Animal rights attacks curbed by new legislation
pharmafile | August 4, 2005 | News story | |
Animal rights activists have dramatically scaled back illegal attacks on medical researchers in the wake of new laws to counteract intimidation tactics.
Figures from industry association the ABPI showed a sharp drop across the spectrum of animal extremism, indicating that tighter new laws to combat the problem were working.
But 2005 has also seen a worrying escalation in the severity of some of these attacks, with reports of incendiary devices being left at the homes of animal research workers.
An incendiary device was placed in the car of a director of investment dealer Canaccord after his firm acted as a stockbroker to pharma company Phytopharm – an attack which the ABPI said represented a disturbing new tactic employed by extremists.
However the figures reveal there were just two reported cases of damage to company property between January to June this year, compared with 29 over the same period last year.
Damage to private property also declined by about a third from 56 in the first half of last year to 35 in the first six months of this year.
Home visits by activists to the houses of medical researchers or people associated with them have also declined from 110 to 34 over the same period.
But the number of legal demonstrations has remained around the same level, indicating that the right of legal protest has not been compromised.
"The figures indicate that government commitment to tackling the problem of extremism is starting to pay off, and we hope that both the commitment and the drop in incidents continue," said Dr Philip Wright, director of Science and Technology at the ABPI.
New laws were introduced in February this year to combat animal rights activists and the ABPI said that heightened police activity had also curbed extremist activity.
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