Brian Cass
Encyclopedia
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.
(SHAC), a campaign run by British and American animal-rights activists, who seek to close the company down for its treatment of, and experimentation upon, live animals. E.g. Two employees were secretly filmed hitting and shaking puppies and were found guilty under the Animals Act of 1911 of "cruelly terrifying dogs", the first time laboratory technicians had been prosecuted for animal cruelty in the UK. One of the film extracts showed a beagle puppy being held up by the scruff of the neck and repeatedly punched in the face, and animals being taunted
. Film shot in the United States showed a monkey being dissected while still alive and, according to PETA, conscious.
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. Detective Chief Inspector Tom Hobbs of Cambridgeshire police told reporters: "It's only by sheer luck that we are not beginning a murder inquiry." Dave Blenkinsop, who had previously engaged in actions using the name of the Animal Liberation Front
, was jailed for three years for the attack.
In 2007, Cass criticized the British financial community for failing to work with HLS after they "took fright" at intimidation by animal rights activists.
Huntingdon Life Sciences
Huntingdon Life Sciences is a contract animal-testing company founded in 1952 in England, with facilities in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire; Eye, Suffolk; New Jersey in the U.S., and Japan...
(HLS), an animal-testing
Animal testing
Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and in vivo testing, is the use of non-human animals in experiments. Worldwide it is estimated that the number of vertebrate animals—from zebrafish to non-human primates—ranges from the tens of millions to more than 100 million...
research company based in Huntingdon
Huntingdon
Huntingdon is a market town in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was chartered by King John in 1205. It is the traditional county town of Huntingdonshire, and is currently the seat of the Huntingdonshire district council. It is known as the birthplace in 1599 of Oliver Cromwell.-History:Huntingdon...
, England, and New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
in the United States. Before moving to HLS, Cass was a director of Covance
Covance
Covance, Inc. , formerly Corning Incorporated, with headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey, USA, is a contract research organization , providing drug development and animal testing services...
. He was awarded a CBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 2002.
Campaign
HLS has been the target since 1999 of Stop Huntingdon Animal CrueltyStop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty
Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty is an international animal rights campaign to close down Huntingdon Life Sciences , Europe's largest contract animal-testing laboratory. HLS tests medical and non-medical substances on around 75,000 animals every year, from rats to primates...
(SHAC), a campaign run by British and American animal-rights activists, who seek to close the company down for its treatment of, and experimentation upon, live animals. E.g. Two employees were secretly filmed hitting and shaking puppies and were found guilty under the Animals Act of 1911 of "cruelly terrifying dogs", the first time laboratory technicians had been prosecuted for animal cruelty in the UK. One of the film extracts showed a beagle puppy being held up by the scruff of the neck and repeatedly punched in the face, and animals being taunted
. Film shot in the United States showed a monkey being dissected while still alive and, according to PETA, conscious.
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
CS gas
2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile is the defining component of a "tear gas" commonly referred to as CS gas, which is used as a riot control agent...
. A neighbour who tried to help him was sprayed with the gas. Detective Chief Inspector Tom Hobbs of Cambridgeshire police told reporters: "It's only by sheer luck that we are not beginning a murder inquiry." Dave Blenkinsop, who had previously engaged in actions using the name of the Animal Liberation Front
Animal Liberation Front
The Animal Liberation Front is an international, underground leaderless resistance that engages in illegal direct action in pursuit of animal liberation...
, was jailed for three years for the attack.
In 2007, Cass criticized the British financial community for failing to work with HLS after they "took fright" at intimidation by animal rights activists.