UK animal research model debated as govt measures pay off against violent groups

At a court case in Birmingham, UK, 10 people face charges of conspiracy to blackmail against suppliers of Huntingdon Life Sciences, the animal testing firm, after a police investigation dubbed "Operation Achilles." According to the Financial Times, the case is a product of a government and law enforcement action campaign in response to a decade of violent militant action by animal rights protesters (Marketletters passim).

Aisling Burnard, the president of the BioIndustry Association, told the FT: "we have been working on these issues for the past 10 years, but in the past two or three years now we have finally lined up the government and other main players." In particular, the replacement of David Blunkett by Charles Clarke as Home Secretary coincided in 2005 with a more resolute approach by the government. In that year, the Serious and Organized Crime and Police Act was approved. Among the law's provisions were measures designed to prosecute individuals who threaten suppliers to animal testing centers.

According to the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, there were no assaults on the UK's animal researchers in 2006, while instances of property damage were also sharply reduced. The number of firms being pressured into renouncing their involvement with animal research - termed "capitulations" by the ABPI - fell sharply: 39 in 2006 versus 103 for 2005.