The remains of Gladys Hammond have been returned to her original grave in Staffordshire, England. She was related to the Hall family, who were targeted by animal rights activists because they bred guinea pigs for research. In 2004, Hammond’s remains were stolen from her grave. Earlier this month, three animal rights activists involved in the theft of her body were jailed for 12 years each. The guinea pig farm closed in 2005.
Also Britain’s Daily Telegraph reports that in a public opinion poll in response to the question, “Are these ways of protesting against the use of live animals in laboratory experiments reasonable or not?”:
93 percent agreed it is reasonable to “hold peaceful demonstrations in town centers”
88 percent agreed it is reasonable to “hold up placards showing the pain allegedly inflicted on animals”
15 percent agreed it is reasonable to “shouting abuse at people going to work in laboratories that use animals”
10 percent agreed it is reasonable to “threatening post on the internet names, addresses of people connected with firms that use animals”
2 percent agreed it is reasonable to “damaging, vandalizing property”
1 percent agreed it is reasonable to “issuing death threats”
1 percent agreed it is reasonable to “digging up, stealing the bodies of people allegedly connected with use of animals in research”
The case for animal rights is ours to throw away by our actions. The desecration of Hammond’s grave is our movement’s Abu Ghraib.
