Timeline of Animal Liberation Front actions, 1976–99

This is a time line of Animal Liberation Front (ALF) actions since its formation in 1976 until 1999.

Background

1976

ALF logo

Two years after Ronnie Lee and Cliff Goodman had been charged for the raid on the Oxford Laboratory Animal Colonies in Bicester, as part of the Band of Mercy, the "Bicester Two" as they were known; Lee emerged even more militant than before. There had been daily demonstrations at the court during their trial, including Lee's local Labour MP Ivor Clemitson. He then collected up the remaining activists from the Band of Mercy upon his release, including another two dozen new willing activists, 30 in all, and the Animal Liberation Front was born.[1]

It was reported that in early operations by the ALF, individuals targeted slaughterhouses, furriers, butchers shops, circuses, breeders and fast-food restaurants, causing £250,000 in the first year alone.[1]

1980s

1981

One of the Silver Spring monkeys.[2] from the Institute of Behavioral Research, that were being cared for by PETA.[3]
September

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 allegedly 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.[3]

1982

December 24

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.[4][5][6][7]

1984

May 28

The Head Injury Lab of the University of Pennsylvania is raided by the ALF with $60,000 worth of damage caused,[8] and 60 hours worth of video tapes stolen which shows researchers laughing and joking as they cause brain damage to baboons.[9] PETA then released the documentary Unnecessary Fuss, causing the chief veterinarian to lose his job.[10]

December 9

The City of Hope National Medical Center is raided by the ALF totaling $400,000 in costs.[8]


1985

April 20

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.[8] After the raid, which the ALF filmed (video), eight of the seventeen projects involving the use of animals at the laboratory, which were currently going on, were stopped, because of the footage.[11] The University said "years of medical research were lost".[12]

1986

October 26

The University of Oregon laboratory is attacked in Eugene with $120,000 worth of damage.[8]

1987

April 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.[8]

November 28

"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.[8]

1989

April
July 4

Equipment, computer and records are smashed after the ALF raid Texas Tech University, with an estimated $700,000 in damages.[8]

1990s

1990

March 17

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.[13][14]

1991

June 10

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.[8]

December 15

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.[8]

1992

February 28

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.[8]

1995

January

In Henrietta, New York, two trucks belonging to Conti Packing Co are set on fire by the ALF.[8]

April 14

The ALF use an incendiary device, causing $6,000 in damages at Oneata Beef Company, Syracuse, New York.[8]

June 15

Tandy Leather, in Utah is set on fire causing $300,000 in damage, the action is claimed by the ALF.[8]

December 24

Three Dutch Girl Ice Cream trucks in Eugene, Oregon, have incendiary devices placed under them by the ALF, costing $15,600.[8]

1996

April 2

An Egg Products store in Salt Lake City is burned to the ground, with also the ALF destroying two trucks that were ownded by the company. The damage totaled $100,000.[8]

October
November 12

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.[8]

1997

February 15

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.[8]

March
April 19

In Indiana, the ALF set fire to a truck belonging to Archer's Meats.[8]

July 21

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.[8]

August

1998

February 28

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 are also painted at the store.[8]

May 4

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.[8]

June 28

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.[8]

July 16

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.[8]

August

The ALF claimed responsibility for releasing into the wild up to 6,000 mink from a mink farm in Ringwood, UK.[16] 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,"[17] 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.[18]

November

1999

March 27

Six vehicles are firebombed by the ALF that are owned by Big Apple Circus in New Jersey.[8]

April 5

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.[8]

May 9
June 25

A Worldwide Primates truck is destroyed by the ALF in Miami, Florida.[8]

August
September 23

The ALF claim an arson at Phippsburg Sportsmen's Association, Massachusetts, although their attempts fail.[8]

October 22

Four vehicles belonging to Harris Furs are toched by the ALF in Rhode Island.[8]

November
For continued article, see Timeline of Animal Liberation Front actions; 2000-2004 and 2005-Present

See also

References

  1. 1 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.
  2. Carbone, Larry. '"What Animal Want: Expertise and Advocacy in Laboratory Animal Welfare Policy. Oxford University Press, 2004, p. 76, see figure 4.2.
  3. 1 2 Guillermo, Kathy Snow. Monkey Business, National Press Books, pp. 69-72.
  4. Newkirk, Ingrid. Free the Animals: The Amazing True Story of the Animal Liberation Front, 2000.
  5. Best, Steven in Best & Nocella (eds), Terrorists or Freedom Fighters, Lantern Books, 2004, p. 21.
  6. Lowe, Brian M. Emerging Moral Vocabularies. Lexington Books, 2006, p. 92.
  7. Rudacille, Deborah. The Scalpel and the Butterfly: The Conflict Between Animal Research and Animal Protection. University of California Press, 2001, p. 136: Rudacille quotes Jo Shoesmith, an attorney and long-time animal rights activist in the U.S., who says that Newkirk's account of "Valerie" is not only fictionalized, as Newkirk acknowledges, but "totally fictitious."
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 Eco-Violence: The Record, Southern Poverty Law Center, Fall 2002.
  9. 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).
  10. 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.
  11. Best, Steven in Best & Nocella (eds), Terrorists or Freedom Fighters, Lantern Books, 2004, p. 22.
  12. Group raids labs, takes animals, Associated Press, in the Philadelphia Inquirer, April 22, 1985.
  13. "The man, the activist", first published in Arkangel.
  14. Mann, Keith. From Dusk 'til Dawn: An insider's view of the growth of the Animal Liberation Movement. Puppy Pincher Press, 2007, pp. 267-275.
  15. 1 2 3 Best, Steven and Best & Nocella. Igniting a Revolution: Voices in Defense of the Earth, Lantern Books, 2006, p. 56.
  16. Animal rights group claims responsibility for mink release BBC News, August 9, 1998. Retrieved 2 October 2006.
  17. Anti-fur campaigners slam mink release BBC News, August 11, 1998. Retrieved 2 October 2006.
  18. Activists warn of more mink releases BBC News, August 18, 1998. Retrieved 2 October 2006.
  19. "Branded," Mail on Sunday, November 7, 2006
  20. 1 2 Film-maker 'branded in attack' BBC News, November 6, 1999. Retrieved October 2, 2006.

Further reading

Books
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External links
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