For Immediate Release
Contact AL Press Office at 818.932.9997

July 22, 2005

Animal Liberation Front Arson at Oxford University Boathouse Heats UP the Battle Against New Primate Center

Oxford, England : The Animal Liberation Front (ALF) claimed in a communiqué an arson at Oxford's University's Hertford College Boat House that destroyed 20 boats and did 500,000 pounds worth of damage.

Animal activists have been campaigning to stop the construction of a primate research laboratory in the city, after defeating a similar attempt at Cambridge. Montpellier, the main contractors, pulled out last year after receiving threats.

The communiqué reads, in part:
“On the 4th july a Animal Liberation Front cell travelled to oxford armed with incendiary devices containing approximatley 11 litres of petrol. At app 11 pm they broke into oxford's universitys Hertford college Boat House and deployed the devices among the boats. Before leaving they re-padlocked the door and glued all the locks to avoid the possibility of people entering before the devices ignited. The reason for the attack was as follows: Oxford University's holdings now own the contract to build the South Parks lab, as far as The A.L F are concerned this means that Oxford University as a whole must accept the consequences.From here on nothing you own, rent or have dealings with is off limits until the project is scrapped, To warn builders and suppliers that they are going to get some, even if their involvement comes to light years later we will not let you offf the hook!”

Mel Broughton, spokesman for the Speak campaign to stop the primate facility, said "Twelve months down the line, the skeleton of the laboratory stands abandoned - a monument to greed and academic curiosity, rather than a monument to real science. But like every monument, slowly and surely, it will disintegrate. The question is not whether science is a necessary evil, but whether a science based on the suffering of countless sentient beings can ever be justified. The price for all of us is simply too high."

For more information, visit http://speakcampaigns.org.uk/ and watch the new International Actions page at the North American Animal Liberation Press Office website (www.animalliberationpressoffice.org/international_actions.htm)