In LOVE with Humanity

Hero #008: Animal Liberation Front activists
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. Indeed, according to the A.L.F.'s own
code, only liberation-acts where all reasonable precautions are taken not to harm any
sentient lives (human and non-human alike) 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 either small groups of friends or lone individuals,
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 reason 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 are sentient, and that they experience pain & fear the same way as
you or I … More and more, as time passes, our message of Peace & Justice & Freedom
will be realized ... 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 – at
which point the animals will finally be free.‖ ~ via A.L.F.
―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)
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