Published: Aug. 9, 2012 Updated: 1:22 p.m.<\/p>\n
By DENISSE SALAZAR \/ THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER<\/p>\n
YORBA LINDA \u2013 The Yorba Linda home of a Beckman Coulter Inc. executive was apparently vandalized by animal-rights activists, police said Thursday, adding that no arrests have been made.<\/p>\n
About 6:50 a.m. Sunday, police responded to the home in the 5700 block of Via Del Potrero, where vandals had sprayed “DROP HLS” and “PUPPY KILLER” in red paint across the garage door, said Lt. Jerry Brakebill of the Brea Police Department, which patrols Yorba Linda.<\/p>\n
Red stain was also thrown into the woman’s backyard pool “to remind her of the blood on her hands,” according to the North American Animal Liberation Front, which took responsibility for the vandalism in a news release. [Press Office note: The ALF took credit for the action, not the Press Office.]<\/strong> The news release addresses the executive, saying: “You know what to do to bring this to an end. Cut your losses and drop HLS. Until then expect to spend thousands more on damages because this is not a one time event.”<\/p>\n The vandals left another message on the driveway: “This is only the beginning,” according to the news release.<\/p>\n HLS refers to U.K.-based Huntingdon Life Sciences, which has been targeted over cosmetics testing the company conducts on animals.<\/p>\n “We don’t do animal testing and we feel that the attention they are putting on our company and our executives is unwarranted,” said Mary Luthy, a spokeswoman for Beckman Coulter. Luthy said Beckman Coulter, a Brea-based medical equipment supplier, has taken security measures to ensure the safety of its employees and recently filed a civil injunction against a group of activists who has been regularly protesting at the homes of employees.<\/p>\n The vandals caused about $2,000 in damage, Brakebill said. “At this point we have no arrests and we are working to identify the suspects,” Brakebill said.<\/p>\n