After a long-running campaign that included hate mail, threats and the theft of a dead relative's body from a graveyard, the two brothers who run Darley Oaks farm in the UK say they will abandon the family's 30-year-old business of raising guinea pigs for medical research. Drug makers condemned the activities of animal rights groups in the UK, who have frequently turned to extreme methods to terrorize anyone engaged in animal research. Some in the industry say that the animal rights groups' success may eventually make it virtually impossible to conduct animal research in England, driving labs to other countries.
"David Hall and Partners' involvement in breeding guinea pigs for biomedical research will cease at the end of 2005," the family said in a statement. "The business, which has operated for over three decades, will undergo a phased closure until then to ensure the welfare of animals involved." The family asked for the return of the body of the mother-in-law of one of the brothers, which was stolen from a churchyard last October.
- read this article in the Guardian for more information