Timeline of Animal Liberation Front actions

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"Free The Animals" is left on the wall after a raid at the University of Iowa, after the ALF remove 313 mice and 81 rats, November 14th 2004. It is also the title of Ingrid Newkirk's book on the ALF.
"Free The Animals" is left on the wall after a raid at the University of Iowa, after the ALF remove 313 mice and 81 rats, November 14th 2004.[1] It is also the title of Ingrid Newkirk's book on the ALF.

A time line of Animal Liberation Front actions describes the history, consequences and theory of direct action on behalf of animals by animal liberation activists using, or associated with the ALF.

Contents

[edit] Timeline of actions

The detailed list of actions are divided chronologically:

[edit] Backround

Main article: Animal_Liberation_Front#Origins

From the ALF's formation in 1976 to the present day the direct actions have included two distinct categories of of tactics, with activists often using both tactics together;

[edit] Summary of landmarks

[edit] 1970s

1976
  • The damage totaled £250,000 in the first year alone by the ALF.[2]
  • First recorded fur farm raid, with 1,000 foxes released from Dalchonzie fur farm in Scotland.[3]
1977
  • After the ALF cause $80,000 damage at Condiltox Laboratories, in London, England, the company closes. It is claimed as a victory for direct action by the ALF.[3]
1977
  • One of the first ALF actions in Netherlands is reported, with activists removing hens from an intensive farming unit in Eindoven.[3]
1979
  • A cat, two dogs, and two guinea pigs, are taken from New York University Medical Center,[4][5] the first ALF raid in the United States.[3]

[edit] 1980s

1980
1981
  • The "Silver Spring monkeys" are removed from an animal research laboratory in the USA.[6]
  • Dogs are taken from a laboratory in one of the first raids known in France by the ALF, with more raids that followed.[3]
  • 48 beagle dogs are taken from a laboratory in Germany, as one of the first ALF raids known in the country.[3]
  • First ALF actions reported in Canada at a butchers shop. [3]
1982
  • A laboratory in Zurich, Switzerland, is raided, as one of the first Swiss ALF actions, with 48 beagles taken.[3]
  • First ALF action is reported in Australia.[3]
  • The ALF claimed it had injected Mars Bars in stores throughout England with rat poison. Mars halted production at a cost of $4.5 million.[7][8] The ALF later admitted the claims had been a hoax. [9]
1983
1984
1985
  • A five-week-old macaque named Britches, is taken from the University of California, releasing footage that stops eight of the seventeen animal research projects currently going on.[13]
  • One of the first ALF actions in Sweden occurs with a raid and two beagles taken from a dental school.[3]
1987

[edit] 1990s

1992
1994
  • The ALF report an action in Poland.[3]
  • Keith Mann is sentenced to 14 years in jail, reduced to 11 years on appeal, after he had set a number of meat lorries on fire and, after his arrest, escaped from prison. [14]
1995
  • 600 foxes have their coats dyed at various fur farms in Finland, as the first ALF action reported in the country.[3]
1996
  • The first ALF action is reported in Norway.[3]
1997
1998
  • The last fur farm is raided in the United Kingdom,[3] with the practice then banned by the Fur Farming (Prohibition) Act 2000.
  • Hill Grove Farm closes after an ALF campaign.[3]
  • The ALF report that they have taken the first ALF action in Belgium.[3]

[edit] 2000-Present

2000
  • Shamrock Farm closes after an ALF campaign.[3]
  • Regal Rabbits closes after an ALF campaign.[3]
2001
  • Following a series of hunger strikes, ALF activist Barry Horne dies in prison while serving an 18-year sentence for planting incendiary devices in stores selling animal products.[3]
  • ALF activist David Blenkinsop and two others assault Huntingdon Life Sciences director Brian Cass with pick-axe handles.[15] ALF founder Ronnie Lee said: "He has got off lightly. I have no sympathy for him."[16]
2003
2004
  • Bite Back publishes a "Direct Action Report", stating that ALF activists removed 17,262 animals from facilities, and claimed 554 acts of sabotage, vandalism, and arson. The report claims that the UK is leading the way, with Sweden, Italy and Holland, closely behind, and that the year "saw actions in more countries than ever before".[19]
  • Vehicles at RMC building sites in Bedford and Bournemouth are damaged by the ALF,[20][21] with the company in the same month announcing they have pulled out of the construction of the Oxford University's animal laboratory after the actions.[22]
  • Three butchers windows are smashed, in what is known as the first ALF action in Turkey.[3]
2005
2006
  • In Russia, 10,000 animals are taken from a breeding facility in one of the largest ALF animal removal operations in history.[27][21]
  • ALF activist Donald Currie is jailed for 12 years and placed on probation for life, for planting homemade bombs on the doorsteps of businessmen with links to Huntingdon Life Sciences.[28]
  • The ALF claim responsibility for a firebomb attack on UCLA researcher, however the device had been placed on the doorstep of a house occupied by the scientist's 70 year-old neighbor.[29][30]
2007
  • The Animal Liberation Press Office in North America report that: "There were at least 53 claimed actions by the animal liberation underground in North America in 2007, almost twice the number from the year before.", claiming that there are even more that went unreported.[31][32]
  • MoD research using goats in hyperbaric chambers, conducted by QinetiQ are stopped,[33] which followed a raid from the ALF in July 2006.[34][35] The MoD then confirm that the tests will not continue the following year.[36]
  • After the homes of Van Der Looy employees are targeted, because of their involvement in the building of the life-science industrial park in the Netherlands,[37] the company pull out of the building project because of the "unacceptable intimidating attitude" by the ALF.[38]
2008
  • ALF cells are active in around 38 countries, including in North and South America, Australia and New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, Malta, Turkey, Israel, Iceland, Malaysia, and most European countries.[39][40]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ 401 animals liberated, labs destroyed, Bite Back, November 18th 2004.
  2. ^ Monaghan, Rachael. "Terrorism in the Name of Animal Rights," in Taylor, Maxwell and Horgan, John. The Future of Terrorism. Routledge 2000, pp. 160-161.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab Mann, Keith. From Dusk 'til Dawn: An insider's view of the growth of the Animal Liberation Movement, Summary of Dates, Puppy Pincher Press, 2007.
  4. ^ "History of the Animal Liberation Movement", North American Animal Liberation Press Office.
  5. ^ "Monumental Animal Liberation Front Actions - United States", Animal Liberation Front website.
  6. ^ Guillermo, Kathy Snow. Monkey Business, National Press Books, pp. 69-72.
  7. ^ "Confectionery (Poisoning)", Hansard, November 19, 1984.
  8. ^ Schweitzer, Glenn E. and Dorsch Schweitzer, Carole. A Faceless Enemy: The Origins of Modern Terrorism. De Capo Press, 2002, p. 90.
  9. ^ The Guardian, April 14, 1990 and November 14, 1991, cited in Garner, Robert. Animals, Politics and Morality. Manchester University Press, 2004, p. 235.
  10. ^ The video footage released by PETA can be viewed at Unnecessary Fuss 1 Unnecessary Fuss 2 Unnecessary Fuss 3 Unnecessary Fuss 4 Unnecessary Fuss 5 (videos).
  11. ^ Eco-Violence: The Record, Southern Poverty Law Center, Fall 2002.
  12. ^ McCarthy, Charles R. "Reflections on the Organizational Locus of the Office for Protection from Research Risks", Online Ethics Centre for Engineering and Science, October 28, 2004; accessed October 2, 2006: On the basis of Unnecessary Fuss, PETA petitioned the Office for Protection from Research Risks (OPRR) to have the University of Pennsylvania's head injury lab closed down. The OPRR initially refused to act on the basis of edited material and after more than a year of refusing to turn over the original tapes, PETA eventually did so. The edited tape was found to have "grossly overstated the deficiencies in the Head Injury Clinic", but OPRR also found serious violations of accepted procedure.
  13. ^ Best, Steven in Best & Nocella (eds), Terrorists or Freedom Fighters, Lantern Books, 2004, p. 22.
  14. ^ Bennetto, Jason. Animal rights activist jailed after threatening scientist, The Independent, April 30, 2005
  15. ^ Goodwin, Jo-Ann. "The Animals of Hatred", The Daily Mail, October 15, 2003.
  16. ^ "From Push to Shove", Southern Poverty Law Center, undated, retrieved 2 October 2006.
  17. ^ Making a Mink from Mink, Sunday Mirror, February 8th 2004.
  18. ^ Video/slideshow/picture release from fur farm, Bite Back, October 11th 2003.
  19. ^ "Radical animal rights magazine issues 2004 'Direct Action' report", Law Enforcement Agency Resource Network, January 25, 2005.
  20. ^ Oxford lab supplier has 2 sites trashed, Bite Back, June 29th 2004.
  21. ^ a b Illegal Incidents, FBI.
  22. ^ Glaxo chief: animal rights cowards are terrorising us, The Telegraph, July 28th 2004.
  23. ^ Rood, Justin. "Animal Rights Groups and Ecology Militants Make DHS Terrorist List, Right-Wing Vigilantes Omitted", Congressional Quarterly, March 25, 2005.
  24. ^ FBI, ATF address domestic terrorism CNN.com, Terry Frieden, May 19, 2005.
  25. ^ The FBI defines "domestic terrorism" as "activities that involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any state; appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; to influence the policy of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States." (18 U.S.C. § 2331(5)) [1]
  26. ^ Britten, Nick. "Animal rights gang jailed for 12 years to deter 'lunatics'", The Daily Telegraph, May 12, 2006.
  27. ^ Liberation of thousands in Moscow, Bite Back, July 24th 2006.
  28. ^ Addley, Esther. "Animal Liberation Front bomber jailed for 12 years", The Guardian, December 8, 2006.
  29. ^ UCLA Vivisector Lynn Fairbanks Targeted by Animal Liberation Front, The Animal Liberation Press Office, June 12, 2006. Accessed May 11, 2007
  30. ^ Chancellor taking steps to protect UCLA Seattle Times, Rebecca Trounson and Joe Mozingo. August 27, 2006. Accessed May 11, 2007
  31. ^ 2007 Review, North American Animal Liberation Press Office, January 3rd 2008.
  32. ^ Ecoterror resurfaces with Seattle arsons, The Chistain Science Monitor, March 3rd 2008.
  33. ^ Military goat tests to be stopped, Portsmouth News, 15th October 2007.
  34. ^ Cruelty campaigners grab research goats, Portsmouth News, July 28th 2006.
  35. ^ MoD considers ditching ‘agonising’ live goat experiments, The Herald, October 15th 2007.
  36. ^ Goat experiments scrapped, Southern Daily Echo, 7th February 2008.
  37. ^ ["http://www.directaction.info/news_dec30b_07.htm" Bite Back] (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
  38. ^ [http://news.monstersandcritics.com/business/news/article_1385270.php/Animal_rights_protesters_cause_suspension_of_Dutch_science_park "Animal rights protesters cause suspension of Dutch science park", m&c
  39. ^ ALF cells are known to be active in; Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, Canary Islands, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States. See "Diary of Actions", Bite Back, March 10, 2008.
  40. ^ ALF in Malta was founded in 1983; Mann, Keith. From Dusk 'til Dawn: An insider's view of the growth of the Animal Liberation Movement, Summary of Dates, Puppy Pincher Press, 2007.

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links