This timeline 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.
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.
1970s
1976
Two years after Ronnie Lee and Cliff Goodman had been charged for the raid on the Oxford Laboratory Animal Colonies in Bicester, as part of the Band of Mercy, the "Bicester Two" as they were known; Lee emerges even more militant than before. There had been daily demonstrations at the court during their trial, including Lee's local Labour MP Ivor Clemitson. He then collects the remaining activists from the Band of Mercy upon his release, including another two dozen new willing activists, 30 in all, and the Animal Liberation Front is born. It was reported that in early operations by the ALF, individuals targeted slaughterhouses, furriers, butcher shops, circuses, breeders, and fast-food restaurants, causing £250,000 in the first year alone. The first recorded fur farm raid released 1,000 foxes from Dalchonzie fur farm in Scotland.Mann, Keith. From Dusk 'til Dawn: An insider's view of the growth of the Animal Liberation Movement, Summary of Dates, Puppy Pincher Press, 2007. 1977 After the ALF causes $80,000 in damages 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 the 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,"History of the Animal Liberation Movement" , North American Animal Liberation Press Office."Monumental Animal Liberation Front Actions – United States", Animal Liberation Front website. the first ALF raid in the United States.
1980s
1981
September In Monkey Business, by Kathy Snow Guillermo, she writes that the first ALF action in the United States was the removal of the so-called Silver Spring monkeys, who were, after the rescue, cared for by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in a safe house. They were kept there after a researcher from the Institute of Behavioral Research in Silver Spring, Maryland, had blatantly acted in violation of the animal cruelty legislation for laboratory practice. The animals were then returned five days later, after learning that legal action against the researcher could not proceed without the monkeys.Guillermo, Kathy Snow. Monkey Business, National Press Books, pp. 69–72.
1982 24 December The president of PETA, Ingrid Newkirk, writes that an activist codenamed "Valerie" flew to England, after the publicity triggered by the Silver Spring monkeys case. She was directed by Ronnie Lee to a training camp for activists, who at the time was working for the BUAV, before returning to Maryland and breaking into Howard University. Twenty-four cats were removed by the ALF cell she had founded, with some of the cats suffering from back legs that were crippled.Newkirk, Ingrid. Free the Animals: The Amazing True Story of the Animal Liberation Front, 2000.Best, Steven in Best & Nocella (eds), Terrorists or Freedom Fighters, Lantern Books, 2004, p. 21.Lowe, Brian M. Emerging Moral Vocabularies. Lexington Books, 2006, p. 92.Rudacille, Deborah. The Scalpel and the Butterfly: The Conflict Between Animal Research and Animal Protection. University of California Press, 2001, p. 136: Rudacille quotes Jo Shoesmith, an attorney and long-time animal rights activist in the U.S., who says that Newkirk's account of "Valerie" is not only fictionalized, as Newkirk acknowledges, but "totally fictitious."
1984 28 May The Head Injury Lab of the University of Pennsylvania is raided by the ALF with $60,000 worth of damage caused, and 60 hours worth of video tapes stolen which shows researchers laughing and joking as they cause brain damage to baboons. PETA then released the documentary Unnecessary Fuss, causing the chief veterinarian to lose his job.McCarthy, Charles R. "Reflections on the Organizational Locus of the Office for Protection from Research Risks" , Online Ethics Centre for Engineering and Science, 28 October 2004; accessed 2 October 2006: On the basis of Unnecessary Fuss, PETA petitioned the Office for Protection from Research Risks (OPRR) to have the University of Pennsylvania's head injury lab closed down. The OPRR initially refused to act on the basis of edited material and after more than a year of refusing to turn over the original tapes, PETA eventually did so. The edited tape was found to have "grossly overstated the deficiencies in the Head Injury Clinic", but OPRR also found serious violations of accepted procedure.
9 December The City of Hope National Medical Center is raided by the ALF totaling $400,000 in costs.
1985 20 April Sixteen ALF activists take 468 animals, including a five-week-old macaque named Britches, after raiding the University of California, and cause $700,000 in damages. After the raid, which the ALF filmed, eight of the seventeen projects involving the use of animals at the laboratory, which were currently going on, were stopped, because of the footage.Best, Steven in Best & Nocella (eds), Terrorists or Freedom Fighters, Lantern Books, 2004, p. 22. The university said "years of medical research were lost".Group raids labs, takes animals, Associated Press, in The Philadelphia Inquirer, 22 April 1985.
1986 26 October The University of Oregon laboratory is attacked in Eugene with $120,000 worth of damage. 23 December A bomb package inside a Binns department store was discovered in Newcastle-upon-Tyne city centre in England. The area was evacuated and a bomb disposal team defused the device. A woman claiming to be from the ALF claimed responsibility in a telephone call to Metro Radio, with the intention to damage the store in protest against Binns selling animal fur.
1987 15 April Two years and two weeks after 500 animals were taken from the University of California, an ALF arson is claimed at the Animal Diagnostics Laboratory, causing $5.1 million, one of the largest and most costly actions yet for the movement. 28 November "ALF" and "murderers" is spray-painted at V. Melani, which is set on fire causing $200,000 in damages. The company are a poultry distribution company in Santa Clara, California.
1989 April On the 2nd, one of the laboratories at the Veterans Administration hospital is set on fire, a part of the University of Arizona, causing $500,000 worth of damage. Timed incendiary devices are left at a meat company on 13 April, the ALF claim the fire. 4 July Equipment, computer and records are smashed after the ALF raid Texas Tech University, with an estimated $700,000 in damages.
1990s
1990
17 March Harlan Interfauna is raided by Keith Mann, Barry Horne and Danny Attwood, as part of a small ALF cell. The activists entered the animal units through holes they punched in the roof, removing 82 beagle puppies and 26 rabbits. They also removed documents listing Interfauna's customers, which included Boots, Glaxo, Beechams, and Huntingdon Research Centre, as well as a number of universities. A vet who was an ALF supporter removed the tattoos from the dogs' ears, and they were dispersed to new homes across the UK. As a result of evidence found at the scene and in one of the activists' homes, Mann and Attwood were convicted of conspiracy to burgle and were sentenced to nine months and 18 months respectively."The man, the activist" , first published in Arkangel.Mann, Keith. From Dusk 'til Dawn: An insider's view of the growth of the Animal Liberation Movement. Puppy Pincher Press, 2007, pp. 267–275.
1991 10 June Rod Coronado, and the ALF, raid Oregon State University and set timed incendiary devices in building, with $62,000 in damage done to the experimental mink farm. 15 December A mink pelt drying company, Hynek Malecky facility, is set fire by the ALF, with costs estimated at $96,000. The raid is claimed as the ALF and Rod Coronado is later charged with the arson. Files and videotapes recording the research were lost, and the attack led to the closure of the program.
1992 28 February Another mink research facility is attacked, Michigan State University, again another arson, this time causing substantially more damage at the cost of $1.2 million. Rod Coronado was charged with the attack, with PETA donating $42,000 towards his legal defense. Experimental data spanning thirty-two years were lost. An extensive autobiographical account can be found in the book Recipes for Disaster: An Anarchist Cookbook, which details the materials, methodology, and tactics needed to carry out such an attack and other forms of direct action.
1995 January In Henrietta, New York, two trucks belonging to Conti Packing Co are set on fire by the ALF. 14 April The ALF use an incendiary device, causing $6,000 in damages at Oneata Beef Company, Syracuse, New York. 15 June Tandy Leather, in Utah is set on fire causing $300,000 in damage, the action is claimed by the ALF. 24 December Three Dutch Girl Ice Cream trucks in Eugene, Oregon, have incendiary devices placed under them by the ALF, costing $15,600.
1996 2 April An Egg Products store in Salt Lake City is burned to the ground, with also the ALF destroying two trucks that were owned by the company. The damage totaled $100,000. October In Detroit, Oregon, 27th, a U.S. Forest Service truck is set on fire. The claim is a joint one by the ALF and the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), a similar movement who formed in 1992. Three days later, a U.S. Forest Service Oakridge Ranger Station is burned down in Eugene, Oregon, causing $5.3 million, also claimed by both the ELF and the ALF. 12 November The ALF claim that they have thrown a firebomb through the window of the Alaskan Fur Company, in Bloomington, Minnesota, the damages is estimated at over $2 million.
1997 15 February Butyric acid is left in a McDonald's by the ALF, a chemical that leaves a foul smell, and also "McShit, McMurder, McDeath" is spraypainted on the walls of the bathroom in Michigan. March Another joint claim by the ALF and the ELF of a series of firebombings on 11 March, destroying the offices of the Agricultural Fur Breeders Co-Op and four trucks, in Utah, costing an estimated $1 million. Three days later, the "Animal Liberation Front – Eco-Animal Defense Unit" claim the spiking of 47 trees in a clearcut area, Oregon. The action is also claimed by the ALF and the ELF.Best, Steven and Best & Nocella. Igniting a Revolution: Voices in Defense of the Earth, Lantern Books, 2006, p. 56. On the 18th, nearly ten years after the $5.1 million arson at the University of California by the ALF, the "Bay Area Cell of the Earth and Animal Liberation Front" set fire to the Center for Comparative Medicine facility, which was under construction at the time. On the same day, Montgomery Furs is torched by the ALF, the store is a trapping supply firm in Utah. 19 April In Indiana, the ALF set fire to a truck belonging to Archer's Meats. 21 July A napalm is used by the ALF and ELF against Cavel West, a horse slaughtering abattoir based in Oregon, calling the device "vegan Jell-o". The plant is reported destroyed. August On the 16th, in Utah, a McDonald's restaurant is completely burned to the ground by four ALF activists, totaling $400,000 worth of damage in total.