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Joseph Harris is a animal liberation activist and cancer research doctor. On 15th September 2006 he was convicted to 3 years in prison for 3 offences under the new 'economic sabotage' law (to interfere with contractual relationships so as to harm an animal research organisation, contrary to section 145 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005). He is the first UK activist to be convicted under this new legislation.

Following a pursuit on foot on the night of 15th January 2006 involving 10 police vehicles, Joe was caught and over the the next few months was subsequently charged with 3 individual offences relating to sabotage attacks against companies supplying services to the animal testing facility Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS):

Incident 1 (15th January 2006)
Joe was caught by police whilst running from the high security compound owned by Bullimores Sand and Gravel Ltd, after triggering a motion sensor. Air valves had been bolt-cropped off to deflate tyres on large digging vehicles and superglue had been put in the locks of these vehicles. THIS COMPANY SUBSEQUENTLY DUMPED HLS SAYING THAT ONLY DIRECT ACTION WOULD HAVE MADE THEM DO SO

Incident 2 (15th January 2006)
Atlas Material Testing Solutions had been supplying HLS since 1987 and so were still supplying them despite knowing about the various exposes which have happened since that time, including the now notorious footage showing the baby beagle being punched in the face. Sometime during the night 'This Company Kills Puppies' was sprayed on the front of the building. All locks to the building were filled with superglue, electric cables supplying the air conditioning units were cut and a hose pipe attached to the outside of the building was turned on and put through the letter box resulting in the offices being flooded. THIS COMPANY SWIFTLY DUMPED HLS DESPITE HAVING SUPPLIED THEM FOR OVER 15 YEARS

Incident 3 (16th December 2005)
York Refridgeration are another long-standing HLS customer and Joe has plead guilty to an attack claimed by the ALF against their building in Nottingham. Padlocks and locks on the building were glued shut, the windows covered in black paint and a hole cut into the gas cylinder storage shed. Valves on gas cylinders were opened, cans of lubricant oil and freezer coolant poured over the floor and 'Now You Pay For Your Crimes' sprayed on the outside of the building. Pipes on the buildings air conditioning units were cut and the tyres slashed on a company van. The van was also spraypainted had its locks glued and the windscreen wipers glued to the windscreen, resulting in it being written-off by the insurance company. IT WAS CLAIMED IN COURT THAT THIS COMPANY DUMPED HLS AFTER THE ATTACK, ALTHOUGH THEY HAVE YET TO PROVIDE A STATEMENT


Joe carried out these actions to directly help the animals inside HLS, animals being used in what he sees as unscientific, immoral and unneccessary experiments. Frustrated by draconian anti-protest laws and the increasing number of injunctions being granted, he knew he had no choice but to take other forms of action. He knew the potential consequences of these actions, but also knew that someone had to take them.

His belief in animal liberation has been fuelled by the fact he has spent the last 4 years working as a cancer research scientist. He holds a BSc. (Hons) in Molecular Cell Biology and a PhD from the School of Medical and Surgical Sciences at Nottingham University. Dr Joe firmly supports humane medical progress and has attended and presented work at a number of international and national cancer research conferences as well as having had his work published in peer-reviewed journals, he is however fully opposed to experimentation on animals and after having worked with people carrying out vivisection he stated in court that he was sickened by...

* dubious manipulation of animal-testing derived data
* the use of animal studies purely to attain grant funding
* huge discrepancies between human and animal-based data
* the ignoring of unfavourable animal-derived data
* the way in which animals are used as merely another piece of disposable laboratory equipment