Animal activists protest Emory at Coke world

Animal rights activists will march on the World of Coca-Cola Saturday to protest animal research at Emory University's Yerkes Primate Research Center.

Sounds kooky, but the activists reason that Coke could use its political pull in Atlanta to get Emory to free all the cute and fuzzy animals it has locked up.

Jean Barnes, leader of In Defense of Animals, says Yerkes researchers forcibly turn monkeys into drug addicts, infect chimpanzees and bonobos with malaria and HIV-I, and blind baby monkeys.

The activists also figure that since Emory's endowment owns 37 million shares of Coke stock, the cola company has a responsibility to tell the university how to do its job.

The protest was planned as part of World Week for Animals in Laboratories, and will last from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. ??