Equipment Is Destroyed At WSU Research Center -- Animal Liberation Front Claims Responsibility

PUYALLUP - Animal-rights activists are taking responsibility for thousands of dollars in vandalism at a Washington State University research center.

The Avian Health Laboratory, on an 800-acre site east of Tacoma, was broken into late Friday or early Saturday, said Pierce County Sheriff's Department spokesman Ed Troyer.

Research equipment was destroyed, chlorine was poured throughout the building and slogans were spray-painted on walls, including the letters "ALF," Troyer said. ALF stands for Animal Liberation Front.

In a faxed statement sent to news organizations yesterday, David Barbarash of the ALF said activists smashed a window to get into the research lab early Saturday morning, then "proceeded to smash every computer and piece of lab equipment in the facility."

Employees of the center did some preliminary cleaning yesterday, and a commercial cleaning company was to be in the building today, said Charlie Powell, spokesman for the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine, which runs the labs.

Powell said he expected operations to be back to normal within the week, though he estimated damage at "tens of thousands of dollars."

Most of the damage was in the Avian Health Laboratory, where researchers perform tests on eggs, egg products and chickens to ensure they're safe for consumption, Powell said. Parts of the Disease Diagnostic Laboratory also were damaged, he said.

Among the damage were smashed computers, destroyed microscopes and electronic equipment and holes punched in walls and windows. Fire extinguishers were activated and sprayed around the building, Troyer said, and muriatic acid and chlorine bleach were poured on floors and equipment.

"It gave our investigators headaches," he said.

"From what we understand, this is a place that helps animals," Troyer said. "We think the people who did this were misled or misguided." He said no live animals were tested at the laboratories.

Troyer also said that artworks, including Ansel Adams photographs, were smashed. "But if they were pictures of animals, they were left undamaged."

Reached at the Vancouver, B.C., phone number included on the fax, Barbarash said he's merely the group's media spokesman and doesn't know their identities, although he said he had been an ALF member in the past.

Troyer said the suspects could face charges that include burglary, vandalism and destruction of property, as well as federal charges if state lines were crossed.

The Animal Liberation Front last month claimed responsibility for breaking into several Western Washington University laboratories and stealing four research rabbits and 37 adult white rats. Several offices were vandalized in that attack, which took place over the Oct. 23 weekend.

The group also said it broke into a WSU research lab in Pullman in 1991, freeing six mink, seven coyotes and 10 mice and destroying $150,000 in equipment.

ALF fights the use of animals for research through the damage and destruction of property in an effort to force groups that conduct animal testing out of business, according to a Web site dedicated to the group. ------------------------------- Seattle Times staff reporter Mark Rahner contributed to this report.