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Victims of animal rights tactics form new group
Victims of animal rights extremism from across the UK went to the Houses of Parliament in April to tell MPs face-to-face of the vicious physical and verbal assaults, intimidation and harassment that they continue to suffer.
The Victims of Animal Rights Extremism (VARE) group was launched at a reception hosted by Dr Ian Gibson MP, and attended by politicians of all parties committed to dealing with animal rights extremism. VARE was set up to represent individuals who have been subjected to illegal or potentially illegal forms of animal rights protests because of their connection with the use of animals in medical research. Organisers say that it will provide a source of mutual support for people who have been targeted by animal rights extremists and add further weight to the calls on the British Government to introduce new measures to deal with animal rights extremism.
The organisers of VARE identified over 300 people who had been targeted by animal rights extremists and 100 of them attended the launch. All had suffered harassment, intimidation, property damage and violence at the hands of animal rights extremists.
A spokesperson for group, who declined to be identified for fear of animal rights retribution, said, "we also need to come together as a group to tell the government how these vicious campaigns have affected us as individuals. Many of us run perfectly legal small businesses and are subjected to unlawful intimidation and harassment. This cannot be right and we are calling on the government to do something about it."
VARE organisers say that the letter, right, is typical of the threatening communications people associated with research animals receive.
The VARE web site can be found at http://www.vare.org.uk/.