Timeline of Animal Liberation Front actions, 2005-Present



This is a list of acts claimed by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) since 2005.

Background

 * ALF formed

Two years after Ronnie Lee and Cliff Goodman had been charged for the raid on the Oxford Laboratory Animal Colonies in Bicester in 1974, 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 Party member of parliament, Ivor Clemitson. With the remaining activists from the Band of Mercy and another two dozen new willing activists, 30 in all, Lee formed the Animal Liberation Front upon his release in 1976. It was reported that in the first year alone, the ALF targeted; slaughterhouses, furriers, butchers shops, circuses, breeders and fast-food restaurants, causing damage that totaled £250,000. The first fur farm raid was then heard of in the same year, with 1,000 foxes released from Dalchonzie fur farm in Scotland.
 * 1980s and 1990s

The ALF was then founded throughout Europe and further broad in the 1980s, with notable raids including those removing the Silver Spring monkeys and Britches. Unnecessary Fuss, a film by PETA with footage that the ALF stole, was also released which showed primate researchers laughing and joking at a baboon, as they inflict brain damage as part of a research project into head injuries caused by accidents.

The ALF then continued into the 1990s, causing even more damage, with notable actions such as the jointly claimed ALF and ELF arson at the U.S. Forest Service Oakridge Ranger Station, causing $5.3 million. A series of raids also followed, which frequently targeted fur farms and animal laboratories and their breeding facilities, including the Harlan Interfauna raid in Cambridge, by Barry Horne and Keith Mann.

2005-2008

 * For previous article, see Timeline of Animal Liberation Front actions, 2000-2004

2005
A Vancouver-based brokerage announced that it had dropped a client, Phytopharm PLC, in response to a ALF firebombing of a car belonging to Canaccord executive Michael Kendall in London, England. The ALF stated on Bite Back a month later that activists had placed an incendiary device under the car, which was in Kendall's garage at home when it caught fire. Phytopharm was targeted, as were those doing business with it, because it had business links with Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS). The ALF warned Phytopharm to stay away from Huntingdon or "see your share price crash and your supporters property go up in flames," and issued the following statement: A new era has dawned for those who fund the abusers and raise funds for them to murder animals with. You too are on the hit list: you have been warned. If you support or raise funds for any company connected with Huntingdon Life Sciences we will track you down, come for you and destroy your property with fire. The fire caused 26 boats in total to become unusable which were part of St Hilda’s, St Catherine’s, Hertford, Mansfield and St Benet’s Hall boats and boat clubs. Upon investigation the cause of the fire was attributed to incendiary devices which had been placed in the Eight's bays.
 * March 16th
 * An ALF raid on a mink farm in Rome, Italy,saw 2,000 mink released.
 * May 26th
 * June 18th
 * July 4th
 * The Oxford Arson Squad, an ALF cell, caused their first arson in Oxford on the 4th July resulting an estimated half a million pounds worth of damage.

The group targeted the boathouse because of apparent ties to Oxford University. A posting to Bite Back said "We are stronger than you, we have more resolve than you and we never give up". Ed Mayne, spokesman for Oxford University, said that “Attacking one of the poorest boatclubs in Oxford certainly isn’t going to help them” Carr Securities announced it had withdrawn from making a market in HLS shares after a New York yacht club was covered in red paint by the U.S. branch of the ALF, because members of the club worked for Carr Securities, which traded in HLS shares. The ALF announced on its bulletin board: "Let this be a message to any other company who chooses to court HLS in their ... entrance into the NYSE. If you trade in LSR shares, make a market, process orders, or purchase shares you can expect far worse treatment."
 * An incendiary device was found deactivated at Christ Church College's Sport Pavilion, despite the group claiming they had targeted Corpus Christi College.
 * October 26th

2006

 * June
 * The ALF target UCLA researcher Lynn Fairbanks when a Molotov cocktail is placed on the porch of what was believed to be his home on the 30 July; instead, it is left on the porch of his neighbor, an elderly woman unrelated to the university. After his personal information had been posted on the Primate Freedom Project and having received threatening phone calls, Dario Ringach, an associate neurobiology professor at UCLA, issued a statement in August 2006, that he would discontinue his animal research into visual processing. University spokeswoman Judy Lin was quoted in the press as saying "this is a problem that's much larger than UCLA. These groups have been harassing researchers all over the world,"  she continued "It has reached terrorist level. The university is very disturbed by this."  The ALF in a communique to the North American Animal Liberation Press Office the following month replied: "If the primates could escape from there cages they would do this to Lynn Fairbanks and worse. Since they cant we did."


 * July
 * The ALF anonymously report to Bite Back on the 26th July that they have broken into the an ex-military laboratory, owned by QinetiQ, grabbing nine goats that were undergoing experiments in hyperbaric chambers. The tests are to simulate under water pressure, to attempt to research the symptoms and possible cures of decompression sickness and to study deep-sea rescue.  SARC then campaigned to end the experiments. According to the group, the animals were tested in order to simulate under water pressure and were suspended in March with a committee of experts looking into alternative research models, such as computer-modelling and safe human trials, in an attempt to simulate the effects of decompression sickness, or 'the bends', caused by ascending too quickly. The Ministry of Defence then scrapped the experiments in February 2008 with goats, claiming that they were essential although they had now collected all the information necessary.


 * September
 * The ALF were linked to an attack on a fish farm near Oban, Scotland in September 2006 which led to the deaths of thousands of halibut.


 * October
 * Six lorries belonging to Deans Foods, Cotswold Farm, a battery egg farm near Witney, were set on fire on the 26 October, using what the ALF described as sophisticated electronic incendiary devices, remotely detonated from miles away. They further claimed that the devices were the first of its kind to be used in the UK by the ALF, which caused £250,000 worth of damage, and also stated in a communique to Bite Back that the action was a warning and dedicated to Barry Horne and animal rights prisoners.


 * November
 * An arson, claimed by the ALF, was carried out at The Queen's College, Oxford because of its financial relationship with Oxford University. The activists report in an anonymous communique to Bite Back a few days later: "Attacks will escalate in the face of an institution and government which have sought to destroy legal protest and continue to sanction violence to animals. For Barry"


 * December
 * Donald Currie, said by police to have been the ALF's most important bomb maker, was sentenced to 12 years in jail, with a recommendation of at least six years, after conducting a fire bomb campaign targeting suppliers and customers of Huntingdon Life Sciences.

2007
Incendiary devices were found at Templeton College, Oxford; Robin Webb said as a continuation of a campaign against Oxford University's proposed new biomedical center, which will house and conduct experiments on animals. They claimed that the action was "...part of an ongoing fight against the University of Oxford and its continued reign of terror over the unseen victims inside its animal labs.".
 * February


 * March
 * On 6 March, the financial adviser and first vice-president of Wachovia Securities is targeted in Portland, Oregon, because the ALF allege that Wachovia own over half a billion dollars in shares in GlaxoSmithKline. "Drop SSK" was spray-painted on his garage and ALF "scrawled" across his car in black paint.

The ALF again target another Wachovia Securities V.P. in Portland, because the company invest in GlaxoSmithKline, a HLS customer. His SUV is spray-painted with slogans, with the activists threatening Wachovia saying; "We have the names and addresses of the top executives, and believe us our actions are like childs play compared to what we have in store."
 * April



The ALF report that they have targeted the home of an animal researcher for the Oregon National Primate Research Center, at the Oregon Health & Science University, spray-painting "ALF Eyes On You" on his garage and covering his daughter's car with a white foamy chemical. In a communqiue to the North American Animal Liberation Press Office, the ALF said that his involvement in research into the effect of nicotine on fetuses should stop. The researcher responded by stating he mainly worked on cultured cells and "does as little research on animals as possible."
 * August

UCLA researcher Edythe London's home was vandalized, during which a window was broken and a garden hose inserted, flooding her home and causing over $20,000 in damages. In the communique released following the action, the ALF promised to return if necessary:
 * October

One more thing Edythe, water was our second choice, fire was our first.... It would have been just as easy to burn your house down Edythe. As you slosh around your flooded house consider yourself fortunate this time. We will not stop until UCLA discontinues its primate vivisection programe."


 * November
 * Activists claim the liberation of over 100 hens from Shepherd's Egg Farm near Spanish Fork, Utah, on the 5th. They claimed there were several sheds containing tens of thousands of chickens, many of which in bad conditions and that the hens were rehomed where they can go outside. The said in a communique, activists claim that around the world the ALF are making progress, and dedicate the action to all animal liberation prisoners, including Barry Horne, died six years ago today on a hunger strike.

Farm operators said they were confused by the raid, and that no damage had been done to indicate it had happened.
 * Vehicles allegedly belonging to a researcher of the Department of Experimental Psychology at Oxford University were firebombed as well as a director's sports car of Acorn Integrated systems who the group accused is aiding the construction of the laboratory. The ALF claim that for Barry Horne and Felix, the actions will continue.


 * December
 * The Animal Liberation Front took credit for targeting the home of a Oregon Health and Sciences University researcher who conducts reproductive studies on primates inside the Oregon National Primate Research Center. The researcher awoke to find the words "Sadist" and "ALF" spray painted on his Audi and Jeep Grand Cherokee cars.  The vehicles were also reportedly damaged by paint stripper.  This was the second OHSU researcher to have his property damaged by ALF in less then 6 months.
 * Two homes in Wales, which belonged to the joint-master and hunt secretary of the Golden Valley Hunt, had property spray painted. The activists only left initials for anti-hunting groups the ALF and HRS (Hunt Retribution Squad).
 * Activists in the Netherlands painted graffiti on the homes of several Van Der Looy employees due to the company's involvement with a life-science industrial park. On January 7, the company announced it was pulling out of building project and stated that the activists had acted in an "unacceptable intimidating attitude".

2008
ALF volunteers raided Highgate Rabbit Farm on January 6, and removed 129 rabbits which they said were due to end up in laboratories for animal research. The owner said he was shocked and disappointed when discovering he had been burgled, citing concern for the rabbits which he believed would not survive in the wild and would be unsuitable as pets. A quad bike, lawnmower, van and a sports car were also reported to have been paintstripped and glued during the visit causing thousands of pounds worth of damage. The volunteers accused the owner of selling rabbits to laboratories such as Huntingdon Life Sciences and other universities in the United Kingdom.
 * January


 * February
 * University of Hasselt's Biomedical Research Institute in the town of Diepenbeek, Belgium was burned to the ground. "ALF" was written on a building nearby.
 * The ALF return and an incendiary device is left at the front door of UCL researcher Edythe London's home in Los Angeles early on February 5. The device charred the front door. Nobody was home at the time.

This action is dedicated to Mike Hill the young hunt sab killed by hunt scum. This action is also timed to coincide with the anniversary of the hunt ban 3 years ago. The ban's not being enforced and most hunts still kill animals. Maybe when they stop breaking the law we will.
 * On the third year anniversary of the Hunting Act, activists targeted the Duke of Beaufort's and VWH kennels, as well as the Hunting HQ in Gloucestershire. "Enforce the ban" and "ALF" were painted on the driveways of both hunts and the walls of the Hunting Office. Some cars and lorrys had paint stripper poured onto them, with others having their tyres let down. The Masters of Foxhounds Association said it appeared the Animal Liberation Front had been in three places in one night. The activists in a message to Bite Back website said:
 * "Stop Selling Foie Gras' and "Ban Foie Gras" were spray painted on the walls of Midsummer House in Cambridge. The Animal Liberation Front reported to the Cambridge Evening News that they had poured etching fluid over windows, paint stripper on window frames and glued the locks of the restaurant. It has also been the subject of protests by Cambridge Animal Rights, although denied any involvement in the action that initially caused an estimated £3,000 in damage, but was then calculated later to exceed £6,000. The next day, the owner announced that he had taken the dish off the menu, saying he felt pushed into the decision following attacks by the ALF and a brick thrown through the restaurants window after 7pm one Saturday evening.
 * April
 * 50 mink released from a fur farm in Jefferson, Oregon and breeding records destroyed. The Fur Commission USA claims all mink were recovered, but estimates the dollar loss for the destroyed breeding records was $5,000.


 * September
 * Thousands of mink were released and the records were destroyed at a Davis County, Utah mink farm. The Fur Commission USA claims most of the mink were re-caputured and that at least half a dozen died.