Brian Cass

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Brian Cass is the managing director of Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS), an animal-testing research company based in Huntingdon, England, and New Jersey in the United States. Before moving to HLS, Cass was a director of Covance. He was awarded a CBE in 2002. [1]

Contents

[edit] Campaign

Main articles: Huntingdon Life Sciences and Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty

HLS has been the target since 1999 of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC), a campaign run by British and American animal-rights activists, who seek to close the company down.

The campaign has involved acts of intimidation and violence, including against Cass, who sustained head injuries when he was attacked outside his home in February 2001 by three men armed with pickaxe handles and CS gas. A neighbour who tried to help him was sprayed with the gas.[1] Detective Chief Inspector Tom Hobbs of Cambridgeshire police told reporters: "It's only by sheer luck that we are not beginning a murder inquiry."[2] Dave Blenkinsop, who had previously engaged in actions using the name of the Animal Liberation Front, was jailed for three years for the attack.[1]

In 2007, Cass criticized the British financial community for failing to work with HLS after they "took fright" at intimidation by animal rights activists. [2]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Jail for lab boss attacker, BBC News, August 16, 2001.
  2. ^ Goodwin, Jo-Ann. The Animals of Hatred, Daily Mail, October 15, 2003.