Government acts on animal rights activists

The British government is bolstering legislation to curb the activity of animal rights protesters who threaten researchers as pharmaceutical companies pledge funds to support animal testing in universities in the face of fears that their crucial supply of graduate and postgraduate recruits is under threat. A hastily assembled programme of legislative reform was released in response to the success of direct action in stopping work on a new laboratory for Oxford University and forcing the main contractor, Montpellier, to abandon the project last month. The government responded with a 20-page document, with a foreword signed jointly by the prime minister, Tony Blair, and the home secretary, David Blunkett, defending the use of animals in research, which outlines attempts to develop medical alternatives and the need to concentrate on sharpening the existing array of law and order tools to defeat the extremists. Three new offences are proposed to give the police power 'to tackle protests outside homes more effectively' and prevent the harassment of employees of companies involved in the pharmaceutical industry. Officers should be able to arrest anyone demonstrating outside a house 'in such a way that causes 'harassment, alarm or distress to residents.' A new offence created by amending section 42 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 would forbid those 'moved on' from returning to a house within three months for 'the purpose of representing to or persuading the resident or anyone else, that he should not do something he is entitled to do, or that he should do something he is not obliged to do.' Expansion of the 1997 Harassment Act would make it easier to arrest someone for harassing as few as two employees of a company, 'even if each is harassed on only one occasion'. The paper says that the government has not closed the door on a new law dealing solely with crimes by animal rights The British government and pharmaceutical companies have ramped up action against the increasing threat from animal activists but some are still concerned they have not gone far enough to protect researchers. Nigel Williams reports. Animal issues: Protesters have increased opposition to a new animal research facility at Oxford University but the British Government and the pharmaceutical industry are fighting back.