The Animal Liberation Front (A.L.F.) is an international, underground, leaderless resistance organization that engages in direct action (both legal & illegal) in pursuit of animal liberation. Activists see themselves as a modern-day Underground Railroad, physically removing animals from laboratories and farms, secretly videotaping animal abuse & acts of animal cruelty, destroying animal-incarceration facilities, arranging safe houses & veterinary care for liberated animals, and operating sanctuaries where liberated animals subsequently live.

Critics have compared A.L.F. activists to terrorists, and yet the movement is openly & officially a non-violent one. According to the A.L.F.’s code, only acts that further the cause of animal liberation, where all reasonable precautions are taken not to harm human or non-human life, may be claimed as A.L.F. actions. American A.L.F. activist Rod Coronado summed it up as follows: “One thing that I know that separates us from the people we are constantly accused of being—that is, terrorists or violent criminals—is the fact that we have harmed no one.”

The roots of the A.L.F. trace all the way back to August of 1974, when Ronnie Lee and Cliff Goodman were arrested for taking part in a raid on Oxford Laboratory Animal Colonies in Bicester. The two were sentenced to three years in prison, during which Lee went on the movement’s first hunger strike to obtain vegan food and clothing therein. Both were paroled after 12 months, with Lee emerging in the spring of 1976 more motivated than ever for the cause, gathering together activist friends and a few dozen new recruits — and the Animal Liberation Front was born.

Currently active in over 40 countries, A.L.F. cells operate clandestinely, consisting of small groups of friends and sometimes just one person, making them extremely difficult for authorities to monitor. Their short-term goal is to save as many animals as possible and directly disrupt any & all practices of animal abuse. Their long-term aim is to end all animal suffering by forcing animal abuse companies completely out of business. Activists are careful to note that the animals they remove from laboratories or farms are “liberated”, not “stolen” — for the simple reasoning that they were never rightfully owned by their tormentors in the first place.

“Perhaps the easiest method of helping us to accomplish our mission is to help the world’s masses emotionally connect with the animals they often unknowingly abuse for food, clothing, and product safety by comparing them to the domestic companions they already love. Many of today’s animal rights activists have made this connection after seeing animal rights protests, reading about direct actions, or any other method with which our objectives have been relayed. Sometimes an epiphany comes months after previously ignoring animal rights rhetoric or noise while they are quietly watching a pigeon in the street … So please plant the seed of thought in someone else’s brain today that animals have feelings, and that they are sentient, and that they experience pain & fear the same way as you or I. It doesn’t matter how you do so. You can even stand on your head and make hysterical noises if you wish. More and more, as time passes, our message of Peace & Justice & Freedom will be realized … And remember, we don’t need to convince everyone that animals are not commodities and that animals are not property — a significant minority of people will be enough. And after this critical mass finally embraces the concept of Respect & Fairness & Compassion of which we are reminding them, and after this concept is around & in the open for a few years, it will become fluidly an idea accepted by the majority as well … and then, the animals will finally be free.” ~ the A.L.F.

“This is the customary time when the defendant expresses regret for the crimes they committed, so let me do that because I am not without my regrets. I am here today to be sentenced for my participation in releasing mink from 6 fur farms. I regret it was only 6. I’m also here today to be sentenced for my participation in the freeing of 8,000 mink from those farms. I regret it was only 8,000. It is my understanding of those 6 farms, only 2 of them have since shut down. I regret it was only 2. More than anything, I regret my restraint, because whatever damage we did to those businesses, if those farms were left standing, and if one animal was left behind, then it wasn’t enough. I don’t wish to validate this proceeding by begging for mercy or appealing to the conscience of the court, because I know if this system had a conscience I would not be here, and in my place would be all the butchers, vivisectors, and fur farmers of the world. Just as I will remain unbowed before this court- who would see me imprisoned for an act of conscience- I will also deny the fur farmers in the room the pleasure of seeing me bow down before them. To those people here whose sheds I may have visited in 1997, let me tell you directly for the first time, it was a pleasure to raid your farms, and to free those animals you held captive. It is to those animals I answer to, not you or this court. I will forever mark those nights on your property as the most rewarding experience of my life. And to those farmers or other savages who may read my words in the future and smile at my fate, just remember: We have put more of you in bankruptcy than you have put liberators in prison. Don’t forget that. Let me thank everyone in the courtroom who came to support me today. It is my last wish before prison that each of you drive to a nearby fur farm tonight, tear down its fence and open every cage. That’s all.” ~ Peter Young (statement made to the court at his 2005 sentencing hearing)

 

“The A.L.F. cannot be smashed, nor can it cannot be effectively infiltrated, nor can it be stopped, if for no other reason than you, each and every one of you: you are the A.L.F.” ~ Robin Webb (A.L.F. member)

Filed under: In LOVE with Humanity by Scaughdt