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Thursday, July 26th, 2007
Violent activity by animal rights extremists against medicines researchers
and those who work with them has fallen to new lows, figures for the first six
months of this year show, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry
(ABPI) announced today.
At the same time, the number of advertised demonstrations by activists has marginally
increased, showing that the right to protest in a lawful manner has not been compromised.
“We welcome the sustained low level of extremist activity, which is thanks to determined
action by the Government, the police and the courts in clamping down on the small number
of those who resort to illegal activity,” said Dr Philip Wright, ABPI Director of Science
and Technology.
“With new Government departments being formed, it is essential that this momentum is maintained.
In particular, it is critical the effective cross-departmental co-ordination through the Cabinet
is not lost.”
One of the biggest drops has been in the number of “capitulations” – companies, or sometimes
individuals, agreeing not to work with targeted organisations – which fell to two in the first
half of the year, compared with 24 in the same period of 2006.
Dr Wright added: “While fewer companies are withdrawing from contracts with animal research
facilities after threats from animal rights extremists, more work needs to be done to build
confidence across the business community to support companies going about their legal activities.”
Damage to property, whether company, personal or public, stood at 29 incidents during January-June
2007 compared with 31 in the same period for 2006, although all this year’s activity occurred
in the first quarter with none being reported for the second.‘Home visits’ – where protestors
target people’s homes, often in the middle of the night – rose slightly from 15 in the first half
of 2006 to 20 in 2007.
For further information, please contact:
Crispin Slee 020 7747 1410 (office)
Roz Britton-Elliott 020 7747 1441 (office)
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