Posted on 05/29/2008 2:38:11 AM PDT by markomalley
Last month, three animal rights activists were arrested at a U researcher's home. To exhibit their dedicated effort in protesting Salt Lake City's new ordinance prohibiting demonstrations within 100 feet of a residence, one of the protesters actually asked to be arrested.
Harassing scientists at their homes has become the newest way for animal activists to display their opinions. It doesn't seem to matter that the scientists are obeying the laws governing animal research. No evidence or proof of wrongdoing has been discovered, and the U wouldn't be permitted to conduct research on animals if it didn't comply with federal regulations.
Activists simply believe that animal research is wrong and often do whatever it takes to stop it. The problem is that extreme activists have a history of getting caught up in their goal to the point of insanity.
During a Senate committee meeting in 2005, John Lewis, deputy assistant director of counterterrorism for the FBI, said that it considers some activist organizations to be terrorist groups, naming the top three: Animal Liberation Front, Earth Liberation Front and Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty. Extreme animal activist groups claimed responsibility for 1,200 crimes in the United States between 1990 and 2004, including arson, theft, vandalism and bombings.
Dr. Jerry Vlasak, an advocate for violent activism and director of the Animal Defense League of Los Angeles, went so far as to tell the U.S. Senate in October of 2005 that it "would be a morally justifiable solution" to murder scientists.
In 2004, he spoke at an animal rights convention and said: "I don't think you'd have to kill too many researchers. I think for five lives, 10 lives, 15 human lives, we could save a million, 2 million, 10 million non-human lives."
There is the adage that two wrongs don't make a right. You cannot justify doing wrong simply because you want to stop a wrong. It's still wrong.
The truth is that extreme activists' goals are often unattainable. They want to eliminate all animal research. It's a great goal, but unrealistic. For that to occur, an alternative method must be created, proven to work and passed into law.
Although some activists follow responsible practices, some choose to intimidate and harass researchers into quitting their jobs.
There's proof that works. It's exactly what the Animal Liberation Front did when they convinced Dario Ringach, a UCLA associate neurology professor, to quit in August 2006. He wrote them a note after they botched a bombing attempt of an associate researcher's home, "You win…please don't bother my family anymore."
But did they really win? Did animal research stop? Did they save millions of animals?
Nothing changed, except more anti-activist laws were passed, more ordinances were enacted to protect researchers and more hate was instilled.
The protesters' commitment is understandable, but the methods they employ to accomplish their goals are not.
Activists have the right to believe animal research is wrong. They have a right to express their opinion by protesting. They have the right to legally lobby for alterations in the laws governing animal research.
They do not have the right to harm people who do not believe as they do. They do not have the right to threaten and harass people into quitting their jobs. They do not have the right to use terrorist tactics to try to take away my opinion that humane and lawful animal research is valid and necessary.
As the wife of a man who is blind, I pray for the research that is being conducted on primates at the U's Moran Eye Institute. My hopes and prayers all hinge on the advancement of sight technology that is being studied there.
Activists must remember that researchers are humans exerting their rights protected by law. Using violence, harassment or terrorism to force the change of others' opinions is no better than the violence against animals that they protest.
The animal activists who were arrested and others should focus their efforts on realistic changes to animal research laws and alternative methods and not fall into the new protocol of extremist harassment against researchers.
Follow all of these characters home (if they have one) and find out where they live and then do the same to them.
And “label” their organization for what they are. Terrorist sponsors. Set up a cot and meal ticket at Gitmo and let them see first hand how well terrorists live once the government tracks them down.
And please don't forget computer science Professor David Gelertner, who was badly injured by the unabomber. As if Gelertner had something to do with any of the issues that nutter wrote about. Reserve a place on the plane down to Gitmo for the unabomber.
COMMENTARIES
It Is Time to Take a Stand for Medical Research and
Against Terrorism Targeting Medical Scientists
John H. Krystal, Cameron S. Carter, Daniel Geschwind, Husseini K. Manji, John S. March, Eric J. Nestler,
Jon-Kar Zubieta, Dennis S. Charney, David Goldman, Raquel E. Gur, Jeffrey A. Lieberman,
Peter Roy-Byrne, David R. Rubinow, Stewart A. Anderson, Samuel Barondes, Karen F. Berman,
James Blair, David L. Braff, E. Sherwood Brown, Joseph R. Calabrese, William A. Carlezon, Jr.,
Edwin H. Cook, Jr., Richard J. Davidson, Michael Davis, Robert Desimone, Wayne C. Drevets,
Ronald S. Duman, Susan M. Essock, Stephen V. Faraone, Robert Freedman, Karl J. Friston, Joel Gelernter,
Barbara Geller, Michael Gill, Elizabeth Gould, Anthony A. Grace, Christian Grillon, Ralitza Gueorguieva,
Ahmad R. Hariri, Robert B. Innis, Edward G. Jones, Joel E. Kleinman, George F. Koob, Andrew D. Krystal,
Ellen Leibenluft, Douglas F. Levinson, Pat R. Levitt, David A. Lewis, Israel Liberzon, Barbara K. Lipska,
Stephen R. Marder, Athina Markou, Graeme F. Mason, Christopher J. McDougle, Bruce S. McEwen,
Francis J. McMahon, Michael J. Meaney, Herbert Y. Meltzer, Kathleen R. Merikangas,
Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, Károly Mirnics, Lisa M. Monteggia, Alexander Neumeister,
Charles P. O’Brien, Michael J. Owen, Daniel S. Pine, Judith L. Rapoport, Scott L. Rauch,
Trevor W. Robbins, Jerrold F. Rosenbaum, David R. Rosenberg, Christopher A. Ross, A. John Rush,
Harold A. Sackeim, Gerard Sanacora, Alan F. Schatzberg, Yavin Shaham, Larry J. Siever, Trey Sunderland,
Laurence H. Tecott, Michael E. Thase, Richard D. Todd, Myrna M. Weissman, Rachel Yehuda,
Takeo Yoshikawa, Elizabeth A. Young, and R. McCandless
Terrorists are attacking scientists who are attempting to
alleviate human suffering. We need a concerted public
effort to eliminate these acts, particularly the harassment
of scientists studying nonhuman primates. This need is highlighted
by the attacks upon the home of our friend and colleague,
the noted medical scientist, Dr. Edythe London, professor
of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences and of molecular and
medical pharmacology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at
the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Her work
exemplifies the unique role of research involving nonhuman
primates in enabling the results of research in simple systems
(oocytes, cell culture) and lower organisms to be applied to
human diseases. The importance of Dr. London’s research was
highlighted in a public letter issued on February 8, 2008 from the
From the Departments of Psychiatry (RSD, JG, JHK, GFM, AN, GS), Epidemiology
& Public Health (RG), and Pharmacology (RSD), and the Interdepartmental
Neuroscience Program (RSD), Yale University School of Medicine,
New Haven; VA Connecticut Healthcare System (JG, JHK, AN), West
Haven, Connecticut; Departments of Psychiatry (ESB, LMM, RM, EJN,
AJR), Neuroscience (EJN), and Clinical Sciences (AJR), University of Texas
Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas; Committee on the Neurobiology
of Addictive Disorders (GFK), The Scripps Research Institute;
Department of Psychiatry (DLB, AM), School of Medicine, University of
California, San Diego, La Jolla; Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry
(CSC) and Center for Neuroscience (EGJ), University of California,
Davis, Davis; VA Veteran’s Integrated Service Networks 22 Mental Illness
Research, Education, and Clinical Center (SRM); Departments of Neurology
(DGe), and Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences (SRM), David Geffen
School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles;
Department of Psychiatry (LHT) and Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute
(SB), Center for Neurobiology and Psychiatry, University of California,
San Francisco, San Francisco; Department of Psychiatry (DFL), Stanford
University School of Medicine, Palo Alto; Department of Psychiatry and
Behavioral Sciences (AFS), Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford,
California; Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (ARH) and Departments
of Psychiatry (AAG, ARH, DAL, MET), Neuroscience (AAG, DAL),
and Psychology (AAG), University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine,
Pittsburgh; Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Radiology (REG),
Medical Center, and Department of Psychiatry (CPO), School of Medicine,
University of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia VA Medical Center (CPO),
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Laboratory of Molecular Pathophysiology
and Experimental Therapeutics (HKM), Genetic Basis of Mood and Anxiety
Disorders Unit (FJM), Unit on Affective Disorders (EL), Unit of Affective
Psychophysiology (CG), Unit on Affective Cognitive Neuroscience
(JB), Section on Developmental Genetic Epidemiology (KRM), Section on
Development and Affective Neuroscience (DSP), and Section on Neuroimaging
(WCD), Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, Section on Neuropathology
(BKL, JEK) and Section on Integrative Neuroimaging (KFB),
Clinical Brain Disorders Branch, Behavioral Neuroscience Branch (YS),
Molecular Imaging Branch (RBI), Child Psychiatry Branch (JLR), and Behavioral
Endocrinology Branch (DRRu), Intramural Research Program,
National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Department
of Health and Human Services, Bethesda; Laboratory of Neurogenetics
(DGo), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National
Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services,
Rockville; Departments of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Neuroscience,
and Neurology (CAR), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine,
Baltimore, Maryland; Mailman Research Center (WAC), McLean
Hospital (SLR), and Department of Psychiatry (JFR), Massachusetts General
Hospital, Belmont; Department of Psychiatry (WAC, JFR, SLR), Harvard
Medical School, Boston; McGovern Institute for Brain Research (RD),
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Department
of Psychiatry (MD), Yerkes National Primate Center, Emory
University, Atlanta, Georgia; Department of Psychiatry (DRRu), University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill; Department of Psychiatry
and Behavioral Sciences (ADK, JSM), Duke University Medical Center,
Durham, North Carolina; Department of Psychiatry (J-KZ, IL, EAY), Medical
Center, and the Molecular & Behavioral Neuroscience Institute (J-KZ,
EAY), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Department of Psychiatry
(DRRo), Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan;
0006-3223/08/$34.00 BIOL PSYCHIATRY 2008;63:725–727
doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2008.03.005 © 2008 Society of Biological Psychiatry
to publicly address the crimes against its faculty was initially a
problem at UCLA, but this institution now is at the vanguard of
protecting its scientists and speaking out on behalf of medical
research (1). In addition, the Society for Neuroscience has issued
a report on “Best Practices for Protecting Researchers and
Research” to assist investigators and institutions targeted
by terrorists (http://www.sfn.org/skins/main/pdf/gpa/Best_
Practices_for_Protecting.pdf).
We seek a more vigorous investigation and prosecution of the
criminals committing the crimes against these scientists, their
staffs, their families, their neighbors, and the communities in
which they live. We are heartened that stronger laws enacted in
the United States and the United Kingdom provide enforcement
agencies with legal tools needed to bring these offenders to
justice (1). The United Kingdom is ahead of the United States in
this regard. As reported in Science, the United Kingdom formed
a National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit in 2004. This
unit helped to conduct a 2-year investigation involving more than
700 police, which resulted in raids in the United Kingdom, the
Netherlands, and Belgium and the arrest of 30 suspected terrorists.
There seem to be signs that the vigorous prosecution of
terrorism in the United Kingdom is having a positive effect (3).
However, the number of attacks on scientists conducting medical
research in animals in the United States is increasing (1), and we
need to mount an equally vigorous campaign in this country to
prevent these heinous attacks.
Lastly, we wish to laud the dedication and courage shown by
Dr. London and those like her that continue to strive to reduce
suffering and advance science despite obvious personal cost. As
the beneficiaries of progress in medical care, it is also our
responsibility to join the struggle to preserve medical research.
This article was not prepared with support from any funding
agency or within the context of any official capacity. The
opinions expressed herein are solely the private personal opinions
of the authors and do not indicate any official institutional
(university, government agencies, private foundations) position.
Financial disclosures for the contributing authors are presented
online as supplementary material.
Supplementary material cited in this article is available
online.
1. Miller G (2007): Animal extremists get personal. Science 318:1856 –1858.
2. Cyranoski D (2006): Animal research: Primates in the frame. Nature 444:
812–813.
3. Anonymous (2006): Fighting animal rights terrorism. Nat Neurosci 9:1195.
Commentary BIOL PSYCHIATRY 2008;63:725–727 727
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I thought this article is the best possible reply. It was written by the best scientists in the (neuro)biological field, and speaks wholly for itself.
Sorry that I had to post in in three chunks. I hope everything comes over in perfect order.
Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dr. Elias
Zerhouni, who stated, “her work is a prime example of NIH’s
efforts to develop effective treatments for people suffering from
addiction—a disease that devastates individuals, families, communities,
and costs society more than half a trillion dollars
annually in health and crime-related costs and losses in productivity.”
Dr. London suffered two attacks upon her home within 4
months that have escalated in their level of threat to her life and
work. The first occurred on October 20, 2007, and it involved the
flooding of her house with water. A press release from the
Animal Liberation Front, a group that has publicized both attacks,
noted that water was used for the initial act because “we don’t
risk starting brush fires,” a serious public threat in Southern
California. Nevertheless, in the second attack on February 5,
2008, a Molotov cocktail firebomb was ignited, setting fire to Dr.
London’s home. These crimes mirror other recent attacks on
scientists conducting medical research involving animals, only a
few of which we will mention here (1). In June 2006, another
incendiary device intended for UCLA neuroscientist, Dr. Lynn
Fairbanks, was placed on the doorstep of her 70-year-old
neighbor. In June 2007, a third incendiary device was found at
the home of another UCLA neuroscientist, Dr. Arthur Rosenbaum,
the chief of pediatric ophthalmology at that institution. Dr.
Rosenbaum’s wife also received a letter that included death
threats and that was accompanied by razor blades and animal
hair. Problems also have been escalating at the University of
California Santa Cruz (UCSC). Most recently, on February 25,
2008, after a series of other incidents, six people broke into the
home of a UCSC faculty member, whose name has not been
released, and attacked a member of that faculty person’s family.
The Santa Cruz Sentinel, on February 26, implicated a group of
six people and a corporation, Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty
USA. Threatening acts have occurred at other American medical
research institutions, including the Oregon Health Sciences University
and the University of Utah (1). The attacks in the United
States follow a more vigorous program of terrorism in the United
Kingdom aimed at disrupting medical research, particularly
research involving nonhuman primates (2).
The attacks are horribly misguided. It is impossible to reconcile
the willingness of these terrorists to harm humans, particularly
people who are working to alleviate human suffering, with
their contention that they value life of all kinds. Scientists, like Dr.
London, care about the primates that they study. Scientists are
partners with other interested groups in the ongoing international
effort to improve the principles and practices governing
animal research (briefly reviewed at http://www.nabr.org/pdf/
orange.pdf). This peaceful and collaborative process is critical to
preserve in the face of the recent violence.
We need to support our colleagues and to work to preserve
the integrity of the mission of alleviating human suffering
through biomedical research involving animals. In so doing, we
might help to ensure that these attacks upon scientists do not
discourage much-needed research by demoralizing scientists or
by stimulating institutions to adopt overly burdensome administrative
practices (2). The recent events at UCLA make clear that
diligently improving the ethical standards for primate research
procedures is not, by itself, sufficient to prevent attacks. It is
encouraging, for example, that on February 22, 2008, a Los
Angeles County Superior Court judge issued a restraining order
against the Animal Liberation Brigade, the Animal Liberation
Front, and UCLA Primate Freedom Project that created a protective
buffer zone around the homes of UCLA research faculty
members.
These terrorist acts might intimidate people and institutions
that would otherwise speak out in support of nonhuman primate
research and against terrorism. By failing to take public action,
we contribute to the isolation of the scientists involved and the
institutions in which they work. Frustration with the absence of
a vigorous public response to recent terrorist attacks led Robert
Palazzo, president of the Federation of American Societies for
Experimental Biology in Bethesda, Maryland to ask “Where’s the
noise on this?” (1). Several organizations, such as the Society for
Neuroscience (http://www.sfn.org), the National Association for
Biomedical Research (http://www.nabr.org), and the American
College of Neuropsychopharmacology (http://www.acnp.org),
are helping to educate the public on these issues. There are
growing opportunities for animal research advocacy. The failure
Department of Psychiatry (CJM), Indiana University School of Medicine,
Indianapolis, Indiana; Institute for Juvenile Research, Department of
Psychiatry (EHC), University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; W.M.
Keck Laboratory for Functional Brain Imaging and Behavior (RJD), University
of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin; Departments of Psychiatry
and Neurology & Neuroscience (SAA), Weill Cornell Medical College;
Departments of Mental Health Services & Policy Research (SME),
Biological Psychiatry (HAS), and Division of Epidemiology (MMW), New
York State Psychiatric Institute (JAL); Departments of Psychiatry (SME,
JAL, HAS, MMW) and Radiology (HAS), College of Physicians and Surgeons;
and Department of Epidemiology (MMW), Mailman School of
Public Health, Columbia University; Departments of Psychiatry (DSC, LJS,
RY), Neuroscience (DSC), and Pharmacology & Systems Therapeutics
(DSC), Mount Sinai School of Medicine; Harold and Margaret Milliken
Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology (BSM), The Rockefeller University,
New York; Department of Psychiatry (LJS, RY), James J. Peters VA
Medical Center, Bronx; Departments of Psychiatry, and Neuroscience &
Physiology (SVF), State University of New York Upstate Medical University,
Syracuse, New York; Department of Psychiatry (RF), University of
Colorado Health Sciences Center; VISN19/MIRECC (RF), Denver VA Medical
Center, Denver, Colorado; Departments of Psychiatry (KM, HYM) and
Pharmacology (PRL), and Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on
Human Development (PRL), Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee;
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (PR-B), University of
Washington School of Medicine; Harborview Center for Healthcare Improvement
for Addictions (PR-B), Harborview Medical Center, Seattle,
Washington; Department of Psychiatry (BG, RDT), Washington University
School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri; Department of Psychiatry
(JRC), Bipolar Disorder Research Center at Mood Disorders Program,
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, University Hospitals
Case Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio; Department of Psychology
(EG), Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey; Center for Studies on
Human Stress, Douglas Hospital Research Center and Montreal Neurological
Institute, Department of Psychiatry (MJM), McGill University,
Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Neuropsychiatric Genetics Research Group
(MG), Department of Psychiatry and Institute of Molecular Medicine,
Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; Laboratory of Molecular Psychiatry
(TY), RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Saitama, Japan; The Wellcome
Trust Centre for Neuroimaging (KJF), Institute of Neurology, University
College London, London; Department of Experimental Psychology
(TWR), University of Cambridge, Cambridge; Department of Psychological
Medicine (MJO), School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff,
Wales, United Kingdom; the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
(AM-L), Central Institute for Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany;
and Private Practice (TS), Bethesda, Maryland. In the author list, individuals
are listed alphabetically within their role for the Journal.
Address reprint requests to John H. Krystal, M.D., Psychiatry Service (116-A),
VA Connecticut Healthcare System, 950 Campbell Ave., West Haven, CT
06516; E-mail: john.krystal@yale.edu.
Received March 5, 2008; accepted March 5, 2008.
726 BIOL PSYCHIATRY 2008;63:725–727 Commentary
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