Rebuttals and follow-up stories at bottom

Contact Camille Hankins at (646) 267-9934
September 19, 2006

In honor of the SHAC-7, 23 rabbits have been liberated from Capralogics, a vivisection lab in rural Massachusetts. Jake, Lauren, Kevin, Andy, Josh, and Darius, as well as their 17 other lop-eared friends who have yet to be named, are all safe from the hands of those who had imprisoned and tortured them in the name of profit.

Capralogics is a small company that does contract testing on rabbits and goats in both the U.S. and the U.K. Some of the photos submitted with this communique, taken by a Capralogics employee in the U.S., show the way rabbits are treated by this terrible company - their bodies restrained in headlocks, their skin shaved off so they could be injected with various compounds. When their experiment concludes they are terminally bled, meaning they are cut and left to bleed until their life has drained away. Then, as the pictures show, they are thrown into the surrounding fields for coyotes to eat.

Of course, once we found about this we could not let it continue without trying to rescue some of the animals. So in the middle of a warm, foggy night, we hopped the cheap fencing around Capralogics' property and entered one of their four rabbit housing sheds. There were no locks to pick, no windows to pry open, no doors to bust down - the sheds are open structures and we simply had to step over a gate to enter them. One by one we went down the rows of small cages, each containing a rabbit which had most likely never felt the sun on its fur or the grass beneath its paws. Every cage in the shed was opened and we took as many rabbits as we could, 23 total. Several other rabbits were let loose into the surrounding field. With luck they will live their last days in freedom, but even if they get caught or killed as least they have had one decent night in their otherwise tortured lives.

Quickly our 23 new friends were hurried to our waiting vehicle and off we went into the night, laughing thinking about the faces on those bastards when they walked into their rabbit shed the next morning. Finally free, the rabbits quickly made friends with one another and quickly made themselves at home. The endless anger we feel towards those who torture these creatures was replaced with the immediate joy of seeing them free, happy, and on their way to a new life. We would like to point out how easy this action was - it didn't take any particular skill, just a little planning and a little commitment. There are thousands of labs and farms across this country, many in isolated rural areas like this one, and most can be found online or in public directories - what's stopping you?

This liberation is dedicated to the SHAC-7 and was done in direct response to the government's assault on them. Not a single member of the judge, jury and prosecution have the compassion, the conviction, or the courage of any of those six individuals, and they never will. In this sick culture, we know that every day the sick, the stupid, and the evil bully and destroy those who are far their better. Every lab, farm and fur animal, every poisoned wild bird, every beaten child, every raped woman knows this. The case of the SHAC-7 is no different.

But we will fight back for them. Animal liberation is an idea whose time has come and a reality that any of us can create. The government and the industries it represents hate us so much because no matter who they surveil, raid, defame or imprison, they cannot kill the idea and so they cannot stop us. And while the SHAC-7 will soon go to jail for simply speaking out on behalf of animals, those of us who have done all the nasty stuff talked about in the courts and in the media will still be free. So to those who still work with HLS and to all who abuse animals: we're coming for you, motherfuckers.

Until all are free, the night belongs to us... The communique continues, in part-

To read the entire communique, and for more information please visit www.animalliberationpressoffice.org.

I have been informed that, on September 19th 2006 the Animal Liberation Press Office, amongst others, posted a communiqué on its website pertaining to the liberation of 23 rabbits from Capralogics in Massachusetts, USA.

In that communiqué it ERRONEOUSLY stated that "Anthony Haines of Carcliff, UK is a Director of Capralogics UK".

I categorically state that I am not, nor have I ever been a Director of Capralogics, either in the UK or in the USA, further more I have no involvement in the operation or management of the said company. This is obviously erroneous information, possibly from a malicious source and as such I would welcome the rectification of that communiqué.

For example I have checked the United Kingdom Companies House on line register and found that Capralogics UK does not even exist.

Here is the link.

http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/

During the past 12 months, I have been involved in some heavy litigation with a previous employer in the biotechnology industry and also been arrested for conspiracy to murder based upon yet again another spurious allegation. Fortunately after being held on bail for some 9 months, insufficient real evidence could be found to support the allegations.

It is my opinion that both you and your collective organisations are being used by a third party for their personal gain and I strongly recommend that you further check the veracity of the group who claim responsibility.

Would you also be kind enough to circulate this email to any other organisations with whom you have contact.

Good luck and please consider what I have said

Tony Haines

As the sole owner and director of Capralogics, I am compelled to correct a number of misstatements in your article: Capralogics does not have employees, office or any other presence in the UK as suggested.

The individuals mentioned by yourselves are not involved in any manner with the operation of the company.

The link between us is mainly caused by our all being sued at the High Court In London by a previous client of mine.

Interestingly, the same people posted a number of libelous statement on their website recently concerning amongst others both myself and two of the mentioned individuals.

The statements were removed and we are considering our options. Capralogics manufactures antibodies for research and diagnostic uses only and we are categorically NOT in the vivisection business.

For the avoidance of doubt, we do NOT perform invasive surgeries or deliberately kill or cause pain to animals as part any �experimental� process.

We are highly regulated by the USDA, and have an animal welfare committee overseeing all phases of our animal care.

The goats residing at our facility are allowed to roam in the paddocks throughout the day and are only brought into the barns at night.

The cages for many of our rabbits are the proper size required by law, or larger. Due to the barn design, the rabbits have access to fresh air and sunlight.

We have a very small staff and an extremely low employee turnover. For your information 24 rabbits were removed, not 23.

The release says: "So in the middle of a warm, foggy night, we hopped the cheap fencing around Capralogics' property and entered one of their four rabbit housing sheds" I suggest that you look at pictures 17 and 18 more closely since it seems to me that the rabbit depicted in number 17 may well have been freshly killed for effect by the intruders.

Remember that flesh discolors quickly in the heat and the picture shows a fresh kill. I suspect that the raid and disinformation which was emailed to you was perpetrated by a third party seeking to gain a commercial advantage and lay the blame upon real and committed animal rights activists. It is my belief that your movement is being used as a pawn by unscrupulous people. I also suggest that you view our website at www.capralogics.com  where we also have pictures. Perhaps you would be kind enough to add my rebuttal to your website.

 Stanley White

Police on the look out for stolen rabbits
HARDWICK, Mass. (AP) - Police are investigating the theft of 23 rabbits from a medical research lab.

Police say the animals were stolen earlier this month from the Caprologics lab and other rabbits were released into the wild.

Caprologics inoculates the animals with proteins to produce antibodies for medical research.

A group associated with the Animal Liberation Front has claimed responsibility by sending a statement to the ALF's web site.

The group claimed the "liberation" of 23 rabbits was to honor a group whose members were recently sentenced to federal prison terms for trying to close medical labs in Great Britain and New Jersey.

ALF spokeswoman Camille Hankins said the group received word of the raid in Hardwick and posted the information online.

On Thursday, a Cincinnati-based nonprofit group called Stop Animal Exploitation Now said it filed a complaint against Caprologics with the U.S. Department of Agriculture based on photographs it says were supplied by ALF.
 

Friday, September 22, 2006

Activists� rabbit role in doubt

Capralogics head suspects business link

By Bradford L. Miner TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
bminer@telegram.com

HARDWICK� The owner of a local biotechnology company said yesterday he has trouble believing that animal rights activists were responsible for an overnight raid Sept. 6 during which 23 New Zealand white rabbits were released from their cages.

Stanley D.T. White, founder of Capralogics, 235 Czeski Road, said the incident being investigated by local police and the FBI may have more to do with a soured business relationship and resulting litigation than with animal rights.

He declined to give the specifics of the litigation, which he indicated was ongoing

Since 1994, when the small company was established, it has used goats, sheep and rabbits to produce antibodies for medical research.

"Regardless of the statements posted on the Animal Liberation Front Web site, we have a reputation and a financial interest that depends 100 percent on having healthy, happy, stress-free animals," Mr. White said. On the Web site, a poster purporting to be from an unnamed animal rights group claimed that Capralogics mistreats its animals.

Mr. White said he also doubted the authenticity of some of the photos posted on the organization's Web site.

"I can vouch for all our employees, and state categorically that no pictures were taken by a Capralogic employee, as the statement on the Web site claims. Some of the pictures may have been taken by a guard with a security detail that once worked here, but does not work here now," he said.

Mr. White said the statement posted on the Web site contained many incorrect statements.

"First of all, Capralogics is a very small, local company and there is no Capralogics affiliate company in the United Kingdom and Gus Dalgliesh and Jon Heaney are neither employees nor directors of Capralogics."

The two men and Anthony Haines were named in the communiqué on the ALF Web site as being Capralogics employees.

"I worked with them on a previous project, and as it turns out we're mutually being sued by a former client and the litigation is getting ugly, and this incident could well be a manifestation of that business dispute," Mr. White said.

He said that during the duration of the "high-value project" there was a round-the-clock security detail at Capralogics for about six months during 2004.

"They were here 24/7, had complete access to the entire facility and were taking pictures during that time for documentation," Mr. White said.

"I highly suspect this to be the source of at least some of the photos that were taken at Capralogics, because we have a very small staff, virtually no turnover, and I personally know everyone who works here," he added.

Mr. White said some photographs were not taken at the Capralogics lab, specifically the ones of rabbit carcasses being disposed of in the woods.

Taking issue with other statements, Mr. White said, "We are not a vivisectionist facility, quite simply, because no surgery is performed here. The animals are inoculated with proteins to produce antibodies and we subsequently draw blood. It would be akin to giving someone a flu shot and then coming back and drawing a blood specimen to see that antibodies had been produced."

He said the lab is very highly regulated as to how much blood may be drawn from each animal.

"Beyond that, it's to our advantage to keep the animal healthy, happy and alive for a long period of time producing these antibodies," he said.

"Again, imagine if you and I were living in a bus station. In such a highly stressful environment there's a good chance that we might get sick and die. To produce a high quality antibody, I have to have healthy animals, living in a stress-free environment," he said.

For entirely selfish reasons, he said, for the reputation of the company and its continued financial success, he has to ensure the health of the animals producing the antibodies.

Mr. White said the rabbits have access to both fresh air and sunshine, and the rabbit barns "do not smell like rabbit barns" because of the degree to which the rabbits are kept comfortable.

"If there is a downside, as it's been shown, it's relatively easy to break in to the facility. It's not like they were being housed in a locked, highly secure laboratory," he said.

He said the goats at Capralogics have the same degree of freedom as the rabbits.

Mr. White said that while he has no proof, he believes the self-proclaimed animal rights activists who claimed responsibility for the raid are actually pawns in a business disagreement.

Because of the nature of the incident, he said, the FBI is actively involved in the investigation.

While Mr. White said Capralogics has "nothing to hide" and is highly regulated by the federal government, a national research watchdog organization has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture claiming several violations of federal law.

"The staff of this laboratory clearly have a total disregard for the pain and suffering inflicted on the animals in their care," said Michael A. Budkie, executive director of Stop Animal Exploitation Now, a Cincinnati-based nonprofit animal protection organization.

In a news release, Mr. Budkie said that in light of conditions revealed by photos attached to an account of the raid posted on the Animal Liberation Front Web site, a complaint has been filed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

Potential breaches of federal law, he said, could include violations of regulations for veterinary care, pain relief, and reporting of painful experimentation.

The SAEN complaint asks that the USDA "prosecute Capralogics to the fullest extent the law allows."

Mr. Budkie said the communiqué from those who carried out the Capralogics raid that was subsequently posted on the Animal Liberation Front Web site was "strongly critical of the treatment of the animals at Capralogics, and used photographs taken by a lab employee to prove its case."

The communiqué on the Web site asserts: "The photos submitted with this communiqué, taken by a Capralogics employee, show the way rabbits are treated by this terrible company. Their bodies are restrained in headlocks, their skin shaved off so they could be injected with various compounds. When their experiment concludes they are terminally bled, meaning they are cut and left to bleed until their life has drained away."

While providing an account of the raid, the activists responsible for the incident at Capralogics did not say how they came by the photographs they claim were taken by a company employee.

Karen Foley, a spokesman for Worcester District Attorney John J. Conte, said the district attorney's office is not involved in the investigation.

Oct 1, 2006
Activists upping ante in bid to disrupt animal-based research
...
Stanley D.T. White's business sits amid the rolling hills of Hardwick, far from Massachusetts' bustling cities and business centers.

But that isolation did not insulate him or his company, Capralogics Inc., from a middle-of-the-night raid on Sept. 6 by people claiming to be animal-rights activists intent on disrupting Capralogics' biomedical business. In fact, the perpetrators' theft or release of 23 rabbits put Capralogics smack in the middle of an ongoing drama between scientists and sometimes-secret cells of individuals determined to end research on animals.

For Mr. White, the Capralogics president who felt he was operating Capralogics in an ethical manner and in a safe place, the raid on his New Zealand white rabbits was a shock that has him rethinking security measures and questioning whether his industry is facing a time of greater danger.


"We're still ticking, and we've dusted ourselves off and we're moving forward," Mr. White said. But "it's a different world. This is a case of me wondering if the ground rules have changed."

The answer may be yes. Recent convictions of some animal activists appear to have energized other followers of groups that the government considers extremist.

A spokeswoman for the North American Animal Liberation Press Office, which posted pictures and an account on its Web site purportedly from the Capralogics raid, said the government's crackdown, in turn, is driving activists deeper underground and away from legal actions. Advocates for scientists, meanwhile, are pushing for tougher laws.

"Congress, specifically, and I think the public, generally, is very concerned by the escalation of these attacks, particularly the manner in which they're conducted, particularly the harassment to the point that people fear for their safety and the safety of their families,"  said Frankie L. Trull, president of the Foundation for Biomedical Research, a Washington, D.C.-based group that advocates for responsible animal research. "I don't think the extremists are a lot of people, but they're aggressively hostile."

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full story:
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