The BBC has an update on the desecration of Gladys Hammond's grave.
AC readers may recall that Animal Rights activists, in this case an entity calling itself the Animal Rights Militia, are claiming credit for desecrating Mrs Hammond's grave and removing her remains. Here are some of my posts on Mrs. Hammond's grave desecration link, link and link.
The desecration occurred as part of a long-standing campaign to shut down the Hall farm, operated by one of Mrs. Hammond's surviving relatives, which breeds guinea pigs for biomedical research and drug testing. The Halls, their families, employees and indeed everyone associated with them in any way can count themselves as targets of terrorists employing terror tactics (link, link).
So here's the latest:
Police say around 100 officers are expected to stay at Brakenhurst Wood, Newchurch, near Burton, until Thursday.
The body of Gladys Hammond, 82, was taken from a church in Yoxall, Staffs, in October. Her relatives run a guinea pig breeding farm in nearby Newchurch.
A group called The Animal Rights Militia claimed she was buried locally.
But despite police appeals for the group to reveal the exact location they have not made contact again.
Det Chief Insp Nick Baker, who is leading the investigation, said: "The Animal Rights Militia have not made contact since our appeal leaving us no option but to carry out these extensive and time-consuming searches.
"We have carried out limited searches at Brakenhurst Wood, which is over 90 acres in size, in the past.
"Teams of officers will be involved in thorough searches of carefully selected areas of the wood.
Death threats
"We would ask members of the public to help us by staying away from the wood while our searches go on and thank them for their patience.
"This complex investigation is progressing well and our goal remains to catch those responsible and find Mrs Hammond's body."
Mrs Hammond, who was buried in St Peter's churchyard seven years ago, was the mother-in-law of Christopher Hall, part-owner of Darley Oaks Farm. The farm breeds animals for medical research, (sic)
The Hall family has been subjected to a long-running campaign of intimidation by extremists, including hate mail, malicious phone calls, hoax bombs and arson attacks.
Staff have also received death threats, threatening letters and a petrol bomb.
The Beeb is being coy . . . as AC readers will undoubtedly recognize. The Animal Rights activists have in place a long-standing campaign that's terrorized an entire village.
But don't take my word for that — check out the links I've provided above, which I'm reproducing here and here for convenience.
The group sent letters to the BBC and the Burton Mail newspaper in April.
The Burton Mail's letter claimed one sixth of Mrs Hammond's remains were buried in a sealed plastic container 2ft underground in woods near Newchurch.
Events of this kind remind us that some Animal Rights activists find ways to justify any act, however barbaric, in the name of their cause, a cause which is based squarely on moral equivalency — the belief that a human and a non-human life are equally valuable, and that if it's immoral or unethical to do something to a human, it is equally immoral or unethical to do it to a non-human.
When one combines that core AR belief with an unshakable faith that his conscience is an infallible moral authority, you end up with a poisonous combination, one where violent expediency, such as assassination (advocated by Dr. Jerry Vlasak — link, link, link) or arson (as practiced and taught by Rodney Coronado), and base self-indulgence (as in Professor Steven Best's "Me First" ethic ) masquerade as virtures, liberating their earthly bodies from the mundane laws and mores of civilized human society.
And so it is with those who desecrated Mrs. Hammond's grave — their goal is to shut down the Hall's guinea pig farm, and grave-robbing is just another tactic to be tried.
And their conscience — infallible as it is — assures them that they are acting only out of the loftiest of moral principles, however far that may lead them from societal norms.
Indeed, for those who believe in the inherent evil of society and human accomplishments — and Animal Rights activists are the poster children for them — there is every reason for them to defy convention as they pursue their fantasy utopia.
And defy they do — as the desecration of the Hammond grave proves beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Your heart just has to go out to the Hall family, their friends, their community . . .
I do hope that Mrs. Hammond's remains are recovered completely and soon, and I hope those who desecrated her grave are brought swiftly to justice.
Thanks to Peter G. for the heads up.
Brian