Animal Rights Leader Released From Jail

Chris DeRose, an animal rights leader who along with two other activists conducted a hunger strike while jailed on a trespassing charge, was released from Los Angeles County Jail early Friday.

DeRose, president of Last Chance for Animals, had been sentenced to 45 days on a conviction stemming from a protest against animal experiments at UCLA. He was released after serving eight days.

He and two other animal rights activists, Les Stewart and Christine Bounce, staged the hunger strike “to make people aware of our concerns,” DeRose said, and to protest their sentences.

Stewart, a dentist, was sentenced to 90 days and Bounce, a legal secretary, to 40. Bounce was released from Sybil Brand Institute Thursday, however, so now only Stewart remains in custody. According to a Sheriff’s Department spokesman, such early releases are part of an ongoing policy aimed at relieving jail overcrowding.

At the same time, about 15 members of the group are continuing a round-the-clock vigil at the Le Conte Avenue and Westwood Boulevard entrance to UCLA, displaying pictures of cats they say have been used in experiments at the school, handing out flyers and asking passers-by to sign petitions against the jail sentences.

“I think it’s outrageous for a first conviction to be sentenced for 45 days,” said DeRose, a 40-year-old former actor. He had been arrested 11 times before in animal rights-related incidents, but never convicted.

He joined the vigil after his release, and said he would stay there, continuing his hunger strike until Stewart wins his freedom. He said he has lost 21 pounds.

Last Chance for Animals is an anti-vivisection group that often uses acts of civil disobedience to promote its cause. These jail sentences had stemmed from a sit-in staged by the group at the offices of Kenneth Shine, dean of the UCLA School of Medicine, in April, 1987.

DeRose, Stewart and Bounce were subsequently convicted of trespassing, a misdemeanor that is punishable by up to six months in jail.

Offer Refused

An attorney for the organization maintained that trespassing violations rarely incur sentences involving jail time. But Municipal Judge John D. Harris, who imposed the sentences, said in an interview he had done so only after the three refused an offer of unsupervised probation, on the condition that they obey all laws.

Stewart got the longest sentence because he had been previously convicted of a similar offense, the judge added.

Bounce said the three refused the probation offer because they feared that it would hamper their animal-rights activities, particularly at UCLA.

Last Chance for Animals, which claims 300 active members, has been trying to stop animal research at UCLA for about three years, DeRose said. In April of this year, for example, eight members entered an animal holding area of the brain research institute and publicized pictures they took of cats with electrodes stuck in their heads.

Eight were arrested, including DeRose and Stewart. Their trial on that incident is pending.

“I’m not a criminal. The real criminals are spending billions inside these research facilities,” DeRose said. “They’re the ones that should be prosecuted.”

Glenn Langer, associate dean for research at the UCLA medical school, said, “The research is necessary on animals where the human biological systems are mimicked.” Langer said he did not know how many animals are used in experiments at UCLA, but noted 90% of them are small animals, such as mice.