The editor of the prestigious journal Science has denounced terrorist" tactics used by some animal rights organisations to intimidate scientists. Editor Donald Kennedy highlighted the case of Dr Dario Ringach, a neurobiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a sometime contributor to Science. He was harassed so viciously by the Animal Liberation Front as a "vivisectionist" that he resigned his post. Kennedy was exasperated by the slow response of the UCLA administration to Ringach’s troubles.

Kennedy says that intimidation by activists is one of the most serious issues facing US scientists — and one that is largely ignored. "Scientific progress depends on experiment," he writes, and in the life sciences that usually entails the use of live animals." He supports strongly the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, which would prohibit threats against researchers and their families, establish penalties for financial damage and intimidation. It would also ban targeting people who have dealings with animal researchers.

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Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

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