Friends of Animals (FoA) condemns Thursday’s pipe bomb attack in the city of Emeryville, California. On Saturday the 30th of August, an obscure group called the Revolutionary Cells claimed responsibility for the two small explosive devices that went off early Thursday morning at the Chiron Corp. buildings in Emeryville, reportedly in protest against the firm’s relationship with animal research group Huntingdon Life Sciences. The blasts did not injure anyone, but a handful of Chiron employees were reportedly in the building.

“Vandalism, arson, explosives, and threats have no place in a movement for animal rights,” said Priscilla Feral, president of Friends of Animals. “Such irresponsible acts are unacceptable in any movement for the betterment of society, and we categorically denounce them.”

Huntington Life Sciences, the biological research company at issue, has been exposed for grotesque mistreatment of primates, piglets, dogs, and other animals.

Earlier this year, The Observer reported that British government officials enabled the company to conceal a series of critical errors in research carried out for a Novartis subsidiary which has been attempting to develop a method for cross-species transplantation (“Exposed: secrets of the animal organ lab” – 20 April 2003; describing the findings of Uncaged Campaigns).

Unbeknownst to the public, the British government had approved experiments with the intention of using sick babies as the first trial recipients for nonhuman hearts.

“Clearly there is tremendous social value in informing the public about the detriments of cross-species transplantation and other biotech research using animals, and in bringing the urgent and multi-layered ethical problems into the open,” said Priscilla Feral. “But this can only be done by education. It cannot be done through acts of intimidation or the endangerment of workers.”

Friends of Animals is an international animal rights organization with over 200,000 members and supporters.