| Animal
Activist Fraud in the UK
On Wednesday, November 14th, the BBC reported that 35 animal activists
were arrested and held on charges that they had swindled the British
government out of tens of thousands of pounds by pretending to be bona fide
enrollees in a special government sponsored educational program. 19 men and
16 women were charged with defrauding the government's Department for
Education and Skills. National Crime Squad detectives had information that
the 35 had used the money for personal reasons and to gain information on
legitimate scientific research involving animals, for purposes of supporting
animal activism.
Obviously, such fraudulent activities are outside the bounds of the UK
educational program, which was originally intended to encourage people to
study outside of the usual classroom setting in the formal educational
system. We applaud the UK law enforcement officials who pursued and
apprehended these swindlers, and hope that their arrests and subsequent
trials result in a diminished level of such activity in the UK and
elsewhere. There are numerous cells of animal activist extremism and it will
take the cooperation of law enforcement officials everywhere to track them
down and rid society of this source of crime.  |
|
Animal
Activist Fraud in the US
On December 20, Audrey Hudson of the Washington Times reported that
Interior Secretary Gale Norton has called for a formal investigation of
reports that state and federal biologists in two national forests in
Washington State had planted false evidence in connection with a biological
survey on the presence or absence of Lynx cats in those areas. Hudson's
report stimulated two letters to the editor of the Times, in which the
respondents voiced their opinions that the lynx hair had been planted in
order to bolster an activist agenda that included denial of public access to
those lands on the grounds that the "endangered" lynx was present
there and would be harmed by such access.
DNA tests on the planted lynx hairs had disclosed that the hair had come
from two captive animals held in a laboratory, not from wild free ranging
lynx. Defendants' claims that the hair plants were merely "a test of
the system" are ludicrous. We believe that this is not about lynx at
all, but that it is just another example of an attractive species being used
as a vehicle with which to railroad development, deny public access to land
for recreation, and to prevent normal wildlife management plans to be
carried out. We applaud and support Secretary Norton and expect that the
called-for investigation into this activity shall result in an example for
other activists who may have similar fantasies planned. |
