January 27, 2012
Homeland Security News Wire
Earlier this month fourteen cattle-transportation trailers were set on fire at California’s largest feed yard by an animal rights group.
Immediately following the attack the Animal Liberation Front ( ALF ) released a statement that indicated an anonymous group of activists had executed the attack against the “horrors of factory farming” as perpetrated by Harris Ranch.
Nicoal Sheen, a spokeswoman for ALF , said the group distributed the release on behalf of the individuals involved in the attack, but had no direct involvement.
In the release, the unnamed group explained that “containers of accelerant were placed beneath a row of fourteen trucks with four digital timers used to light four of the containers and kerosene-soaked rope carrying the fire to the other ten.”
The group added that they “were extremely pleased” to see that all fourteen trucks “were a total loss” with some being “completely melted to the ground.”
“ We’re not delusional enough to believe that this action will shut down the Harris feeding company, let alone have any effect on factory farming as a whole,” the group went on to say. “But we maintain that this type of action still has worth, if not solely for the participant’s peace of mind, then to show that despite guards, a constant worker presence and razor wire fence, the enemy is still vulnerable.” In a call to arms, the group ended their release encouraging others to commit further attacks against agriculture producers.
In response to the attack, John Harris, the CEO of Harris Ranch, condemned the group’s actions and called for an end to further attacks.
“ We must live in a society that is safe for all and no one can tolerate violence such as this,” Harris said. “ ALF and similar terrorist groups pose a real threat and I am confident that the many law enforcement agencies working on this case will bring them to justice soon.”
In support of Harris Ranch, the Animal Agriculture Alliance released a statement saying “it is unacceptable for any group to praise this direct assault on American agriculture.”
According to the Alliance, ALF has a history of violence against the livestock industry and is listed by DHS as a domestic terrorist organization.
“ For example, scientists using animals for life-saving medical research at UCLA have frequently been threatened with bomb scares and intimidation,” the Alliance said. “In the United States and abroad, ALF and other extremist groups have issued death threats, committed vandalism and hacked websites, all in the name of their distorted ideology. There is no place for such violent acts of intimidation.”
“ It is imperative that activists be held accountable for their attempts to undermine farmers, ranchers and meat processors,” the Alliance concluded.
On the ALF website, the organization states it is carrying out “direct action against animal abuse in the form of rescuing animals and causing financial loss to animal exploiters, usually through the damage and destruction of property.”
ALF maintains that it is waging “a nonviolent campaign” as “activists [take] all precautions not to harm any animal (human or otherwise).
Its goals are to “abolish institutionalized animal exploitation because it assumes that animals are property.”