Counterattacks

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1997:

U.S. District Judge Henry
Morgan, of Norfolk, Virginia, on
September 3 threw out an industrial espionage
charge that was part of a 21-count
lawsuit filed by Huntingdon Life Sciences
Inc. against PETA and undercover investig-
ator Michele Rokke. Huntingdon on
August 21 dropped four similar complaints
pertaining to alleged theft of trade secrets
and disruption of business. PETA and
Rokke still face 16 allegations that they
engaged in racketeering, trespassing, conspiracy,
and illegal wiretapping. Procter &
Gamble cancelled testing that had been
jobbed out to Huntingdon in June, soon
after Rokke and PETA displayed some of
the material at a press conference. Huntingdon
holds that the damaging information was
obtained under false pretenses, since Rokke
did not disclose her PETA affiliation when
she was hired to clean cages. Morgan ruled
in July that PETA had obtained information
about Huntingdon illegally, and enjoined
further release of the materials Rokke gathered
until after the case is decided.

Croixland Properties Limited
Partnership, owners of the greyhound track
at Hudson, Wisconsin, on September 15
sued lobbyists Thomas Corcoran, Patrick
O’Donnell, and Larry Kitto, who represent
Minnesota and Wisconsin Chippewas,
for allegedly telling federal officials that
Croixland has links to organized crime. The
outcome might matter to animal rights
activists because similar claims have been
made during anti-greyhound racing protests.
A charge of stalking filed against
Citizens for Animal Protection,
Education, and Rescue humane investigator
Bobbi Michaels by dog trainer Stephen
King, of Portland, Oregon, was dismissed
in early September, but the mere issuance of
the complaint inhibited collection of evidence
of alleged abuse, Michaels said.