Scripps Howard News Service recently ran a brief, but thorough, story outlining the ongoing animal rights campaign against Huntingdon Life Sciences.
Writer Lance Gay notes that HLS is fighting back both legally and with public relations efforts.
“We can’t afford to be silent,” said Michael Caulfield, vice president for operations. “We can’t let the intimidation win.”
Still, Gay writes,
Caulfield admits it is tough to persuade the public that drug tests on beagles and monkeys are needed, but those animals are sued because they are easy to handle and there’s a long history on how they react to drugs that provides a guide on how new drugs are going to affect human cardiovascular systems.
Meanwhile activists see their efforts to shut down HLS as merely the first salvo in efforts to end all animal testing.
Barbara Stagno, Northeast director of In Defense of Animals, says the ultimate goal of the campaign is to stop researchers from using animals for either drug or cosmetic testing.
And, of course, the activists are more than willing to use violence, with Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty spokesman Kevin Jonas saying, “Windows will be broke, and cars will be flipped, an animals will be taken. HLS will close down. That’s a promise I will make to you.”
Source:
A dogfight over animal testing. Lance Gay, Scripps Howard News Service, July 2001.