Animal Liberation Front - Essay Example

?N mla Animal Liberation Front The Animal Liberation Front was used to refer to an underground, international band that used to operate for the well being of the animals around the world. The purpose of forming this band was to free animals from activities such as laboratories, slaughter houses, safe houses and pet care centers where animals are not allowed to live freely (Liddick 127). They have been recognized as a terrorist group by those who are not in support of them and their purpose, those who favor them including those who participated in their activities proposed that they can not be recognized as a terrorist group as they have done no harm 2. According to media and other researchers, the group could not stand against criminal like activities that were being conducted in the name of animal liberation under the flag or ALF or any other name. During 2002 the department that is responsible for monitoring and controlling extremist like activities reported that ALF has used violent terrorist like activities for their operations and have cost billions by destroying property but have ensured that no human being is harmed 2. 1. Don Liddick,. Eco-terrorism: radical environmental and animal liberation movements. Westport, (Conn.: Praeger, 2006) 127. 2. Yonah Alexander and Michael Kraft (eds.). Evolution of U.S. counterterrorism policy. Westport, (Conn.: Praeger Security International, 2008) 241 - 250. During the period of 2005, homeland security department of US compiled a list of groups that may be a serious terrorist threat to US and within that list, ALF was even considered as a plausible terrorist threat and the US decided to use its resources against their activities 2. The history of this group can be dated back to the end of 1963 when John Prestige, a British news reporter, gained the duty of viewing an event where hunters had to hunt a deer who was pregnant 3. He stood against this activity and formed HAS (Hunt Saboteurs Association); the aim of this association was to make sure that huntsmen fail in their act of hunting 3. Later, one of the group members named Ronnie Lee made his own group to help animals, this group comprised of young individuals who were against the act of animal brutality, and the group was recognized as the Band of Mercy 4. ALF came into existence and made its appearance when the founder of HAS was taken into defense officials custody for conducting a raid on the Oxford Laboratory Animal Colonies. People revolted against their arrest and later the founder was assigned imprisonment for three years from where he continued to pursue animal liberation by going on a hunger strike and demanding for vegetarian food in jails 5. Later he was released on parole basis for 12 months; as soon as he gained freedom, he started his activities and to make the group look fiercer to others, he changed the name of the group from Band of Mercy to Animal Liberation Front 6. 3. Norm Phelps. The longest struggle: animal advocacy from Pythagoras to PETA. (New York: Lantern Books, 2007) 201 4. Margaret Pasewicz,. Cultural encyclopedia of vegetarianism. Santa Barbara, (CA: Greenwood, 2010) 27 5. Harvey Kushner, W. Encyclopedia of terrorism. Thousand Oaks,( Calif.: Sage Publications, 2003)10 6. Gus Martin,. The Sage encyclopedia of terrorism. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, (Calif.: SAGE Publications, 2011) 45 The group was not only active behind the walls, they even conducted their activities outside the wall, the group had no leader and group members had to follow the stated guidelines of the movement at all times. According to the movements guidelines, to increase economic cost of those who make revenues by manipulating animals, to provide freedom to animals from places where they were treated very badly, to publicize the harsh treatment animals had to go through, to ensure that no animal was being harmed and those individuals who were living in accordance to the constitution created by the movement were entitled as members of ALF even if they had not subscribed for it 7. ALF was following the philosophy of Tom Regan who recognized animals as subjects of a life; ALF believed that individuals, organizations and groups who fail to recognize animals as subjects of life are indulging in speciesism 8. Speciesism is a term used to refer to the act of recognizing individuals according to their values and norms and is a kind of discrimination 9. The movement claimed to be non-violent, but members of the movement were involved in such activities as they used to destroy settings where they believed animals were being abused and they operated in this manner because they believed that if such settings are destroyed, replacement of such settings will cost high and creators of such settings may avoid to create such centers in future. According to Rachel Monaghan, during the very first era of the activities of ALF, the movement damaged property that had a worth of more than ?250,000 by damaging property such as laboratories and slaughter houses 10. 7. John Sanbonmatsu, Critical theory and animal liberation. Lanham, (Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2011) 226 8. Nik Taylor, and Tania Signal, Theorizing animals: re-thinking humanimal relations. (Leiden: Brill, 2011) 36 9. Wesley J. Smith, A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy: the human cost of the animal rights movement. New York, (NY: Encounter Books, 2010) 146 Stallwood states that due to the initial non-violent movements made to assist animals, the movement gained heavy support 10. Stallwood further states that their activities were especially appreciated by the youth, who later joined the movement 10. The media even gave ample amount of appreciation to the early activities of ALF and made continuous appearance in the newspaper called Liberator 11. The foundation of the movement involved the policy of not committing any terrorist like activities and to remain non violent, this policy divided the group members and certain members of the group were regarded as hypocrites. During the period of 1998, the group was recognized as one of the most damaging terrorist group of the area of UK by Paul Wilkinson and during 1993 the group was recognized as an extremist group within US in a report prepared by the Congress 12. Similarly during the period of 2005, the group gained recognition as a terrorist threat to the national security of the US by the Homeland security Department and during the same year FBI regarded it as an eco-terrorist group who operates with the aim of disturbing the peace of individuals within the nation 12. According to Peter singer, the activities of the front of animal liberation can only be justified if the group operates in a non-violent manner and he further stated that ALF is the only group that has been able to remove the curtains over the way animals are treatment in laboratories and slaughterhouses 13. 10. Steven Best and Anthony J. Nocella. Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?: Reflections on the Liberation of Animals. (New York: Lantern Books, 2004) 184 11. Rik Scarce. Eco-warriors: Understanding the Radical Environmental Movement. (Chicago: Noble Press, 1990) 301 12. Paul Wilkinson,.Homeland security in the UK: future preparedness for terrorist attack since 9/11. (London: Routledge, 2007) 101. 13. Gordon R Preece,.Rethinking Peter Singer: a Christian critique. Downers Grove, (Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2002) 141 ALF’s appearance in the United States of America is not properly known, according to FBI, animal rights activities conducted low level criminal activities during the period of 1970s 14. Stallwood states that first activity conducted within the US by ALF was during the period of 1977 when they freed two dolphins from the possession of Mammal Laboratory located in Hawaii 10. Guillermo states that the first activity conducted by ALF in the US was when they freed 17 monkeys from the possession of a researcher and these monkeys were then transferred to the PETA 15. PETA itself states that the first activity conducted by ALF within the US was when a police officer was attracted by the freedom of the monkeys and then he flew to Britain to obtain training form the movement 15. During 1984, ALF conducted an attack on the head injury clinic of the University of Pennsylvania and they destroyed several tapes that showed the researchers act of laughing while they conducted the practice of damaging brains of baboons 16. These videos were submitted to the organization of PETA, and this resulted in the firing of the chief veterinarian of the university and the university experienced probation and the clinic used for head injury was totally shut down 16. 14. Jennifer Webb and Susan Cutter. "The Geography of U.S. Terrorist Incidents, 1970-2004." Terrorism and Political Violence. 21.3 (2009): 428-449. 15. Richard Kahn, "The Educative Potential of Ecological Militancy in an Age of Big Oil: Towards a Marcusean Ecopedagogy." Policy Futures in Education. 4.1 (2006): 31-44. 16. Julie A. Smith, Experiencing animal minds: an anthology of animal-human encounters. (New York: Columbia University Press, 2013) 322. According to Monaghan, during the period of 1982, the non-violent activities of the group were replaced by violent activities and they started threatening people and used bomb explosions 17. During the era of 1984, ALF reported to media that they had infected Mars Bars in order to make them stop their activity of testing monkeys for tooth decay research 17. Later during the session of 1986, the activists even exploded bombs in stores that were selling animal fur and products obtained from animals 17. ALF has always reported itself as a non-violent activist group and during the era of 1990 when they were accused of conducting violent activities, they reported that such activities are not conducted by ALF and other violent groups are impersonating as ALF and conducting such activities 14. During the era of 1991 and 1992 to the activities of the eco terrorist group enhanced and several settings which were expected to be treating animals in a negative way were shut down. During the same period, In UK more than 100 trucks that contained frozen meat were harmed and this cost millions of pounds to the economy 14. During the period of 1999, Graham Hall reported that the members of the group had attacked him for producing a video which damaged the image of ALF 14. During 2006, the group accepted the responsibility of conducting a bomb blast at the University of California. During the period of 2006, the DOJ of the US held 11 activists of ALF responsible for conducting illegal and criminal like activities and out of those 11, 9 accepted the responsibility for conducting violent activities from 1996 to 2001 18. During 2008, these activists were involved in actions that disturbed the peace of researchers 14. 17. R. Monaghan, "Animal Rights and Violent Protest." Terrorism and Political Violence. 9.4 (1997): 106-116. 18. D.E. Johnson, "Cages, Clinics, and Consequences: the Chilling Problems of Controlling Special-Interest Extremism." Oregon Law Review. 86.1 (2007): 249-293 Works Cited Alexander, Yonah, and Michael Kraft (eds.). Evolution of U.S. counterterrorism policy. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Security International, 2008. Print. Best, Steven, and Anthony J. Nocella. Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?: Reflections on the Liberation of Animals. New York: Lantern Books, 2004. Print. Johnson, D.E. "Cages, Clinics, and Consequences: the Chilling Problems of Controlling Special-Interest Extremism." Oregon Law Review. 86.1 (2007): 249-293. Print. Kahn, Richard. "The Educative Potential of Ecological Militancy in an Age of Big Oil: Towards a Marcusean Ecopedagogy." Policy Futures in Education. 4.1 (2006): 31-44. Print. Kushner, Harvey W. Encyclopedia of terrorism. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, 2003. Print. Liddick, Don. Eco-terrorism: radical environmental and animal liberation movements. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2006. Print. Martin, Gus. The Sage encyclopedia of terrorism. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications, 2011. Print. Monaghan, R. "Animal Rights and Violent Protest." Terrorism and Political Violence. 9.4 (1997): 106-116. Print. Pasewicz, Margaret. Cultural encyclopedia of vegetarianism. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2010. Print. Phelps, Norm. The longest struggle: animal advocacy from Pythagoras to PETA. New York: Lantern Books, 2007. Print. Preece, Gordon R.. Rethinking Peter Singer: a Christian critique. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2002. Print. Sanbonmatsu, John. Critical theory and animal liberation. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2011. Print. Scarce, Rik. Eco-warriors: Understanding the Radical Environmental Movement. Chicago: Noble Press, 1990. Print. Smith, Julie A.. Experiencing animal minds: an anthology of animal-human encounters. New York: Columbia University Press, 2013. Print. Smith, Wesley J. A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy: the human cost of the animal rights movement. New York, NY: Encounter Books, 2010. Print. Taylor, Nik, and Tania Signal. Theorizing animals: re-thinking humanimal relations. Leiden: Brill, 2011. Print. Webb, Jennifer, and Susan Cutter. "The Geography of U.S. Terrorist Incidents, 1970-2004." Terrorism and Political Violence. 21.3 (2009): 428-449. Print. Wilkinson, Paul. Homeland security in the UK: future preparedness for terrorist attack since 9/11. London: Routledge, 2007. Print. Read More