TWO young animal rights extremists, described as embryonic leaders of the movement, were given community service orders yesterday for stealing hundreds of animals from a pet shop owner.
They and two older activists, all members of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, were convicted at Chichester Crown Court last month of burglary for cutting through a wire fence and smashing a window during the raid. About 400 rodents, rabbits, dogs and birds were stolen from a breeding centre near Chichester, West Sussex.
Grace Quantock, 19, and Linus Harrison, 20, both of Yateley, Hampshire, were given community service orders. Police said that they were being groomed as future leaders of the animal rights movement, which is led by activists 20 years their senior.
Sarah Whitehead, 49, of Littlehampton, West Sussex, was given a nine-month suspended sentence. Helen Luff, 39, of Chichester, was given a community service order.