Timeline of Animal Liberation Front actions

A time line 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.

Timeline of actions

The detailed list of actions are divided chronologically:

• Timeline of Animal Liberation Front actions, 1976-1999
• Timeline of Animal Liberation Front actions, 2000-2004
• Timeline of Animal Liberation Front actions, 2005-Present

Background

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 tactics, with activists often using both tactics together;

• The removal of animals from laboratories, and/or releasing them from fur farms, and other animal-based industries.
• The sabotage of animal-based industries, such as; slaughterhouses, butchers, farms, circuses, greyhound stadiums, and pet shops, or businesses involved in (or with) animal testing organizations, using tactics such as; vandalism, arson, intimidation, incendiary devices and hoax bombs.

Summary of landmarks

1970s

1976

• The damage totaled £250,000 in the first year alone by the ALF.
• First recorded fur farm raid, with 1,000 foxes released from Dalchonzie fur farm in Scotland.

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.

1977

• One of the first ALF actions in Netherlands is reported, with activists removing hens from an intensive farming unit in Eindoven.

1979

• A cat, two dogs, and two guinea pigs, are taken from New York University Medical Center, the first ALF raid in the United States.

1980s

1980

• First animal researcher is targeted, with a Glaxo Wellcome (now GlaxoSmithKline) employee's garage being vandalized.

1981

• The "Silver Spring monkeys" are removed from an animal research laboratory in the USA.
• Dogs are taken from a laboratory in one of the first raids known in France by the ALF, with more raids that followed.
• 48 beagle dogs are taken from a laboratory in Germany, as one of the first ALF raids known in the country.
• First ALF actions reported in Canada at a butchers shop.

1982

• A laboratory in Zürich, Switzerland, is raided, as one of the first Swiss ALF actions, with 48 beagles taken.
• First ALF action is reported in Australia.
• 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. The ALF later admitted the claims had been a hoax.

1983

• Malta, South Africa and New Zealand have the first ALF actions reported.

1984

• The ALF steal tapes from the University of Pennsylvania, after raiding the building, and release the footage to PETA, which make the documentary Unnecessary Fuss.
• The first action in Denmark is reported by the ALF.

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.
• One of the first ALF actions in Sweden occurs with a raid and two beagles taken from a dental school.

1987

• Ronnie Lee is sentenced to ten years in prison for ALF actions.
• The first actions by the ALF in Italy, Austria and Spain are reported.

1990s

1992

• The first ALF action occurs in Israel.

1994

• The ALF report an action in Poland.
• 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.

1995

• 600 foxes have their coats dyed at various fur farms in Finland, as the first ALF action reported in the country.

1996

• The first ALF action is reported in Norway.

1997

• Consort Beagle Kennels closes after an ALF campaign.

1998

• The last fur farm is raided in the United Kingdom, with the practice then banned by the Fur Farming (Prohibition) Act 2000.
• Hill Grove Farm closes after an ALF campaign.
• The ALF report that they have taken the first ALF action in Belgium.

2000-Present

2000

• Shamrock Farm closes after an ALF campaign.
• Regal Rabbits closes after an ALF campaign.

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.
• ALF activist David Blenkinsop and two others assault Huntingdon Life Sciences director Brian Cass with pick-axe handles. ALF founder Ronnie Lee said: "He has got off lightly. I have no sympathy for him."

2003

• The ALF release 1,000 mink from their cages in the very first fur farm raid in Ireland.

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".
• Vehicles at RMC building sites in Bedford and Bournemouth are damaged by the ALF, 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.
• Three butchers windows are smashed, in what is known as the first ALF action in Turkey.

2005

• The ALF is named as a terrorist threat by the United States Department of Homeland Security, which the FBI and ATF claim are one of the most serious threats to the nation, along with the Earth Liberation Front (ELF).

2006

• Newchurch Farm closes after an ALF campaign culminating in a grave robbing incident claimed by a related front, called the Animal Rights Militia.

• In Russia, 10,000 animals are taken from a breeding facility in one of the largest ALF animal removal operations in history.
• 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.
• 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.

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.
• MoD research using goats in hyperbaric chambers, conducted by QinetiQ are stopped, which followed a raid from the ALF in July 2006. The MoD then confirm that the tests will not continue the following year.
• 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, the company pull out of the building project because of the "unacceptable intimidating attitude" by the ALF.

2008

• The ALF, ELF, DBF (Swedish/Dutch ALF) and related groups increase illegal actions against the food industry by 377% in the United States and 42% globally, from 2007 to 2008. The main source of the actions was Bite Back Magazine, with the Animal Agricultural Alliance claiming a total of 640 acts of sabotage, vandalism and arson had been reported overall, marking an increase of 35%. The attacks against food retailers focussed on McDonalds, Burger King, and KFC, with techniques including destruction of property such as smashing, etching or paint bombing windows, as well as the liberation of thousands of animals. Mexico is fast becoming an emerging center for the activity, with ALF cells in North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah, and Texas also reporting actions in the United States. The attacks are thought to be attributed to promoting a vegan agenda, which the alliance described as shocking and disturbing, especially during the current economic downturn.

2009

• ALF cells are active in around 42 countries, including in North and South America, Australia and New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, Malta, Turkey, Israel, Iceland, Malaysia, and most European countries.
• The Militant Forces Against Huntingdon Life Sciences (MFAH) are formed. They first report targeting HLS customer vehicles with the ALF.

See also

• Animal Liberation Front Supporters Group
• Animal Liberation Press Office
• Bite Back
• Behind the Mask

Further reading

• Peter Daniel Young, (2010) Animal Liberation Front: Complete Diary of Actions, The First 30 Years, Voice of the Voiceless Communications, ISBN 978-0-9842844-0-5
• Mann, Keith, (2007) From Dusk 'til Dawn: An Insider's View of the Growth of the Animal Liberation Movement, Puppy Pincher Press, ISBN 978-0-9555850-0-5
• Best, Steven, and Nocella, Anthony J, (2004) Terrorists or Freedom Fighters? Reflections on the Liberation of Animals, Lantern Books, ISBN 1-59056-054-X
• Newkirk, Ingrid, (2000) Free the Animals: The Story of the Animal Liberation Front, Lantern Books, ISBN 1-930051-22-0

External links

• Diary of Actions Bite Back
• North American Animal Liberation Press Office
• Animal Liberation Front