Tag: Huntingdon Life Sciences

Cracking Down on Animal Rights Terrorism

On both sides of the Atlantic, a new wave of terrorist acts from the animal rights and environmental movement are resulting in new legal initiatives to crack down on such crime.

In Great Britain, Home Secretary Jack Straw recently announced the formation of a special police squad that will concentrate solely on animal rights extremists who have been so successful in that country at carrying out acts of property destruction and intimidation.

Straw announced that and other new initiatives on a visit to the beleaguered Huntingdon Life Sciences. Straw said,

We will not tolerate a small number of criminals trying to threaten research organisations and companies, their shareholders, suppliers, customers, employees and their families. The work here is critical to humankind and we need to applaud the people who work here rather than abuse them. I assure we will be taking all the necessary steps we can to support companies like this and to better explain how important this sort of work is.

Meanwhile in the United States, the Oregon state Senate unanimously passed a couple bills which had already unanimously passed the state House to give prosecutors and law enforcement more tools in combating animal rights terrorism. The bills would make it a felony to interfere with agricultural research (extremist environmentalists have been destroying such research), as well as adding interference with animal research to the list of crimes that can be prosecuted as a Class A felony under Oregon’s anti-racketeering statutes.

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber is expected to sign the bill into law.

Source:

Clampdown on animal activists. The BBC, April 26, 2001.

Protesters Arrested, Beagles Stolen from HLS Facility In New Jersey

The Animal Defense League organized a 100-person strong protest outside a Huntingdon Life Sciences facility in New Jersey just one day after 14 dogs were stolen from the lab. The Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility for the theft.

Three people were arrested at the protest including Adam Weissman, 23; Nicholas Hensey, 22; Justin Kelley, 18; and an unidentified juvenile. Police said Darius Fullmer, 24, would be served with a summons after he was released from the hospital. Fullmer was one of about a dozen protesters who police sprayed with pepper spray to subdue.

Fullmer — one of the main organizers the protest — told an Associated Press reporter that the ADL fully supported the ALF action. “Fourteen innocent creatures have been rescued from a short life of pain and a brutal death.”

In a press release, Frankie Trull of the Foundation for Biomedical Research condemned the theft of the dogs,

This burglary and theft is the act of misguided, uninformed radicals who respect neither the law nor the vast body of medical and scientific knowledge that animal research has contributed to the field of human and animal health.

Unless the general public firmly rejects this criminal malfeasance and the hooligan perpetrators behind it, all medical and scientific progress is at risk. The anti-research cell of the animal rights movement would have you believe that pets are being subjected to painful experiments with no scientific validity but nothing could be further from the truth.

At the New Jersey protest, many of the activists joined in chanting, “We know where you live” to the occupants of the laboratory. Meanwhile in the United Kingdom, activists opposed to HLS are successfully using terrorist tactics to go after companies attempting to work with HLS.

Winterflood Securities, one of only two firms in Great Britain willing to deal in shares of the troubled company, recently dropped HLS after animal rights activists engaged in an intense campaign of abusive and threatening calls to Winterflood employees’ homes combined with picketing outside their homes.

The Daily Telegraph quoted an unidentified Winterflood executive describing the firm’s problems,

[The wife of the chairman of the company received threatening phone calls.] She had never heard such abusive language. They were phoning other employees as well. They said we know where you live. We know where your children live. We know where your friends live.

It became too difficult. one director returned to his home on Sunday with his seven-year-old and two-year-old and found 60 protesters there. His kids were in tears. His wife was terrified. The 80-year-old mother of one employee received threatening phone calls. It is all right for us to be brave, but different for our wives and kids.

Feeling it had no choice after the government refused its request for the level of police protection it felt it required, Winterflood Securities announced it would no longer trade HLS stock. Shortly afterward, the only other brokerage house dealing in the stock in the United Kingdom, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, also announced it would no longer handle trades of the stock.

Sources:

Extremists terrorise animal lab brokers. Richard Alleyne, The Daily Telegraph (UK), March 30, 2001.

Four activists arrested. Lori Hinnant, Associated Press, April 3, 2001.

Foundation for Biomedical Research Condemns Theft Of 14 Dogs From The Huntingdon Life Sciences Facility. Foundation for Biomedical Research, Press Relesae, April 2, 2001.

Dogs taken from frequently protested lab. The Associated Press, April 1, 2001.

ALF Founder — Victim of Violent Attack Got What He Deserved

Ronnie Lee, who founded the Animal Liberation Front but claims he is no longer associated with the group, this week sang the praises of the unidentified attackers who attacked Huntingdon Life Sciences
managing director Brian Cass with baseball bats last week. The Daily Telegraph reports that Lee had this to say about the violent assault on Cass,

This serves Brian Cass right and is totally justifiable. In fact he has got off lightly. I have no sympathy for him. I do not condemn this act. I condemn what Brian Cass does to animals. In fact, I would say I condone this. What surprises me is that this doesn’t happen more often

Robin Webb, a UK spokesman for the ALF, wouldn’t condone the act but did say he “understood” what motivated those who carried it out,

The Animal Liberation Front has always had a policy of not harming life, but while it would not condone what took place, it understands the anger and frustration that leads people to take this kind of action. Groups like the Animal Rights Militia and the Justice Department have said they are prepared to take this sort of action in the short-term for the long-term gain.

Whereas terrorism through arson and other acts of violence don’t phase Webb one bit.

Source:

Victim got what he deserved, says animal group’s founder. Richard Alleyne, The Daily Telegraph (UK), February 24, 2001.

A Weekend of Animal Rights Violence in Great Britain

Animal rights terrorists in the United Kingdom went on a tear over the weekend as more letter bombs were discovered in an ongoing terrorist campaign in which animal rights activists are the leading suspects, while a mob of up to 1,000 animal rights activists trashed facilities owned by pharmaceutical companies in the UK.

On the letter bomb front, army bomb disposal experts were called on to disarm a letter bomb sent to an unnamed agricultural business and a farm. At least nine people have been injured during the letter bomb campaign which has been directed at animal enterprises including farms, restaurants, pet pest control companies, and pet suppliers over the past couple months.

Police again urged that any business in the UK associated with animals be extremely cautious opening mail and contact police if they find any suspicious packages.

Meanwhile, as many as 1,000 animal rights activists took part in well-planned assaults on facilities owned by GlaxoSmithKline, Bayer and three other pharmaceutical companies in Great Britain.

According to The Independent (London), protesters first met at a church parking lot in an action organized by Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty. At the parking lot the protesters were divided into a white and a yellow team and given detail instructions on routes to take to their targets as well as instructions on what to do once at the targets.

In all there were nine separate actions throughout the day. At a Bayer facility, activists stormed offices, smashed windows, destroyed machinery, and overturned cabinets and other office equipment shortly before 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Shortly after that, the activists targeted a factory owned by GlaxoSmithKline, smashing windows and damaging the building before participating in a sit down protest on the roads outside the company.

Police made more than 80 arrests of animal activists and were studying security camera tapes to identify other activists to arrest.

Protesters also surrounded the homes of several directors of pharmaceutical companies.

Chris Avery, SHAC spokesman, took credit for the violent assaults saying, “The protests were aimed at five different companies who are customers of Huntingdon Life Sciences and are paying for 500 animals to die every day.”

SHAC spokeswoman Heather James had a more ominous take on the day’s events saying, “We asked them if they were going to continue to use Huntingdon and they have refused to answer. They are being targeted now and will be targeted from now on. They certainly know they have been demonstrated against today. We’ve said we mean business and we do. People out there today were very, very angry. All those companies have underestimated how determined we are.”

GlaxoSmithKline issued a statement that the company “wholeheartedly condemns this violent action … which was clearly designed to disrupt work and terrorize employees.”

Police promise to track down and charge as many activists as possible. The main product of this day of mob action may be to strengthen Home Secretary Jack Straw’s call for more serious laws to curb animal rights extremists.

Sources:

Police vow to catch animal rights wreckers. Ananova, February 11, 2001.

Animal rights mobs invade drug companies Sally Pook, The Daily Telegraph, February 12, 2001.

Animal rights mobs synchronise attacks. Adrian Shaw, The Mirror, February 12, 2001.

Protesters held after 400 target Huntingdon. Paul Peachey, The Independent (London), February 12, 2001.

Pharmaceutical firms attacked. David Brown, The Guardian (London), February 12, 2001.

Protesters attack drugs groups’ premises. The Financial Times (London), February 12, 2001.

Firms ransacked during six-hour rampage as 87 are arrested; 1,000 animal rights activists in mass protest. Steve Hartley, The Express, February 12, 2001.

Animal rights mob of 1,000 on rampage. Ben Taylor and Gordon Rayner, Daily Mail (London), February 12, 2001.

Farming businesses on alert after letter bombs find. Paul Sims, Press Association, February 12, 2001.

Letter bomb defused by army experts. Paul Sims, Press Association, February 12, 2001.

Straw: Some Animal Rights Protesters "Frankly Evil"

Great Britain’s Home Secretary, Jack Straw, announced recently that, in light of the overwhelming level of harassment directed by animal rights activists against the directors and staff members of Huntingdon Life Sciences, the government would seek new police powers to deal with the threat posed from activists. Saying that some of the protesters are, “frankly evil,” Straw said the government was considering introducing a new measure to keep the names and addresses of directors and staff members at animal research facilities secret.

Animal rights activists in Great Britain widely distributed the names and home addresses of HLS staff members, who were then subject to harassment up to and including death threats, fire bombing of vehicles, and assaults. Straw affirmed that the British government believes that animal testing is necessary for medical advances.

“The measures will allow the police to take action to prevent extremists protesting outside people’s homes and will also strengthen the law against the sending of malicious communications,” Straw told Parliament.

Meanwhile, police in Britain believe that a series of letter bomb attacks on shops in Great Britain could be the work of animal rights activists. In January, ten nail bombs were sent to farms, pet food stores, charities and other animal-related enterprises. On January 31, for example, a letter bomb was sent to the British Heart Foundation, and the woman who opened the letter had to be treated for shock. In all, four people have been injured including a six-year-old girl who suffered serious leg injuries and an estate agent who had a bomb explode in her face and may lose her sight as a result.

Sources:

British police link letter bombs, blame activists. Tom Armitage, Reuters, February 1, 2001.

Straw vows protection for animal research staff. Ananova, February 5, 2001.

Animal Rights Activist Jailed in the UK

Yesterday I mentioned the ongoing protests and actions taken by animal rights activists in Great Britain where activists almost succeeded in shutting down Huntingdon Life Sciences. Today Ananova reports that animal rights activist Charlotte Lewis, 28, will spend the next six months in jail for her actions against HLS.

Lewis sent at least two threatening letters and mailed them to employees of HLS. Forensic scientists managed to match her DNA with DNA found in the saliva residue on the back of stamps that Lewis had used to mail the letters.

Source:

Animal rights woman jailed over threats. Ananova, January 31, 2001.