Violence undermines reputable animal rights organizations

Last week, an animal rights organization calling itself Justice Department sent six Harvard Medical School researchers razor blades and threatening letters in the mail. This startling disturbance to Harvard's well-respected research community reminds us how frightening it can be when activists resort to violence.

The treatment of research animals is understandably an area of great moral contention and is certainly worthy of an informed, rational debate within the public sphere. Yet, Justice Department's actions are counterproductive to the type of dialogue that achieves real and lasting change.

Altering the public mindset about an issue as controversial as animal rights is best achieved through education, negotiation and extensive lobbying. To resort to such threatening and petty acts as sending razor blades via the mail is to undermine a group's credibility as a purveyor of information and as a vehicle for change.

Moreover, what is particularly disturbing about the recent threats is that they also undermine the credibility of reputable animal rights organizations looking to find compromise by non-violent means. The hard-won reputations of organizations such as the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Humane Society, who work for change within the bounds of the legal system, are inevitably marred when groups like Justice Department commit violent acts.

Because animal rights activists receive so little press on a day-to-day basis, the sensationalist, headline-grabbing activities of violent activists weigh particularly heavily in the minds of the public and, regretfully, create unfavorable impressions of animal rights activists as a group.

The medical research community is fortunate that no one has been seriously injured by the rigged envelopes. The activists who hide behind the title of Justice Department may somehow be perversely satisfied to have given their targets at least a good scare, but once the novelty wears off, they should realize what a devastating blow they've dealt to rational discussion and action on behalf of animal rights.