Guest guest Posted July 3, 2002 Report Share Posted July 3, 2002 http://www.asahi.com/english/national/K2002070300361.html Radicals target Japanese labs The Asahi Shimbun Medical researchers' stolen data appears on the Net. A British-based animal rights group with a history of violent threats is posting images on its Web site that it says offer proof that five Japanese universities are mistreating animals in experiments. Members of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) trespassed on laboratory facilities at Osaka University, Juntendo University, Kyoto Prefectural University, Osaka Prefectural University and Kansai Medical University to film inside the premises and steal materials to back the group's accusations, sources said. Among the accusations that have appeared on its Web site since June, SHAC cites animals being hit with a metal bar, vocal cords being removed from dogs and animals being kept in filthy cages. Officials of the universities concerned denied SHAC's accusations against their respective laboratories. The group was formed in 1999 with the aim of closing down Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS), a world-renowned medical research laboratory that conducts animal testing. SHAC has made a name for itself for its radical stance and illegal methods. ``Our animal tests are performed appropriately and we have no connection with the HLS,'' an official at Osaka University said. The universities reported the cases to police and began tightening security. SHAC members said they chose the five universities for the lax security at their lab facilities. Two foreigners apparently linked to the group gained access to Osaka University's lab last summer, when they presented a letter of introduction supposedly written by a British researcher, university officials said. The letter was later found to be a fake. Officials also learned the two members had entered other facilities on campus and stole videos produced by university researchers. Officials of Juntendo University, meanwhile, discovered their breach of security when they saw the SHAC Web site. The university formed a committee to investigate the matter. HLS conducts research on new medicine for pharmaceutical companies by experimenting on monkeys and dogs. The company has contracts to do research with most of Japan's leading pharmaceutical firms, which account for about 20 percent of the company's sales. SHAC's radical activities have earned the group widespread attention in Britain, where one of its leaders received a prison sentence in 2000 for threatening to kill an HLS employee. The group has also carried out an intimidation campaign against HLS shareholders and banks that do business with the company. A leading SHAC member told The Asahi Shimbun: ``We used appropriate means for our investigations. We disclosed the truth by using our brains. This is just the beginning of our attack on animal testing in Japan. We will continue entering laboratory facilities to warn them that having anything to do with HLS will be a disadvantage.''(IHT/Asahi: July 3,2002) Sign up for SBC Dial - First Month Free http://sbc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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