Within an hour they had taken the boots off the shelves. And a Bristol based company, supplying the notorious animal testing laboratory Huntingdon Life Sciences, pulled out of their contract with HLS after two demos and some campaign pressure. That one made page 3 of the Evening Post, too".

"Bristol has the appetite for activism and now we are catering for that"

"We also give out free veggie recipe leaflets, and talk to people on the streets about the benefits of the vegan lifestyle. Many people have changed their diets after reading our leaflets, and we even get school kids emailing us about starting their own groups after hearing about as. That's the best bit about our work - inspiring other people to get busy themselves and get active. Bristol has the appetite for activism and now we are catering for that."

But Nicole is not stopping there. "A group of us from BARC", she explains "are also starting WARN - the Western Animal Rights Network. Launching in January 2006, WARN is acting as an umbrella group for Animal Rights groups across the West of England and South Wales. Check out the website www.warnetwork.org for further details."

Bristol Animal Rights Coalition, PO Box 2575, Bristol, BS4 9AR Show email address.