The FBI did not return phone calls from United Press International seeking to verify the authenticity of the letter, but if it is valid, the move would appear to be another effort by the agency to increase its activity against animal-rights groups.

The group, known as Animal Liberation Front, said Jerry Vlasak, a trauma surgeon and one of its press officers, was contacted by the FBI two weeks ago to make a presentation at a class on activist groups at agency headquarters in Quantico, Va.

Vlasak sent a letter back to the FBI July 4 declining the request.

"I have no intention of aiding and abetting your agency by providing information and insights that might be used against activists," Vlasak wrote in the letter.

"Until that day when non-human beings are afforded the right to be free of human domination, I will support those who risk their freedom for the animals and will continue to educate the media about why some activists decide to go underground to liberate animals and stop the horrific crimes perpetrated daily -- and with your express blessings -- against non-humans."

Vlasak told UPI he thought the FBI extended the invitation to him because "they're frustrated at their efforts to find out more about people who are selfless enough to go out and help animals, even if it means breaking the law."

The agency might be having difficulty thwarting the animal-rights activists because they have different motivations than traditional criminals, Vlasak added.

"They're trying to get more insights into how these people operate so they can try to catch them easier," he said.

Vlasak said the FBI also may be trying to infiltrate extremist groups such as ALF, "but the problem for them is that each of the groups is pretty autonomous and doesn't talk to the others." This means the information the FBI might uncover will only apply to one local group and may not be useful across the board, he said.

Andy Bringuel, whose name is at the bottom of the letter and works as an instructor at the FBI Academy in Quantico, told UPI he could not confirm or deny whether he wrote the letter. Bringuel referred UPI to FBI spokesman Kurt Crawford who did not return a phone call by press time.

In the letter, Vlasak is offered $600 for presenting his insights as an animal-rights leader to a class that focuses on understanding the motives and tactics of activist groups. The class, the letter states, is taught to police executives from the United States and around the world.

"I believe your insights as a leader in the animal rights community would be beneficial for the students," the letter stated. "I don't have much of a budget for guest instructors but I can pay $600 for your expenses and time."

The letter states the FBI wanted to book Vlasak sometime during the February/March timeframe of 2007.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America did not return a phone call from UPI seeking comment.

Jacquie Calnan, president of Americans for Medical Progress, a group in Alexandria, Va., that is supported by the pharmaceutical industry, declined to comment, telling UPI, "It's a matter between Mr. Vlasak and the FBI at this point."

Efforts against animal-rights activists have heated up in recent months.

In May, a mysterious group calling itself NYSEhostage.com placed ads in major newspapers, including the New York Times and the Washington Post, accusing the New York Stock Exchange of caving in to animal-rights extremists.

In the United Kingdom, GlaxoSmithKline obtained a court injunction prohibiting people from contacting its shareholders after letters that were suspected to be from animal-rights advocates were sent to shareholders threatening to publish their private information on a Web site if they did not sell their shares of the company's stock within two weeks.

The threat to the shareholders was apparently made because GSK does business with Huntingdon Life Sciences, which supplies lab animals and has been a focus of animal-rights groups for years.

The GSK injunction prompted U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair to pen an editorial in The Telegraph in support of animal research and urging more be done to counter animal-rights extremists, including passing a law to allow directors of companies to keep their home addresses private and allowing companies to refuse to release details of their shareholders.

Last November, after Vlasak said it would be acceptable for activists to kill researchers, PhRMA said it had been briefed by the FBI on efforts the agency was making to thwart animal-rights groups. PhRMA said the agency urged drug companies to report any perceived threats from activist groups to the FBI.

Vlasak said he thought the increase in activity was "a nod to the fact that the Animal Liberation Front is being so effective." He added, "If they weren't being so effective ... at changing things, I don't think we'd be seeing this huge amount of backlash."

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Animal Liberation Front