April 22-28, 2004

city beat

Terrorists Behind Puppy Plot?

Dog Gone: This photo was on a disc circulated by purported pooch pinchers.

Theft of animals from school likely work of animal-rights group, say Philly cops.

by Howard Altman

Police suspect an organized, radical animal-rights group is behind the recent theft of four dozen animals from the W.B. Saul High School in Roxborough after receiving a package containing a CD-ROM and an anonymous letter claiming responsibility.

"This letter pushes it more toward the FBI," says Det. Stan Schofield of Northwest Detectives, the department's lead investigator. "Obviously, it is an organized group."

Schofield, who was given a copy of the letter mailed to City Paper Friday morning, added that the letter, and a CD containing pictures apparently taken during the theft, "shows that this was not the work of amateurs."

The letter states that between "the nights of April 9 and April 10, we broke into the Small Animal Laboratory and the Dog Kennel at W.B. Saul High School. We removed a total of 48 animals -- 44 small animals (some of which were indeed being tested upon in lab experiments) and four beagle puppies being raised by students training to be future vivisectors."

The 975-word letter, mailed in a manila envelope with no return address, does not name any organization responsible, but does threaten more action against the school.

"W.B. Saul High School should end it's [sic] Laboratory Animal and Meat Science programs," the letter states, "and stop persuading teenagers that torturing animals is nothing more than a career choice. If they do not, further actions will be taken against them to stop their corrupting influence, and to stop the suffering they are inflicting on living, emotional creatures."

All told, the letter states that in addition to the beagles, they took "two chinchillas, one ferret, 26 gerbils, three hamsters, nine rats and two mice. All the animals were taken to new homes where they will be loved and cared for -- not experimented upon." The letter's list adds up to 47. The letter does not take into account the difference.

Schofield said that the information in the letter, plus the pictures contained on the CD, makes the package seem authentic.

"Yeah, I think this was most likely [sent by] the people involved," he said.

Dave Snyder, a 24-year veteran Saul teacher, said that students are extremely upset by the thefts and that counselors have been brought in to help children cope with their emotions.

"The kids are very upset," Snyder said. "We actually brought in some professional assistance. They're first upset, then very mad. The kids absolutely look at this as a kidnapping and are taking it personally. They are taking the charges in the letter as personal insults."

Snyder said he did not want to respond to allegations in the letter, adding that "we are proud of the outstanding level of care the animals receive here. The animals here are taken care of as well, if not better, than most pets are taken care of at home."

He agrees that the theft appears to be the work of an organized group.

"Obviously, they had enough organization to do what they did," he said.

Schofield said that after the crime, the FBI -- which is investigating whether this is the act of domestic terrorists -- gave him information about several extremist animal rights groups, including Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC). According to the organization's Web site, SHAC "was formed in November 1999 with the single aim of closing down Europe's largest animal testing lab Huntingdon Life."

The site also equates SHAC's work with the fight against apartheid and says that "We strongly believe that you are either with us or against us. You either want life or death for the animals inside Huntingdon. The same people who are against us now would have criticised the campaigns against Apartheid, Poll Tax and many other just causes."

Schofield said that SHAC has created a lot of trouble for Huntingdon Life Sciences, whose main office is in England but has a local office in Millstone, N.J.

"There is list of at least a couple dozen major companies that have stopped doing business with Huntingdon," he said.

A local SHAC volunteer said that while the organization agrees with the ideology behind the Saul animal theft, the group has no involvement, nor knows who did.

"We are an organization dedicated to shutting down Huntingdon Life Sciences, a product testing lab in New Jersey," said Rick Simpson from the group's office in New Jersey. "We have nothing to do with W.B. Saul High School, no affiliation with them or any interest in targeting them. We do not know who might be involved."

Simpson agreed with Schofield, however, that this was not the work of amateurs.

"You could probably guess some sort of underground animal-rights activist group participated," he said. "But that is just assumption."

Simpson said he is basing that assumption on the "pattern of what has happened over last 20 years both here and in Europe. People are engaged in illegal activities to break into labs, factory farms and research facilities to liberate animals. This action seems to fall under the pattern."

Simpson added that "no one from the FBI has contacted us about this, nor would expect they would want to. It had nothing to do with us. Beside the fact that we ideologically support such an action, that is as far as it goes."

While Simpson said that SHAC supports "any direct action as long as it is nonviolent in nature, it doesn't harm any human or nonhuman." Other organizations taking action against Huntingdon have gone as far as throwing acid and paint stripper at cars owned by company officials, according to published reports.

FBI spokeswoman Linda Vizi was quick to point out that the bureau is not targeting any group or organization.

"We are going to look at the letters and see if we can determine the source," said Vizi, whose office was given the anonymous package by City Paper Friday morning. "We will continue the investigation. First, we would like to get the animals back safe and sound. We will take a look and see what the motive behind the burglary was to see whether it is prosecuted locally or federally."

Vizi added that "we don't specifically know if a particular group or organization is behind this or if it is an individual. There is a lot of information out there about different groups that believe these animals should be free and not used for any type of experimentation. They believe in direct action to free animals, destroy property and end research."

Asked about the information the FBI gave to police about SHAC and other groups, Vizi said, "We are not saying at this point that [an animal-rights group] is behind this, but we want to educate local law enforcement to make them aware that these types of groups exist. We are not saying any particular group is involved or what the motive is.

"I will tell you," she added, "that the groups that do support this type of activity have caused millions of dollars' worth of damage to various research firms and businesses. Not only did these animals have some monetary value, but they were loved by students. This is a real breach of that type of trust the students have with those animals."

While the police and FBI are not naming any suspects, the stolen beagles may have been spotted.

"A teacher from school saw someone walking four beagles near Carpenters Woods in West Mt. Airy on Saturday around 3 p.m.," said Schofield, who would not divulge the teacher's name. "The teacher remarked to his son that the school had four beagles just like that."

Among the 15 pictures contained on the CD in the anonymous package are three pictures that appear to show the beagles in a wooded area.

Anyone with information about the theft should contact Schofield at 215-686-3353 or the FBI at 215-418-4000.