The pavement outside the home of a couple linked to the government’s badger culls has been vandalised by animal rights extremists.
South Coast Hunt Sabs posted photos of garish pink graffiti outside the house in Guilford, which is also the office of the husband-and-wife-run company that makes tracking devices used by badger cullers.
Pressure: sabs spray-paint pavement in Guildford suburb
Animal rights extremists from pressure group Stop the Cull exposed the couple’s identity online this week. They claimed their company had a £1 million contract with the government. Quoting a ‘friend’ of the man, STC claimed he was ‘petrified’ and ‘about to crack’.
The sabs want the couple to end their contract and are threatening sustained antagonism if they don’t, which could amount to blackmail and harassment.
In their Facebook post, South Coast Hunt Sabs say: “neighbours and surrounding businesses were educated into what this guy is involved in and people are not happy”.
Crime spree: invasion of privacy? Criminal damage? Blackmail, threats and intimidation? What next?
The graffiti appeared a day after about 20 sabs stood outside the home at 1am on Friday, chanting slogans and blasting air horns, according to Stop The Cull.
Rude awakening: sabs pester legitimate businesspeople at home early Friday morning
“When you attack wildlife expect resistance,” a Stop The Cull extremist writes on the ‘Innocent Badger’ website. “When you take money to help with the murder of tens of thousands of badgers expect a lot of masked up people to show up to your house in the middle of the night. We know where you live … and as long as you’re involved in the cull our interest in you will only increase.”
The extremist group suggest their “kids might grow up in a world without badgers”.
“I’d ask how you sleep at night but I know that at least last night you didn’t,” it adds.
Sleepless in Guilford: sabs unsettle suburbanites with overnight ‘overture’
“SHACtivists got targeted by the State because they refused to make change happen through a system structured to ensure they fail; they went around that system instead–and it worked,” STC writes, referring to the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty group. SHAC’s tactics resulted in new laws being created to convict people targeting animal testing facilities.
“We figured that if [the husband] was willing to enable the intimidation and killing of badgers, then we would pay him a visit and give him a taste of his own medicine!” STC’s post goes on before winding up with a threat of further harassment and intimidation. “It was so easy for a large group of angry masked up people to go right up to your front door. Think about that… We saw you, too scared to come outside, peaking [sic] out your window and calling the police. We are watching you.”
In the comments on Facebook, extremists met criticism of the vandalism with scorn. Several posters pointed out the tracking devices that are the subject of the extremists’ campaign were not made specifically for badger culls and have many commercial uses.
Surrey Police is investigating but would not say what stage they were at or other details.
A week before the businessman’s details were splashed across the internet, STC exposed the names, addresses, emails and phone numbers of hundreds of people involved in badger culls, including a customised Google map showing where they live.
