06. 08. 09. - 14:00

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06. 08. 09. - 14:00

Militant animal rights groups says behind Tyrol arson

By David Rogers

Militant animal rights organisation MFAH (Militant Forces against Huntingdon Life Science) has said it was behind a fire on Monday that seriously damaged a hunting lodge in Tyrol owned by a Swiss pharmaceuticals boss.

The Swiss news agency SDA reported MFAH Austria had said on the internet it started the fire at a hunting lodge owned by Daniel Vasella, the chief of Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis, in Bach in Reutte district.

The posting also threatened more attacks against Novartis if it failed to sever its relationship to Huntingdon Life Science in the UK, which reportedly conducts experiments on animals.

It is uncertain whether Novartis and Huntingdon do business with each other.

The news agency said that in the online posting at www.directaction.info the attacker said they had ignited 60 litres of gasoline that had been placed at two locations outside the lodge. The online text was signed MFAH Austria.

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Fight against Terrorism at the Austrian Interior Ministry is investigating the fire in the wake of the online posting.

Militants have already taken action against Novartis, based in Basel, and Vasella in Switzerland.

Last month, the grave of Vasella’s mother Ursula, who died in 2001, in Chur, was vandalised when an urn containing her ashes was taken. They also smeared the tombstone with red letters spelling out the words "Drop HLS Now."

Swiss media have reported that militants have threatened to attack Novartis employees and to burn their cars and set fire to a Novartis sports complex in France.

MFAH may be linked to SHAC (Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty), which is demanding that the Huntingdon laboratory be closed since it allegedly performs experiments on animals for pharmaceutical companies.

Novartis International AG was the biggest pharmaceutical company by revenue in 2008.

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