This timeline of Animal Liberation Front (ALF) actions describes the history, consequences and theory of direct action on behalf of animals by animal liberation activists using, or associated with the ALF.
From the ALF's formation in 1976 to the present day the direct actions have included two distinct categories of tactics, with activists often using both tactics together;
In Monkey Business, by Kathy Snow Guillermo, she writes that the first ALF action in the United States was the removal of the so-called Silver Spring monkeys, who were being cared for by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in a safehouse. They were kept there are after a researcher from the Institute of Behavioral Research in Silver Spring, Maryland, had blatantly acted in violation of the animal cruelty legislation for laboratory practice. The animals were then returned five days later, after learning that legal action against the researcher could not proceed without the monkeys. [6]
The president of PETA, Ingrid Newkirk, writes that an activist codenamed "Valerie" flew to England, after the publicity triggered by the Silver Spring monkeys case. She was directed by Ronnie Lee to a training camp for activists, who at the time was working for the BUAV, before returning to Maryland and breaking into Howard University. Twenty-four cats were removed by the ALF cell she had founded, with some of the cats suffering from back legs that were crippled. [7] [8] [9] [10]
The Head Injury Lab of the University of Pennsylvania is raided by the ALF with $60,000 worth of damage caused, [11] and 60 hours worth of video tapes stolen which shows researchers laughing and joking as they cause brain damage to baboons. PETA then released the documentary Unnecessary Fuss , causing the chief veterinarian to lose his job. [12]
The City of Hope National Medical Center is raided by the ALF totaling $400,000 in costs. [11]
Sixteen ALF activists take 468 animals, including a five-week-old macaque named Britches, after raiding the University of California, and cause $700,000 in damages. [11] After the raid, which the ALF filmed, eight of the seventeen projects involving the use of animals at the laboratory, which were currently going on, were stopped, because of the footage. [13] The University said "years of medical research were lost". [14]
The University of Oregon laboratory is attacked in Eugene with $120,000 worth of damage. [11]
A bomb package inside a Binns department store was discovered in Newcastle-upon-Tyne city centre in England. The area was evacuated and a bomb disposal team defused the device. A woman claiming to be from the ALF claimed responsibility in a telephone call to Metro Radio, with the intention to damage the store in protest against Binns selling animal fur. [15]
Two years and two weeks after 500 animals were taken from the University of California, an ALF arson is claimed at the Animal Diagnostics Laboratory, causing $5.1 million, one of the largest and most costly actions yet for the movement. [11]
"ALF" and "murderers" is spray-painted at V. Melani, which is set on fire causing $200,000 in damages. The company are a poultry distribution company in Santa Clara, California. [11]
Equipment, computer and records are smashed after the ALF raid Texas Tech University, with an estimated $700,000 in damages. [11]
Harlan Interfauna is raided by Keith Mann, Barry Horne and Danny Attwood, as part of a small ALF cell. The activists entered the animal units through holes they punched in the roof, removing 82 beagle puppies and 26 rabbits. They also removed documents listing Interfauna's customers, which included Boots, Glaxo, Beechams, and Huntingdon Research Centre, as well as a number of universities. A vet who was an ALF supporter removed the tattoos from the dogs' ears, and they were dispersed to new homes across the UK. As a result of evidence found at the scene and in one of the activists' homes, Mann and Attwood were convicted of conspiracy to burgle and were sentenced to nine months and 18 months respectively. [16] [17]
Rod Coronado, and the ALF, raid Oregon State University and set timed incendiary devices in building, with $62,000 in damage done to the experimental mink farm. [11]
A mink pelt drying company, Hynek Malecky facility, is set fire by the ALF, with costs estimated at $96,000. The raid is claimed as the ALF and Rod Coronado is later charged with the arson. [11]
Another mink research facility is attacked, Michigan State University, again another arson, this time causing substantially more damage at the cost of $1.2 million. Rod Coronado was charged with the attack, with PETA donating $42,000 towards his legal defense. [11] An extensive autobiographical account can be found in the book Recipes for Disaster: An Anarchist Cookbook , which details the materials, methodology, and tactics needed to carry out such an attack and other forms of direct action.
In Henrietta, New York, two trucks belonging to Conti Packing Co are set on fire by the ALF. [11]
The ALF use an incendiary device, causing $6,000 in damages at Oneata Beef Company, Syracuse, New York. [11]
Tandy Leather, in Utah is set on fire causing $300,000 in damage, the action is claimed by the ALF. [11]
Three Dutch Girl Ice Cream trucks in Eugene, Oregon, have incendiary devices placed under them by the ALF, costing $15,600. [11]
An Egg Products store in Salt Lake City is burned to the ground, with also the ALF destroying two trucks that were owned by the company. The damage totaled $100,000. [11]
The ALF claim that they have thrown a firebomb through the window of the Alaskan Fur Company, in Bloomington, Minnesota, the damages is estimated at over $2 million. [11]
Butyric acid is left in a McDonald's by the ALF, a chemical that leaves a foul smell, and also "McShit, McMurder, McDeath" is spraypainted on the walls of the bathroom in Michigan. [11]
In Indiana, the ALF set fire to a truck belonging to Archer's Meats. [11]
A napalm is used by the ALF and ELF against Cavel West, a horse slaughtering abattoir based in Oregon, calling the device "vegan Jell-o". The plant is reported destroyed. [11]
A window is broken at The Outdoorsman Sport Shop, which is then used by the ALF to set fire to the building in Indiana. Slogans were also painted at the store. [11]
The Florida Veal Processors Inc, in Florida, is burned to the ground causing half a million dollars in damage. The ALF then claim to have carried out the action. [11]
A joint claim is made by the ALF and the ELF for an arson attack at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a control building located in Olympia, Washington. [11]
Nearly a year after the previous set of meat trucks were destroyed in New Jersey, another truck is destroyed, this time belonging to Steven Corn Furs, the action is claimed again by the ALF. Furthermore, present in this vehicle was a drive-along Barbie truck belonging to Steven Corn's daughter. The truck was destroyed as well. [11]
The ALF claimed responsibility for releasing into the wild up to 6,000 mink from a mink farm in Ringwood, UK. [19] About 2,000 of the minks were immediately recaptured, another 2,000 were killed and the rest remained unaccounted-for at the time the incident was reported. Anti-fur activists denounced the action as "a disaster for the [anti-fur] campaign, and it's a disaster for the mink". The action was described by a Royal Society for the Protection of Birds spokesman as an "act of monumental stupidity," [20] amid fears that the non-native carnivorous minks would cause ecological damage. The ALF said it would continue its campaign until the British government introduced new animal-welfare legislation for animals used by the fur industry. [21]
Six vehicles are firebombed by the ALF that are owned by Big Apple Circus in New Jersey. [11]
Dozens of research animals are taken from the University of Minnesota's laboratories, as well as the property vandalised. The raid is claimed by the ALF. [11]
A Worldwide Primates truck is destroyed by the ALF in Miami, Florida. [11]
The ALF claim an arson at Phippsburg Sportsmen's Association, Massachusetts, although their attempts fail. [11]
Four vehicles belonging to Harris Furs are torched by the ALF in Rhode Island. [11]
An animal feed company, supplying the Puckeridge Hunt in Hertfordshire, was completely burnt to the ground with "Fox killers" painted over a nearby church. The fire caused £250,000 worth of damage, roaring through the 1828 Grade 2 listed barn before spreading to the adjacent building, Stocking Pelham Hall. As fire fighters tried to save the hall, the owner remarked that the heat was extraordinary, and that the building was ablaze from end to end. [34] [35]
Our motivation was that of putting compassion over greed, of pity over barbarity and of freedom over exploitation.
Wallops Wood Farm at Droxford, Hampshire, is raided by 16 members of the ALF and 1,000 chickens are "liberated", with activists claiming damage to cages, eggs, conveyor belts, feed apparatus, equipment, food stores, staff toilets, canteen, rearing shed and a delivery truck. The raid came after an injunction against ALF, SHAC and other groups restricting campaigners for their annual Easther march, banning "abusive communications with the Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS), following the long-standing campaign against the company. [44] [45]
A suspicious package, with a label attached saying "a gift from the Animal Liberation Front", was left in a dustbin wrapped up in a box at Act Tech UK Ltd in Northampton. The finance director of the company said they had been affected by animal rights groups because of their parent company Asahi Glass, who supply Huntingdon Life Sciences. Employees were evacuated whilst police searched the building and the RAF Bomb Disposal Unit blew up the package. [46] [47]
Fencing surrounding a fur farm in Seattle, Washington, was removed and the cages containing 10,000 mink opened, [48] of the 22,000 mink, 9,000 of the animals were recovered by 8pm the following evening. The police were called shortly after the break-in at around 4 pm, when someone saw hundreds of mink running from the farm. The owner claimed that the act was "..a great example of animal cruelty", [49] whilst the ALF, in an anonymous communique, cited the Mink Rehabilitation Project, which they claim proves that mink can survive in the wild. [48] [50]
Together with another ALF activist who remains unidentified, [54] Keith Mann raided the Wickham research laboratory and removed 695 mice that were being used to test botulinum toxin, sold commercially as Botox and Dysport. [55] He was later arrested by detectives at his home whilst cleaning his car and the mice were returned to the laboratory. [55] He argued that the tests were illegal because the product was being tested for cosmetic purposes, which is banned in Britain. The Southern Animal Rights Coalition also received paperwork which they say demonstrates cosmetic Botox was being tested on animals. [56] However, in April 2005, a court rejected the claims, ruling that the tests were in compliance with UK regulations because Botox is used for therapeutic purposes to prevent muscle spasms and Mann was found guilty of burglary. [57]
This public high school has been targeted by militant animal rights activists who have not stopped at peaceful protest, but have vandalized the school, stealing animals and destroying property.
The fire caused 26 boats in total to become unusable which were part of St Hilda's, St Catherine's, Hertford, Mansfield and St Benet's Hall boats and boat clubs. [72] Upon investigation the cause of the fire was attributed to incendiary devices which had been placed in the Eight's bays.
The group targeted the boathouse because of apparent ties to Oxford University. A posting to Bite Back said "We are stronger than you, we have more resolve than you and we never give up". Ed Mayne, spokesman for Oxford University, said that "Attacking one of the poorest boatclubs in Oxford certainly isn't going to help them" [72]
One more thing Edythe, water was our second choice, fire was our first.... It would have been just as easy to burn your house down Edythe. As you slosh around your flooded house consider yourself fortunate this time. We will not stop until UCLA discontinues its primate vivisection programme.
For the short six weeks of their lives they are crammed into overcrowded, filthy sheds where they are deprived of water to bathe in, nesting material and the ability to display natural behaviours and social patterns.
This action is dedicated to Mike Hill the young hunt sab killed by hunt scum. This action is also timed to coincide with the anniversary of the hunt ban 3 years ago. The ban's not being enforced and most hunts still kill animals. Maybe when they stop breaking the law we will.
A large grouse pen was identified and trashed; the water pipes and distributors were left split and smashed. The wire fencing from the entire enclosure was brought down. The electric fencing was sabotaged and the system destroyed. Two set fen traps were discovered and placed permanently out of commission. Two smaller pens were found nearby and the netting roof and wire surrounds were left in tatters. Feeders in the area were also tampered with.
The Revolutionary Cells – Animal Liberation Brigade (RCALB), known simply as Animal Liberation Brigade (ALB), is a name used by animal liberationists who advocate the use of freedom and a diversity of tactics within the animal liberation movement, whether non-violent or not. As part of a praxis, the intention is to destroy oppressive institutions, describing an endgame for animal abusers.
Rodney Adam Coronado is an American animal rights and environmental activist known for his militant direct actions in the late 1980s and 1990s. As part of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, he sank two whaling ships and destroyed Iceland's sole whale-processing facility in 1986. He led the Animal Liberation Front's Operation Bite Back campaign against the fur industry and its supporting institutions in the early 1990s, which was involved in multiple firebombings. Following an attack on a Michigan State University mink research center in early 1992, Coronado was jailed for nearly five years. He later admitted to being the sole perpetrator. The 1992 federal Animal Enterprise Protection Act was created in response to his actions. The operation continued with a focus on liberating animals rather than property destruction. Coronado also worked with Earth First.
Barry Horne was an English animal rights activist. He became known around the world in December 1998, when he engaged in a 68-day hunger strike in an effort to persuade the government to hold a public inquiry into animal testing, something the Labour Party had said it would do before it came to power in 1997. The hunger strike took place while Horne was serving an 18-year sentence for planting incendiary devices in stores that sold fur coats and leather products, the longest sentence handed down to any animal rights activist by a British court.
The Animal Rights Militia (ARM) is a banner used by animal rights activists who engage in direct action utilizing a diversity of tactics that ignores the Animal Liberation Front's policy of taking all necessary precautions to avoid harm to human life.
The Justice Department (JD) was founded in the United Kingdom by animal rights activists who declared they were willing to use a diversity of tactics up to and including violence against their opponents. Initially calling for "abusers to have but a taste of the fear and anguish their victims suffer on a daily basis", activists established a separate idea from adhering to the Animal Liberation Front's (ALF) guidelines of non-violent resistance, similar to that of the Animal Rights Militia (ARM).
Bite Back is a Malaysian-registered website and magazine that promotes the cause of the animal liberation movement, and specifically the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). According to The Sunday Times, the name is inspired by an arson campaign targeting the American fur industry throughout the 1990s.
Animal Liberation Press Offices relay anonymous communiques, photos, and videos to the media about direct action undertaken by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), Animal Rights Militia (ARM), Revolutionary Cells – Animal Liberation Brigade, Justice Department, and other leaderless resistance within the animal liberation movement. It states that it will "explain and seek to justify any action, whatever it may be", so long as it appears to have been carried out "with the sincere intention of furthering animal liberation." The North American press office also includes a newsletter, prisoner list and merchandise page.
The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) has taken a variety of criminal actions since 1992. Actions were rarely publicised prior to 1996 and are therefore difficult to find.
Operation Backfire is a multi-agency criminal investigation, led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), into destructive acts in the name of animal rights and environmental causes in the United States described as eco-terrorism by the FBI. The operation resulted in convictions and imprisonment of a number of people, many of whom were members of the Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front.
The Green Scare is legal action by the US government against the radical environmental movement, that occurred mostly in the 2000s. It alludes to the Red Scares, periods of fear over communist infiltration of US society.
Darren Todd Thurston is a former Canadian animal rights activist.
Peter Daniel Young is an American animal rights activist. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in 1998 on charges related to fur farm raids in Iowa, South Dakota, and Wisconsin in 1997. He was in hiding for seven years, before being arrested in San Jose and sentenced to two years' imprisonment in 2005. Young was released in February 2007.
Oxford Arson Squad is a militant animal rights organization, which emerged in the United Kingdom in 2005 after claiming the firebombing of the Corpus Christi College Sports Pavilion at Oxford University. The University denounced these acts of direct action stating that "the intimidating nature of this message is totally unacceptable".
The Western Animal Rights Network (WARN) first appeared in 2005 as a coalition for animal rights groups in the West of England and South Wales and acted as a news service for animal rights demos and action reports.
The Animal Liberation Front (ALF) is an international, leaderless, decentralized political and social resistance movement that advocates and engages in what it calls non-violent direct action in protest against incidents of animal cruelty. It originated in Britain in the 1970s from the Bands of Mercy. Participants state it is a modern-day Underground Railroad, removing animals from laboratories and farms, destroying facilities, arranging safe houses, veterinary care and operating sanctuaries where the animals subsequently live. Critics have labelled them as eco-terrorists.
The Earth Liberation Front (ELF), also known as "Elves" or "The Elves", is the collective name for autonomous individuals or covert cells who, according to the ELF Press Office, use "economic sabotage and guerrilla warfare to stop the exploitation and destruction of the environment".
The campaign against Highgate Rabbit Farm, also known as the Close Highgate Farm campaign, is a series of direct actions by anti-vivisection activists. Highgate Rabbit Farm in Market Rasen, Lincolnshire in England is licensed by the Home Office to breed rabbits and ferrets for animal-testing facilities, including Huntingdon Life Sciences. Actions have included a raid by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and an arson claimed by the Militant Forces Against HLS. The ALF raid in 2008 saw 129 rabbits removed and £100,000-worth of damage to property. The campaign has been linked to activists involved in Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC).
Gary Yourofsky is an American animal rights activist and lecturer. He has had a major influence on contemporary veganism.
Operation Bite Back is a multi-phase Animal Liberation Front campaign targeting the American fur industry in the 1990s. Participants firebombed research laboratories and fur farms in Michigan, Utah, and the Pacific Northwest from June 1991 through 1992. The campaign was known nationally and led to the creation of the 1992 Animal Enterprise Protection Act to criminalize the damage of animal enterprise property. Following Rod Coronado's 1994 arrest, the 1995 Operation Bite Back II campaign abandoned their former economic sabotage tactics and instead focused on animal liberation. Their Arritola Mink Farm raid in Mt. Angel, Oregon, released 10,000 mink, the largest animal liberation to date. The campaign continues as of 2015.
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