Novartis CEO Speaks Out About Animal Rights Activists Burning Down His House, Stealing Remains Of His Mother (VIDEO)

Tuesday morning, Novartis CEO Dr. Daniel Vasella spoke to CNBC about the arson attack on his vacation home in Austria. The Wall Street Journal reports that MFAH Austria, an animal rights group, has claimed responsibility. The group's goal is to get Novartis to sever ties with Huntingdon Life Sciences, which Novartis claims it no longer works with.

There is no update on what happened to Dr. Vasella's mother's ashes, which were stolen the week before.

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Comments

[noneIn2008]

Move to China, you'll be protected and you'll get better business support. Then the EU can ask why China is growing in technology.

[sixyfivepercentwater]

In the full story from Reuters, the CEO talks a lot about his pain and anguish and the terror of his family, etc. Apparently he's only able to empathize with people he loves, not with the animals who are tortured and maimed so that he can make money to buy vacation homes.

While I don't condone such a waste of good gasoline, I fully understand the outrage of animal rights activists. There is just no valid reason to willfully inflict pain and suffering on innocent animals.

[jsarets]

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."

God says that animals and everything else in nature exist to serve humanity. Our empirical observations of Creation would seem do contradict this theory, but the apparent interdependency between species on the top and bottom of the food chain is probably just a test of our faith...

;-)

[johnmorgan]

You have dominion over your children but you don't torture them and eat them.

[Alice Kottmyer]

The other variation I've heard is -- the Queen of England has dominion over all British subjects, but she doesn't torture them and eat them.

[RevBookburn]

Did he not say that the remains were stolen a week earlier? And where is the discussion about the worthless animal research?

[mlr710]

These are sick individuals. These "activists" have the morals of Jim Jones.

[JohnFromCensornati]

...and people who torture animals have the morals of Jeffrey Dahmer.

[truthartbeauty]

good for them. there is no more noble cause on earth than that of animal rights. I applaud them.

[buckeyedave]

Left wing terrorism.

[gbrooks]

Exactly.

[BritishAmerican]

No noble cause? These are thugs and there's nothing noble about animal rights campaigners who want to put the rights of animals before those of humans. If you're so noble, I suggest you go into the bushes and live with these animals you so want to protect and let's see how welcoming you will be at dinnertime. There are human children dying daily and people fighting for those causes. Those are real noble causes. Not animal rights.

[mreaid]

So animals to you are simply on par with the daily garbage, eh?

And it's not about putting animals before humans or vice versa, it's about equating the two. See my response below...what makes you more special than another animal of any sort? What makes children more important than other animals? It's not about "Oh gee, well can a dog vote? or a monkey do calculus? hyuck hyuck hyuck!" It's about the very real parallel between the ability of other animals to feel just as much pain and suffer just as much as us.

[gayleg]

Human beings are animals.

I can't believe I had to even type that! So obvious!

[gayleg]

"The group's goal is to get Novartis to sever ties with Huntingdon Life Sciences, which Novartis claims it no longer works with."

I had no idea Novartis was affiliated with Huntingdon Life (probably the most evil, animal torturing company in the world). It's not easy to distinguish which meds come from which company, but I'm going to do my best to boycott Novartis from now on.

Unless of course they discontinue this abuse.

[blimie]

The CEO of Novartis isn't much of a victim. He probably has a secret black book of all his evil doings.

[breakingpoint]

Well no one was hurt, that's a plus and the mother's remains is a weird one, but if you want to really get outraged take a good look at the hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan and what's happen at Gitmo.

[chevlikis]

What's wrong with wearing a little fur now and again? Isn't that really freedom?

[alguien]

why don't you check with the animals who had to give up their skin?

[arabianway]

Seems people who live in Glass Houses better watch out for:

People who are willing to use matches.

[iworshipthedoggod]

the real sadness here is none of the animal testing will produce a cure to anything,it is used by drug companies to prolong the sickness,making you comfortable until you die because the drug companies enemy is a cure.there is no money in curing the sick.i speak from experience having worked in the healthcare industry.

[EquesLignite]

No matter how passionate one is to his cause, terrorism is never the answer. Violence and terror kill innocent people, break up families, and breed even more hatred down the road. Peaceful protest should be used instead

[skippyB]

Thank you for saying it. You are quite right. There is not one post by an animal rights sympathizer that has swayed my thinking one bit, and I am an animal rights sympathizer. - There is no justification for that fire.

[iworshipthedoggod]

I am an animal rights activist also and this is terroism and not the way to get the message across.

[iworshipthedoggod]

terrorism

[JEdgarH]

I hear you, but at least they're not killing anyone. However I don't advocate violence against property either.

[SamEllison]

Novartis is one of the good ones
and Dr Vasella has done a lot of
good things too.

[billwstcty]

I know Daniel from Sandoz US; he is a good and decent person, one of the best among us.

Bill

[johnmorgan]

Lots of CEOs appear to be "good persons" but at work they still put money ahead of morality.