Animal researcher's home firebombed

<p>SAN JOSE -- A UC Santa Cruz biologist whose home was firebombed this weekend said he feared for his family's future Sunday, while a spokesman for an animal rights group said the attacks were the consequences for performing research on animals.</p><p>The volatile rhetoric left UC Santa Cruz on edge Sunday, a day after a pair of firebombings targeting two university biomedical researchers had authorities looking for clues and tightening security around researchers.</p><p>FBI officials were expected to join the search today, in what authorities have called an act of "domestic terrorism."</p><p>Just before 6 a.m. Saturday, the porch of molecular biologist David Feldheim's home was hit by a Molotov cocktail, charring the front door and filling the house with smoke. Feldheim, his wife and their two young children fled down a fire escape. About the same time, a car belonging to a different, unidentified researcher was destroyed by another firebomb. Police said the attack on the house was being investigated as attempted homicide because the family was at home.</p><p>"Obviously, I am upset and worried for my family's safety in the future," Feldheim wrote in an e-mail to the Santa Cruz Sentinel on Sunday. "This incident came close to doing some real harm."</p><p>The UCSC biologist said he had installed a security system and motion lights at his home in response to a previous threat, and police were checking whether the cameras could help identify the attackers.</p><p>"Once we rebuild our house and move back in, I don't know what more we can do," wrote Feldheim, who performs research on mice to understand how brain connections form during development. "I would like to see the citizens of Santa Cruz and our elected officials (including the mayor) step up and condemn this kind of violence."</p><p>Feldheim said he badly bruised his feet while getting out of his house and was taken to the hospital for X-rays. He said he didn't break any bones but will have to walk with crutches for a few days until the swelling subsides.</p><p>While a spokesman said he didn't know who carried out the firebombings. the Animal Liberation Front called the attacks a "necessary" act, just like in the fight against civil rights injustices.</p><p>"If their father is willing to continue risking his livelihood in order to continue chopping up animals in a laboratory, then his children are old enough to recognize the consequences," said spokesman Dr. Jerry Vlasak, a former animal researcher who is now a trauma surgeon. "This guy knows what he is doing. He knows that every day that he goes into the laboratory and hurts animals that it is unreasonable not to expect consequences."</p><p>The Santa Cruz Police Department said it was "unconscionable" for anyone to defend such acts.</p><p>"To put this on par with any of the human rights issues is an absolute insult to the integrity of the people who fought and went through the human rights movement," said Capt. Steve Clark. "This is what people do when they have an inability to articulate their point in any constructive way. They resort to primal acts of violence. Any reasonable person would need a logic transplant to begin to understand this level of degraded thinking."</p><p>The attacks point the spotlight on the battle between biomedical researchers and the animal liberation movement. Animal rights activists frequently target researchers and "out" them on Web sites and e-mail. In some cases, researchers fearful for their families have stopped testing, while others go to great lengths to protect their identity.</p><p>Just last week, a group called Stop Animal Exploitation Now! sent out a widely distributed e-mail highlighting "mounting violations of the animal welfare act" at labs in Santa Cruz and Berkeley.</p><p>The group has denied involvement in the most recent attacks.</p><p>The trouble began last week when a pamphlet containing the names, home phone numbers and photos of 13 UCSC researchers and professors believed to be taking part in animal research was circulated at a Santa Cruz coffee shop.</p><p>Authorities suspect that an animal rights group created the list, which warned: "Animal abusers everywhere beware; we know where you live; we know where you work; we will never back down until you end your abuse."</p><p>University officials were able to warn most of the people on the list. On Sunday, after media attempts to speak to the researchers, university officials ordered them not to speak out.</p>