A New 'Animal-Rights' Low

This is just horrible. The Hall family, who raised guinea pigs for medical research in Staffordshire, England, have had their lives and businesses ruined by a sinister group calling itself the "Animal Rights Militia," reports the Times of London.

The group claimed that guinea pigs bred at the Darley Oaks farm were "kept in cruel conditions in big dark sheds, with no exercise or natural light." For this, they adopted tactics straight out of a KKK training manual:

"[T]he campaign against Darley Oaks quickly became quite vicious. The Halls and their staff have had their windows broken, suffered midnight visits from activists with loudhailers, and had their cars stripped of paint and the tyres slashed.

"Alongside the violence has been a campaign of intimidation, which has affected people even quite remotely connected to the Halls, such as cousins by marriage. The Halls' elderly cleaner resigned after her husband was threatened.

"The activists dug up nine greens at a golf club where John Hall, a partner in the farm, played until the club blacklisted him. They caused disturbances and threatened the Red Lion pub where Mr Hall drank, until the pub owners barred him and his staff from drinking there.

"He sold off his dairy herd after the headquarters of the haulage company collecting the milk was daubed with paint and its vehicles attacked.

"The Halls have also given up their turkey business after the company that supplied their gas was targeted, suffering broken windows and damaged vehicles. A local firm stopped supplying tractor fuel to the Halls after a brick was hurled through the owner's bedroom window.

"One common smear tactic is to send out letters to the neighbours of a Darley Oaks worker, warning them that they are living next door to a dangerous paedophile. There have also been silent phone calls and sympathy cards sent in the post, warning the workers that their children will soon be orphans.

This is all terribly cruel, but the following passage just made me furious:

"The campaign apparently climaxed last October when the body of Gladys Hammond, mother-in-law of Christopher Hall, who co-owns Darley Oaks, was dug up from a churchyard.

"Hundreds of police have worked on trying to retrieve the remains, without success. In April, a group calling itself the Animal Rights Militia claimed credit for the grave robbery, and said that one sixth of Mrs Hammond's body was buried in a canister in woods near Newchurch."

Scum. Utter scum.

No one favors animal testing per se. It's an ugly fact of life. But it's one I support wholeheartedly as the only currently reliable means of creating many of the medicines and procedures that help save the lives of both humans and animals.

"Animal research has led to vaccines for rabies, smallpox, rubella, measles and anthrax," rightly notes the Center for Consumer Freedom. "Insulin diabetics owe their quality of life to animal models — which also brought us heart bypasses, organ transplants and the minimally invasive surgical techniques we now take for granted."

Once better, cheaper processes are developed, animal testing will go the way of the iron lung or electro-shock therapy. Until then, animal testing is a must. If they wanted to save animals' lives, so-called animal-rights activists might consider spending more time campaigning for fewer government restrictions on highly regulated voluntary human trials. Or protesting (as many do) or refusing to buy products or undergo procedures that have come about through animal testing.

Right now, just to do my small part in spiting those sick fucks at the Animal Rights Militia, I'm going to go eat some meat for lunch. In fact, I'm vowing here that any time I hear a story like this, I will respond to it by eating meat. Lots of it. And I'm going to savor it. And it's going to taste great.