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Vivisectionists "Tormented" by Liberationists; Torture and Killing of Non-Human Primates Ignored July 07, 2008
  • Associated Press: In the hills above the University of California's Berkeley campus, nine protesters gathered in front of the home of a toxicology professor, their faces covered with scarves and hoods despite the warm spring weather. One scrawled "killer" in chalk on the scientist's doorstep, while another hurled insults through a bullhorn and announced, "Your neighbor kills animals!" Someone shattered a window. Borrowing the kind of tactics used by anti-abortion demonstrators, animal rights activists are increasingly taking their rage straight to scientists' front doors. Over the past couple of years, more and more researchers who experiment on animals have been harassed and terrorized in their own homes, with weapons that include firebombs, flooding and acid. "It used to be everyone was worried about their laboratories being broken into and their data being destroyed, their animals being taken away," said Jeffrey Kordower, head of the Society for Neuroscience's animal research committee. "What they've decided to do now is make things more personal." The Washington-based Foundation for Biomedical Research said researchers were harassed or otherwise victimized more than 70 times in 2003, up from just 10 the year before. The number of attacks has held steady or risen ever since, according to the group. Activists say the escalation in tactics results from a frustration that nonviolent methods have failed to stop what they call the needless torture and killing of animals. "An animal has as much of a right to life as we do. To take a life without provocation is immoral, it's violent, there's no excuse for it," said Jacob Black, 23, an organizer of demonstrations at the homes of UC Berkeley researchers. "To name and shame these people as morally bankrupt individuals in our society is key." more...
  • Collegian Online: Those animal rights activists who chained themselves to a doghouse in front of Hi-Way Pizza on the Fourth of July might be a little...odd. But they are not nearly as crazy as some animal rights activists in California who have delivered harassing and intimidating threats directly to the doorsteps of researchers. There were more than 70 cases of researcher victimization in 2003; in 2002, there were only 10, the Foundation for Biomedical Research found. Some Web sites creators now go so far as to list names and contact information of such scientists so protesters can gain access to them more easily. Jerry Vlasak, an Animal Liberation Front press office spokesman, told the Associated Press he doesn't advocate killing those who use animals in research, but that intimidating or murdering them could be "morally justifiable." more...
  • CollegeOTR.com: For years, animal rights activists have protested all around the world from Madrid to Brussels to Vienna . Not to be outdone by the international community, Americans have likewise voiced their opinions and in no better place than college campuses--and I'm not just talking about UC Berkeley. Although the notoriously liberal Cal students are still carrying on the tree-hugging tradition, the Animal Liberation Front has forces "fighting" throughout the nation. They've tried more pacifying methods of protesting but have been disappointed with their results. By resorting to tactics common to anti-abortion activists, animal lovers are bringing their picket signs to scientists' front doors to show that this time, it's personal . At UCLA , one of the country's biggest research facilities, protesters have set a university van on fire, attempted to set off a firebomb in a professor's car, and flooded another professor's home with a garden hose. One scientist swore he would not longer perform animal research after they targeted his whole family. more...
KFC Firebombed in New Jersey; Local Youths Arrested, Then Freed on Bail June 30, 2008
  • Asbury Park Press: Two township residents were charged Friday afternoon with attempted aggravated arson and possession of a destructive device after they allegedly threw four Molotov cocktail-type devices at the KFC restaurant at 140 E. Kennedy Blvd. while the restaurant was closed. Mohel said that two of the incendiary devices landed inside the restaurant after two windows were broken when they were thrown. Two others were thrown at the building but did not land inside, he said. "An accelerant was utilized, and it was lit before being thrown but it did not result in a fire," he said. more...
"FBI" and "Intelligence" Used on Same Page; Well, It IS Their Own Press Release June 30, 2008
  • FBI Headquarters: In early 2006, eco-terrorist Eric McDavid and two associates met in a secluded cabin in Dutch Flat, California to discuss making improvised explosive devices and to choose targets to bomb. Soon after, they began casing the targeted facilities and buying supplies to make bombs. But before they started mixing the ingredients, we swooped in and arrested them. How did we know what McDavid was up to? How were we able to prevent attacks that could have caused thousands or millions of dollars in property damage and possibly harmed people? In a word, intelligence. more...
Animal Rights A Popular Subject at UCLA as Activists Continue Campaign to Stop Primate Abuse June 23, 2008
  • UCLA Daily Bruin: Animal rights activists continue to advocate alternatives to animal research, especially in light of the attacks by protesters at UCLA in the last year. Many UCLA community members have become increasingly aware of the controversy surrounding animal research in the last year. Earlier this month, the Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility for setting a UCLA vanpool vehicle on fire. That incident was the most recent in a string of attacks by animal rights activists. In January, UCLA co-sponsored a workshop exploring alternatives to animal research with the John Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing. Despite the committee's efforts, activists have staged several protests in the last year against animal research. The Animal Liberation Brigade, an animal rights activist group, claimed responsibility for an attempted firebombing of UCLA Professor Arthur Rosenbaum's car on June 24, 2007. The activist group responded to what they believed was an inhumane treatment of animals at Rosenbaum's ophthalmology laboratory, according to Daily Bruin archives. more...
Saboteur Gets 6 Years, $6 Million Fine; Only Activist to Endure Trial by Snitch June 20, 2008
  • The New York Times: A California woman convicted in an ecoterrorism attack at the University of Washington has been sentenced to six years in prison and to pay $6 million in restitution. A Seattle television station, KIRO, reported that the woman, Briana Waters of Berkeley, had asked for mercy because she has a 3-year-old daughter. Prosecutors had recommended a 10-year sentence. Ms. Waters, 32, was sentenced in Federal District Court in Tacoma after being convicted of arson on March 6. She was a student at Evergreen State College in 2001 when she acted as a lookout as others set fire to the Center for Urban Horticulture. The Earth Liberation Front , a loosely organized radical environmental group that has been linked to acts of ecoterrorism in the Northwest, claimed responsibility because it believed, mistakenly, that a researcher was genetically modifying poplar trees. The blaze, which destroyed the plant research center, was one of at least 17 fires set from 1996 to 2001 by the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front. In all, more than a dozen people were arrested; four suspects remain at large.

Oregon Lab Decodes Eco-saboteur's Emails- Oh My! June 15, 2008
  • The Oregonian: Once the evidence arrives at the heavily secured lab, it is bagged in bright pink plastic bags, sealed and assigned to a forensic examiner. The examiners aren't looking for fingerprints, blood patterns or DNA profiles. They are combing through computer hard drives, extracting call lists, text messages and photos from suspects' cell phones, or enhancing screen grabs from videotapes of crime scenes. The work of the 10 digital evidence examiners at the Northwest Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory -- one of 16 in the nation -- has helped law enforcement agencies across Oregon and southwest Washington solve everything from homicides and child abuse to ecoterrorism and fraud cases. Their high-tech expertise, equipment and training fill a void for many local and state police departments who lack the resources and technical know-how to handle the ever-changing and sophisticated technology employed by crooks. Since the lab opened near Portland's Lloyd Center in 2005, it has handled several high-profile cases. Examiners decoded e-mails of Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front members who were prosecuted on ecoterrorism charges, and examined three dozen hard drives, CDs and memory sticks in the still unsolved 2001 killing of federal prosecutor Thomas Crane Wales at his Seattle home. more...
Statement by Jailed Austrian Activist; Martin Balluch on Hunger Strike to Protest Arbitrary Imprisonment June 15, 2008
  • UK Indymedia: Austrian animal rights prisoner Martin Balluch is still on hunger strike against the violation of his human rights and the state attacks on legitimate campaigning organisations. This is his statement. On Wednesday 21st May, my life was to change drastically. We had prepared a new campaign on a constitutional change for animals, which would have gone for a vote in Parliament at the beginning of July. The campaign was to be launched the very next day. For this campaign we had managed to unify just about the whole movement in Austria to pull on the same string. As many of you, who know me, will have expected, this is one of my primary aims, to unify the movement for double strength. But the campaign was not to be. In the early hours of Wednesday morning, police launched the most violent attack ever in Austrian history against a social justice movement and against NGOs. Hundreds of armed police officers smashed in the doors of 21 different homes, of 6 different NGO offices and of our warehouse of demo material. 25 people were arrested and questioned by police. 10 people were put on remand since, one of them me. more...
Animal Liberation Front Destroys UCLA Van; Primate Torture in University Labs Cited June 15, 2008
  • UCLA Daily Bruin: In a statement released Friday morning, an animal activist group claimed responsibility for setting a UCLA vanpool vehicle on fire. The Animal Liberation Front, whose credo on its Web site reads, “direct action against animal abuses ... usually through the damage and destruction of property,” sent out a statement to Bite Back Magazine claiming responsibility for the incident. “It is unacceptable for us to see, hear, and know what is going on in our animal labs without taking action,” the statement said. “For all of those affected, you have the UCLA vivisection program to blame,” it also said. On the morning of June 3, the unoccupied vehicle was at a park-and-ride facility in Irvine when city fire and police officials responded to the fire after 3 a.m., officials said. Nobody was injured, but the damage to the van was extensive. Jerry Vlasak, a spokesman for the North American Animal Liberation Press office, which works as a press outlet for animal rights activist groups including ALF, defended the actions of the group. He said groups such as ALF were growing frustrated with a lack of progress. Vlasak did acknowledge that peaceful “above-ground activism” was preferable through grassroots fliering and protests. But he added that the public often unfairly blurs the line between those who pass out fliers and those who blow up cars. “UCLA is a poster child for the egregious acts going on in universities,” Vlasak said, referencing harsh treatment of animals. more...
  • UCLA Press Release: UCLA campus police and the FBI are investigating an Animal Liberation Front claim that extremists opposed to the use of animals in laboratory research were responsible for torching a UCLA vanpool vehicle last week in Irvine. Earlier this year, UCLA won a court order against extremists involved in a campaign of harassment directed at faculty and administrators who conduct or oversee research involving laboratory animals. A preliminary injunction prohibits three groups, including the Animal Liberation Front, and five individuals from coming within 50 feet of the residences of UCLA personnel involved in animal research during any demonstration. It also prohibits the posting of personal information about UCLA personnel on websites maintained by the groups and individuals. The harassment has included attempted firebombings at private residences, vandalism and multiple threats of violence. The unoccupied UCLA vanpool vehicle was at a park-and-ride facility in Irvine when city fire and police officials responded to the fire after 3 a.m. on June 3. Nobody was injured; damage to the van was extensive. more...
  • Chronicles of Higher Education: The Animal Liberation Front has claimed responsibility for the burning of an empty van that belonged to the University of California at Los Angeles, apparently the latest in a series of attacks aimed at faculty members and institutions that conduct research on animals. The incident, on June 3, is being investigated by the university police and the FBI. Earlier this year, activists set off a firebomb at the home of a UCLA professor whose research includes the use of animals. Nobody was injured in that attack. The torched vehicle, which was part of a fleet of 150 vans providing commuter service to UCLA faculty members, was set on fire while parked overnight in a park-and-ride facility in nearby Irvine. Nobody was injured, but the vehicle was declared a total loss. more...
Protests Escalate at UC Animal Abusers' Homes June 11, 2008
  • San Francisco Chronicle: Officials have been trying to keep it quiet, but 24 UC Berkeley researchers and seven staffers have been harassed by animal rights activists in recent months, in some cases having their homes or cars vandalized. "What they all have in common is that they all work in animal research," UC Berkeley spokesman Robert Sanders said of the targeted employees. In several instances, the activists have shown up outside researchers' homes in the middle of the night with bullhorns and chanting, "Animal killers." Sometimes they have scrawled slogans on the sidewalk in chalk. On more than one occasion, rocks have been thrown through the researchers' windows and their cars have been scratched up. According to UC, there have been 20 reports of damage to researchers' homes in Berkeley, Oakland and El Cerrito since August, including seven broken house windows and three vandalized cars. Thirteen researchers have been harassed on more than one occasion, authorities said. One researcher, who studies how cat brains work for epilepsy research, has reported seven incidents at his home. Officials have been trying to keep the protests quiet, in part out of concern that publicity will only cause more incidents and an escalation in violence. At UCLA, animal rights protests have included attempted firebombings and one instance in which a researcher's home was flooded with a garden hose. more...
Animal Liberation Front Takes Second Place in UCLA Editorial Poll June 10, 2008
  • The Daily Bruin: Four people at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta maintain a database of time capsules. They say they have about 20 from various colleges registered with them, but they estimate the actual number is in the thousands. MIT alone has at least nine that they're aware of. Which got us thinking: What would we put in a time capsule? Seeing as it is the paper's job to cover the highs and lows of life at UCLA, we looked over the year's stories and found the five best and worst moments from the 2007-2008 school year. more...
Utah Snitch Wannabe Andy Hart Sent to Federal Prison (And Good Riddance) June 10, 2008
  • Deseret News: Federal officials say a plan devised by a state parolee to get out of wearing his ankle monitor backfired and has now landed him a four-year federal prison sentence. Andy Hart was sentenced Monday to serve 48 months in federal prison on the charge of making false material statements to the FBI. Hart had previously pleaded guilty to the charge as part of a plea deal. According to court documents and federal prosecutors, Hart concocted a story that animal-rights activists were plotting to "napalm" or firebomb a rural Utah mink farm and that he had information about the plot. In exchange for his help, Hart got the FBI to agree to help him get off of state supervision early. Hart was serving parole for convictions on forgery and false information charges. As part of the plot, authorities say Hart talked two of his friends into driving to the mink farm, saying he was going to go help the FBI. According to court documents, Hart left his friends standing outside the ranch and then called the FBI, identifying his friends as the supposed bomb-plot suspects. FBI agents soon discovered Hart's story was fabricated.
Animal Research War Declared; Actually, More Whining by Animal Abusers June 4, 2008
  • New Scientist: IN 2001, P. Michael Conn, an administrator at the Oregon National Primate Research Center in Beaverton, flew to Miami to be interviewed for a university position. When he arrived in Florida, his plane was met by an angry crowd of animal-rights activists wielding protest signs. They followed him, interrupted his meetings and literally chased him onto his plane back to the West Coast. Not surprisingly, he didn't get the job. But the incident, Conn says, was valuable nevertheless. It convinced him that he was involved in an outright war, that so-called "animal rightists" didn't merely want to protect animals, they wanted to destroy any science that used them. That epiphany eventually led to The Animal Research War, a salvo fired back at the enemy. "What other word than 'war' can we employ to describe what is happening to the enterprise of biomedical research?" ask Conn and his co-author James Parker, a former public information officer at the Oregon primate centre. "Attack? Assault? Siege? All the words that come to mind come from the battlefield." They wouldn't have thought in war-like terms in earlier decades, the authors say, but today the situation has become urgent. more...
Mis-Directed Vigilance: FBI's Eleven Most-Wanted "Terrorists" June 3, 2008
  • Gin and Tacos: When you hear the phrase “domestic terrorism” - Americans committing acts of terrorism against other Americans - what image springs to mind? Unhinged loners mailing pipe bombs from a tar paper shack? “Freemen” compounds in Montana? KKK night raids? NWO-obsessed survivalists plotting to violently secede from the Union? Christian Identity white supremacists going on shooting sprees, bombing clinics, and blowing up Federal courthouses? That's what I picture. But I'm way off; this is domestic terrorism. Or this . Our FBI considers “eco-terrorists” to be the “# 1 domestic terrorism threat ,” apparently believing that arson-related property damage (oh my!) is a better indicator of future danger than the right-wing militia/survivalist/nutcase/racist movement's impressive body count over the past three decades. Despite 168 dead in OKC, Alan Berg , or a neo-Nazi driving around shooting every brown person he could find , these groups apparently have failed to convince our law enforcement establishment that they are a serious threat. They have had the good sense, among all the Jew-killing and courthouse-detonating and minority-terrorizing, to avoid torching any restaurants that serve foie gras or spray-painting any fur coats. To wit: the FBI's 11 Most Wanted Domestic Terrorists . Let's quickly break down the list. more...
Eco-Activist Tre Arrow Accepts Plea Deal; No Betrayals Cited in Deal for What Amounts to a 28-Month Sentence May 28, 2008
  • San Diego Tribune: Tre Arrow, a radical environmentalist who was once one of the FBI's most-wanted fugitives, has announced on his Web site he has accepted a plea deal on federal arson and conspiracy charges. Arrow had entered a not guilty plea. His attorney, Paul T. Loney, confirmed on Wednesday Arrow “is changing his plea” and a hearing date has been set for next Tuesday. Arrow, 34, who has legally changed his name from Michael Scarpitti, is charged in a 14-count federal indictment with helping to destroy concrete-mixing trucks in Portland in April 2001 and of firebombing logging trucks near Oregon's Mount Hood in June 2001. Arrow became a fugitive after he was indicted, and was arrested in British Columbia in March 2004 on local shoplifting charges. He was extradited to the United States in February. His decision to accept a deal comes as federal officials have been scoring high-profile victories against radical environmentalists who have carried out arson attacks around the West. On his Web site, Arrow insisted that in accepting a plea agreement “I am in no way selling my soul just to receive a sweet deal from the prosecution. By this I mean I am not giving them any information about anyone or any thing which could lead to others being prosecuted.” more...
  • Associated Press: An environmental activist and former fugitive who once won thousands of votes in a congressional election pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges under a deal that would send him to prison for two years. Tre Arrow, 34, pleaded guilty to the destruction of concrete-mixing trucks in Portland in April 2001 and to firebombing logging trucks at a contested logging sale near Mount Hood in June 2001. He had faced up to 40 years in prison if convicted of two counts of arson. In a separate case, a radical environmentalist who helped federal officials round up a militant cell of arsonists was sentenced Tuesday in Eugene to five years of probation. Arrow pleaded guilty Tuesday to aiding in the destruction of a truck used in interstate commerce at Ross Island Sand and Gravel and of burning three logging trucks used in interstate commerce owned by Schoppert Logging Inc., which was to have started cutting trees at the timber sale site. Three other gasoline bombs found in other trucks failed to explode. more...
  • The Oregonian: Tre Arrow, a radical environmentalist who was once one of the FBI's most-wanted fugitives, today pleaded guilty to two counts of arson. Appearing before U.S. District Judge James Redden, he also agreed to a sentence of 78 months with time off for time served, going back to March 2004. That means from this point forward, he will serve about two years and fourth months at the federal correctional facility in Sheridan. Arrow could have faced a maximum of 20 years in prison on the two counts, each of which carried a mandatory sentence of five years. One count is in connection with the burning of a Ross Island Sand and Gravel truck on April 15, 2001. The other count is in connection with the arson of a logging truck in Eagle Creek on June 1, 2001. Arrow entered the packed courtroom in a white jump suit and was smiling and talking with his two attorneys. Part of the plea agreement stipulates that when he's released, Arrow cannot associate with groups that knowingly perform unlawful acts such as the arsons in which he was involved. Arrow, 34, a onetime candidate for Congress, legally changed his name from Michael Scarpitti. more...
Utah Animal Rights Feel Heat of Their Success May 28, 2008
  • The Daily Utah Chronicle: Last month, three animal rights activists were arrested at a U researcher's home. To exhibit their dedicated effort in protesting Salt Lake City's new ordinance prohibiting demonstrations within 100 feet of a residence, one of the protesters actually asked to be arrested. Harassing scientists at their homes has become the newest way for animal activists to display their opinions. It doesn't seem to matter that the scientists are obeying the laws governing animal research. No evidence or proof of wrongdoing has been discovered, and the U wouldn't be permitted to conduct research on animals if it didn't comply with federal regulations. Although some activists follow responsible practices, some choose to intimidate and harass researchers into quitting their jobs. There's proof that works. It's exactly what the Animal Liberation Front did when they convinced Dario Ringach, a UCLA associate neurology professor, to quit in August 2006. He wrote them a note after they botched a bombing attempt of an associate researcher's home, "You win…please don't bother my family anymore." more...
Evolve or Die: Can We Shed Our Moral Primitivism Before Its Too Late? Interview With Steve Best, PhD May 21, 2008
  • Atlantic Free Press: Endless resource wars, globalization, privatization, profits over life, exploitation, raping the Earth, poisoning and irradiating the environment, exponentially criminal levels of unnecessary suffering caused by the concentration of wealth into the hands of a few, Climate Change, alarming rates of species extinction, Peak Oil, a jungle of cronyism and corruption so dense you couldn't hack your way through it with the sharpest of machetes, and increasingly powerful monopoly entities intensifying their stranglehold on the “free market” are the rotting fruits that comprise the bitter harvest we are reaping by the bushel-basketful. When Dr. Steve Best (our “czar” of animal and earth liberation at Cyrano's Journal Online) agreed to my request for an interview via email, I had no inkling that the result would be such a powerful intellectual weapon in the struggle against capitalism. I also didn't realize how inspiring it would be to engage another non-member “fellow traveler” of the ALF and ELF, particularly one with Best's depth of knowledge and passion. Departing from his passionate commitment to animal liberation, Dr. Steve Best presents an incredibly comprehensive and convincing case that it is both morally imperative and essential to the continued existence of life on Earth that we anti-capitalists prevail: more...
Informants in Short Supply for Feds, But Damage To Activists Can Be Immense May 21, 2008
  • City Pages (Minneapolis): Paul Carroll was riding his bike when his cell phone vibrated. Once he arrived home from the Hennepin County Courthouse, where he'd been served a gross misdemeanor for spray-painting the interior of a campus elevator, the lanky, wavy-haired University of Minnesota sophomore flipped open his phone and checked his messages. He was greeted by a voice he recognized immediately. It belonged to U of M Police Sgt. Erik Swanson, the officer to whom Carroll had turned himself in just three weeks earlier. When Carroll called back, Swanson asked him to meet at a coffee shop later that day, going on to assure a wary Carroll that he wasn't in trouble. Carroll, who requested that his real name not be used, showed up early and waited anxiously for Swanson's arrival. Ten minutes later, he says, a casually dressed Swanson showed up, flanked by a woman whom he introduced as FBI Special Agent Maureen E. Mazzola. For the next 20 minutes, Mazzola would do most of the talking. more...
  • MediaMouseCity Pages (Michigan): The North American Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network has posted new information on Frank Ambrose's cooperation with the federal government in a series of cases pertaining to Earth Liberation Front (ELF) actions in Michigan . As part of his guilty plea , Ambrose agreed to provide information on actions of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). Disturbingly, at various points in affidavits in the case Ambrose is singled out by the government for involvement in legal activities. The Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network is reporting that Ambrose has produced countless hours of recordings with other activists in the year before his indictment... The group has also published a search warrant for Ambrose's home from April 2007. After the execution of the warrant, Ambrose began cooperating with federal investigators. more...
  • Associated Press: A radical environmentalist who helped federal officials round up a militant cell of arsonists called "the Family" has been sentenced to five years on probation. After 20 fires across the West and $40 million in damage, federal agents turned Jacob Ferguson into an informant in 2004. He took a recorder to meetings with other members of the Family and broke what a prosecutor said Tuesday was a "wall of silence." Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Engdall said Ferguson's sentencing marks the end of the 10-year investigation, although three of 15 conspirators are fugitives. "Only through the assistance of Mr. Ferguson, did the pieces of this mosaic come together," Engdall said. Engdall said Ferguson had overcome heroin addiction and the experience of growing up with a drug-addicted father who was in and out of prison. Ferguson since has been the target of threats and has been shunned by the environmental activist community to which he once belonged, Spinney said. more...
European Profiteers Under Attack by Animal Liberationists May 21, 2008
  • Aftenposten: Never before has Norway's fur industry been as under attack as it is now. Some Oslo fur dealers have been the repeated targets of vandalism and threats, and even some established animal rights activists are calling the attackers "animal terrorists." For months, fur dealers like Stein Phillip Thoresen in Oslo have dealt with attempted break-ins, smashed windows and other forms of vandalism. His shop, Atelier Henry Phillip, has been a constant target as has his home and even his car. He's not alone. Other clothing stores selling fur coats and accessories are frequent targets as well. Since 2003, more than 150 attacks have been reported to police. The police, however, haven't made any arrests and Thoresen is getting desperate. Unless the "animal terrorists" are caught soon, he'll likely quit the business, which probably is exactly what those behind the attacks want him to do. more...
  • The Canadian Press: Austrian authorities say they are questioning 10 animal rights activists suspected of arson, sabotage and other crimes. Investigators say six of the suspects have been placed in pretrial detention for their alleged involvement in militant animal rights groups. Officials allege that the suspects are behind numerous arson fires and vandalism targeting food, clothing, pharmaceutical and agricultural companies. Prosecutors say the 10 were arrested earlier this week after a monthslong investigation into radical animal rights groups. Austrian media reported today that one of the suspects has begun a hunger strike while in custody. Investigators say the suspects used various aliases and allegedly had links to an international network.
  • The Guardian: Twenty-five years ago my feature documentary The Animals Film was shown during Channel 4's opening week and later around the world. It placed animal rights on the international agenda and inspired a generation of activists. Today in Austria a group of animal rights campaigners are in their third week in prison on hunger strike after unprecedented nationwide police raids. At dawn on May 21, Austrian police broke down doors of homes and offices across the country and seized campaigners at gunpoint. Since then, 10 shelter workers, animal welfare teachers and public campaign organizers have been held for more than two weeks under suspicion of membership in "a criminal organisation". No charges have been pressed. The detainees are demanding they be charged or released. One might be forgiven for thinking that unbeknownst to the outside world Austria has been riven by violence from activists desperate for an impact in a society indifferent to their cause. Yet Austria is the most progressive country in the world on animal rights. Laws have passed banning fur farms and wild animals in circuses, and phasing out all battery chicken farms. more...
University of California Worries About Their Animal Abusers; Refuse to Provide FOIA Information as Required by Law May 21, 2008
  • The Sacramento Bee: The University of California has begun withholding public records that detail how animal research is done and what scientists hope to learn, saying when people know such things, it leads to crime. The university contends that recent attacks on the homes and cars of researchers, including three attempts to set fires in the Los Angeles area and one doorstep scuffle in Santa Cruz, make greater secrecy crucial. Activists suggest that what UC really wants to suppress are the wrenching details of electrodes and restraints, surgeries and deaths, that opponents use to argue that animal research must stop. "It's a way to try to silence dissent and increasing public revulsion," said Jeff Kerr, general counsel for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Among the records UC has withheld recently are daily health care logs for monkeys, postmortem exams called necropsies and research protocols that describe how studies are designed. One campus, UCLA, is refusing to disclose how many nonhuman primates it experiments on. more...
  • The Sacramento Bee: Biomedical researchers in California and across the country face increasing threats of violence, harassment and intimidation from activists opposed to research with animals. The University of California, Davis, has taken significant steps to increase security and ensure that researchers can continue their work in safety. A bill passed by the state Assembly and currently before the Senate, Assembly Bill 2296, takes some additional steps toward protecting scientists who carry out lawful, well-regulated research from attacks on their homes and families. Recent months have seen incidents at UCLA, UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz including attempted fire-bombings, vandalism, harassment and intimidation. In Santa Cruz, six masked intruders tried to break into a biology professor's house during a child's birthday party. Last month, a spokesman for the Animal Liberation Front – considered a domestic terrorist organization by the FBI – reiterated past statements that the murder of researchers was "acceptable" in order to stop animal research. more...
Former ALF Warrior Dies; Fought for the Animals, Not Humans May 11, 2008
  • The Oregonian: Even among fervent animal-rights activists, Roger Troen stood out. He'd be the one costumed as a demented butcher with fake blood and cleaver performing guerrilla theater during an anti-fur protest, or as Colonel Sanders outside KFC protesting factory farming, or chalking the ground outside OHSU's primate center. About 30 years ago, Roger got the call to his life's purpose -- animal rights -- and his righteous battle became a nearly full-time focus. At any given time, Roger had either just come from a march or meeting, or from gathering signatures for a shelter reform initiative, or had just written a letter to the editor, or photocopied news releases or his newsletter. Not everybody knew that the silver-haired man with the steel-blue eyes and the missionary zeal had been convicted for his role in a 1986 Animal Liberation Front raid on an animal lab at the University of Oregon. Although frustrated that people didn't see things his way, he was in no way discouraged. He unapologetically and cheerfully came back to repeat his message: He was there for the animals, not the humans. more...
Magazine Feature Article Highlights FBI Snitch "Anna" May 1, 2008
Fear Permeates World of Animal Oppressors as World Week for Animals in Laboratories Kicks Off April 23, 2008
  • Cattle Network: Constant vigilance is needed to keep U.S. food safe, according to Federal Bureau of Investigation Section Chief Jenifer Smith Tuesday. Smith broke down threat sources as domestic and international. She said anti-biotechnical groups like the Earth Liberation Front and lesser-known domestic extremist groups often inflict vandalism and violence threats. These are meant to discourage research into genetically modified plants and organisms as well as disease research. Animal rights extremist groups like the Animal Liberation Front also have a history of attacking scientific establishments using animals for disease research, she said. These groups also are credited with vandalizing restaurants, swine facilities as well as individual scientists. more...
  • UCSD Guardian: The mad scientist archetype seemed to die off with Dr. Moreau. But the image is still very much alive and well in the minds of animal-rights proponents, the most extreme of whom have subverted it to make a Dr. Frankenstein of university researchers. As such, the activists have dangerously taken researchers to task in a movement that sounds like an absurd cross between slapstick comedy and action thriller. The problems have bubbled enough to attract legislative action, which last week took a wise step in a long road to curb violence against the university's researching workforce. more...
  • Times Higher Education: An escalation of intimidation tactics by animal-rights extremists in the US has prompted scientists to look to Britain for answers. This is World Laboratory Animal Liberation week, a flashpoint on the calendar for academics involved in animal experimentation. But whereas demonstrations outside US laboratories have been occurring for decades, recent events suggest an escalation of activities. "The attacks are more frequent and they are much more violent, and (targets) include not only the researcher's laboratory but also ... the researcher, his family, and his home," he told The Chronicle of Higher Education. more...
  • KUTV Channel 2 News (Salt Lake): A controversial animal rights activist spoke in a conference in Salt Lake City, Saturday. 2NEWS' Brian Mullahy spoke with the Doctor who had some startling words about methods used for the cause of animal liberation. Dr. Vlasak is a trauma surgeon in Southern California. And to him, all forms of life are precious. But the doctor feels that if necessary, it's morally acceptable to take human lives, if it saves the lives of many animals. Years ago, Vlasak was quoted as saying, "I don't think you'd have to kill -assasinate- too many. I think for five lives, ten lives, fifteen human lives, we could save one million, two million maybe ten million non-human lives." At the "Confronting Animal Cruelty" conference in the Salt Lake City Library, 2NEWS Brian Mullahy got a chance to speak with Dr. Vlasak about the measures that activists should take. more...
  • Counterpunch Magazine: In May 2005, FBI Deputy Assistant Director for Counterterrorism John Lewis told a Senate panel that ecoterrorism is "one of today's most serious domestic terrorism threats." Then the FBI's James Jarboe estimated that two organizations (the Earth Liberation Front - ELF and Animal Liberation Front - ALF) committed over 600 criminal acts since 1996, causing over $43 million in damage. For his part, Lewis said both groups committed more than 1100 such acts since 1976, "conservatively" resulting in around $110 million in damages. more...
40 Mink Liberated from Oregon Fur Farm; Breeding Records Destroyed April 23, 2008
  • The Oregonian: The Animal Liberation Front has claimed responsibility for raiding a fur farm in Jefferson on Monday, releasing mink and destroying breeding records. The front, described by the government as one of the nation's leading domestic terrorist organizations, wrote that it freed about 40 domesticated mink from the Jefferson Fur Farm to give them a chance at survival. The note was signed ALF-Cascadia. "These animals are not capitalist commodities to be bought and sold for fashion or vanity, but unique individuals deserving of liberation from human exploitation," said the note, released today by the North American Animal Liberation Press Office in Los Angeles. "Even if some of the mink do not make it, we feel it is better to die free, than at the hands of their speciesist captors." The participants warned that they would return if the fur farm was not dismantled. more...
  • Seattle Times: The Animal Liberation Front (ALF) is claiming responsibility for releasing 40 mink Monday from a fur farm in Jefferson, Ore., and for destroying the farm's breeding records. In a communiqué released Tuesday evening, ALF said the mink might face a tough road away from the farm but that it was better "to die free" than at the hands of captors. It also warned that the sabotage would continue unless the owners of the Jefferson Fur Farm shut down their operation. The sabotage was announced by the North American Animal Liberation Press Office in Los Angeles and attributed to ALF-Cascadia. The communiqué struck a defiant tone against federal efforts to track down and prosecute alleged members of the underground cells: "We want to make it very clear that we will not be intimidated by the state's continued witch hunt against the Earth and animal liberation movements." more...
  • The Oregonian: The Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility for releasing mink and destroying breeding records at the Jefferson Fur Farm this week. FBI agents spent Wednesday morning gathering evidence at the farm, agency spokeswoman Beth Ann Steele said. The released mink were discovered about 6 a.m. Monday, Steele said. Guard dogs started barking, and the owners woke up and were able to recover them all, Steele said. A press release placed online Tuesday by the Animal Liberation Front contained a threat against the farm's owners. It was signed by ALF-Cascadia. "Consider this your first warning," it read. "Tear down this death camp and let the mink live free. If you don't, we will be back to finish the job." more...
  • KOIN Channel 6 News (Oregon): The Animal Liberation Front has claimed responsibility for releasing mink and destroying breeding records at the Jefferson Fur Farm this week. The Fur Commission USA reported that more than 50 mink were taken, but all were recovered. The dollar loss for the destroyed breeding records was $5,000. FBI agents gathered evidence at the farm Wednesday. The released mink were discovered about 6 a.m. Monday when guard dogs started barking, awakening the owners. A press release posted online by the Animal Liberation Front contained a threat against the farm's owners telling them if they did not stop breeding mink, they would be back to finish the job.
  • The Statesman-Journal: Federal authorities were investigating the attempted release of about 50 mink by members of the Animal Liberation Front from a Jefferson farm, officials said. FBI agents spent Wednesday morning gathering evidence at the Jefferson Fur Farm, agency spokeswoman Beth Ann Steele said. A press release placed online Tuesday by the Animal Liberation Front contained an apparent threat against the farm's owners. It was signed by ALF-Cascadia. "Consider this your first warning," it read. "Tear down this death camp and let the mink live free. If you don't, we will be back to finish the job." more...
Suspicious Device Found Outside Charles River laboratory in Reno April 22, 2008
  • San Diego Tribune: Authorities used a water canon to detonate a suspicious device found outside a Reno animal laboratory. Security guards found the device Monday night outside the Charles River Laboratories on Longley Lane and Maestro Drive. No on was injured. Police say the device made a loud pop when it was hit with water. The incident comes on the eve of a gathering planned Tuesday night by animal rights activists to bring attention to the use of animals in research. Stop Animal Exploitation Now says Charles River Laboratories was cited for 20 violations in 2006 and 11 in the first half of 2007.

More on University of California Efforts to Outlaw Animal Rights Activism; Underground Arm of the Movement Likely Unfazed April 21, 2008
  • The Guardian (UCSD): Animal rights were a source of debate long before the UC system was formed, but over the last five years, actions taken by both sides have escalated, bringing the issue to a head with increasingly violent animal-rights protests and stringent new UC-sponsored legislation. The UCLA protests returned with full force on June 24, 2007 . An incendiary device, along with one gallon of fuel, was found next to UCLA researcher Arthur Rosenbaum's vehicle. NAALPO press officer Jerry Vlasak said Rosenbaum “glues steel coils onto the eyes of primates,” and a group calling itself the Animal Liberation Brigade claimed responsibility in a June 27 communique released by NAALPO. Director of the UCLA Primate Freedom Project Jean Green told Newsweek she would comply with the restraining order but said, “We're not going to just lay down.” Green has since removed the researchers' addresses from her Web site, but reportedly hinted to Newsweek that she may continue the fight through e-mail. “Calling a person an animal abuser and a puppy killer is protected speech,” said animal-rights attorney Christine Garcia, according to a March 5 article in the Daily Cal. “Constitutionally protected speech is not harassment.” Currently, the UC system is sponsoring an extensive state assembly bill aimed at protecting its researchers from animal-rights groups. The bill — the California Animal Enterprise Protection Act, Assembly Bill 2296 — is authored by Assemblyman Gene Mullin (D-South San Francisco) and was passed by a 9-0 vote in the state's judiciary committee on April 17. Vlasak expects both the restraining order and the legislation in progress will have no effect on the activity of underground organizations such as ALF. “If someone's willing to risk 20 years of prison by … burning a building used for animal torture, I don't think they're going to worry about a silly restraining order that UCLA cooks up,” Vlasak said. “The same goes for AB 2296.” He attributed the steadily rising numbers of animal rights protests and attacks over the last five years to the ineffectiveness of peaceful protests. “I think out of frustration of legal means, with passing laws, with peacefully protesting, with writing letters to congressmen — all those sorts of things — after seeing those techniques frustrated I think people have said ‘Well, if this doesn't work, then … we should try something different,” Vlasak said. “And that's when I think groups like the ALF and other organizations step up to the plate and say, ‘… We're going to make sure that you're not going to ignore us.'” Vlasak said that although ALF has a specific set of guidelines in place — allowing for property damage, the liberation of animals and economic sabotage — they denounce violence toward humans or animals. However, he said, “Other organizations don't have those guidelines.” more...
  • The Daily Breeze: Attorneys for UCLA on Tuesday obtained a preliminary injunction against animal rights groups and activists accused of harassing university researchers who conduct experiments using animals. The injunction granted by Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Terry B. Friedman extends and expands a temporary restraining order granted Feb. 22, according to UCLA Chancellor Gene Block. "Two of the groups (the Animal Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Brigade) are clandestine organizations that regularly break the law," Dr. Jerry Vlasak, a trauma surgeon and press officer for the North American Animal Liberation Press Office, told City News Service. "The Animal Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Brigade neither care nor know about the restraining order." more...
Protesters Fail to Slow Animal Research; But Scientists Keep Mum Out of Fear, Animals Still Screaming in Pain April 18, 2008
  • Chronicles of Higher Education: The e-mail reply was polite but firm. "No. I will not be available for an interview," wrote a researcher from the University of California at Los Angeles, when asked about the effects of recent animal-rights protests there. That scientist was downright chatty compared with most of the other investigators around the country contacted by The Chronicle . Most simply refused to answer phone calls or e-mail messages, while a few recruited university public-relations officials to explain why scientists were clamming up. In the past few months, animal-rights groups have stepped up their demonstrations against academic researchers who use animals, spawning a new wave of concern among scientists. In February, extremists caused a fire at the home of a researcher from the University of California at Los Angeles, and protesters struck the husband of a scientist from the University of California at Santa Cruz."We're responding with silence, and we've lost the war for public opinion," says Jacquie Calnan, president of Americans for Medical Progress, a nonprofit organization that supports the use of animals in research. "The attacks are more frequent and they're much more violent, and they include not only the researcher's laboratory but also the personage of the researcher, his family, and his home," says Jeffrey H. Kordower, a professor of neurological sciences at Rush University Medical Center and chairman of the Committee on Animals in Research at the Society for Neuroscience. The prevailing wisdom among some scientists and university administrators is that the altered tactics are driving investigators away from animal research. They point to a few highly publicized departures. In 2006, Dario L. Ringach, an associate professor of behavioral neuroscience at the University of California at Los Angeles medical school announced he was curtailing his research using primates, after extremists from the Animal Liberation Front left an incendiary device near the home of another UCLA researcher. Protesters had previously threatened Mr. Ringach and his family. In 2002, Michael Podell, a professor and veterinary researcher at Ohio State University, announced he was leaving the university after receiving death threats. Beyond its effects on senior scientists, the intimidation has also scared away students, says Lindy F. Greene, an animal-rights protester in Los Angeles who was arrested last month outside the home of a UCLA researcher. "The combined effect is that graduate students don't want to get into animal research," she says. number of researchers fear that Ms. Greene is right. more...
University of California Tries to Outlaw Animal Rights Activism; Activists' Effectiveness Has Shaken Animal Abusers, Notified Public of Laboratory Atrocities April 15, 2008
  • Contra Costa Times: The University of California has gone to the Legislature seeking to restrict public access to information about academics who do animal research and to make it illegal to post personal information about them online. The prohibited online information would include the researchers' names, home addresses and photographs. The measure, AB2296, also would outlaw activities targeting corporate researchers. Such a law would curtail free speech, said Jerry Vlasak, a Los Angeles-area surgeon who acts as a spokesman for the more extreme branch of the animal-rights movement. It would not stop vandalism and other protests, he said. "The people who are doing underground direct action don't care what the law says anyway," he said. The measure "is aimed at those who are exercising their free-speech rights." more...
  • San Jose Mercury News: Legislation aimed at curtailing violence against scientists who conduct experiments on animals is being retooled to address concerns that it would cloak research laboratories at UC Santa Cruz and elsewhere in secrecy. Assemblyman Gene Mullin, who chairs the Select Committee on Biotechnology, acknowledged Monday that the bill's major obstacle will be satisfying fears about the effect on public access to information about research activities at academic and nonprofit labs. The bill would also cover commercial research labs, but not farms, meat packing plants or similar businesses. AB 2296 would make it a misdemeanor to harm or intimidate a researcher who works with animals, including publicly posting the names, photographs, home addresses and home telephone numbers of researchers online or elsewhere. Anyone convicted under the legislation could face up to a year in county jail and fines up to $25,000. The bill also allows researchers or their employers to seek an injunction against animal rights advocates or Web sites publishing their photos or personal information. Jerry Vlasak, a Southern California physician who acts as a spokesperson for the Animal Liberation Press Office, said the bill will not deter underground activists from illegally entering private property to set lab animals free or conduct other demonstrations. Rather, he said the measure is aimed at advocates who are "trying to obey the law" by conducting legal protests and boycotts. The Animal Liberation Front has not claimed responsibility for the UCSC attack, but Vlasak said the fact that lawmakers are getting involved in protecting researchers has served the group's purpose because it has clearly "made these people feel uncomfortable" about the experiments he said take place "in these torture chambers they call laboratories." more...
  • GreenIsTheNew Red : NOTE: There is a hearing on this legislation on Tuesday, April 15, 2008 in the Judiciary Committee, Room 4202, at 8 a.m. or perhaps later ( you can view what else is on the schedule here ). California has been a hotbed of both legal and illegal activity in the name of animal rights lately. The largest beef recall in history began here , after an undercover investigation by an animal welfare group. Meanwhile, California universities have been the site of a protracted battle between animal experimenters and underground activists using threats and property destruction. And last week, the secretary of state announced that a proposal to eliminate some of the cruelest confinements in animal agriculture will go before voters in November. more...
  • Daily Californian (Berkeley): University of California officials are backing a state assembly bill proposing harsher punishments on animal rights activists who demonstrate against animal testing research. Several officials held a teleconference yesterday to discuss the implications of the bill, which would make it illegal to post the address or phone number of animal researchers on the Internet. Animal rights attorney and UC Berkeley alumna Christine Garcia said she recognizes that the government does have the right to restrict speech in some cases. But in this case, she said, free speech would be limited based on content rather than time, place, or manner-the only restrictions on speech that are deemed constitutional. "You can't censor people," Garcia said. "They are not allowing information to be shared in the public forum of a Web site. It is really sad, especially since the forefathers of the UC system, UC Berkeley, was founded on and has such a rich tradition and history of free speech. more...
Vivisectionists Take a Stand for Terror; Bemoan Activists Demand for Accountability April 15, 2008
  • Biological Psychiatry: Terrorists are attacking scientists who are attempting to alleviate human suffering. We need a concerted public effort to eliminate these acts, particularly the harassment of scientists studying nonhuman primates. This need is highlighted by the attacks upon the home of our friend and colleague, the noted medical scientist, Dr. Edythe London, professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences and of molecular and medical pharmacology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Her work exemplifies the unique role of research involving nonhuman primates in enabling the results of research in simple systems (oocytes, cell culture) and lower organisms to be applied to human diseases. The importance of Dr. London's research was highlighted in a public letter issued on February 8, 2008 from the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dr. Elias Zerhouni, who stated, "her work is a prime example of NIH's efforts to develop effective treatments for people suffering from addiction, a disease that devastates individuals, families, communities, and costs society more than half a trillion dollars annually in health and crime-related costs and losses in productivity." more...
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  • Press Release
  • American Scientist: Anti-animal-research terrorists in the United States aim to intimidate biomedical scientists into giving up their research programs, and these radicals are growing bolder. They have planted bombs, issued death threats and targeted the children of scientists who don't comply with their strong-arm tactics. And the leaders of this cabal aspire to greater crimes. Tim Daley of the Animal Liberation Front has said, "In a war you have to take up arms and people will get killed, and I can support that kind of action by petrol bombing and bombs under cars, and probably at a later stage, the shooting of vivisectors on their doorsteps." Dario Ringach is a tenured professor at UCLA who walked away from a successful, funded research program in neuroscience after constant harassment from extremists. The barrage of insulting phone calls must have been unpleasant, certainly, but the physical intimidation from people demonstrating in front of his home was on another level: The demonstrators wanted him to fear for his family's safety. When strangers began approaching and frightening his children, it became too much. For the unlucky individuals who happen to become targets, a life devoted to medical science comes to resemble that of a soldier in a war zone. Most persevere, but not all. Who pays when research scientists give up productive careers? We all do. When Ringach announced his decision to stop his research, UCLA issued a statement saying, "we all suffer when animal rights activists attempt to intimidate researchers by physically threatening and harassing them and their families, including young children." more...
  • Washington Times : Scientists and physicians concerned about their own safety challenged animal protection activists yesterday, calling them "terrorists" and condemning their repeated attacks on researchers who use live animals in experiments. "We felt it was important to respond publicly to the attacks that have been directed at scientists, their families, and their neighbors because to be silent in the face of the attacks is to condone them," said Dr. John Krystal, a Yale University psychiatrist who authored a joint statement signed by 87 researchers from Yale, the University of California, Stanford University, the University of Pennsylvania and other institutions. "We find it galling that these researchers would call us terrorists when they are the ones inducing terror in animals in the name of science," said Dr. Jerry Vlasak, a Los Angeles-based trauma surgeon who acts as spokesman for ALF, specifying that he is not an active member of the group, but sympathizes with their cause. "The vast majority of animal research doesn't produce anything useful for human beings. Even if it was useful, it isn't justified. It is still immoral," he added. more...
  • Washington Post : Each year, American doctors inject more than 3 million doses of Botox to temporarily smooth their patients' wrinkles and frown lines. But before each batch is shipped, the manufacturer puts it through one of the oldest and most controversial animal tests available. Animal protection groups consider "lethal dose 50," as the test is known, to be "the poster child for everything that's wrong with animal testing," said Martin Stephens, vice president for animal research issues at the Humane Society of the United States . "It's as bad as it gets, poisoning animals to death." An e-mail exchange last summer between the panel's chair and other government scientists reinforced the suspicions of animal advocates that panel members are resistant to newer tests. In the exchange, copies of which were obtained by The Washington Post , the scientists discussed two recent papers by a prominent European researcher favoring an alternative approach known as evidence-based toxicology. One scientist asked what they could do "to combat these papers." The chair, Marilyn L. Wind, responded: "What I see is them trying to build a case to not use animals for testing." more...
Art Institute Cancels Animal Cruelty Exhibit After Threats by Activists April 2, 2008
  • Associated Press: In the wake of several violent threats, the San Francisco Art Institute announced it has permanently closed a controversial art exhibit. Adel Abdessemed's Don't Trust Me exhibit, made up of video footage showing animals being hit by sledgehammers, was scheduled to be on display March 20 through March 31. Art Institute officials said they received a series of threats by animal-rights extremists and decided to close the exhibit for good. "My first concern is with the safety and security of SFAI's students, faculty, staff and their families, as well as members of the public that regularly visit the campus," said institute President Chris Bratton in a prepared statement. "In light of the violent threats by extremists against this institution, we are unfortunately forced to cancel any public discussion or display regarding this artwork." Officials said that a campaign by groups such as the Animal Liberation Front, In Defense of Animals and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals aimed to get the exhibit shut down. more...
4 Seal Killers Die On the Ice; Its a Good Start March 31, 2008
  • Associated Press: A disabled fishing trawler getting a tow from a Canadian coast guard vessel slammed into a piece of ice and capsized Saturday in the icy waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, killing thre e s eal hunters and leaving one missing. The vessel was headed toward a larg e s eal herd in the Cabot Strait between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland as part of th e s eal hunt season that opened Friday, the largest marine mammal hunt in the world. The tragedy came as th e s eal hunting industry finds itself under pressure from animals rights activists. Activists from the Humane Society of the United States and the International Fund for Animal Welfare were using helicopters to monitor the hunt's opening day. Hunters are allowed to take up to 275,000 animals this season. The 40-foot fishing boat from Iles-de-la-Madeleine in Quebec, carrying a crew of six, had reported steering problems late Friday north of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, when the coast guard ship took it in tow. Bruno-Pierre Bourque, whose father died in Saturday's accident but who survived it himself, said a combination of speed and inattention by the coast guard crew led caused the fishing boat to flip over. Bourqu e s aid he was at the helm of the rudderless trawler when the light Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker giving them a tow sped up. "A big piece of ice was suddenly in front of us, we couldn't avoid it. We tried what we could but without a rudder there wasn't much we could do," Bourque told Radio-Canada's all-news channel RDI. Later Saturday, the Canadian military said it had safely rescued seven sealers from another ship when their wooden vessel was abandoned when it began taking on water. The men were being transported home to the Iles-De-La-Madeleine in a Canadian Forces helicopter. more...
  • Canadian Press: Canada's seal hunt has been dominated for years by the bitter debate over saving seals, but the deaths of three hunters in the icy North Atlantic on Saturday is drawing attention to the safety of seal hunters. Three hunters died in a tragic accident in which L'Acadien II, a 40-foot (12-meter) fishing boat based in Iles-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec, capsized while being towed behind an icebreaker. Of the six crew members on board, only two were pulled alive from the waters of the Cabot Strait. The three bodies of the captain of L'Acadien II, Bruno Bourque, and sealers Gilles Leblanc and Marc-Andre Deraspe were recovered, while another sealer remained missing and is feared dead. The coast guard ended the active search for the missing man, Carl Aucoin, on Sunday evening. The Sea Shepherd ship, Farley Mowat, which is currently making its way through the ice of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, was directed by Transport Canada not to enter Canadian waters until it complies with international marine safety conventions. The Farley Mowat is a large, ice-class vessel with a steel hull. "I find it strange the (Transportation) minister is talking about how unsafe my vessel is in the ice, but he's allowing these wooden boats to go out," Watson said. more...
  • CBC News: Fishermen in the French islands of St-Pierre-Miquelon cut the mooring ropes of anti-sealing activist Paul Watson's ship Friday after hearing Watson make disparaging comments about the deaths this week of four hunters. Meanwhile, Green party Leader Elizabeth May is cutting ties of her own with Watson, saying his most recent comments are extreme. The Sea Shepherd Society was attempting to refuel its vessel Farley Mowat on Friday morning when fishermen confronted it at the wharf in St-Pierre, the main community in the French islands south of Newfoundland. "We don't accept those kinds of people in St-Pierre," fisherman Carl Beaupertuis told CBC News Friday. more...
Fox News on Eco-Activism; FBI Refers to 'Domestic Terror Threat' March 31, 2008
  • Fox News: For nearly seven years, the nation has turned its terror focus on Al Qaeda and the hunt for Usama bin Laden. But there is a domestic terror threat that federal officials still consider priority No. 1 — eco-terrorism. The torching of luxury homes in the swank Seattle suburb of Woodinville earlier this month served as a reminder that the decades-long war with militant environmentalists on American soil has not ended. "It remains what we would probably consider the No. 1 domestic terrorism threat, because they have successfully continued to conduct different types of attacks in and around the country," said FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko. For years, officials have battled against members of shadowy groups such as the Earth Liberation Front and its brother-in-arms, the Animal Liberation Front. Law enforcement has made strides prosecuting cells, but it's been unable to end the arsons that have plagued developments encroaching on rural lands in the West. FBI estimates place damages from these attacks at well over $100 million. So far, no one has been killed. It's a problem that's unlikely to go away. more...
Feds Won't Retry Waters on Arson Cases; Jury Deadlockes on 3 Counts March 28, 2008
  • Seattle Times: Federal prosecutors have agreed not to retry convicted University of Washington arsonist Briana Waters on a charge that could have sent her to prison for an automatic 30 years. Waters was convicted this month on two counts of arson stemming from an ecoterror fire that destroyed the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture in 2001. But the jury deadlocked on three other counts, including the big one, using a destructive device during a crime of violence. That carried a mandatory minimum of 30 years in prison. In an agreement signed Thursday, the U.S. attorney's office in Seattle said it won't hold a new trial on the deadlocked counts, and moved to dismiss those charges. Waters, a 32-year-old violin teacher from Oakland, Calif., faces five to 20 years when she's sentenced May 30. Prosecutors said she acted as a lookout for other Earth Liberation Front activists who set the fire, and obtained a rental car used in the crime. The other two alleged participants in the UW fire were William Rodgers, who committed suicide soon after his arrest, and Justin Solondz, Waters' boyfriend at the time, who remains at large. Prosecutors said Solondz constructed the incendiary devices used in the fire in a clean room behind Waters' home in Olympia. more...
Rod Coronado Sentenced to A Year in Prison; Plea Bargain in Molotov Instruction Lecture March 27, 2008
  • Associated Press: A radical environmentalist was sentenced Thursday to one year and one day in federal prison for speaking publicly about how to make a homemade Molotov cocktail. Rodney Coronado apologized for his past use of violent tactics in the name of animal rights and the environment, and said he had cut his ties to groups, including the Earth Liberation Front. The 41-year-old activist pleaded guilty in December to distributing information on destructive devices during an August 2003 speech about militant environmental activism at a community center in San Diego. According to an account and photos of the speech posted on the Internet, Coronado demonstrated how to build a crude ignition device using a plastic jug filled with gasoline and oil. more...
  • Channel 10 News (San Diego): An activist once tied to the radical Earth Liberation Front was sentenced Thursday to a year and a day in federal prison for showing people how to make a fire bomb. Rodney Coronado, 41, pleaded guilty on Dec. 14 to a rarely used federal law that makes it a crime to teach how to make a destructive device that could be used to commit arson. A jury deadlocked in his trial three months earlier. The defendant could have faced up to 20 years behind bars if convicted. more...
UC Santa Cruz Officials Still Hoping for Arrests March 26, 2008
  • The Mercury News: The investigation into the attack on the home of a UC Santa Cruz biomedical researcher last month has stalled, police reported Tuesday. Detectives are waiting for the FBI to finish the forensic analysis of a computer confiscated during the investigation, but have no official suspects, according to police spokesman Zach Friend. There hasn't been any movement on the case in at least a week and detectives have not linked the attack to other animal rights protests at the homes of UC Berkeley and UCLA scientists, police reported. Six animal rights activists -- five wearing masks and one man with a bullhorn -- protested in front of the researcher's Westside home on Feb. 24. The demonstration turned violent when the masked protesters banged on the front door and were confronted by the researcher's husband. more...
Activists Burn New York Taxidermy Shop to the Ground March 13, 2008
  • The Daily Star: A letter has claimed animal-rights activists are responsible for the fire that destroyed Perkins Taxidermy on Jan. 25. The blaze at the Arbor Hill Road taxidermist shop in Delhi was reported at about 11:20 p.m., and the 911 call was believed to have come from a motorist on state Route 10, Delhi Fire Chief Dan Brandenburg Sr. said at the time. Two to three weeks after the fire, owner David Shaw said, he found a letter that had been dropped off in the mailbox at the shop. "Greetings Human," was the salutation on the typed letter that bore no postmark, Delaware County Undersheriff Doug Vredenburgh said Wednesday. "The letter took credit for the fire in the name of animal rights," Vredenburgh said. "It talked about humans overpopulating the earth and indicated that the fire was 'just a warning.'" more...
San Diego Bomb Hoax Suspect Pleads Guilty; Anti-vivisection Action Had Evacuated Seven Campus Buildings in December March 13, 2008
  • UCSD Guardian: Three months after orchestrating a bomb threat that forced a seven-hour evacuation of the School of Medicine complex, a former UCSD employee awaits sentencing for the hoax after pleading guilty earlier this week. Richard Sills Jr., who worked in the Leichtag Biomedical Research Building for seven months prior to the Dec. 5 bomb scare, could face up to five years in prison when he is sentenced by a federal court judge. Sills, 54, pleaded guilty to one count of making threats involving animal enterprises, and will appear before U.S. District Judge Larry Burns on June 16. The indictment alleges that Sills threatened to detonate multiple remote-controlled explosives in six campus buildings if all animals housed in campus research facilities were not released. A letter sent to the UCSD Police Department claimed that the Animal Liberation Front, an animal-rights activist group that has accepted responsibility for other threats against University of California laboratories, coordinated the attack. more...
  • San Diego Tribune: A former UCSD employee pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to making bogus threats to blow up buildings on campus if research animals weren't released. Richard Sills, 54, faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced June 16 by U.S. District Judge Larry Burns. The Encinitas resident, a temporary employee in the UCSD Biomedical Science Building, admitted making two phone calls and sending a letter to the university claiming there was a bomb on the campus on Dec. 5. A bogus device was found the morning of Dec. 5 at the Leichtag Family Foundation Biomedical Research Building. more...
More on UCLA Injunction Against Activists; Demonstrations Against Primate Abuse Continue Unabated March 11, 2008
  • Washington Post: It was late into the night when 25 people in ski masks descended on professor Dario Ringach's family home. Pounding on the door, frightening his small children, they screamed into megaphones, "Animal killer! We know where you live! We will never give up!" And they apparently meant it. That year, 2006, according to court documents, animal rights activists launched a summer-long campaign of harassment against Ringach, an assistant professor of psychology and neurobiology at the University of California at Los Angeles and other scientists who conduct research with laboratory animals. UCLA hired private security, but Ringach feared for his family. "Effectively immediately, I am no longer doing animal research," he finally wrote in an e-mail to his persecutors, pleading to be left alone. "Please don't bother my family anymore." Indeed, a temporary restraining order -- prohibiting harassment and posting of faculty members' personal information on the Internet -- was granted Feb. 21 by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge. But three days later, six masked protesters reportedly disrupted a child's birthday party at the home of a University of California at Santa Cruz researcher and confronted her husband at the door, hitting him on the hand. Now, groups have shunned " Fort Knox " in favor of ill-prepared homes, said Jerry Vlasik, the former vivisector turned spokesman for the North American Animal Liberation Press Office. Vlasik has repeatedly advocated for using "whatever force against animal research scientists necessary." more...
  • The Californian (UC Berkeley): The University of California is seeking a permanent injunction against five individuals and three anti-animal research groups in an attempt to prevent violence against researchers across the university. The i