On July 27th in Chur, Switzerland, media reported that the ashes of Vasella's mother were stolen and her gravestone defaced with "Drop HLS Now". Additionally, about three weeks ago, graffiti slogans against Vasella and Novartis were written on the church in Vasella's village of Risch in central Switzerland. Messages were also left on the road near his home including "Vasella is a killer. We are watching you. Death to Vasella. We'll be back."

Furthermore, the Animal Liberation Brigade in June claimed setting fire to the Novartis directors cars in Switzerland. ALF activists also said they vandalised the property of four Novartis executives in May, painted the house of another worker in April and painted slogans against company offices in Mexico and the UK.

According to Novartis, attacks on houses and cars of the company employees as well as on Novartis property have grown in recent months, no doubt due to the MFAH, ALF and attacks by other individuals. This is despite the crackdown against Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) by imprisoning seven UK SHAC activsits, with the campaign group denying any involvement in the Novartis attacks.

Anonymous communique:

"************************************
Daniel Vasella's Hunting House
Oberbach, A-6653 Bach, Austria
************************************
night 02-03 August 2009
************************************

As well as butchering animals at HLS, Novartis Chairman and CEO Daniel Vasella likes to butcher animals in his own private hunting estate in Austria. He had it personally built in a town called Bach, up in the mountains. There is a large cooling unit and an area for preparing his kills, which he sometimes supplies to the local restaurant. There is also a large garage, that we guess holds the car that picks him up from the neighboring town (the rich scumbag flies in on his personal helicopter!)

You could tell it was his house from a distance - the skulls of deer we saw hanging from the walls outside and inside only made us more determined.

60 litres of petrol was concentrated in two places around the house - the roof sheltering the front entrance was packed full of petrol bombs with most of the petrol containers placed under it by the door to catch the wood inside, and around the side the wooden garage door and angled roof supports were targetted with the second group of devices.

It hasn't been your week has it, Daniel? Understand this: This will continue until you sever all ties with Huntingdon Life Sciences. We will attack your private life wherever possible. If you think it's fun killing animals in your own forest in Austria and bring them to your hunting estate, we will destroy it. Have you got any more hobbies Daniel? We will destroy them. We will destroy your life. Just remember one thing, dealing with HLS means dealing with US.

DROP HLS NOW!

MFAH Austria - if it can burn, it WILL..."

About Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS):

Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) are in the business of poisoning healthy animals to death. They are a contract testing operation that tests products for others. They have three sites two in the UK and one in the US. Five hundred animals are put to death every day by HLS, killing tens of thousands of horses, cats, dogs, primates, rabbits, hamsters, rats, mice and fish amongst others each year.

Shareholders, stockbrokers, market makers, suppliers and clients have all dumped HLS, including the world’s largest companies; all four main high street banks in the UK, the world’s largest financial institution, the world’s second largest bank and the world’s largest insurance broker. Huntingdon are $72 million dollars in debt with NO commercial bank and insurance company anywhere in the world prepared to deal with them.

HLS’ key weakness is their finances and by throwing the spotlight on those funding their abuse campaigners across the globe have managed to bring HLS to the brink of financial collapse. Throughout the campaign activists have made financial history as one by one major corporations have yielded to protester power and severed their links with the failing company.

Campaigners use evidence obtained in seven undercover investigations at their different laboratories in the UK and USA where HLS workers have been caught on film punching puppies in the face, simulating sex with animals in their care, cutting open primates while they are still alive and falsifying experiments to get products on the market. HLS workers have even been caught drunk at work and dealing drugs at the labs.

Huntingdon Life Sciences have a criminal record from a British court of law for breaking the Companies’ Act. They are the only UK laboratory to ever have their licence revoked by the government.

Previous features: Highgate Farm Protest Camp | Operation Liberation: Highgate Rabbit Farm | Largest Shareholder Barclays and Top Investors Dump HLS | World Day for Animals in Laboratories March | SHAC supporter unlawfully arrested at Barclays Bank | SHAC Shakedown City Investors | Top HLS Investors Dump Shares | HLS Exposed - Yet Again! SHAC To Shakedown Financial Investors In The City | 50 Years For The UK SHAC 7 | Anti-vivisection campaigners convicted of blackmail | Largest HLS Investor Dumps All Shares | SHAC Prepares For National March & Rally | Victory for animal rights campaigners | Activist Imprisoned for Shouting | Fisher Scientific Embarrassed Over Links with HLS | SHAC World Day for Lab Animals | Asahi Glass Protesters Harassed by Police | "March Against the Murderers"