July 2002: Medical Researcher Quits after Receiving Death Threats from Animal Rights Activists

Dr. Michael Podell, a medical researcher with Ohio State University, gives up his tenured position and a $1.7 million research project after being targeted for harassment by activists with the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Podell used cats in his research, which focused on why drug users succumb more quickly to AIDS. After PETA put Podell on its “action alert” list, PETA activists sent Podell almost a dozen death threats, including a photograph of a British scientist whose car had been bombed with the words, “You’re next,” scrawled across the top. [Southern Poverty Law Center, 9/2002]