Tactics
An animal rights extremist campaign may involve tactics like these:
- releasing animals from captivity in laboratories, factory farms, fur farms, etc
- inflicting economic damage on organisations that are regarded as anti-animal
- publishing names, addresses, phone numbers of employees on extremist websites
- threatening letters and harassing telephone calls to employees' homes
- flooding companies with emails, faxes and telephone calls in an attempt to disrupt the companies' business
- sending anonymous letters to the neighbours of targeted directors making false allegations that the individual is a paedophile
- sending packages to homes of targets containing offensive material e.g. used toilet paper, razor blades
- ordering goods and services in the name of the victim
- making late night 'home visits' which involve vandalising cars, smashing windows and spraying graffiti
- staging disruptive office invasions
- staging intimidatory protests at company premises and employees' homes
- using fake explosive devices
- assaults
The pharmaceutical industry in particular says it is suffering a wave of violence which is jeopardising medical research.
Attacks are increasing, adding security costs of £30m to £70m a year to research firms' bills, says the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry.
Between April and June 2004, it says, 24 companies severed ties with UK-based commercial or college research facilities.
ABPI members reported 27 incidents of damage to property, two to public property and 20 to company property. This compares to a total of 30 incidents in the second quarter of 2003, showing the problem is escalating.