Around thirty people have been arrested today for alleged offences relating to animal rights extremism in raids across the UK and mainland Europe. The police say the ‘substantial operation’ targeted burglary, conspiracy to blackmail, and offences against animal research operations.

Assistant Chief Constable Adrian Leppard, who commanded the operation, said: ‘In recent years, animal rights extremists have conducted sustained campaigns of harassment and intimidation against the animal research industry, seeking to achieve their objectives by creating a climate of fear’.

The arrests are a great step forward in the fight against extremists and positive news for the European research community, which has the right to conduct its work without the fear of harassment and intimidation. The arrests in the Netherlands and Belgium show that the law enforcement agencies are increasingly successful in co-operating on an international level too. This has become necessary since animal rights fanatics widened their range of activities to mainland Europe. Today’s police action was successful and much evidence should have been secured that will aid in prosecution.

Whilst not every arrest leads to a successful prosecution, we hope this is a major step in bringing animal rights extremists to justice.