WALNUT CREEK, Calif. – An animal rights group on Friday claimed responsibility for two bombs detonated a day earlier outside the Emeryville offices of Chiron Corp.

In a statement posted on the Web site of a Florida animal rights magazine, a group calling itself the Revolutionary Cells – Animal Liberation Brigade says it left two pipe bombs equipped with timers outside the Chiron offices.

The message carried a threat.

The group urges Chiron to disassociate itself from a contract lab that uses animals in its testing or face consequences.

“This is the endgame for the animal killers and if you choose to stand with them you will be dealt with accordingly.”

The claim also was e-mailed to Contra Costa Times reporters and editors.

“We left them with a small surprise of (two) pipe bombs filled with an ammonium nitrate slurry with redundant timers,” the statement said in reference to Chiron.

The group said it planted the bombs to protest the biotechnology company’s connection to Huntingdon Life Sciences, a New Jersey lab that uses animals in testing pharmaceuticals and other consumer products.

The bombs exploded before dawn Thursday outside Chiron offices, breaking windows and causing other minor damages. There were no injuries.

Authorities said they were examining the claim to determine its veracity. A big part of that effort will reconstructing the bombs to see if they mesh with the explosives described in Friday’s statement.

The bombs’ shattered remains have been sent to the FBI laboratory in Washington, D.C., said FBI spokeswoman LaRae Quy.

“We have opened a domestic terrorism case on this incident,” Quy said. “We are aware of an e-mail sent out by the Animal Liberation Brigade. That claim will be part of our investigation.”

Law enforcement sources confirmed Friday that the explosions were most likely caused by pipe bombs equipped with timing devices, possibly kitchen timers.

The statement appeared to substantiate concerns that the bombs were the latest in a series of incidents in which Chiron employees have been harassed due to the company’s connection with Huntingdon.

Chiron officials say several Bay Area employees have been targeted, including an incident in which protesters smeared cat feces and threw stuffed animals painted red outside of a Chiron executive’s Piedmont home.

Chiron spokesman John Gallagher said Friday that Huntingdon “is not currently conducting research for Chiron.” But he declined to state whether the two companies have a contractual tie, or if a tie had been terminated because of the harassment of employees.

Kevin Jonas, president of the animal rights group Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, said separate examinations of Huntingdon’s business in 1997 and 2002 found Chiron among the lab’s clients.

“Until we get a definitive statement from Chiron saying they will never use Huntingdon again” the group will consider Chiron as supporting Huntingdon, he said.

Jonas said Friday he had never heard of the Animal Liberation Brigade. He said he worries the bombings may portend a violent escalation of the campaign against companies doing business with Huntingdon.

“We only support nonviolent direct action,” Jonas said.

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(c) 2003, Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.).

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AP-NY-08-29-03 2226EDT