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Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) is an international animal rights campaign against Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS), the UK's largest animal-testing laboratory, which is based in Huntingdon, England and in New Jersey in the United States. SHAC was initiated by British animal rights activists Greg Avery and Heather James in November 1999 after video footage that had been shot covertly inside the laboratory was aired on British television. The film showed HLS staff abusing animals (such as shouting and laughing at them, shaking and punching them,thereby violating animal protection regulations) as well as falsifying experiments (which could lead to unsafe products being passed as safe and harming humans). The HLS staff responsible were dismissed and prosecuted, and Huntingdon Life Science's Home Office Licence to perform animal experiments was temporarily revoked. Since then, several other investigations and leaked documents have revealed further abuse and incompetence; such as staff turning up for work drunk or taking drugs at work.

Organization

SHAC activities are based on direct action, protests and demonstrations against HLS, its employees, its employees' families and its business partners. By targeting clients, employees, suppliers, insurers and even the caterers and cleaners of the laboratory, they aim to scare away HLS' clientele and to render the laboratory work as difficult and costly as possible.

The current spokespeople of SHAC are Greg Avery and his wife, Natasha Avery. Together with his first wife Heather James, they are responsible for publishing SHAC reports, both via mail and on their website, and providing press information and interviews. They were jailed for six months in December 2001 for criminal incitement. .

The SHAC website and mailing list serves as a platform for supporters. "Action reports" are published on the website and mailed out to supporters. Also published are possible targets of the campaign and the companies that have severed their links with HLS.

SHAC is not a closed organization, but is an assembly of individuals and independent groups with shared goals and principles who are regarded by SHAC as responsible for their own actions. SHAC says it refrains from any action that might physically harm human or non-human animals. However, destruction of property and the intimidation of HLS supporters is deemed acceptable.

Direct action used by SHAC supporters has included violence, harassment, intimidation with death-threat letters and hoax bombs, arson, trespass, vandalism and destruction of property. Despite SHAC's stated policy of non-violent direct action, isolated physical attacks have occurred, such as the assault on Brian Cass, manager director of HLS, who was attacked outside his home in February 2001 by three men armed with pickaxe handles and CS gas. .

Relationship with the Animal Liberation Front

The SHAC spokespersons disclaim any connection between its campaign and attacks carried out by some activists using the name Animal Liberation Front. However, the SHAC website regularly features ALF news and Kevin Jonas, the leader of SHAC USA and temporary office helper of SHAC UK while Greg Avery was in prison, has declared his "unequivocal support for the Animal Liberation Front" . Some SHAC activists have also committed crimes which were claimed on behalf of the ALF. For example, Dave Blenkinsop was jailed both for his attack on Brian Cass and for bombing poultry vans, with the latter being claimed on behalf of the ALF. Like SHAC, the ALF is not a closed organization, but is largely a name used for certain types of actions, which are carried out all over the world by individuals or small groups. It therefore impossible to say with any certainty how much overlap there is between SHAC actions and ALF actions.

Effects of campaign on HLS

When the SHAC campaign started in 1999, Greg Avery vowed to close HLS "within three years". While this was not achieved, SHAC's efforts have had an impact on HLS's business deals, share price and profits. The SHAC website maintains a list of companies that have severed business relations with HLS . As of December 2004, this includes 101 companies and organizations. The UK Department of Trade and Industry had to insure HLS, as all previous insurers abandoned HLS after they were targeted by SHAC actions.

In 2000, SHAC obtained a list of HLS shareholders. This list included the names of beneficial owners: anonymous persons and companies who bought shares using the name of a third person. Shareholders included the pension funds of the Labour Party, Rover cars and the London Borough of Camden. This list was leaked to the press and the Sunday Telegraph ran it as their lead story. Several beneficial owners disposed of their shares after publication. Two weeks later, an equity stake of 32 million shares was placed on the London Stock Exchange for one pence each. HLS quotes crashed immediately. The Royal Bank of Scotland closed HLS's bank account and the British government forced the Bank of England to give them an account. The British Banking Association said "Huntingdon Life Sciences are in a nightmare situation."

On 21 December 2000, HLS was dropped from the New York Stock Exchange because of HLS's share collapse; HLS's market capitalisation had fallen below NYSE limits and the NYSE did not accept HLS's revised business plan to restore its position. On 29 March 2001, HLS lost both of its market makers and its place on the main platform of London Stock Exchange.

Due to SHAC's use of public records in the sending of malicious threats to all investors in HLS, HLS moved its financial centre to the United States and incorporated in Maryland as Life Sciences Research, Inc., in order to take advantage of stricter U.S. securities laws, which allow greater anonymity of shareholders. HLS currently trades on the NASDAQ's OTC Bulletin Board as "LSRI". Maryland allows shareholders with less than 5% holdings to remain anonymous. Partly as a result of this experience, the British government has changed the law so that smaller investors in a company are not publicly listed.

HLS was saved from bankruptcy when the its largest shareholder, American investment bank Stephens, Inc, gave the company a 15-million-dollar loan. SHAC supporters reacted by targeting Stephens, Inc. .

HLS is not in the clear though as is shown by their $87.5 Million debt and recently leaked documents (25th Jan 2005) . This does not provide a promising outlook for the company and investors have not returned to the company as the share price is still unstable.

SHAC targets anyone who is linked to HLS ranging from suppliers, customers, investors (although this has reduced since many were able to remain anonymous) and workers. SHAC claims it is attempting to show that supporting the actions of HLS should not be acceptable in a modern society.

Direct Action

SHAC direct action tactics range from passive civil disobedience to active law-breaking. SHAC supporters have also infiltrated Huntingdon Life Sciences several times and were able to shoot video footage and photos from inside the laboratories.

Criticisms of SHAC

SHAC adversaries claim that the campaign's tactics are not working. Brian Cass claims that, since the formation of SHAC in 1999, HLS has seen the value of orders placed with it double to just under £100 million worth of custom ("Behind the razor wire with the man from Huntingdon", by Michael Pilgrim, The Evening Standard, London, March 31, 2003).

HLS says it abides by British animal welfare laws. Critics of SHAC argue that these laws are already among the world's strictest laws on animal use in medical testing; closing down HLS would mean displacing animal testing to smaller laboratories in the UK or moving the testing to a country with less strict laws on the treatment of animals in medical testing.

SHAC's efforts are susceptible to the problems common to vigilantism, namely that an innocent person may be targeted or affected. SHAC relies on stolen information regarding HLS's current clients and staff members, as HLS does not publically reveal this. This information may therefore not be timely or accurate. The company says that SHAC has occasionally harassed staff who had already left HLS.

SHAC supporters have been seen soliciting donations to their cause at street stands in the UK with leaflets and collection cans. As SHAC is not a registered charity, HLS has argued that donors cannot be sure that the funds raised are used for SHAC activities.

SHAC critics claim that the campaign decorates its stands with images of animal psychology experiments from the 1960s, now banned, rather than bona-fide images of animal medical testing. Rodents make up 84% of animals used for testing in the UK, cats and dogs make up 0.3%, monkeys 0.1%. Use of great apes is banned. Critics say that if the picture choices at the stand are not exactly in this proportion, the SHAC supporters are misrepresenting animal experimentation and are committing a fallacious appeal to emotion.

A major criticism of SHAC is that their claims of being non-violent are not true. ALF supporters may use the information published by SHAC for illegal purposes such as bomb-hoaxes and criminal damage (those associated with HLS often have their cars damaged by paint-stripper, for example). Also, isolated physical attacks have occurred, such as the assault on Brian Cass, manager director of HLS, who was attacked outside his home in February 2001 by three men armed with pickaxe handles and CS gas. . SHAC claim that they do not condone these illegal activities and only publish names and addresses so that people can peacefully and legally protest.

Legal action against SHAC

Many companies targeted by SHAC have obtained High Court injunctions against SHAC, under the Protection From Harassment Act. This list includes HLS itself, Chiron UK, Phytopharm, Daiichi UK, Asahi Glass, Eisai, Yamanouchi Pharma, Sankyo Pharma and BOC.

These injunctions compel SHAC to print the injunction on their website, so SHAC's action targets are juxtaposed with a legal notification that there is a 50-yard exclusion zone around the homes of employees and places of business. Protest outside HLS itself may only occur one day a week with police presence.

These injunctions are not permanent. As of 26 June 2004, HLS is in court attempting to obtain a permanent injunction against SHAC. SHAC's legal argument against the enforceability of such injuctions is that, despite having hundreds of supporters, a website, mailing address, telephone information hotline, mailing list and bank account, it does not exist as a single, corporate or charitable body, and therefore its supporters cannot be legally prevented from harassing HLS.

British government response

On July 30 2004, the British Government released "Animal Welfare - Human Rights: protecting people from animal rights extremists" (PDF). The paper outlines:

• The alleged benefits of medical research which, the paper says, would not be possible without animal studies;
• The alleged commercial value of the bio-medical industry in the UK;
• That the government is concerned for the welfare of animals and that all steps to replace the use of animals have and will continue to be taken;
• That animal rights extremists are interested in harassment and intimidation, not in changing the law or seeking civil discourse;
• The government listens to law-abiding animal rights and welfare groups and enacts legislation where appropriate -- for example, RSPCA officers now have the power to investigate animal abuse claims on the spot, and the LD50 test was permanently banned in the UK after peaceful, lawful lobbying by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection;
• The existing laws used to prosecute animal rights activists;
• Proposed amendments and new laws

The paper specifically mentions HLS. It does not mention SHAC. It further states: "Animal rights extremists are highly organized and fully prepared to resort to a wide range of illegal tactics to intimidate and harass people engaged in lawful activity. This goes far beyond the legitimate boundaries of peaceful protest and freedom of expression. To provide an effective response, our law enforcement and criminal justice system needs to be every bit as concerted and determined in response. The Government is therefore following a clear strategy to crack down on this activity. We shall systematically enforce the law, with the police and criminal justice system working together to target extremism and extremists. We shall ensure that campaigns of intimidation and violence for extremist ends are presented to the courts as aggravating factors when sentencing those convicted of existing offences."

External Links

• Official SHAC website
  • Video footage of cruelty shot inside HLS by SHAC members.
• Inside HLS*
• Huntingdon Life Sciences official website

SHAC-critical sites

• Dossier on SHAC from the Center for Consumer Freedom
• Victims of Animal Rights Extremism
• Scientists demand law against animal rights extremism, New Scientist, April 22, 2004
• direct-action.info
• Seriously Ill for Medical Research (SIMR)
  • Andrew Blake, director of SIMR, speaks out about SHAC.

• Animal rights groups
• Animal experimentation
• Animal rights groups of the United Kingdom