#title Anarchy & Animal Liberation
#subtitle A Journal of Wild Attack
#lang en
#pubdate 2022-09-15T01:20:17
#source [[https://warzonedistro.noblogs.org/post/2022/07/17/anarchy-animal-liberation-a-journal-of-wild-attack/][warzonedistro.noblogs.org]]
#sku ZB04
Anarchy & Animal Liberation
A Journal of Wild Attack
In this zine:
ATTACK: From Theory to Anarchy
Animal Liberation Front
Breaking Away From Non-Violence
Revolutionary Cells - Animal Liberation Brigade
Animal Rights Militia Justice Department Other Groups and Cells
** Introduction
“Consumerism plays a major role in fueling and expanding the systemized exploitation and incarceration of animals. Consumerism is directly linked to the deforestation of jungles and forests for both animal and plant agriculture, the destruction of the organic world generally through mining for minerals, metals, and other so-called “natural resources”, and disposing the produced rubbish and waste into the rivers, oceans and the earth... Veganism, like anarchy, isn't a system; it's an individual praxis of abstention and individual resistance against consumerist violence and civilization-induced destruction. Veganism is the individual anti-speciesist refusal to take part in all forms of exploitation and systematic extermination.” -Renzo Connors The Intersections Between Anti-Speciesism, Anti-Civilization, & Individualist Anarchy
Despite the relationship between anarchism and veganism dating back to the early 1900’s (found particularily amongst many bomb-throwing individualists and illegalists of France and Italy), today many anarchists continue to view veganism as merely a new consumer trend born from green capitalism. Many individualist anarchists including the infamous Bonnet Gang were known for their emphasis on personal health and liberation – in particular personal liberation from drugs, tobacco and alcohol, as well as their strict vegetarian lifestyle (“strict vegetarian” since the word vegan wasn’t conceived until 1944).
“We ate little and drank only water. It’s extraordinary, the quantity of water certain anarchists consumed for internal compared to external usage. Being a water drinker and a vegetarian are two characteristics of the perfect anarchist. They couldn’t bear to see killed meat on their plate: in their hearts is engraved the motto “Be kind to animals.”
Callemin, Garnier, and Bonnot would under no conditions have eaten steak or drunk a glass of wine.” -Rirette Maîtrejean Memories of Anarchy
Equally, these same anarchists, as well as many others during this period of time were also some of the most outspoken opponents of waiting for any organized mass revolt. Instead these rebels, either in small, leaderless groups or as lone wolf individuals, seized every moment available to them and waged a social war against the manifestations of social control and domination. Their surprise- attack methods made their actions difficult for law enfrocenment to prepare for and prevent.
When it comes to illegal attacks and activity the structure most often used by both animal liberationists and insurrectionary anarchists is the model of Leaderless Resistance or Phantom Cell Structure. Generally speaking,
leaderless resistance, or phantom cell structure, is a strategy in which small, independent groups (covert cells), or individuals ("lone wolf"), engage in warfare against an established institution, social order, or government.
Leaderless resistance structures are the most resistant to informants since there is no center of command to be destroyed. They are more difficult for authorities to monitor since they prohibit conventional hierarchies or a formally organized structure.
Unlike mass organizations and protests that require the recruitment of many members, cells require only a few individuals and utilizes the element of unpredictability and stealth for covert attacks. This makes the attacks appear spontaneous, making it near impossible for the authorities to predict and prevent.
The anti-authoritarian relationship with non-human animals (and the earth) combined with clandestine attack against industrial society can be seen throughout history. Past and present, many anarchists not only maintain a vegan lifestyle as a rejection of hierarchy in their relationships to non-human animals, but also recognize the necessity for destroying civilization itself.
This zine was created with the intention of illustrating the relationship between veganism, individualist anarchy and insurrectionary attack by highlighting a few of the many groups and cells that turned anger into action.
** ATTACK: From Theory to Anarchy
"That is why the ALF cannot be smashed, it cannot be effectively infiltrated, it cannot be stopped. You, each and every one of you: you are the ALF." - Robin Webb of the Animal Liberation Press Office
*** Animal Liberation Front
The Animal Liberation Front (ALF) is an umbrella term for an international, leaderless, decentralized cell structure of individuals who engage in and promote non-violent direct action against speciesism and human supremacy. It originated in the 1970s from the Bands of Mercy. It is often referred to as 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.
Active in over 40 countries, ALF cells operate clandestinely, consisting of small groups of trusted friends or sometimes as just one person or “lone wolf”.
The ALFs guiding principle is that any act that furthers the cause of animal liberation, where all reasonable precautions are taken not to harm human or non- human life, may be claimed as an ALF action, including acts of vandalism causing economic damage.
There has been criticism within the animal rights movement itself about the use of violence, and increasing attention from the police and intelligence communities. In 2002 the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which monitors extremism in the United States, noted the involvement of the ALF in the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty campaign, which SPLC identified as using terrorist tactics—though a later SPLC report also noted that they have not killed anyone. In 2005 the ALF was included in a United States Department of Homeland Security planning document listing a number of domestic terrorist threats on which the U.S. government expected to focus resources. In the UK, ALF actions are regarded as examples of domestic extremism, and are handled by the National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit, set up in 2004 to monitor ALF and other illegal animal rights activity.
*** Band of Mercy
The first recorded direct action for animal liberation which progressed (after a considerable delay) into a movement of leaderless resistance was by the original "Band of Mercy" in 1824 whose goal was to thwart fox hunters. The roots of the ALF trace back to December 1963, when British journalist John Prestige was assigned to cover a Devon and Somerset Staghounds event, where he watched hunters chase and kill a pregnant deer. In protest, he formed the Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA), which evolved into groups of volunteers who attacked hunters' vehicles by slashing tires and breaking windows, designed to stop the hunt from even beginning, rather than thwarting it once underway.
A new Band of Mercy was then formed in 1972. It used direct action to liberate animals and cause economic sabotage against those thought to be abusing animals. In 1973, the Band learned that Hoechst Pharmaceuticals was building a research laboratory near Milton Keynes. On 10 November 1973, two activists set fire to the building, causing £26,000 worth of damage, returning six days later to set fire to what was left of it. It was the animal liberation movement's first known act of arson. In June 1974, two Band activists set fire to boats taking part in the annual seal cull off the coast of Norfolk, which Molland writes was the last time the cull took place. Between June and August 1974, the Band launched eight raids against animal-testing laboratories, and others against chicken breeders and gun shops, damaging buildings or vehicles. Its first act of "animal liberation" took place during the same period when activists removed half a dozen guinea pigs from a guinea pig farm in Wiltshire, after which the owner closed the business, fearing further incidents. Then, as now, property crime caused a split within the fledgling movement. In July 1974, the Hunt Saboteurs Association offered a £250 reward for information leading to the identification of the Band of Mercy, telling the press, "We approve of their ideals, but are opposed to their methods.
In August 1974, Lee and Goodman were arrested for taking part in a raid on Oxford Laboratory Animal Colonies in Bicester, earning them the moniker the "Bicester Two." Daily demonstrations took place outside the court during their trial; Lee's local Labour MP, Ivor Clemitson, was one of their supporters. They were sentenced to three years in prison, during which Lee went on the movement's first hunger strike to obtain vegan food and clothing. They were paroled after 12 months, Lee emerging in the spring of 1976 more militant than ever. He gathered together the remaining Band of Mercy activists and two dozen new recruits, 30 in all. Molland writes that the Band of Mercy name sounded wrong as a description of what Lee saw as a revolutionary movement. Lee wanted a name that would haunt those who used animals, according to Molland. Thus, the Animal Liberation Front was born.
Ronnie Lee and others changed the name of the new Bands of Mercy movement to the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) in 1976 and adopted a leaderless resistance model focusing broadly on animal liberation.
*** Underground and above-ground
The movement has underground and above-ground components, and is entirely decentralized with no formal hierarchy, the absence of which acts as a firebreak when it comes to legal responsibility. Volunteers are expected to stick to the ALF's stated aims when using its banner:
• To inflict economic damage on those who profit from the misery and exploitation of animals.
• To liberate animals from places of abuse, i.e. laboratories, factory farms, fur farms etc., and place them in good homes where they may live out their natural lives, free from suffering.
• To reveal the horror and atrocities committed against animals behind locked doors, by performing nonviolent direct actions and liberations.
• To take all necessary precautions against harming any animal, human and non-human.
• Any group of people who are vegans and who carry out actions according to ALF guidelines have the right to regard themselves as part of the ALF.
A number of above-ground groups exist to support covert volunteers. The Vegan Prisoners Support Group, created in 1994 when British activist Keith Mann was first jailed, works with prison authorities in the UK to ensure that ALF prisoners have access to vegan supplies. The Animal Liberation Press Office receives and publicizes anonymous communiqués from volunteers; it operates as an ostensibly independent group funded by public donations, though the High Court in London ruled in 2006 that its press officer in the UK, Robin Webb, was a pivotal figure in the ALF.
There are three publications associated with the ALF. Arkangel was a British bi- annual magazine founded by Ronnie Lee. Bite Back is a website where activists leave claims of responsibility; it published a "Direct Action Report" in 2005 stating that, in 2004 alone, ALF activists had removed 17,262 animals from facilities, and had claimed 554 acts of vandalism and arson. No Compromise is a San Francisco-based website that also reports on ALF actions.
*** Development of the ALF in the U.S.
There are conflicting accounts of when the ALF first emerged in the United States. The FBI writes that animal rights activists had a history of committing low-level criminal activity in the U.S. dating back to the 1970s. Freeman Wicklund and Kim Stallwood say the first ALF action there was on May 29, 1977, when researchers Ken LeVasseur and Steve Sipman released two dolphins, Puka and Kea, into the ocean from the University of Hawaii's Marine Mammal Laboratory. The North American Animal Liberation Press Office attributes the dolphin release to a group called Undersea Railroad, and says the first ALF action was, in fact, a raid on the New York University Medical Center on March 14, 1979, when activists removed one cat, two dogs, and two guinea pigs.
Two early ALF raids led to the closure of several university studies. A May 28, 1984, raid on the University of Pennsylvania's head injury clinic caused $60,000 worth of damage and saw the removal of 60 hours of tapes, which showed the researchers laughing as they used a hydraulic device to cause brain damage to baboons. The tapes were turned over to PETA, who produced a 26-minute video called Unnecessary Fuss. The head injury clinic was closed, the university's chief veterinarian was fired, and the university was put on probation.
On April 20, 1985, acting on a tip-off from a student, the ALF raided a laboratory in the University of California, Riverside, causing $700,000 in damages and removing 468 animals. These included Britches, a five-week-old macaque, who had been separated from his mother at birth and left alone with his eyes sewn shut and a sonar device on his head as part of a study into blindness. The raid, which was taped by the ALF, caused eight of the laboratory's seventeen active research projects to be shut down, and the university said years of medical research were lost. The raid prompted National Institutes of Health director James Wyngaarden to argue that the raids should be regarded as acts of terrorism.
In 1998, terrorism expert Paul Wilkinson called the ALF and its splinter groups "the most serious domestic terrorist threat within the United Kingdom." In 1993, ALF was listed as an organization that has "claimed to have perpetrated acts of extremism in the United States" in the Report to Congress on the Extent and Effects of Domestic and International Terrorism on Animal Enterprises. It was named as a terrorist threat by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in January 2005. In March 2005, a speech from the Counterterrorism Division of
the FBI stated.
To date the ALF has established itself as the most infamous and damaging clandestine animal rights group in the United States. For example, one cell conducted a string of 20 arsons from 1996 through 2001, which caused $40 million of damage to government facilities, such as ranger stations, wildlife facilities, and a police department; private companies, such as meat packing companies, a ski resort, a lumber company, a truck center, and a farm; an educational institution, such as the University of Washington Horticultural Center; and infrastructure, such as a power line. In May 2005, FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) officials stated that “violent animal rights extremists and eco-terrorists now pose one of the most serious terrorism threats to the nation,” and the ALF was listed as a domestic terrorist threat in a 2005 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) internal planning document.
In coordination with private corporations, the U.S. government conducted a targeted campaign to arrest and indict ALF members during the mid-2000s. Activists have labeled the legal action as the Green Scare, claiming that law enforcement unjustly targeted animal rights extremists despite the lack of any casualties resulting from related attacks.
** Breaking Away From Non-Violence
"It is unfortunate such drastic actions must be taken but in war, people die. And we haven't even started yet." - Letter (in booby- trapped envelopes with blades soaked in rat poison) sent to 87 researchers, hunting guides, and others in the United States, and in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada.
War, Class war, and you were the first to wage it under the cover of the powerful institutions you call order, in the darkness of your laws. There will have to be bloodshed; we will not dodge; there will have to be murder: we will kill, because it is necessary; there will have to be destruction; we will destroy to rid the world of your tyrannical institutions. - Notes titled “Plain Words” found at every site of the June 1919 anarchist US bombings.
The ALFs provision against violence triggered internal divisions. Many splinter groups and lone wolf individuals broke off and carried out more aggressive attacks on not only institutions but also on individual people as well.
In the early 1900’s the divisions between the individualist anarchists (whom the authorities called Galleanists) who carried out bombings, and the labor movement anarchists who openly denounced them, were strikingly similar to the those between the non-violent animal liberationists and those who preferred violent means of attack. The existence of individuals calling themselves Revolutionary Cells or Animal Rights Militia (ARM) reflects a struggle within the Animal Liberation Front and the animal rights movement in general - between those who believe violent tactics are justified, and those who insist the movement should reject it in favor of non-violent resistance.
It is rumored that some individuals or cells may operate in violent and non- violent groups simulataneously.
** Revolutionary Cells – Animal Liberation Brigade
The Revolutionary Cells – Animal Liberation Brigade (RCALB), known simply as Animal Liberation Brigade (ALB), is a name used by vegans who advocate the use of tactical diversity within the animal liberation movement, whether non-violent or not. The groups under this banner or name formed the same leaderless-resistance model as the Animal Liberation Front, but extends its tactics beyond the limitations of the ALFs position of non-violence.
As part of a praxis, the intention is to destroy all oppressive institutions, describing an endgame for industrial society, animal abusers and human supremacy.
Founded in the United States, after bombing Chiron and Shaklee's corporate offices in 2003, the Animal Liberation Brigade banner is associated with firebombing vehicles and threatening to send letter bombs to individuals in the California area. Targets have included corporate customers of animal testing laboratory Huntingdon Life Sciences and animal researchers at UCLA and the California National Primate Research Center.
The FBI issued an arrest warrant for Daniel San Diego for his alleged association with the cell responsible for the 2003 bombings, but he has not yet been caught.
The Revolutionary Cells guidelines was posted on the Bite Back website after the second bombing:
• To take strategic direct action (be it non-violent or not) against the oppressive institutions that permeate the world.
• Make every effort to minimize non-target casualties, be they human or non-human.
• Respect a diversity of tactics, whether they be non-violent or not.
• Any underground activist fighting for the liberation of the human, earth or animal nations may consider themselves a Revolutionary Cells volunteer
The Bite Back communique also explained who the Revolutionary Cells were
and why they exist:
The revolutionary cells exists as a front group for militants across the liberationary movement spectrum. We are anarchists, anti- racists, animal liberationists, earth liberationists, luddites, feminists, queer liberationists, and many more things across various other fronts. Where ever there is oppression there are those unwilling to idly stand by and let it occur, and those people make up the nucleus of the revolutionary cells.
The Institute's knowledge Base describes the Animal Liberation Brigade as an "unusually violent animal-rights terrorist movement ... with a penchant for hyperbole and casting about pretensions of power and importance." Oren Segal, co-director of Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism, believes the group consists of the same few "lone wolves" that carry out actions in the name of the ALF and Earth Liberation Front (ELF), "the names are interchangeable ... they're going to rename themselves depending on what actions they're doing."
*** Actions Pipe bombs
The RCALB took credit for its first action on 27 August 2003, when two "pipe bombs filled with an ammonium nitrate" were placed at Chiron Corporation's offices in Emeryville, California. Both devices were packed with nails to act as shrapnel. Chiron was targeted because of a contract with Huntingdon Life Sciences, a New Jersey-based animal testing contractor. A group calling itself Revolutionary Cells of the Animal Liberation Brigade e-mailed a statement to reporters taking credit for the bombing which was also sent to the Bite Back website. One of the bombs exploded an hour after the first, although no casualties resulted from the second blast, as the second device was discovered and the area cleared before the explosion.
*** Office bombing
In September 2003, the RCALB took responsibility for another bombing, this time at the offices of Shaklee Inc. in Pleasanton, California. Shaklee was targeted because its parent company, Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical, does business with HLS. The attackers are said to be linked to Daniel Andreas San Diego, who was featured on America's Most Wanted and has been placed on the FBI's most wanted terrorists list.
*** Incendiary device
On 24 June 2007, an explosive device was placed under a car belonging to Arthur Rosenbaum, a pediatric ophthalmologist who carries out animal
experimentation with cats and rhesus monkeys at the Jules Stein Eye Institute at UCLA. The device failed to explode because of a faulty fuse, but was still claimed by the Animal Liberation Brigade who called for "an end to systematic violence and oppression". UCLA offered a reward for information leading to the arrest of the bomber. Then acting Chancellor, Norman Abrams, said the university "remains steadfast in its commitment to the lawful use of laboratory animals in research for the benefit of society."
*** Letter bombs
Although no suspicious packages have yet been found, RCALB claimed in January 2009 to Indybay that they sent two UC Davis animal researchers letter bombs because of their work at the California National Primate Research Center. One of the researchers targeted said, "It worries me a little bit ... I mean, anytime someone threatens you physically I think it causes worry." The Animal Liberation Brigade said in a communique re-released by the Animal Liberation Press Office that the act was not a hoax, with officials at the primate center claiming threats and protests have happened before and were unacceptable.
*** Vehicle firebombed
In the early hours of 7 March 2009, the Animal Liberation Brigade once again targeted UCLA. This time setting ablaze and destroying a car belonging to researcher J. David Jentsch. The UCLA Chancellor described the latest attack as "reprehensible", with the University raising the reward for information leading to the arrest of the activists to nearly $500,000.
** Animal Rights Militia
The Animal Rights Militia (ARM) is another banner used by individuals who engage in sabotage and attack, utilizing a diversity of tactics that goes beyond the Animal Liberation Front's policy of taking all necessary precautions to avoid harm to human life. The ARM operates with the same leaderless-resistance model as the Animal Liberation Front.
*** Background
*** History
Since they have been set up, the ARM has caused millions of pounds (and dollars) worth of damage to animal labs, universities and slaughterhouses. Also, ARM have cost companies such as Mars and Lucozade millions of pounds because of false contamination claims, as described later.
When the Animal Rights Militia first emerged in the United Kingdom their focus was on illegal direct action. Utilizing tactics such as the destruction of property, intimidation, and including the use of violence, the ARM have sent letter bombs, placed incendiary devices under cars and in buildings, contaminated food products, sent death threats, and desecrated a grave.
The name was not heard of for eight years after a series of actions in England from 1982 to 1986. The ARM claimed an arson a year later in California, with a series of arsons, hoax bombs and threats reappearing in the 1990s, notably in the Isle of Wight, Cambridge, North Yorkshire and Oxford. The damage caused by fires averaged £2 million in each location.
*** Actions 1980s
1982
The first action became known on November 30 when five letter bombs were sent to Margaret Thatcher, then British Prime Minister, the Home Office minister responsible for animal legislation, as well as the leaders of Britain's three main opposition parties, signed by the Animal Rights Militia. The office manager to Thatcher suffered superficial burns on his hands and face when opening the package that burst into flames. It was later reported that the 8-by-4 inch package filled with gunpowder that exploded evaded Post Office scanners, causing a tightening in mail security at 10 Downing Street. Scotland Yard led the investigation stating, "We are now connecting all five letter-bombs with the same organisation."
1983
In February, four months after the attack against politicians, five more letter bombs were sent to different addresses in London, England, claimed again by the ARM. In an action apparently to protest the annual seal hunt in Newfoundland, Canada, the explosives were delivered to the Canadian High Commission, the then Agriculture minister, a surgeon and a furrier. This time, however, as the padded envelopes were defused, there were no injuries.
1985
In September, incendiary devices were placed under the cars of two animal researchers for BIBRA (British Industrial Biological Research Association) in South London, which completely wrecked both vehicles. ARM then claimed the contamination of Mars products, claiming it was because of their animal experiments relating to tooth decay which ARM claimed the company had no intention of ending. ARM then claimed the contamination was a hoax and they had not carried out the action. But claimed that it had caused huge financial damage which was the intention.
Three months later in January, ARM claimed responsibility for placing incendiary devices under cars of four individuals involved in animal research at Huntingdon Life Sciences. The explosives were placed in Harrogate, South London, Staffordshire and Sussex, timed to explode an hour apart from each other. This time, also the last time according to the cell, the bomb disposal team were alerted, who deactivated the devices that were confirmed to be live. The next attack the ARM claimed was intended to kill Dr Andor Sebesteny, an animal researcher for the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (ICRF). However he noticed the device that was attached under his car which saved his life, since no warning had been given. ARM also claimed responsibility for sending more letter bombs to individuals involved in vivisection.
1987
On 1 September, at San Jose Valley Veal & Beef, Santa Clara, California, the ARM claims responsibility for an arson which cost $10,000 in damages.
*** 1990s
1992
On 4 January 1992, the Edmonton Journal reported of an ARM action claimed by a letter and sent to the journal, as well as the Canadian Press. The cell said they injected 87 of the month-old food bar, the Canadian Cold Buster, with liquid oven cleaner, resulting in the product being pulled from shelves in Alberta, Canada. The ARM claimed in the letter, along with two bars, the contamination was due to the slaughter of thousands of rats, injected with various drugs, frozen and starved, "...because of the decade-and-a-half-long history of animal suffering that is this candy's history." The police at the time advised against consuming the food bar, unsure whether the action was genuine. The candy bars sent to the media were later confirmed to have been injected with saline solution (harmless sterilised table salt), proving to be a hoax.
1994
On 6 July, it was reported widely that the Cambridge store of Boots and also the Edinburgh Woolen Mill in the centre of the city had caught on fire. The Boots branch burnt for four hours completely destroying the building and the wool clothing store was badly damaged with the entire stock ruined. Two more devices were then found, both leather shops, one of which was in the pocket of a sheepskin coat. The ARM claimed all four devices, causing Cambridge city centre to be cordoned off whilst officers searched for two more devices that the cell claimed would explode the following day at 12pm. After an extensive search, it was concluded that the additional two devices claimed were a hoax, with no further devices exploding the following day. A month later, another leather shop was destroyed and the same wool mill suffered minor damage after devices went off, with two more recovered in leather shops and one in a fur shop.
ARM then set fire to shops on the Isle of Wight two week later, causing £3 million worth of damage. Initially an incendiary device had been found in a fishing tackle shop as a customer tried on a jacket, accidentally discovering the cigarette packet explosive. The police were called and seized the jacket for forensic tests, alerting all other fishing tackle shops in the island. However four further devices had been planted in Ryde and Newport, with the next one found in Halfords, a subsidiary of Boots, that was detonated in a controlled explosion. The three remaining devices then ignited in the early hours of the morning, setting ablaze two leather shops and an Imperial Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) shop, as a hundred firefighters attended to the fires.
Throughout the rest of the year extensive damage continued to occur elsewhere, most notably in the other end of the country in North Yorkshire by the ARM. Boots in Harrogate and Fads, another Boots subsidiary, were set on fire, followed by another ICRF shop and a bloodsports shop. In York, a newly refurbished Boots and Fads were again targeted by arsonists, causing a less but still severe damage to the properties.
On Christmas Day, the ARM then claimed in writing to two of Vancouver's biggest chains, Save-On Foods and Canada Safeway, that they had injected rat poison into turkeys in supermarkets. Evidence of contamination was not found.
In 1998 ARM further came to widespread public attention in the UK in December, during one of Horne's hunger strikes, which lasted 68 days. It was carried out in protest at the British government's refusal to order a commission of inquiry into animal testing, and ARM threatened to assassinate a number of individuals involved in vivisection should Horne die. Those threatened were Colin Blakemore, later chief executive of the Medical Research Council; Clive Page of King's College London, a professor of pulmonary pharmacology and chair of the animal science group of the British Biosciences Federation; Mark Matfield of the Research Defence Society; and Christopher Brown, the owner of Hillgrove Farm in Oxfordshire, who was breeding kittens for laboratories.
*** 2004-2007
2004
ARM claimed responsibility for removing, in October, from a grave the body of Gladys Hammond, the mother-in-law of Christopher Hall, part-owner of Darley Oaks Farm, which bred guinea pigs for Huntingdon Life Sciences, and which had been the target of the animal rights campaign Save the Newchurch Guinea Pigs. The body was removed from a churchyard in Yoxall, Staffordshire, and found buried in woodland on 2 May 2006.
2005
Following the announcement in August that the Hall family were no longer breeding guinea pigs for medical research, the ARM sent letters to the homes of 17 company directors associated with HLS. Most of the companies targeted were building contractors based in Peterborough, Huntingdon, and Harrogate. A letter from the ARM activists said:
The company you work for is working with Huntingdon Life Sciences. This is a disgusting and cowardly act. You have a choice. You can walk away from those sick monsters or you can personally face the consequences of your decision. Not only you but your family is a target. Sever your links with HLS within two weeks or get ready for your life and the lives of those you love to become a living hell.
Two weeks after the letters were sent in late September, nine companies, more than half, severed their ties with HLS.
2006
Four people were convicted on 11 May for their involvement in what The Guardian called "a six-year hate campaign" that included letter bombs, vandalism and grave robbing. The judge described the group's actions as "subjecting wholly innocent citizens to a campaign of terror." The campaign included hate mail signed Animal Rights Militia (ARM) and Animal Liberation Front (ALF). Those convicted were Jon Ablewhite, John Smith and Kerry Whitburn each of whom who were given twelve year sentences and Josephine Mayo who was sentenced to four years.
On 14 December, the ARM said they had poisoned bottles of POM juice drinks:
In a well coordinated action, 487 bottles of POM wonderful juices were tampered with along the Eastern seaboard in stores like Wild Oats, D'Agostino's and Food Emporiums. Those who drink the contaminated juice won't die like the animals in pom labs, but the diarrhea, vomiting and headaches will hopefully send a strong message that people will no longer allow innocent defenseless animals to be tormented and killed for a health juice and to line the pockets of profiteers who don't have feelings for those weaker than they are. At POM one-week-old baby mice are deprived of oxygen and then their brains cut open and rabbits have their arteries severed so they get erectile dysfunction so that pom wonderful can make money off the pain and suffering inflicted on animals inside the pom wonderful labs.
A spokesperson for POM replied: "If it is a hoax, it is a form of blackmail. If actual contamination has taken place, with the intention of injuring innocent people, it is an act of terrorism. Either way, the Animal Rights Militia is trying to scare and intimidate innocent people. That is criminal behaviour." It also said that the company conducted a vast amount of research involving human studies and that only a small number of tests were animal based, which did not include dogs, cats or primates. The owners the following month then stated: "POM Wonderful pomegranate juice has ceased all animal testing, and we have no plans to do so in the future." This followed Whole Foods Market, the biggest grocery chain in natural stores, threatening to stop selling their products, initiated by the PETA campaign.
In October 2007 the ARM again claimed to have contaminated tubes of Savlon with sodium hydroxide, as well as Lypsyl and Lamisil, citing no anti-tampering seal.
Just a couple months before that claim on August 30th, ARM claimed to have deliberately contaminated 250 tubes of Novartis's widely used antiseptic Savlon in shops including Superdrug, Tesco and Boots The Chemist who all withdrew sales of the cream.The cell claimed in a communique to Bite Back:
We don't want to kill living beings like Novartis but the side effects and the inevitable hospital stay will give people an idea of what Novartis pays for inside Huntingdon Life Sciences. The message is clear and uncompromising Vasella, you must stop killing animals inside Huntingdon Life Sciences or this will only be the beginning of our campaign.
*** 2010-2012
The ARM has claimed attacks in Sweden, in what was described in media as a modern wave of crimes against mainly vivisection personnel and fur farm owners. The actions involved the firebombing of a McDonald's restaurant in Gothenburg 2011, bomb threats, letter bombs and vandalism against fur companies and vivisection personnel. There was a wave of ARM-claimed attacks in Sweden during 2011-2012 after the arrest of a young animal rights activist who was sentenced to prison in 2012 for many of the attacks.
*** Convictions
Paul Scare was sentenced to one year in prison for sending razor blades to the people who he had targeted.
Barry Horne was subsequently imprisoned for eighteen years for arson attacks. The prosecution successfully argued that the devices used in Bristol and the Isle of Wight were so similar that Horne should be regarded as responsible for both, despite only pleading guilty to an attempted arson in Bristol.
** Justice Department
The Animal Liberation Front achieved what other methods have not while adhering to nonviolence. A separate idea was established that decided animal abusers had been warned long enough. ...The time has come for abusers to have but a taste of the fear and anguish their victims suffer on a daily basis. -JD
The Justice Department (JD) was founded in the United Kingdom with the same leaderless-resistence structure, as well as the same refusal of a strict non- violence policy as ARM.
The first recorded action took place during Christmas 1993, when pipe bombs in poster tubes were sent to Shamrock Farm, a supplier of primates for animal experimentation.
The name has also been used in the United States with activists claiming hundreds of attacks in the UK against animal testing companies, their suppliers, animal researchers, hunters (including the Royal Family), and even the British National Party HQ. By sending explosive devices and razor blades in the post, and leaving incendiary devices on shelves, The Independent labeled the political violence "the most sustained and sophisticated bombing campaign in mainland Britain since the IRA was at its height." with the FBI declaring them to be "the most dangerous animal activists in operation".
In The Independent newspaper it was claimed that the Justice Department is regarded as the "terrorist wing" of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). Some ALF activists reject the association, telling the newspaper: "You cannot be in favour of animal rights and at the same time attack people because at the end of the day people are animals, too."
By 1995, security forces grew concerned over not just the scale of the campaign, but also the sophistication of activists. The technology used in the bomb making was compared to that of the IRA, with hoax bombs designed to frighten the public rather than harm, although sometimes capable of maiming or killing. At the time Deputy Assistant Commissioner John Howley, overall head of both the Special Branch and the anti-terrorist branch, claimed it was not terrorism because there was no clear motive to overthrow the government.
*** ACTIONS
---------------->
The first recorded Justice Department action took place during Christmas 1993, when two-foot-long poster tubes with explosive devices were sent to Shamrock Farm, a supplier of primates for animal research; the action carried claims of HIV-infected needles. Eleven more devices were intercepted by Special Branch at sorting offices with one that was not recovered. It targeted the manager of GlaxoSmithKline in Hereford, who was also a member of the RSPCA's animal experimentation advisory board and Institute of Animal Technicians council. He opened the package which exploded in his face. Days later the group targeted Boots in Cornwall, publicly stating that they had replaced products on their shelves with devices. Boots issued an alert to their eleven hundred stores after one customer bought one of the products and contacted the police who deactivated the device.
*** 1994
There were at least 31 bomb attacks against hunts and their followers during 1994 and scores of others... Most of the devices are believed to have come from the Justice Department. - The Independent
Individuals working as the Justice Department have sent out letter bombs and envelopes rigged with poisoned razor blades. In 1994, a rat trap equipped with razor blades was sent to Prince Charles after he took his sons on their first foxhunt. Tom King, a former Defence Secretary, was sent an incendiary device, which failed to explode, after he defended foxhunting during a debate in parliament. Michael Howard, at the time Home Secretary, also received one.
Shortly after, the group set fire to two boats belonging to the owner of Garetmar kennels (formally known as Cottagepatch) in Hampshire and sent two videos disguised incendiary devices to the Boots store in Cambridge, which was intercepted, and another to the British National Party (BNP) HQ in South London; injuring Alfred Waite.
Another round of devices by the group were claimed to be increasingly sophisticated and random yet again injured staff, this time of ferry company Stena Sealink, which were attacked in Gloucestershire, Oxford, Edinburgh and Kent, in connection with the live exports trade. This resulted in ferry companies involved in live exports pulling out because of fear for their staff and their safety. Bloodsports enthusiast and hunt master Nick Fawcett was also one of the main targets of the Justice Department receiving several JD packages, with police blowing two up outside his home.
*** 1995
The Justice Department in April were then accused of sending four letter bombs from London to senior politicians William Waldegrave (the then Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food) and again to Tom King (a former Defence Secretary), a fur warehouse in Glasgow and an animal testing company in Edinburgh. Mr Waldegrave was targeted at his family farm in Chewton Mendip, Somerset, but the device was spotted by a postman and dismantled by a bomb disposal team. This was due to his apparent lack of action on banning the live exports trade and veal crates, with booby-trapped razor blades sent to his home in January, threatening letters and protests from animal rights activists. The campaign was condemned by Compassion in World Farming, while Mr Waldegrave dismissing the actions as "stupidity". The other bombs were intercepted at Westminster, a postroom and at the fur company in a controlled explosion.
*** 1996
Dear animal killing scum! Hope we sliced your finger wide open and that you now die from the rat poison we smeared on the razor blade.
In January, the group claimed responsibility for sending envelopes with blades soaked in rat poison to 80 researchers, hunting guides, and others in the United States, and in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. David Barbarash, a Vancouver-based activist who became North American spokesman for the Animal Liberation Front, was charged in connection with the attacks, but the case against him was dropped. Threats pursued in March, after the Department claimed sending out another 87 booby-trapped envelopes. the letter said:
"It is unfortunate such drastic actions must be taken but in war, people die. And we haven't even started yet.".
*** 1999
In August after a few years of inactivity, a US-based group sent razor blades and a picture of a bomb from New York City to Knox County Mink Farm, Ohio. Previously targeted by the ALF in 1996 when they released 8,000 from the premises, they warned the farm that they had a year to "get out of the bloody fur trade" and release all their mink, signed by the Justice Department Anti-Fur Task Force.
By October the group had prepared 83 envelopes containing razor blades and a strongly worded warning, sent from Las Vegas, urging primate researchers in Oregon to end their work by Autumn 2000. They were warned;
"If you do not heed our warning, your violence will be turned back on you."
No injuries were reported from the attacks, but the FBI swiftly classified them as the most dangerous animal activists in operation. The packages were received by researchers from UCSF, Stanford University, University of Washington, Tulane University and elsewhere. A special agent labelled the activity animal enterprise terrorism.
*** 2010
A new round of threats was investigated by the FBI in November after The Justice Department of UCLA claimed they sent HIV-infected razors to UCLA neuroscientist, animal researcher and Speaking of Research member David Jentsch. He received razor blades and a threatening note law enforcement claim. The North American Animal Liberation Press Office posted an anonymous communiqué from the group, who claimed they carried out the action because Jentsch uses primates for government-funded testing of drug addiction.
Since 2006, individuals have claimed numerous acts of sabotage, vandalism, criminal damage and firebombing against UCLA faculty or property, on and off campus, including the Animal Liberation Brigade setting fire to his car in March 2009. According to the university, Jentsch studies methamphetamine addiction, tobacco dependence in teenagers, and the cognitive disabilities affecting schizophrenia patients, with much of his work funded by the National Institutes of Health.
** Other cells and attacks
Earth First! and the environmental movement in the 1980s also adopted the leaderless resistance model.
The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) formed in 1992, breaking from Earth First! when that organization decided to focus on public direct action, instead of the clandestine sabotage that the ELF carries out.
In 1999 the leaderless resistance strategy was employed by animal liberation organisations like Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC), which was formed from the Consort beagles campaign and Save the Hill Grove Cats to close down Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS).
Within a few years of the victories claimed by the SHAC, other campaigns against animal testing laboratories emerged. At the same time, SPEAK Campaigns and the more radical ALF militants, Oxford Arson Squad began their campaigns towards the same goal: to end Oxford University's animal research.
In April 2009, the Militant Forces Against Huntingdon Life Sciences (MFAH) became active. With the ALF, they began targeting HLS customer and financial Directors, as well as company property. Since then, groups have reported over a dozen actions in Europe, including painting homes, burning cars, and grave desecration.
This zine is focused more on US based animal liberation groups, and would be too damn long if it included all the groups in other countries. Nevertheless, many vegan anarchist attack cells and individuals have made themselves known for example on the neighboring land occupied by the Mexican State.
Throughout the years many different groups and cells have carried out attacks, and continue to do so to this day. Some sign their attacks with names that are never heard from again. Some groups and individuals chose not to put out communiques for their actions at all. Some say this is intended to induce public hysteria and panic by allowing actions to be viewed as random attacks occuring without warning or motive.
As long as industrial society exists, so will those who oppose it, sabotaging it with every breathing moment of their lives. And through all the surveilance and power of the State, there will be those whose courage to attack is stronger than the fear of prison – and even the fear death.
For info on animal liberation and anarchy in Mexico check out: CARNE ES ASESINATO! Anti-Speciesism, Veganism & the Animal Liberation Front/ Frente de liberacion Animal in Mexico
Available here:
https://warzonedistro.noblogs.org/files/2017/09/ CARNE_ES_ASESINATO_ALF_MEXICO.pdf
For anarchist animal liberation actions, news and resources:
Unoffensive Animal https://unoffensiveanimal.is/ About;
Unoffensive Animal was born out of the necessity to inspire activists. After complaining about how the radical left has an incline to disregard veganism and qualify it as classist and colonialist, and after feeling completely disheartened by animal rights activists disregarding human issues, we decided to create a media outlet able to bring both sides and to help radicalise activists.
Unoffensive Animal is an anarchist collective. We are non-profit and strongly anti capitalist. We are queer and/or queer allies. We are antifascists. We are vegan, animal liberationists and we have even been called forest “jihadis”. We stand against animal exploitation and against human exploitation. We oppose racism, bigotry and nationalism. We believe in direct action, but we also believe in diversity of tactics. We know that human liberation is animal liberation and that animal liberation will never happen under capitalism.
We are a media outlet. We want to empower activists and to show the world what activists are doing. For that reason, we sometimes publish news about actions that are considered illegal under many countries’ law. Even though we condemn the repressive nature of laws, we would like to make clear that Unoffensive Animal does not promote, seek to incite or partake on illegal actions. Our purpose when publishing said actions is merely to inform the overall public about what people are up to.
We have seen many protests and actions over the years. From placard waving to lengthy occupations, we have attempted to get involved with as much as possible. For that reason, we have tried to collect as much information and knowledge as we could. We are able to share our knowledge through organising and hosting workshops. If any groups or individuals feel the need to contact us to help them organise anything, please email us through our “Contact Us” tab.
We are obviously against prisons. We constantly advocate for prisoner support and letter writing. If you’re an activist seeking economic support after an action, please contact us to see what we can do.
Until ALL are free.
BITE BACK
[[https://www.directaction.info/][www.directaction.info/]]
**About:**
News magazine about the radical animal rights movement worldwide.
North American Animal Liberation Press Office
[[https://animalliberationpressoffice.org/NAALPO/]]
Animal Liberation Press Offices relay anonymous communiques, photos, and videos to the media about direct action undertaken by the Animal Liberation Front, Animal Rights Militia, Revolutionary Cells – Animal Liberation Brigade, Justice Department, and other leaderless resistance within the animal liberation movement.
Warzone Distro
[[https://warzonedistro.noblogs.org]]
About:
Warzone Distro is a zine creating and distributing project focused on anarchy, insurrection and anti-civilization.
This zine is dedicated to the memory of Barry Horne ---->
** Barry Horne 1952-2001 REST IN POWER
Barry Horne, described by The Guardian as “the first true martyr of the most successful terrorist group Britain has ever known, the animal rights movement”.
In 1988 Barry Horne and three others were convicted of “stealing” a bottlenose dolphin named Rocky from Marineland in Morecombe, Lancashire. Barry was fined £500 and given a six month suspended sentence. He and others then set up a campaign to free Rocky. Rocky was released to spend the rest of his life in freedom. There are now no captive dolphins in the UK.
After his release in 1994 Barry began working as a one-man ALF cell and over the course of the next two years carried out arson attacks against Boots the chemist, cancer charities which funded animal testing and shops that sold fur and leather. Eventually Barry was arrested in Bristol in June 1996.
In January 1997 he began his first hunger strike demanding the government stop funding vivisection within five years. There was an upsurge in actions including major demos at Harlan, Consort and Hillgrove lab animal breeders where large amounts of damage were caused and animals liberated. Barry started eating again after 35 days due to receiving encouraging messages from the soon-to be Labour government, such as animal welfare spokesperson Elliot Morley, who wrote: “Labour is committed to a reduction and an eventual end to vivisection.”
Barry began his second hunger strike with the aim of ensuring the new Labour government withdrew all animal testing licences within an agreed timeframe. Another upsurge in actions ensued against Hillgrove and Shamrock Farms and Wickham Laboratories, as well as Labour’s HQ and Jack Straw’s home.
The pressure became so intense that the government was forced into submitting. On 26 September, he called off his hunger strike after 46 days.
In November 1997 Barry stood trial for arson related to attacks on the Isle of Wight and was convicted on all charges and sentenced to 18 years.
Barry never fully recovered from a third hunger strike. His final fast began on 21 October 2001 and he died 15 days later of liver failure, after signing a directive refusing medical treatment.