The Laboratory: Huntingdon Life Sciences

The problems at Huntingdon Life Sciences began in earnest after the airing of a Channel 4 documentary that showed secretly filmed video footage of its employees punching a beagle.

The problems at Huntingdon Life Sciences began in earnest after the airing of a Channel 4 documentary that showed secretly filmed video footage of its employees punching a beagle.

Although the 1997 programme was not the first attack on the company, since it was shown Huntingdon's shares have plummeted, it has been investigated in Britain and the US for alleged animal abuse and many of its financial backers have deserted it.

The documentary roused public interest and sparked a Home Office investigation, which found "extremely serious" failures at Huntingdon. After the report, published in July 1997, Christopher Cliffe, Huntingdon's chief executive at the time, acknowledged that the firm had "weaknesses".

But if he thought that was the end of the matter, he was mistaken. Dr David Christopher, Huntingdon's research labs director, had to resign from a board that advised the Home Office on animal protection. And the scandal scared off the drug firms Huntingdon needed for contracts. In the US, source of a fifth of Huntingdon's sales, the authorities investigated allegations that the firm had violated the Animal Welfare Act at its New Jersey lab. The firm never admitted wrongdoing, but paid $50,000 to settle. By autumn 1998 protesters were gearing up for a fight.

The fund managers Phillips & Drew sold shares in Huntingdon. In August 1998 Huntingdon reported a loss.A US investment group saved it, but not before clashes between police and protesters outside Huntingdon's research centre just before shareholders were due to approve the package. Mr Cliffe resigned, replaced by Brian Cass, and amid controversy, Huntingdon's future was agreed on Friday night.