The battle between drugmakers and animal-rights activists is headed toward a Los Angeles court, where AstraZeneca has filed a lawsuit accusing Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty - and an affiliate called Band of Mercy - of allegedly harassing and terrorizing its employees. And the drugmaker was successful in obtaining a temporary restraining order.
In its lawsuit, AstraZeneca claims the groups have targeted its Los Angeles employees for the past two years because the drugmaker has contracted with Huntingdon Life Sciences, a clinical research organization, to run studies. HLS has long been a target of animal-rights groups and the drugmaker charges SHAC has refused to end its campaign unless "any and all ties" to HLS are severed.
The lawsuit - which was also brought by Aptium Oncology, a chain of outpatient cancer care centers owned by the drugmaker - was filed on the same day that SHAC activists held a protest outside AstraZeneca offices in London, where an attempt at a bomb scare was purportedly made (see here and here). This is the second such lawsuit filed against SHAC this month; the BlackRock3 money manager, which is a large investor in the drugmaker, also filed a complaint recently.
AstraZeneca and its cancer care chain claim that SHAC and Band of Mercy are engaged not only in a "widespread campaign of violence and intimidation against Huntingdon Life Sciences," but also any business "purportedly associated with it, including HLS investors, insurers, child-care providers and lenders." Their lawsuit goes on to say that SHAC has "renounced traditional, lawful, non-violent methods of protest," such as orchestrating bombings, assaults, property damage and threats. The FBI has had SHAC within its sights for several years (see this).
The lawsuit claims that SHAC and its members have demonstrated in front of the homes of several Aptium employees and vandalized one of their homes. In particular, the demonstrators have allegedly appeared at all hours of the day and night at the home of Aptium general counsel Victoria Carrington, and they generally wear masks and hold signs, while shouting "Puppy Murderer!" and "Corporate Scum!," among other things, that can be heard by her children and neighbors.
"Recently, the attacks have escalated. SHAC terrorized two employees' families, pounding on the doors of their homes and shouting threats and invective in the middle of the night. In addition, a SHAC group committed felony vandalism at a third Aptium employee's home while her family (including her young daughters) were asleep, spray-painting threats on her house and (pouring substances over) her car that was parked in her driveway," according to the lawsuit, which adds the car was totaled.
"All of the accusations against the AstraZeneca and Aptium current and former employees (as with those directed at the corporate entities) are patently false. These employees have never tortured or killed any animals. Neither do they exercise any control with respect to HLS animal testing," the lawsuit goes on to say (here is the lawsuit and here is the temporary restraining order). We asked SHAC for a comment and will update you accordingly.
7 Comments
These activists are nothing less than domestic terrorists. If they only knew of the stringent protocols that you have to go through just to get a shipment of animals, let alone do the testing. These protocols, at least at the university levels are reviewed as strictly as would any university IRB do for a human protocol. This of course drives up the cost of animal research. For example, it now costs about 5X as much for an order of one dozen lab rats compared to when I was in school, even after adjusting for inflation.
I wonder if it's where they trial drugs on dogs... http://seroquellawsuitblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/astrazeneca-trialed-seroquel-on-beagle.html like Seroquel and Beagles.
Animal testing is in no way accurate, the results do not reflect the actual effects of these chemicals on humans. We are not the same! Dogs have been hooked up to machines forced to inhale tobacco smoke for years and not one of them ever got cancer, yet look what smoking does to humans. Let's get updated with the times already and use modern alternate methods of testing. At least they are more accurate and cruelty free. Too bad research co's are just after the grant money for conducting the same useless tests over and over. Shame that tax payer money is lining their pockets, enabling them to hurt animals and humans alike. Why do you think there are so many lawsuits over pharmaceuticals?
concerned - What are the "modern alternate methods of testing"? I am curious. Otherwise, I expect that you will save these poor animals and volunteer yourself!
Concerned citizen, you are incorrect on the smoking dogs. Go look up the research on smoking beagles by the eminent pathologist Dr. Oscar Auerbach (see below). Guy should have won a Nobel Prize IMO for his landmark work linking cigarette smoking to lung cancsr.
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/16/nyregion/oscar-auerbach-92-dies-linked-smoking-to-cancer.html?pagewanted=2
But arguing that it is irrelevant (so many people who've had a single biology class in college seem to be experts on this subject) is simply a disingenous way to convince people that they can support your cause without making any actual sacrifice.
I have two cups, one red and one blue, full of water. One of them contains a high concentration of strychnine. Half an hour ago a dog drank a few sips out of the red cup, and immediately went into convulsions and died. Which cup would you like to drink out of?