A three alarm fire gutted half of a $5 million animal care facility under construction at the University of California Davis. At UC-Riverside, intruders ripped doors from their hinges, smashed equipment and poured red paint mixed with glue on computers before making off with 467 research animals. At the U.S .Departmen t of Agriculture research institute in Beltsville, Md., raiders sprinted away three dozen cats and seven pigs, leaving vegetarian recipes as calling cards.
More than 25 raids on U.S. research facilities have been staged by 1980 In all, some 1,000 animals have been stolen. Estimates of physical damage run into the millions of dollars, and the price tag on disrupted animal colonies destroyed data and lost research time is incalculable.
Yet in only one case has a suspect been arrested on burglary charges. Roger Troen of Ore., is. scheduled to go on trial January 11 in connection with the...