Animal activists hit wrong address

Los Angeles-based extremists who oppose the use of animals in scientific research destroyed a car, which they thought belonged to a University of California, Los Angeles, biologist linkurl:Goran Lacan.;http://www.directory.ucla.edu/search.php The arson attack, which occurred on November 20th, also badly damaged two nearby cars, but none of the cars belonged to Lacan, according to Los Angeles police. Apparently, an LAPD spokesperson told the linkurl:__Los Angeles Times__,;http://www.latimes.com

Written byBob Grant
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Los Angeles-based extremists who oppose the use of animals in scientific research destroyed a car, which they thought belonged to a University of California, Los Angeles, biologist linkurl:Goran Lacan.;http://www.directory.ucla.edu/search.php The arson attack, which occurred on November 20th, also badly damaged two nearby cars, but none of the cars belonged to Lacan, according to Los Angeles police. Apparently, an LAPD spokesperson told the linkurl:__Los Angeles Times__,;http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-animal-arson29-2008nov29,0,3282650.story the arsonists got Lacan's address wrong and torched a neighbor's car. Animal rights group Students and Workers for the Liberation of UCLA Primates claimed responsibility for the attack on its website, stating that activists "placed an incendiary device beneath an automobile belonging to primate vivisector Goran Lacan," adding that the home that was attacked indeed belonged to Lacan. According to linkurl:UCLA's website,;http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/chancellor-condemns-new-acts-of-72210.aspx Lacan studied "treatments and cures for morbid obesity and other eating disorders" in non-human primates four years ago. UCLA chancellor Gene Block condemned the attack, saying in a statement, "Through these reprehensible tactics and reckless behavior, anti-animal research extremists demonstrate repeatedly that they are willing not only to risk the lives of those who spend their careers working to help others but also the lives of the unsuspecting general public, including children." California has become a hotbed for extreme animal rights activism, with recent attacks on UC Santa Cruz and UCLA researchers. The state recently passed a law aimed at protecting scientists who use animals in their research. Related stories:
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Meet the Author

  • From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.

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