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This is a time line of Animal Liberation Front (ALF) actions since its formation in 1976 until 1999.
Contents
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 emerged 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 collected up 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 was born.
It was reported that in early operations by the ALF, individuals targeted slaughterhouses, furriers, butchers shops, circuses, breeders and fast-food restaurants, causing £250,000 in the first year alone.
1981
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 being cared for by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in a safehouse. They were kept there are after a researcher from the Institute of Behavioral Research in Silver Spring, Maryland, had allegedly 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.
1982
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.
1984
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.
The City of Hope National Medical Center is raided by the ALF totaling $400,000 in costs.
1985
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 (video), eight of the seventeen projects involving the use of animals at the laboratory, which were currently going on, were stopped, because of the footage. The University said "years of medical research were lost".
1986
The University of Oregon laboratory is attacked in Eugene with $120,000 worth of damage.
1987
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.
"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
Equipment, computer and records are smashed after the ALF raid Texas Tech University, with an estimated $700,000 in damages.
1990
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.
1991
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.
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.
1992
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.
1995
In Henrietta, New York, two trucks belonging to Conti Packing Co are set on fire by the ALF.
The ALF use an incendiary device, causing $6,000 in damages at Oneata Beef Company, Syracuse, New York.
Tandy Leather, in Utah is set on fire causing $300,000 in damage, the action is claimed by the ALF.
Three Dutch Girl Ice Cream trucks in Eugene, Oregon, have incendiary devices placed under them by the ALF, costing $15,600.
1996
An Egg Products store in Salt Lake City is burned to the ground, with also the ALF destroying two trucks that were ownded by the company. The damage totaled $100,000.
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
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.
In Indiana, the ALF set fire to a truck belonging to Archer's Meats.
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.
1998
A window is broken at The Outdoorsman Sport Shop, which is then used by the ALF to set fire to the building in Indiana. Slogans were also painted at the store.
The Florida Veal Processors Inc, in Florida, is burned to the ground causing half a million dollars in damage. The ALF then claim to have carried out the action.
A joint claim is made by the ALF and the ELF for an arson attack at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a control building located in Olympia, Washington.
Nearly a year after the previous set of meat trucks were destroyed in New Jersey, another truck is destroyed, this time belonging to Steven Corn Furs, the action is claimed again by the ALF. Furthermore, present in this vehicle was a drive-along Barbie truck belonging to Steven Corn's daughter. The truck was destroyed as well.
The ALF claimed responsibility for releasing into the wild up to 6,000 mink from a mink farm in Ringwood, UK. About 2,000 of the minks were immediately recaptured, another 2,000 were killed and the rest remained unaccounted-for at the time the incident was reported. Anti-fur activists denounced the action as "a disaster for the [anti-fur] campaign, and it's a disaster for the mink". The action was described by a Royal Society for the Protection of Birds spokesman as an "act of monumental stupidity," amid fears that the non-native carnivorous minks would cause ecological damage. The ALF said it would continue its campaign until the British government introduced new animal-welfare legislation for animals used by the fur industry.
1999
Six vehicles are firebombed by the ALF that are owned by Big Apple Circus in New Jersey.
Dozens of research animals are taken from the University of Minnesota's laboratories, as well as the property vandalised. The raid is claimed by the ALF.
A Worldwide Primates truck is destroyed by the ALF in Miami, Florida.
The ALF claim an arson at Phippsburg Sportsmen's Association, Massachusetts, although their attempts fail.
Four vehicles belonging to Harris Furs are toched by the ALF in Rhode Island.