Scientists Doubtful About New Law Aiming To Protect Animal Research Facilities

The act, they contend, will not deter violence by zealots Scientists whose labs and offices have been victimized by the arson, burglary, and property damage of animal rights activists insist that a new law, the Animal Enterprise Protection Act of 1992, will not end the long string of violence. The legislation, signed two months ago by President Bush, adds vandalism of animal research labs, or "animal enterprise terrorism," according to the law, to federal criminal statutes. The Department o

Ron Kaufman

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The Department of Justice has stated that the FBI will be primarily responsible for enforcing the law.

Some pro-animal research groups lobbied hard for the measure as Congress was considering it.

Yet many scientists--along with some law enforcement officials and several animal rights advocates--say the actions of militant animal liberationists are already illegal and carry hefty penalties in most states. So, they say, making these same crimes federal will have a minimal effect on their behavior.

Sen. Howell Heflin (D-Ala.) first announced the introduction of the act while standing amid the smoldering ashes of the University of Arizona's rooftop microbiology lab on Aug. 3, 1989. This was one day after the lab was torched, with credit being claimed by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). ALF is considered to be the most active and militant group of animal rights activists in the world.

The law's language does not single out a ...

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