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ALF 2003
December ? California:
During the holiday season, some Chiron employees and their families received
at their homes, through the mail, a box with coal, dog feces and a card
that read "May your violence against the animals come back to haunt
you in the new year! If you think that gift is bad just wait to see what
Elves all across the USA have in store for you in the days to come!"
December 24 Stockholm,
Sweden: A package of lamb and a letter from "Animals Liberation Front"
(sic) claiming that meat had been poisoned in nine Stockholm supermarkets
was left at the TT news agency. The agency also received a phone call
taking credit for the action and stating, " We will not undertake
any action that could physically injure people, but economically we will
injure them greatly." A similar threat was made against a supermarket
in Upsala in November. No poisoned meat was found there.
December 23 Vancouver,
Canada: Safeway is warming shopper to check their turkeys after receiving
three threatening letters from an animal rights group. Activists claim
to have thawed several frozen turkeys and injected them with arsenic.
This is the fourth time in ten years that animal rights activists claim
to have tampered with holiday turkeys in British Columbia.
December 19Norfolk,
UK: Activists from VIVA broke into sheds at several turkey farms owned
by Bernard Matthews. They claimed their videos showed dead and injured
bird, however, the owner of the farms blamed the activists for causing
the birds to panic.
December 12 Castel
di Sangro, Italy: ALF criminals raided a mink farm and opened cages. ALF's
e-mail states, "This is the fourth successful mink liberation in
2003."
November 18 Portland,
Australia: Animal rights activists contaminated sheep feed with a "shredded,
ham-type material" to make 50,000 sheep unsuitable for shipment to
Muslin countries. The activists are protesting Australia's live export
trade. The sheep may have to be euthanized, because under Australian law,
sheep fed animal products are unfit for human consumption. It's unclear
how many of the 50,000 animals were exposed to the tainted feed. Police
said they had arrested a 40-year-old man in connection with the incident.
November 14 Burton-on
Trent, England: Army bomb disposal experts were called out after dozens
of fireworks were thrown at a house linked to a guinea pig breeding farm.
Police believe the attack, which left unexploded fireworks under cars,
is linked to recent animal rights harassment focused on the farm. Last
month leaflets were passed out, wrongly accusing a client of the farm
of being a convicted pedophile.
November 6 Asheville, NC: Vandals struck the Little Pigs
Bar-B-Que restaurant, spray-painting ALF, "murderer," and other
graffiti on two catering vans. Windows were broken in a van and in the
main building.
November 1 New
Hyde Park, NY: Sometime over Halloween weekend a resident's home and cars
were spray-painted with the slogan ALF and "Stop HLS." The homeowner
has no connection with Huntington Life Science (HLS), the long time target
of animal rights extremists.
October 27 Newchurch,
England: An arson attack by animal rights terrorists destroyed an unused
house at Darley Oaks Farm, where guinea pigs are bred for research in
appalling conditions. Activists
calling themselves "Save the Newchurch Guinea Pigs" have been
protesting outside the farm for four years. The protests have escalated
into violence and intimidation against the owners of the farm and anyone
doing business with them. On its website, the group has published contact
information for the farm owner and associates. Dairy businesses buying
milk from the farm as well as the firm's solicitors, have withdrawn their
services due to the protests. Explosive devices have been found near the
homes of employees on four occasions. Electricity to an entire village
was cut off and an intensive campaign of hate mail and threatening letters
was conducted against the family. The arson attack, along with the partial
destruction of a golf course used by family members is believed to be
ALF's work. Criminal attacks on the farm have increased to such a degree
that the local police had to apply to the Home Office for an extra £250,000
to deal with it. Video about the Newchurch farm is at
http://www.liberation-now.org/
.
October 26 Forest
Lake, MN: Authorities in Minnesota are investigating a fire that destroyed
a nearly completed $5-6 million lakeside mansion. Following a front page
newspaper article describing the home, the owner began receiving harassing
phone calls. In addition to the article, the owner, who is an avid hunter,
had recently hung hunting trophies in the house. Investigators from the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the state fire
marshal are considering the possibility that the fire was set by someone
from an environmental group.
October 24 Sevenoaks,
England: Bomb disposal experts were called to detonate a suspect package,
a transparent lunchbox in which bubble wrap and wiring were visible. The
package had been left near a road where children walked to school, outside
the home of a director of Daiichi Pharmaceuticals, which does business
with HLS. The executive had been the target of a previous bomb scare,
and the windows of his house had been smashed. A controlled explosion
was carried out by the bomb squad.
October 24 Martinsville,
IN: ELF activists sabotaged a Wal-Mart construction site. Survey stakes
were removed, and walls and machinery spray-painted. Over a dozen pieces
of heavy machinery and vehicles were vandalized, with slashed tires, cut
fuel hoses, and sand poured in fuel tanks.
October 6 Los Alamos,
NM: US Forest Service officials discovered today that constuction equipment
used to improve fish habitat on the Rio Cebolla river had been vandalized.
Someone cut electrical wires and broke a window on a backhoe and slashed
tires on a water trailer. ELF, the acronym for Earth Liberation Front
was scratched onto both vehicles.
October 3 California:
Using the Internet, animal extremists claimed credit for stealing credit
card numbers and charging $25,000 to the accounts of two Chiron executives.
They claimed possession of credit cards belonging to other Chiron employees
and threated to use them too, unless Chiron severs its ties to Huntingdon
Life Sciences (HLS).
October 3 Santa
Monica, CA: In the early morning hours, ALF activists vandalized the home
of Jerry Greenwalt, the head of Animal Services for Los Angeles. His home
and car were splattered with red paint, and the initials "ALF"
were scrawled on the property. ALF had recently distributed flyers denouncing
Greenwalt and his department throughout his neighborhood. Animal rights
activists targeted Greenwalt and his department for its policy of euthanizing
animals, even though under his leadership the number of animals euthanized
has decreased more than 25 per cent.
September 26 Pleasanton,
CA: FBI and agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
are investigating an early morning explosion at Shaklee Corporation that
caused minor glass damage. The action closely resembled an incident last
month in which bombs were detonated at Chiron Corporation, which a group
calling itself "Revolutionary Cells of the Animal Liberation Brigade"
claimed were in protest of Chiron's relationship with Huntingdon Life
Sciences. Shaklee is a subsidiary of Yamanouchi Pharmaceuticals, which
is also a customer of HLS. Yamanouchi has been the target of vandalism
and protests by SHAC activists in the past.
September 24 Pullman,
WA: Early in the morning, two small incendiary devices were ignited on
a concrete driveway leading to Wegner Hall at Washington State University's
College of Veterinary Medicine. The devices, which were made from plastic
and glass containers and an accelerant, resembled Molotov cocktails. The
arson caused no injury or damage due to their location and the time of
day. The devices had extinguished themselves by the time WSU police arrived.
No one has yet taken credit for the arson, but it's interesting to note
that only two weeks before, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
(PeTA) issued a press release alleging that animal researchers at WSU
vet school were bashing goats with sledgehammers. PeTA based its charge
on information from a whistleblower at the vet school. WSU officials flatly
denied the charge.
September 24 Baton
Rouge, LA: The Animal Liberation Front (ALF) a terrorist group that targets
people and industries that work with animals has taken credit for vandalism
at the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine. Damages
are estimated to reach several hundred thousand dollars according to the
LSU Police Captain, Ricky Adams. ALF claimed that it destroyed computers
and splashed red paint inside the lab to stop the suffering of research
animals. No note was left at the site, but late Wednesday, The Reveille,
LSU's student newspaper, received an e-mail signed by the Animal Liberation
Front taking credit for the destruction. The FBI is investigating the
break-in and the validity of the note.
September 24 Martiny
Township, Michigan: The Earth Liberation Front claimed responsibility
for four incendiary devices that were found inside the Ice Mountain Spring
Water Company's pumping station today. The Company workers who discovered
the devices, plastic bottles filled with flammable liquid, were not hurt.
The anarchist group, ELF justified its attempted arson at Ice Mountain
Spring Water Company, formerly Perrier Group of America, of stealing well
water for profit.
September 19 Farmington,
CA: Animal activists broke into a duck barn at Sonoma Foie Gras and stole
four ducks. Last month the restaurant and homes of partners in the foie
gras business were vandalized.
September 19 San
Diego, CA: ELF arsonists destroyed four houses under construction, three
in one development and the fourth at a site located about three miles
away. According to local TV news, a banner at the site of the first fires
read, "Development is destruction. Stop raping nature. The ELFs are
mad." Damage from the fires is estimated at one million dollars.
The FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Joint Terrorism
Task Force, and the local Metro Arson Strike Team are investigating.
September 5 Putten,
Netherlands: Approximately 120 animal activists, arriving in two buses
and other vehicles, broke into a fur farm, damaged farm vehicles and the
security system, and released 6000 mink. Most mink were recaptured. Forty-nine
of the activists were arrested after a neighbor blocked one of the buses
with his tractor. Before the raid, the activists had held an international
camp near the German border. The same weekend, 15 activists were arrested
in an action against two Japanese companies, and about 7000 mink were
released from a farm in Denmark.
September 4 Santa
Fe, NM: A dozen SUVs were vandalized at a Santa Fe car dealership, painted
with words such as "sloth" and "greed" and signed
off by the Earth Liberation Front's initials, "ELF." Approximately
one third of the dealer's inventory was damaged by the yellow paint. The
FBI is conducting an investigation.
August 28 Emeryville,
CA: In the pre-dawn hours, 2 explosions rocked Chiron corporation, Emeryville's
largest employer. Chiron is a pharmaceutical firm that contracts with
Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS), the international animal testing firm
under attack by animal rights terrorists for several years. Although no
group has claimed responsibility for the blasts, the radical New Jersey
animal rights cell, Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, has a long history
of inciting hatred against all who do business with HLS. Operating like
anti-abortion terrorists, they maintain a website that demonizes Chiron
employees and lists their home addresses along with actions taken against
them. These include late night visits to the homes of Chiron executives,
awakening family members and planting fake tombstones in their yards.
Website messages warn Chiron to stop doing business with HLS and call
employees "sick animal-killing scum." The FBI labels such attacks
as terrorism because of their intimidating effect. Although no injuries
or major property damage were reported, Chiron's 2000 employees were told
to stay home Thursday and two of the town's major streets remained closed
for several hours.
August 25 Sultan,
WA: ALF activists cut fences at a small mink farm and released 10,000
mink, causing $500,000 in damages and incalculable losses in genetic history.
Fifty volunteers worked to round up the mink, capturing about two-thirds
of the traumatized animals. Scores died of dehydration or were killed
on a nearby highway. Pen-raised mink are not equipped for life in the
wild and some of the recaptured ones may die as well. The case is similar
to two earlier break-ins at other fur farms in the county. An ALF e-mail
said that the group plans to continue such actions.
August 22 West
Covina, CA: ELF took responsibility for firebombing a Chevrolet dealership
that destroyed 20 SUV Hummers and damaged 20 more, and, in a separate
blaze, collapsed a warehouse roof. People near the dealership were evacuated.
SUVs in three nearby cities were also vandalized with similar slogans.
"ELF." "Fat, Lazy Americans" and "I (heart) Pollution"
were among the graffiti, some profane, spray-painted on the cars. ELF
issued an e-mail calling the incidents "ELF actions." The Fire
Chief said the noxious smoke produced by the blaze created more pollution
than the destroyed SUVs would have generated over their lifetime on the
road. Damages exceed one million dollars and the FBI is investigating
the vandalism as domestic terrorism.
August 15 Sonoma,
CA: Animal activists broke into a new restaurant, after vandalizing the
homes of two of the owners last month and publishing their names, addresses
and phone numbers on the Internet. Objecting to the owners' ties to the
production of foie gras, the activists broke through a wall of the restaurant,
and painted slogans on the walls, electric outlets, and fixtures. They
poured dry concrete down the drains, and turned on the water, flooding
two adjacent buildings as well as the restaurant. Water seeped into the
adobe walls of the historic building, and damage is estimated at $50,000.
PETA has a national campaign against the nation's three foie gras producers.
August 6 Occold,
England: According to the Business Review (UK), in mid July the Occold
branch of the animal research firm, Huntingdon Life Science (HLS) received
a telephone threat warning that the manager's wife and children could
be kidnapped. Threats are nothing new to HLS, whose employees have been
constant targets of animal rights terror for several years: They've been
beaten, had their cars firebombed, tires slashed, had vehicles painted
red and received ongoing threats. Their suppliers, investors and shareholders
have also been targeted. Because of the escalating harassment, vandalism
and violence, a High Court ruled in June that activists can not come within
50 yards of the homes of HLS employees or the two main HLS centers.
August 4 Los Angeles,
CA: Sherman Austin, a 20 year old anarchist was sentenced Monday to a
year in jail. He was arrested for disorderly conduct in February at the
World Economic Forum in New York. While there federal charges were being
laid in California for distributing information related to explosives
on his website. The sentence was more than recommended, but Austin took
a plea bargain because he feared that he could be charged with terrorism,
adding a possible 20 years to his sentence. Austin, who admitted posting
links to bomb sites so that people could build and use them during demonstrations,
must also pay a $2,000 fine and refrain from unapproved computer use and
from associating with others who advocate physical force as a means of
social change for 3 years. Throughout the animal rights and eco-terrorist
movements, radical websites have been used to vilify targets and instructed
readers on how to build bombs.
August 3 USA and
UK: Websites belonging to Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) in the
UK and USA are bragging that they firebombed a warehouse in Sussex, England
belonging to their target, Huntingdon Life Sciences. Several vehicles
stored there were destroyed.
August 3 Fresno,
CA: Kelly Higginbotham, a self-described member of the Animal Liberation
Front was arrested on August 3, 2003 on suspicion of making terrorist
threats. According to the Fresno County Sheriff's Department, she is accused
of calling in bomb threats to the Harris Ranch and beef processing plant
saying there were bombs planted at both facilities and warning that "everyone
would die." In February, California State University at Fresno hosted
a conference on Revolutionary Environmentalism. The speakers panel was
a who's who of animal rights terrorists, including convicted felons who
publicly advocate arson and other acts of violence as acceptable methods
of achieving change.
August 1 San Diego,
CA: A $20-50 million blaze swept through a 5-story apartment complex under
construction in the University Town Centre neighborhood of San Diego.
No injuries were reported. Although the terrorist group ELF did not immediately
take responsibility for the arson, a banner warning, "If you build
it, we will burn it - ELF" was left at the apartment site. Rodney
Coronado, the ELF backer who did prison time for the Michigan State University
fire bombing in 1992 and has received financial support from tax-exempt
PeTA, was scheduled to speak at Summer Revolution, "Animal Liberation
Weekend August 1st - 3rd", which happened to be in town at the same
time. Coronado promotes arson as his preferred method of terrorism to
his radical following.
July 2003 Mill
Valley and Santa Rosa, CA: For several weeks vandals have been attacking
the home of two restauranteurs involved in the production and sale of
foie gras. Slogans saying "Murderers" and "Foie gras is
animal torture" have been sprayed on their homes and etched onto
cars and windows. One of the men, a prominent chef, was mailed a videotape
that was shot from his garden showing his family relaxing inside their
home, and sent threatening letters saying "Stop or be stopped."
PeTA has a campaign against US producers of foie gras.
July 28 Maalahti,
Finland: Five suspected animal activists were arrested after allegedly
trying to raid a fur farm. Their vehicle had objects used in similar raids.
A year earlier the farm had been broken into, and 1000 mink released.
Following this, an alarm system was installed, and the raiders only had
time to break two locks before the owner and security guards were alerted.
July 25 Bjornhult,
Sweden: Swedish ALF activists placed incendiary devices at an empty fox
farm, protesting the owner's plans to change his operation to mink farming.
July 22 Amsterdam:
Animal rights activists damaged the Arnhem branch of AMN Amro bank. Activists
have been painting slogans and damaging the bank's ATM machine around
the country for months. They are trying to force the bank to drop the
Biomedical Primate Research Centre in Rijswijk as its customer.
July 17 Southwest
France: Activists ransacked a field of GM maize of French biotech firm
Biogemma. Attackers also damaged one of Monsanto's CM maize fields in
Montech, France.
July 2 South Windsor,
CT: Signs of the Earth Liberation Front, "ELF" and "no
sprawl," were spray-painted on a newly completed house in South Windsor,
Connecticut. An unidentified man called police and said the graffiti was
done by an ELF activist.
June 29 Bracknell,
England: Sixty protesters cut through two wire fences at Jealott's Hill
Research Center, intending to destroy a crop of GM wheat. Instead, they
destroyed a crop of ordinary wheat that was part of an important project
investigating a fungal disease. This was a project that researchers had
been working on for years.
June 24 Los Angles,
CA: The Los Angeles chapter of the Animal Defense League placed home addresses,
phone numbers and home photos of the Mayor James Hahn and Chief of Animal
Services, Jerry Greenwalt, on their website and on flyers placed around
the city. The website gives directions to Greenwalt's home and urges activists
to "stop by…" The activists want the Mayor to fire Greenwalt,
and hire someone to run a "no kill" shelter.
June 24 Frankfurt,
Germany: German PETA activists sprayed fake blood and threw chicken feathers
on the chief of YUM! Brands as he opened a KFC restaurant. PETA is offering
photos of the incident to the media. PETA Director of Vegan Outreach director
Bruce Friedrich is quoted in the PETA news release assaying, "There
is so much blood on this chicken-killer's hands, a little more on his
business suit won't hurt."
June 23 Edmund,
OK: The home of a stock trader working for a company trading HLS stock
was vandalized by ALF activists. They covered the house with red and black
paint, cut the phone, DSL, and cable lines to the house, and published
his home and business addresses and phone numbers on their website. The
DirectAction website stated, "Skip, this is just the beginning of
our focus on you and it will continue until you join the laundry list
of market makers who caved into the demands of the compassionate public.
Charles Schwab, Paragon, Brokerage America, Merrill Lynch, have all fled
from doing business with HLS and soon you will too." His business,
Legacy Trading, had been vandalized by SHAC on May 18.
June 22 Austin,
TX: ALF activists vandalized the home of an employee of Abbott Labs, a
client of HLS. His house was covered with red paint and the slogans "Abbott
Kills" and "ALF." Activists published his home and business
addresses, phone numbers, and names of his wife and daughter on ALF's
website.
June 22 Missoula,
MT: Forty veteran activists, including the founders of Earth First!, the
Ruckus Society, Rainforest Action Network, and the National Forest Protection
Alliance are staging a week long "boot camp" the in Bitterroot
National Forest to train eighty "novices" in civil disobedience
and other tactics of forest protest. The encampment is planned to follow
the Western Governors' Association forest summit meeting in Missoula on
June 17-19.
June 19 Lowell,
OR: Arson at the Middle Fork Ranger Station of the US Forest Service is
being investigate by Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents. AFT is usually
called in when eco-terrorism is suspected. Twenty firefighters responding
were able to save to adjacent buildings.
June 14 Santa Cruz,
CA: Environmental activists scratched the slogan ELF into ten new SUVs,
causing $15,000 worth of damage.
June 5 Chico, CA:
Another arson attempt was made at a shopping center under construction.
Workers found remnants of several small fires, and ELF spray-painted on
the door of a work truck at the site. The FBI is exploring connections
with arson attempts at two McDonalds in March, and SUVs in May, in Chico.
June 4 Washington
Township, MI: Two nearly completed homes were destroyed in early morning
fires. "ELF" and "Stop sprawl" were spray painted
on nearby construction equipment. The houses had a combined value of $700,000.
The same message was found when arson destroyed two unfinished houses
in Superior Township on March 21.
June 3 Chico, CA:
ELF claimed the attempted arson of a new home. The fire burned through
a PVC pipe holding water, dousing the flames so the damage was minimal,
about $100. "Save our bio-region ELF" was painted on the sidewalk.
June 2 New York
City: Five PETA anti-fur protesters were arrested and changed with disorderly
conduct and criminal mischief. Wearing bloody fur coats, with their legs
"caught" in traps, they blocked the entrance of the Conde Nast
building and dumped red paint on the building entrance. Vogue magazine
is published in the building.
May 23 San Diego:
Twenty activists dressed in black, wearing balaclavas, and carrying red
candles protested outside the home of an HLS employee. A message to her,
posted on the SHAC website read "tonight 250 flyers were distributed
in your neighborhood alerting your neighbors that you're a vicious animal
abuser. You've already been hit by the ALF, you've already gotten early
morning wake-up calls, you have masked activists protesting in front of
your home, your censor lights are a joke, the cops are too slow to get
there within a reasonable time, and thousands of activists know where
you live. What's it going to take for you to quit HLS?"
May 21 Inverurie,
Scotland: Three PETA activists, one dressed in a cow suit, were arrested
for breach of the peace for trying to dump two tons of cow manure at the
entrance to a Scottish beef event. They were were arrested before dumping
the load.
May 20 Anchorage
AK: Five Iditarod sled dogs were released into downtown traffic from their
boxes on dog trucks. Four were quickly recovered but a new lead dog was
missing all night and found by Animal Control. One dog had injured his
pads running on pavement.
May 18 Edmund,
OK: The FBI is investigating a case of "domestic terrorism"
at Legacy Trading, which trades HLS stock. Window and door glass was broken,
and red paint poured on the walk and in the office, with damages estimated
at $4000. This is the third incidence of vandalism at the company. SHAC
members have called the business hundreds of times a day, typing up phone
lines, and have published personal information - names, phone numbers,
addresses and social security numbers, of the owner and his neighbors
on the SHAC website. The owner, Skip Boruchin said he would continue to
trade the stock. "No person or organization or individual has the
right to dictate to me that I cannot do a legal business in this country,"
he said. "They have no business trying to force me out of my house
... out of my neighborhood because I run a legal business in Edmond."
May 5 Sacramento,
CA: At 3:00 am, SHAC activists with blaring sirens and bullhorns showed
up at the home of an executive of a company that supplies software to
HLS. SHAC plastered his neighborhood with photos of a mutilated dog, and
posted his home and work phone numbers on the Internet, inviting activists
to make hundreds of calls. "We'll be back, scumbag" and "…we
know where you live, we know where you work, and we'll make your life
hell until you pull out of HLS" was posted to SHAC's website. SHAC's
website also has a state-by-state point-and-click map listing Huntington
Life Science affiliates. SHAC says its home visits to people with tenuous
ties to animal research have "broken new ground." Other extremist
groups are adopting the same tactics.
May 4 Chico, CA:
The FBI is investigating an attempted firebombing at Wittmeier Auto Center.
Plastic milk containers filled with flammable liquid and rigged to ignite
were left under two SUVs. While no group claimed responsibility, the method
was similar to arson attempts by ALF activists at two Chico McDonalds
in March.
April 27 Hudene
and Faglavik, Sweden: Three activists calling themselves "Bye Bye
Egg Industry" broke into two hatcheries belonging to Grimarnas, Inc.,
Sweden's largest producer of laying chickens. Brooding machines and other
equipment was destroyed, and 42,000 eggs were cooled, killing the embryos.
The loss of machinery and eggs is estimated at $240,000. Two activists
were arrested at one factory, and the other the next morning as he was
passing out leaflets about the destruction. All three were released pending
trial. They left behind a letter and a vegan cake at both factories.
April 22 London,
England: SHAC is targeting thirteen Japanese firms with ties to HLS. A
page on the SHAC website says "Japanese companies kill animals at
HLS," and urges activists to " really put the pressure on"
the firms, saying they are SHAC's main focus. A Daiichi Pharmaceuticals
director had his windows smashed and car damaged at his home in Kent.
Another director was targeted at his London home by protesters with klaxon
horns and megaphones. Protesters told his neighbors, who were awakened
by the noise, to expect more late-night disturbances. Sumitomo Corporation,
a trading house, was visited by a noisy protest at its city offices. Tony
Blair ordered a security review, and concern was expressed by diplomats
at the Japanese embassy.
April 22 Suffolk,
England: Homes of HLS employees were targeted by SHAC extremists. Car
tires were slashed, paint and paint-stripper poured over cars, and letters
and phone calls threatening violence were made.
April 22 England:
"Violent scum" and ALF were spray-painted on a car belonging
to the master of the Woodland Pytchley Hunt, and the cars tires punctured.
The hunt master said that hunt saboteurs have tried to knock him off his
horse and sprayed acid at the hunt during the season.
April 20 Droxford,
England: ALF activists broke into a chicken farm and stole 1023 hens,
taking them away in horse trailers. Caging systems, conveyor belts, and
feeding apparatus were damaged and the building spray-painted with slogans.
Robin Webb an ALF spokesman, said the chickens would be given homes as
"companion animals."
April 15 Santa
Cruz, CA: ELF activists attacked 15 SUVs with bright orange paint, and
in an ELF press release, complained that the local paper did not cover
the story.
April 11 Santa
Cruz, CA: Vandals spray-painted an estimated 65 SUVs and trucks with references
to ELF and anti-war slogans. Forty-five new vehicles were marked at a
Ford dealership, and 18 to 20 vehicles parked at local residents' homes.
April 5 Lockport
IL: ALF activists claimed responsibility for setting fire to a store belonging
to a man convicted of slaughtering and selling endangered tigers and leopards
for rugs, trophies, and meat. The e-mail from ALF also contained treats
against all convicted in operating the exotic animal ring. Accelerant
chemicals were collected at the arson scene, which was confined to a back
meat-cutting room. The e-mail was similar to the one sent following vandalism
and the cutting of truck brake lines at the Supreme Lobster and Seafood
Company in February.
April 4 East Tennessee
State University TN: PETA's national lecturer, Gary Yourofsky in an emotional
display of anger, forced the cancellation of a lecture he was to give,
opposing the use of animals in scientific and medical research. The director
of the University's Division of Laboratory Animal Resources, placed pamphlets
in support of animal research, and a placard stating "Opposing Views"
on a cart outside the lecture room. Yourofsky became angry when he saw
the cart, and was abusive to the organizer of the lecture, even using
an analogy comparing her to the KKK. He slung the cart across the hall,
scattering pamphlets on the floor. Public safety officers were called,
the lecture canceled, and Yourofsky left the building.
April 2 St. Polten,
Austria: ALF claimed responsibility for an arson, which completely destroyed
three hunting cabins.
March 30 Los Angeles,
CA: CBC's California branch office, which works with HLS in the Asian
market, was vandalized. The front glass window and door were smashed,
and messages demanding CBC sever all ties to HLS were spray-painted on
the building and parking lot.
March 28 Montgomery,
AL: A federal cargo truck was set on fire and five other vehicles were
spray-painted with anti-war slogans and "ELF" at a Navy Recruiting
Station.
March 27 San Diego,
California: The Animal Liberation Front posted the following message to
an employee of Huntington Life Sciences, an animal testing laboratory,
after dumping red paint on her car, puncturing three tires, and scrawling
"HLS SCUM" across her garage door: A message to Claire: 'You
can install all of the motion sensor lights in the world and it won't
make a difference. You've been marked. We've been watching you and Kevin
following your trip overseas last April 19th. We've been in your house
while (you were) in San Francisco. We've "bumped" into you at
Costco. You've given us the time while in line at Bank of America. We've
been watching your house. We've been watching you and your family. You've
provided us with a wealth of information and amusement. But the fun can
only last for so long. In consideration of Kevin being out of town so
often, think of your family's security as your windows could be put through
tomorrow night. We won't forget the animals you've helped murder at Huntingdon.
Until you quit or until HLS closes, we're bringing your work home for
you." A.L.F.
March 25 Petaluma,
CA: Animal activists struck the Rancho Veal plant, one of the few surviving
slaughterhouses in the state, setting a fire that caused about $10,000
damage to the roof. Skylights were smashed, a back door broken, and "Stop
the Killing" spray-painted on the back of the building. In January
2000, arsonists set off incendiary devices in three buildings at the plant,
causing $250,000 in damage. Other protests in the past saw activists chaining
themselves to the gate or to concrete barrels, and obstructing the driveway
for eight hours.
March 23 Yarra
Glen, Victoria, Australia: ALF torched a hurdle on a racetrack, and painted
a slogan on the track, in retaliation for the death of one horse and injury
to another at the Classic Steeple steeplechase race.
March 23 Los Angeles,
CA: ALF activists smashed windows at the home of a businessman who works
in a corporation connected to the CEO of HLS.
March 23 Beverley
Hills, CA: ALF shot out the glass front door of the offices of E-Trade,
which trades HLS shares.
March 23 West Hollywood,
CA: ALF activists cracked the front display window of a store selling
furs.
March 21 Superior
Township, MI: Two homes under construction were burned to the ground in
a new subdivision. Damages were estimated at $400,000. "ELF"
and "no sprawl" were spray-painted on the garage of a nearby
house. These were the third and fourth fires set in the subdivision in
the last seven months.
March 21 London,
England: Animal rights activist Sonia Hayword was jailed for 15 months,
for causing rocks to be thrown through the windows of a person she mistakenly
believed to be connected with HLS.
March 18 Tyrone,
NY: Susan E. Coston, shelter manager for Farm Sanctuary, pled guilty to
criminal trespass for taking a lamb from a Tyrone farm in November. She
was sentenced to 100 hours of community service and ordered to pay $200
in restitution to the farm owner.
March 17 Chicago,
IL: Kayla Werdon, A PETA activist, was arrested and charged with disorderly
conduct, after disrupting traffic by being "improperly clothed."
She was wearing shoes, shorts, a St. Patrick's Day hat, and stickers covering
her nipples, and refused to cover up and stop handling out leaflets on
veganism.
March 10 Vichte,
Belgium: ALF militants targeted a fur farm, opening all the cages and
releasing 1500 mink. Most were recaptured.
March 10 Dublin,
Ireland: The Citywest Hotel in Dublin canceled an annual conference organized
by the Institute of Animal Technicians, a professional organization whose
members are in charge of animals used in research laboratories. Most members
are from academia, and a few are HLS employees. SHAC activists invaded
the hotel, let off stink bombs and jammed the hotel switchboard with protest
calls. SHAC spokesperson Natasha Avery said the hotel had been put under
"relentless" pressure and the cancellation of the conference
that SHAC forced was a "real slap in the face for the industry."
March 9 Nissedal
and Hamar, Norway: ALF claimed responsibility for arsons at two fur farm
feed suppliers, which caused damages of millions of kroner. The fires
were ignited by incendiary devices put under trucks and in buildings.
ALF said the arsons were because "these factories play a big part
in the Norwegian fur trade assault on animals…and are a strategic
goal in the struggle against the Norwegian fur trade."
March 7 Galicia,
Spain: ALF terrorists attacked a fur farm, releasing over 300 mink.

Chico police officer Scott Rupple and FBI agent Chris Hopkins
examine graffiti (above) spray painted on the McDonald's restaurant at
Mangrove and Palmetto avenues during an apparent attempted arson. The
incendiary device is visible at right. Crime scene tape (below) keeps
the public away from the restaurant during the investigation. (Ty
Barbour/Enterprise-Record)
March 4 & 11
Chico, CA: An ALF activist attempted to torch a McDonalds early March
4th. A restaurant worker found two one-gallon containers filled with a
flammable liquid near doors behind the restaurant. "Meat is Murder,"
"Species Equality," and "ALF" were spray-painted on
the building. Notes claiming ALF responsibility were found in a phone
booth and at the office of the local weekly newspaper. Instructions for
similar incendiary devices are available on the ALF website. A week later
a small fire was set by vandals at a second McDonalds. "Liberation"
and "ALF" were spray-painted on the walls.
March 3 Berlin,
Maryland: ALF activists cut through windows at the Merial Select Laboratory
and stole 115 baby chickens. ALF stated in an Internet release that Merial
was targeted because they are a client of HLS. The release stated "Any
friend of HLS is an enemy of the ALF. We know who their clients are. We
are out there and you are next."
March 2003 Melbourne,
Australia: ALF activists vandalized three Ford dealerships, spraying cars
with corrosive fluids. Notes were left saying the vandalism was because
Ford sponsored rodeo events.
March 2003 Melbourne,
Australia: ALF targeted the Jenny Hoo boutique shop twice in one month.
Locks were superglued, "Fur is murder" painted on the walls,
and red paint splattered on the shop.
February 27 Berlin,
MD: ALF activists stole 115 baby chicks from Merial Select Laboratory,
cutting through windows and wire mesh to avoid alarmed doors. Merial,
which makes multiple animal vaccines and wormers, was targeted because
they are a client of HLS. Activists said, "Any friend of HLS is an
enemy of the ALF. We know who their clients are. We are out there and
you're next."
February 27 Scotland:
TV cook Clarissa Dickson Wright revealed that she gets up to 12 death
threats a week from animal rights activists. She is targeted because of
her pro-hunt views. Wright has been accosted at book signing, and her
bookshop has been attacked. A detective is assigned to her, who she can
call for advice about threats or for security if she is going to make
a public appearance.
February 25 Temple
Hill, England: After Peter Day shot a fox that had bitten his baby, he
received threats of window smashing and car firebombing in a letter signed
"Peter Hunt Saboteur." The local police warned Day and his neighbors
to be vigilant.
February 23 Gothenburg,
Sweden: ALF activists super-glued several gas pumps and credit card machines
at a Shell gas station. Anti-HLS slogans were spray-painted on the building,
stating the action would continue until Shell stopped using HLS.
February 23 Lidkoping,
Sweden: Wolds fur shop was attacked and had its windows smashed six times
by ALF activists.
February 21 USA:
PETA launched "Holocaust on your Plate" - a campaign using a
display of eight panels showing photos of farms and slaughterhouses side
by side with photos of emaciated adults and children looking out through
bars at Nazi death camps, comparing the slaughter of chickens to the murder
of six million Jews.
February 19 Ballymanus,
Ireland: ALF activists claimed to have removed sections of fence at a
mink farm and released 1000 mink. However, the farm owner stated that
though they did open cages containing 1000 animals, most were rounded
up, and only 50 were missing.
February 18 - March
3, 2003 Cambridge, England: A mole at the Deloitte and Touche accounting
firm, auditor to Huntington Life Sciences, stole landline and mobile phone
numbers, and e-mail and home addresses of senior managers and their secretaries
for SHAC (Stop Huntington Animal Cruelty). SHAC then announced plans to
use the information to block phones with jamming software, occupy offices,
and stage protest demonstrations at private homes against the firm. Natasha
Avery, Co-leader with Gregory Avery, of SHAC, said "The company will
be a global target. We will be hitting them all over the world."
With SHAC activists using the information, D&T managers and their
employees were the victims of criminal damage - acid and spray-painting
attacks on cars and homes - and noisy protests outside homes late at night,
intimidating spouses and children. Offensive slogans were painted on homes,
and neighbors were leafleted with material stating they were living next
to "murderers." After two weeks of continual harassment, D&T
severed its relationship with HLS, following Marsh, Inc. which had insured
the company and left after spending millions for round-the-clock protective
measures for its employees. As a result of SHAC's intimidation campaigns,
the British government is now supplying banking and insurance to HLS,
and it has moved its headquarters to the US. Following the announcement
of D&T's withdrawal of services to HLS, SHAC said it would cease its
campaign and begin targeting HLS customers. Natasha Avery stated, "We'll
see who has taken on the audit when the first quarter figures come out
and that firm will have to deal with us….Our message to any company
has always been very simple. If you deal with Huntington you deal with
SHAC, and we will target whoever we want to achieve our aim of closing
the place down. No company will stand in our way, be it insurer, bank,
accountant or whatever. And passing laws against us is laughable because
we will always find a way around them. In any case, going to prison is
a small price to pay if it means closing HLS down."
February 1 Pyramid
Hill, Victoria, Australia: ALF activists broke into a pig farm and removed
70 sow stall gates and gate pins, causing about $4000 in damages.
February, 2003
Virginia: PETA President Ingrid Newkirk sent a letter to Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat, after a donkey laden with explosives was used in a bomb
attack on the West Bank. Newkirk asked Arafat to "appeal to all who
listen to you to leave animals out of this conflict." Newkirk showed
no corresponding concern over suicide bombings that kill people. "It's
not my business to inject myself in human wars," she told the Washington
Post.
January 26 Washington,
DC: At a conference at American University called the National conference
on Organized Resistance, Rodney Coronado showed the audience how to build
a cheap incendiary device. "Here's a little model I'm going to show
you here. I didn't have any incense, but -- this is a crude incendiary
device. It is a simple plastic jug, which you fill with gasoline and oil.
You put in a sponge, which is soaked also in flammable liquid -- I couldn't
find an incense stick, but this represents that. You put the incense stick
in here, light it, place it -- underneath the 'weapon of mass destruction,'
light the incense stick - sandalwood works nice -- and you destroy the
profits that are brought about through animal and earth abuse. That's
about -- two dollars. " Coronado further stated, "You know,
those people - I think they should appreciate that we're only targeting
their property. Because frankly I think it's time to start targeting them."
January 23 Klamath
Falls, Oregon: An employee of a Japanese company planning to build a hog
farm received written death threats, and had car tires slashed.
January 21 South
Australia: Animal activists broke into a pig farm, and welded together
a number of sow stalls.
Jan 16 New York:
State Susan Coston, a Farm Sanctuary employee, illegally entered a sheep
producer's barn and stole a lamb, which she took to FS property. The crippled
lamb was then taken to the Cornell veterinary school, with FS listed as
the owner. Charges were filed against Coston, and FS now claims she acted
on her own and not on their behalf.
January 4 - Poole,
England: ALF activists broken into an egg farm barn, expecting to find
hens in cages. Instead, they caused a stampede of over 7000 free-range
hens, and about 150 were crushed or suffocated. The farm had been targeted
15 years ago, when scores of hens were turned loose, only to be killed
by foxes.
January 1 Newton,
MA: Working over several nights an activist spray-painted environmentalist
and peacnik slogans on 16 SUVs.
January 1 Erie
County, Pennsylvania: ELF activists ignited jugs full of gasoline under
vehicles in a Ford dealer's lot. The fires damaged or destroyed two Ford
trucks and two SUVs.
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