Corporations and industry groups have said again and again that Green Scare legislation like the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act is needed to crackdown on illegal actions by underground groups like the Animal Liberation Front. Stiffer penalties and “eco-terrorist” rhetoric, the reasoning goes, will make put an end to illegal actions in the name of protecting animals and the environment.
Underground activists, meanwhile, don’t seem to be worrying too much about the scare-mongering legislation. And the fact that it’s being used to go after legal, non-violent activists like the SHAC 7 seems to have only stoked the flames.
Two recent communiqués from underground activists speak for themselves.
On November 29 Bite Back Magazine reported:
received anonymously:
“On Monday morning employees at Antares Pharmaceuticals discovered that over 30 windows at their offices in Minnetonka, MN had been damaged by glass etching solution. This is the price companies pay for working with HLS. Cut all ties to HLS and you will be left alone. It’s that simple. Every company working with HLS needs to realize this and stop doing business with puppy killers before they are forced to spend thousands of dollars on repairs to their offices.
Dedicated to the SHAC 7!”
And on November 5 Bite Back reported:
anonymous communiqué:
“While the Government and Thames Valley Police have been busy doing the bidding of the vivisection industry by passing repressive laws and making peaceful protest impossible, the ALF has also been busy, recruiting and reorganising in Oxfordshire. On the night of Saturday Oct 28 a new cell of volunteers visited Deans Farm near Witney where tens of thousands of hens are kept in battery cages. For the first time in UK sophisticated electronic incendiary devices were placed under 6 vehicles and remotely detonated from miles away. These new devices are incredibly powerful and all six lorries were completely destroyed. This attack should serve as a warning to Oxford University, the building contractor Mace Plus Ltd and all companies that profit from animal cruelty that the ALF is watching you and know this, you will be held to account. This warning is clear and unambiguous. This action is dedicated to the memory of Barry Horne and to all animal rights prisoners. Now is the time – the time is now.”
So much for deterrence.