Quotes from leaders of the animal rights movement
Pets and Pet Ownership versus Guardianship
"In a perfect world, animals would be free to live their lives to the fullest:
raising their young, enjoying their native environments, and following their
natural instincts. However, domesticated dogs and cats cannot survive "free"
in our concrete jungles, so we must take as good care of them as possible. People
with the time, money, love, and patience to make a lifetime commitment to an
animal can make an enormous difference by adopting from shelters or rescuing
animals from a perilous life on the street. But it is also important to stop
manufacturing "pets," thereby perpetuating a class of animals forced to rely
on humans to survive." PETA pamphlet, Companion Animals: Pets or Prisoners?
“I don’t have a hands-on fondness for animals…To this day I don’t feel bonded to any non-human animal. I like them and I pet them and I’m kind to them, but there’s no special bond between me and other animals.” Wayne Pacelle quoted in Bloodties: Nature, Culture and the Hunt by Ted Kerasote, 1993, p. 251.
"In a perfect world, we would not keep animals for our benefit, including pets,"
Tom Regan, emeritus professor of philosophy at North Carolina State University
and author of "Empty Cages" - speaking at University of Wisconsin-Madison campus,
March 3, 2004
"Our goal: to convince people to rescue and adopt instead of buying or selling
animals, to disavow the language and concept of animal ownership." Eliot
Katz, President In Defense of Animals, In Defense of Animals website, 2001
"I don't use the word "pet." I think it's speciesist language. I prefer "companion
animal." For one thing, we would no longer allow breeding. People could not
create different breeds. There would be no pet shops. If people had companion
animals in their homes, those animals would have to be refugees from the animal
shelters and the streets. You would have a protective relationship with them
just as you would with an orphaned child. But as the surplus of cats and dogs
(artificially engineered by centuries of forced breeding) declined, eventually
companion animals would be phased out, and we would return to a more symbiotic
relationship enjoyment at a distance." Ingrid Newkirk, PETA vice-president,
quoted in The Harper's Forum Book, Jack Hitt, ed., 1989, p.223.
"It is time we demand an end to the misguided and abusive concept of animal
ownership. The first step on this long, but just, road would be ending the concept
of pet ownership." Elliot Katz, President "In Defense of Animals," Spring
1997
"Pet ownership is an absolutely abysmal situation brought about by human manipulation."
Ingrid Newkirk, national director, People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals (PeTA), Just Like Us? Harper's, August 1988, p. 50.
"Liberating our language by eliminating the word 'pet' is the first step...
In an ideal society where all exploitation and oppression has been eliminated,
it will be NJARA's policy to oppose the keeping of animals as 'pets.'" New
Jersey Animal Rights Alliance, "Should Dogs Be Kept As Pets? NO!" Good Dog!
February 1991, p. 20.
"Let us allow the dog to disappear from our brick and concrete jungles--from
our firesides, from the leather nooses and chains by which we enslave it." John
Bryant, Fettered Kingdoms: An Examination of A Changing Ethic Washington, DC:
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, (PeTA), 1982, p. 15.
"The cat, like the dog, must disappear... We should cut the domestic cat free
from our dominance by neutering, neutering, and more neutering, until our pathetic
version of the cat ceases to exist." John Bryant, Fettered Kingdoms: An
Examination of A Changing Ethic (Washington, DC: People for the Ethical Treatment
of Animals (PeTA), 1982, p. 15.
"As John Bryant has written in his book Fettered Kingdoms, they [pets] are
like slaves, even if well-kept slaves." PeTA's Statement on Companion
Animals.
"In a perfect world, all other than human animals would be free of human interference,
and dogs and cats would be part of the ecological scheme." PeTA's Statement
on Companion Animals.
"You don't have to own squirrels and starlings to get enjoyment from them ...
One day, we would like an end to pet shops and the breeding of animals. [Dogs]
would pursue their natural lives in the wild ... they would have full lives,
not wasting at home for someone to come home in the evening and pet them and
then sit there and watch TV," Ingrid Newkirk, national director, People
for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA), Chicago Daily Herald, March 1,
1990.
Animal Agriculture and Breeding Purebred Dogs and Pedigreed
Cats
"We have no ethical obligation to preserve the different breeds of livestock
produced through selective breeding. . One generation and out. We have no problem
with the extinction of domestic animals. They are creations of human selective
breeding." Wayne Pacelle, Senior VP of Humane Society of the US, formerly
of Friends of Animals and Fund for Animals, Animal People, May, 1993
When asked if he envisioned a future without pets, “If I had my personal view, perhaps that might take hold. In fact, I don’t want to see another dog or cat born.” Wayne Pacelle quoted in Bloodties: Nature, Culture and the Hunt by Ted Kerasote, 1993, p. 266.
"[A]s the surplus of cats and dogs {artificially engineered by centuries of
forced breeding) declined, eventually companion animals would be phased out,
and we would return to a more symbiotic relationship--enjoyment at a distance."
Ingrid Newkirk, "Just Like Us? Toward a Notion of Animal Rights", Harper's,
August 1988, p. 50.
"[Animal] Fancies provide an escape from the real world, a sense of purpose
in a lot of purposeless lives, a chance to play God by breeding animals, and
a chance to play celebrity by showing them." Phil Maggitti, The Animals'
Agenda, December 1991.
"Breeders must be eliminated! As long as there is a surplus of companion animals
in the concentration camps referred to as "shelters", and they are killing them
because they are homeless, one should not be allowed to produce more for their
own amusement and profit. If you know of a breeder in the Los Angeles area,
whether commercial or private, legal or illegal, let us know and we will post
their name, location, phone number so people can write them letters telling
them 'Don't Breed or Buy, While Others DIE.'" "Breeders! Let's get rid
of them too!" Campaign on Animal Defense League's website, September 2, 2003.
"I'm not only uninterested in having children. I am opposed to having children.
Having a purebred human baby is like having a purebred dog; it is nothing but
vanity, human vanity." Ingrid Newkirk, PeTA's founder and president, New
Yorker magazine, April 23, 2003
"Our goal is to make [the public think of] breeding [dogs and cats] like drunk
driving and smoking." Kim Sturla, former director of the Peninsula Humane
Society and Western Director of Fund for Animals, stated during Kill the Crisis,
not the Animals campaign and workshops, 1991
"The bottom line is that people don't have the right to manipulate or to breed
dogs and cats ... If people want toys, they should buy inanimate objects. If
they want companionship, they should seek it with their own kind," Ingrid
Newkirk, founder, president and former national director, People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals (PeTA), Animals, May/June 1993
"My goal is the abolition of all animal agriculture." JP Goodwin, employed
at the Humane Society of the US, formerly at Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade,
as quoted on AR-Views, an animal rights Internet discussion group in 1996.
Animal Equality and Anti-Humanity
"The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society recognizes that the deaths of four sealers is a tragedy but Sea Shepherd also recognizes that the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of seal pups is an even greater tragedy." Paul Watson, CBC News, April 4, 2008
"Surely there will be some nonhuman animals whose lives, by any standards,
are more valuable than the lives of some humans." Peter Singer, Animal
Liberation: A New Ethic for Our Treatment of Animals, 2nd ed. (New York: New
York Review of Books, 1990), p. 19.
"Six million people died in concentration camps, but six billion broiler chickens
will die this year in slaughterhouses." Ingrid Newkirk, founder, president
and former national director, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, as
quoted in Chip Brown, "She's A Portrait of Zealotry in Plastic Shoes," Washington
Post, November 13, 1983, p. B10.
“Deep down, I truly hope that oppression, torture and murder return to each uncaring human tenfold! I hope that fathers accidentally shoot their sons on hunting excursions, while carnivores suffer heart attacks that kill them slowly. Every women ensconced in fur should endure a rape so vicious that it scars them forever. While every man entrenched in fur should suffer an anal raping so horrific that they become disemboweled. Every rodeo cowboy and matador should be gored to death, while circus abusers are trampled by elephants and mauled by tigers. And, lastly, may irony shine its esoteric head in the form of animal researchers catching debilitating diseases and painfully withering away because research dollars that could have been used to treat them was wasted on the barbaric, unscientific practice of vivisection.”
Gary Yourofsky in an interview on The Abolitionist –Online, 2005
"Humans are exploiters and destroyers, self-appointed world autocrats around
whom the universe seems to revolve." Sydney Singer, director, the Good
Shepherd Foundation, "The Neediest of All Animals," The Animals Agenda, Vol.
10, No. 5 (June 1990), p. 50.
"Sometimes I think the only effective method of destroying speciesism would be for each uncaring human to be forced to live the life of a cow on a feedlot, or a monkey in a laboratory, or an elephant in the circus, or a bull in a rodeo, or a mink on a fur farm. Then people would be awakened from their soporific states and finally understand the horror that is inflicted on the animal kingdom by the vilest species to ever roam this planet: the human animal! Deep down, I truly hope that oppression, torture and murder return to each uncaring human tenfold! I hope that fathers accidentally shoot their sons on hunting excursions, while carnivores suffer heart attacks that kill them slowly.
Every woman ensconced in fur should endure a rape so vicious that it scars them forever. While every man entrenched in fur should suffer an anal raping so horrific that they become disemboweled. Every rodeo cowboy and matador should be gored to death, while circus abusers are trampled by elephants and mauled by tigers. And, lastly, may irony shine its esoteric head in the form of animal researchers catching debilitating diseases and painfully withering away because research dollars that could have been used to treat them was wasted on the barbaric, unscientific practice vivisection." Gary Yourofsky, PeTA Humane Education Lecturer, quoted in the University of Southern Indiana Student Newspaper, The Shield, January 24, 2008
"If you haven't given voluntary human extinction much thought before, the idea
of a world with no people in it may seem strange. But, if you give it a chance,
I think you might agree that the extinction of Homo Sapiens would mean survival
for millions, if not billions, of Earth-dwelling species ... Phasing out the
human race will solve every problem on earth, social and environmental."
"Les U. Knight" (pseudonym), "Voluntary Human Extinction," Wild Earth, Vol.
1, No. 2, (Summer 1991), p. 72.
"We feel that animals have the same rights as retarded human nchild because
they are equal mentally in terms of dependence on others." Alex Pacheco,
Director, PETA, New York Times, January 14, 1989.
"If enough people are determined to stand up to an issue, you know what? It's
gonna get solved. Saying that human concerns outweigh animal concerns is just
more bullshit." Chris DeRose, Last Chance for Animals: SHAC rally, Edison,
New Jersey, November 30, 2002
"Man is the most dangerous, destructive, selfish, and unethical animal on earth."
Michael W. Fox, Scientific Director and former Vice President, Humane
Society of the United States, as quoted in Robert James Bidinotto"
"Torturing a human being is almost always wrong, but it is not absolutely wrong."
Peter Singer, as quoted in Josephine Donovan "Animal Rights and Feminist
Theory," Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, Winter 1990, p. 357.
"The life of an ant and that of my child should be granted equal consideration."
Michael W. Fox, Scientific Director and former Vice President, The Humane
Society of the United States, The Inhumane Society, New York, 1990
"Back to the Pleistocene!" --Earth First! slogan, as quoted by Virginia
I. Postrel, "The Green Road to Serfdom," Reason, April 1990, p. 24.
"I am not a morose person, but I would rather not be here. I don't have any
reverence for life, only for the entities themselves. I would rather see a blank
space where I am. This will sound like fruitcake stuff again but at least I
wouldn't be harming anything." Ingrid Newkirk, founder, president and
former national director, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA),
as quoted in Chip Brown, "She's a Portrait of Zealotry in Plastic Shoes," Washington
Post, November 13, 1983, p. B10.
"What could be the basis of our having more inherent value than animals? Their
lack of reason, or autonomy, or intellect? Only if we are willing to make the
same judgment in the case of humans who are similarly deficient." Tom
Regan, "The Case for Animal Rights," In Defense of Animals, Peter Singer, ed.
(Oxford: Blackwell, 1985), p. 23.
Audience member: "If you were aboard a lifeboat with a baby and a dog, and
the boat capsized, would you rescue the baby or the dog?" Regan, "If it were
a retarded baby and a bright dog, I'd save the dog." Tom Regan, "Animal
Rights, Human Wrongs," speech given at University of Wisconsin, Madison, October
27, 1989.
"A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy." Ingrid Newkirk, PeTA's founder and
president, Washingtonian Magazine, August 1986
"If it were a child and a dog I wouldn't know for sure... I might choose the
human baby or I might choose the dog." Susan Rich, outreach coordinator,
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA), on the Steve Kane Show,
WIOD-AM radio, Miami, Florida, February 23, 1989.
"If an animal researcher said, "Its a dog or a child,' a liberator will defend
the dog every time." "Screaming Wolf" (pseudonym), A Declaration of War:
Killing People to Save Animals and the Environment (Grass Valley, California:
Patrick Henry Press, 1991), p. 14.
"What we must do is start viewing every cow, pig, chicken, monkey, rabbit,
mouse, and pigeon as our family members." Gary Yourofsky, Humane Education
Director, PETA, The Toledo Blade, June 24, 2001
[Expressing opposition to use of bug sprays] "Only a few of the million you
kill would have bitten you." Dr. Michael Fox, Scientific Director and
former Vice President of Humane Society of the US (HSUS), Returning to Eden,
Fox publication
"Humans have grown like a cancer. We're the biggest blight on the face of the
earth." Ingrid Newkirk, PeTA's founder, president and former national
director, Readers Digest, June 1990
Biomedical Research
"To those people who say, `My father is alive because of animal experimentation,'
I say `Yeah, well, good for you. This dog died so your father could live.' Sorry,
but I am just not behind that kind of trade off." Bill Maher, PETA celebrity
spokesman
"If the death of one rat cured all diseases, it wouldn't make any difference
to me." Chris DeRose, director, Last Chance for Animals, as quoted in
Elizabeth Venant and David Treadwell, "Biting Back," Los Angeles Times, April
12, 1990, p. E12.
"I don't approve of the use of animals for any purpose that involves touching
them - caging them." Dr. Neal Barnard, president, Physician's Committee
for Responsible Medicine(PCRM), The Daily Californian (February 9, 1989) quoting
Bernard's address to an audience at International House (Berkeley).
"An [animal] experiment cannot be justifiable unless the experiment is so important
that the use of a brain-damaged human would be justifiable." Peter Singer,
Animal Liberation: A New Ethic for Our Treatment of Animals, 2nd ed. (New York
Review of Books, 1990), p. 85.
"Even if animal tests produced a cure [for AIDS], 'we'd be against it.'"
--Ingrid Newkirk, national director, People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals (PeTA), as quoted in Fred Barnes, "Politics," Vogue, September 1989,
p. 542.
"I do not believe that it could never be justifiable to experiment on a brain-damaged
human." Peter Singer, Animal Liberation: A New Ethic for Our Treatment
of Animals, 2nd ed. (New York: New York Review of Books, 1990), p. 85.
"There could conceivably be circumstances in which an experiment on an animal
stands to reduce suffering so much that it would be permissible to carry it
out even if it involved harm to the animal... [even if] the animal were a human
being." Peter Singer, Animal Liberation: A New Ethic for Our Treatment
of Animals, 2nd ed. (New York: New York Review of Books, 1990), p. 85
"I would not knowingly have an animal hurt for me, or my children, or anything
else." Cleveland Armory, founder, Fund for Animals (Larry King Show, October
29, 1987).
"In appropriate circumstances we are justified in using humans to achieve goals
(or the goal of assisting animals)." Peter Singer, in Behavioral and Brain
Sciences (1990, Volume 3,), p. 46.
"If it [abolition of animal research] means there are some things we cannot
learn, then so be it. We have no basic right not to be harmed by those natural
diseases we are heir to." Tom Regan, as quoted in David T. Hardy, "America's
New Extremists: What You Need to Know About the Animal Rights Movement." (Washington,
DC: Washington Legal Foundation, 1990), p. 8.
"If natural healing is not possible, given the energy of the environment, it
may be right for that being to change form. Some people call this death." --Sydney
Singer, director, Good Shepherd Foundation, The Earth Religion (Grass Valley,
California: ABACE Publications, 1991), p. 52.
"Animal experiments occupy a central place in the material and spiritual edifice
of our whole civilization. We are speaking here of one of those foundation stones
whose removal could cause the whole house to collapse." Rudolph Bahro,
Building the Green Movement, trans. Mary Tyler (London: GMP, 1986) p. 203.
" Medical research is "immoral even it it's essential." Ingrid Newkirk,
PeTA's founder and president, Washington Post, May 30, 1989
"If my father had a heart attack, it would give me no solace at all to know
his treatment was first tried on a dog," Ingrid Newkirk, founder, president
and former national director for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals,
(PeTA), Washington Post, Nov. 13, 1983.
"Even granting that we [humans] face greater harm than laboratory animals presently
endure if ... research on these animals is stopped, the animal rights view will
not be satisfied with anything less than total abolition." Tom Regan,
The Case for Animal Rights, 1983
"Even painless research is fascism, supremacism." Ingrid Newkirk, PeTA's
founder and president, Washington Magazine, August 1986
Opposition to Hunting and Fishing
“The entire animal rights movement in the United States reacted with unfettered glee at the Ban in England ...We view this act of parliament as one of the most important actions in the history of the animal rights movement. This will energise our efforts to stop hunting with hounds.” Wayne Pacelle, CEO, Humane Society of the US (HSUS), London Times, December 26, 2004
"If we could shut down all sport hunting in a moment, we would." Wayne
Pacelle, Senior VP Humane Society of the US (HSUS), formerly of Friends of Animals
and Fund for Animals, Associated Press, Dec 30, 1991
"Until your daddy learns that it's not "fun' to kill, keep your doggies and kitties away from him. He's so hooked on killing defenseless animals that they could be next!'' PETA flyer quoted in the Asbury Park Press, September 23, 2005
"Our goal is to get sport hunting in the same category as cock fighting and
dog fighting." Wayne Pacelle, Senior VP Humane Society of the US (HSUS),
formerly of Friends of Animals and Fund for Animals, (Bozeman (MT) Daily Chronicle,
October 8, 1991
"We are going to use the ballot box and the democratic process to stop all
hunting in the United States ... We will take it species by species until all
hunting is stopped in California. Then we will take it state by state. Wayne
Pacelle, Senior VP Humane Society of the US (HSUS), formerly of Friends of Animals
and Fund for Animals, Full Cry Magazine, October 1, 1990.
“The definition of obscenity on the newsstands should be extended to many hunting magazines.” Wayne Pacelle, quoted in Bloodties: Nature, Culture and the Hunt by Ted Kerasote, 1993, p. 265.
Opposition to Meat Eating
"I openly hope that it [hoof-and-mouth disease] comes here. It will bring
economic harm only for those who profit from giving people heart attacks and
giving animals a concentration camp-like existence. It would be good for animals,
good for human health and good for the environment." Ingrid Newkirk, PeTA
founder and president, ABC News interview April 2, 2001
"My main concern is, as the largest animal rights organization in the world, it's our job to introduce the philosophy and hammer it home that animals are not ours to eat... I remember saying I would be much more comfortable promoting eating roadkill." PETA vice-president Lisa Lange regarding PETA's push to develop fake meat. New York Times, April 21, 2008
"We're against animal fighting and killing animals for fur…. We want Americans to eat fewer
animals," Wayne Pacelle, DVM News, Jan 1, 2008.
"Human population growth is ultimately one of the most significant that we as a movement have to grapple with. It's a simple equation that more consumers translates into more animals raised for food….For the sake of the animals, there's nothing more powerful than changing your diet." Wayne Pacelle, Vegan.com , October 1998.
"Meat stinks!" People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals slogan, as
quoted in Joe Vansickle, "Playing Catch-Up," Beef, March 1991, p. 34.
"Meat consumption is just as dangerous to public health as tobacco use . It's
time we looked into holding the meat producers and fast-food outlets legally
accountable." Neal Barnard, President of Physicians Committee for Responsible
Medicine (PCRM) and PeTA's Medical Advisor, PETA, PCRM press release, "Physicians
Advise Feds to Go After 'Big Meat' Next", September 23, 1999.
"There is so much blood on this chicken-killer's hands, a little more on his
business suit won't hurt." Bruce Friedrich, PETA Director of Vegan Outreach,
PETA news release, June 23, 2003.
"Everyone who agrees unnecessary animal suffering should be ended must eat
no animal food products." David J. Cantor, Farm Sanctuary Investigator:
Letter to the Editor, Kansas City Star, complaining about a reporter who refused
to give up eating meat, December 11, 2000
“The good news, and what is really going to help immensely, is the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) just passed their vegan policy. They are seen as the mothering organization for the SPCAs, shelters and animal control agencies. And the fact that they have adopted a vegan policy may just be the major breakthrough to bring others along. All HSUS expos, trainings, conferences will be vegan. “ Kim Sturla, in SATYA Magazine, Nov-Dec 2004 (http://www.satyamag.com/nov04/sturla.html)
"Eating meat is primitive, barbaric, and arrogant." Ingrid Newkirk, founder,
president and former national director, People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals (PeTA), as quoted in Charles Griswold, Jr., "Q&A," Washington City
Paper, December 20, 1985, p. 44.
"If beef is your idea of 'real food for real people,' you'd better live real
close to a real good hospital." Neal Barnard, President, Physicians Committee
for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), and PeTA's Medical Advisor,The Buffalo News,
December 1, 1995
"Serving a burger to your family today, knowing what we know, constitutes child
abuse. You might as well give them weed killer." Toni Vernelli European
Campaign Director, PETA, PETA Europe news release, "Meat Expo Declared A 'Danger
Zone' By Vegetarians: PETA Targets Smithfield 2000" November 27, 2000
"My dream is that people will come to view eating an animal as cannibalism."
Henry Spira, director, Animal Rights International, as quoted in Barnaby
J. Feder, "Pressuring Purdue," New York Times Magazine, November 26, 1989, p.
192.
"To give a child animal products is a form of child abuse." Neal Barnard,
Medical Advisor, PETA, from Bernard's book, Food For Life
"If an animal has any rights at all, it's got the right not to be eaten."
Gary Francione, speech, University of Minnesota Law School, November 6, 1991.
"Do you know that fat little guy from Seinfeld? He has become the main pitchman
for KFC, Jason Alexander. And beginning in May he is going to star in the West
Coast production of 'The Producers.' It's made for us. We can be slamming him
as the play opens. If we do this properly, he will wish he never saw a chicken."
Dan Matthews, Director of Media Relations, PETA: The New Yorker, April
14, 2003
On Free Press
"We are complete press sluts." Ingrid Newkirk, PeTA's president and founder,
The New Yorker, April 14, 2003
"Probably everything we do is a publicity stunt ... we are not here to gather
members, to please, to placate, to make friends. We're here to hold the radical
line." Ingrid Newkirk, PeTA's president and founder, USA Today, September
3, 1991
Animal Welfare vs. Animal Rights
"The theory of animal rights simply is not consistent with the theory of animal
welfare... Animal rights means dramatic social changes for humans and non-humans
alike; if our bourgeois values prevent us from accepting those changes, then
we have no right to call ourselves advocates of animal rights." Gary Francione,
The Animals' Voice, Vol. 4, No. 2 (undated), pp. 54-55.
"Humane care (of animals) is simply sentimental, sympathetic patronage."
Dr. Michael W. Fox, Humane Society of the US, in 1988 Newsweek interview
“Yes, abolition is the ideal.” Kim Sturla, in SATYA Magazine Oct 2006 (http://www.satyamag.com/oct06/sturla.html)
"We do not have the right to use animals for any real or perceived need, whether it be food, clothing, entertainment, medical issues." Janine Motta, treasurer of the New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance, Asbury Park Press. November 14, 2007
"I find that as I get older I seem to become more of a Luddite... And hearing
animal experimenters describe me as a Luddite--which used to think I was not.
And now I think Ned Lud had the right idea and we should have stopped all the
machinery way back when, and learned to live simple lives." Ingrid Newkirk,
national director, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA), speech
at Loyola University, October 24, 1988.
"Not only are the philosophies of animal rights and animal welfare separated
by irreconcilable differences... the enactment of animal welfare measures actually
impedes the achievement of animal rights... Welfare reforms, by their very nature,
can only serve to retard the pace at which animal rights goals are achieved."
Gary Francione and Tom Regan, "A Movement's Means Create Its Ends," The
Animals' Agenda, January/February 1992, pp. 40-42.
"I despise 'animal welfare.' That's like saying, 'Let's beat the slaves three
times a week instead of five times a week'." Gary Yourofsky, founder,
Animals Deserve Adequate Protection Today and Tomorrow (ADAPTT), PeTA's national
lecturer, quoted in "As Threats of Violence Escalate, Primate Researchers stand
Firm", Chronicle of Higher Education, Washington, DC, November 12, 1999
"The major success of this decade [the 1980s] has been the reapplication of
the concept of rights in the human population to nonhuman species." John
Kullberg, president, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,
as quoted in Charles Oliver, "Liberation Zoology," Reason, 22, No. 2 (June 1990),
p. 24.
"As long as humans have rights and non-humans do not, as is the case in the
welfarist framework, then non-humans will virtually always lose when their interests
conflict with human interests. Thus welfare reforms, by their very nature, can
only serve to retard the pace at which animal rights goals are achieved." Francione
& Regan, "A Movement's Means Create Its Ends," Animals' Agenda, Jan.-Feb.,
1992
"...the animal rights movement is not concerned about species extinction. An
elephant is no more or less important than a cow, just as a dolphin is no more
important than a tuna...In fact, many animal rights advocates would argue that
it is better for the chimpanzee to become extinct than to be exploited continually
in laboratories, zoos and circuses." Barbara Biel, The Animals' Agenda,
Vol 15 #3.
"It's not about loving animals. It's about fighting injustice. My whole goal
is for humans to have as little contact as possible with animals." Gary
Yourofsky, founder of Animals Deserve Adequate Protection Today and Tomorrow
(ADAPTT), now employed as PeTA's national lecturer
"We're looking for good lawsuits that will establish the interests of animals
as a legitimate area of concern in law." Ingrid Newkirk, PeTA's founder
and president, Insight on the News. July 17, 2000
"We are not especially 'interested in' animals. Neither of us had ever been
inordinately fond of dogs, cats, or horses in the way that many people are.
We didn't 'love' animals." Peter Singer, Animal Liberation: A New Ethic
for Our Treatment of Animals, 2nd ed. (New York Review of Books, 1990), Preface,
p. ii.
On Forming Political Alliances
"We would be foolish and silly not to unite with people in the public health
sector, the environmental community, [and] unions, to try to challenge corporate
agriculture." Wayne Pacelle, Senior VP Humane Society of the US, formerly
of Friends of Animals and Fund for Animals, at the Animal Rights 2002" Convention,
July 1, 2002.
"You've really got to start with kids and re-shape their ideas about things. Since animal rights is a consumer issue, reaching consumers as they're starting to form their life-long habits is the most important thing." Dan Mathew, PETA, The Arizona Republic, March 29, 2008
"Once we get three more directors elected, the Sierra Club will no longer be
pro-hunting and pro-trapping and we can use the resources of the $95-million-a-year
budget to address some of these issues." Paul Watson, Founder, Sea Shepherd
Conservation Society, NY Times, March 16, 2004
"If we are not able to bring the churches, the synagogues, [and] the mosques
around to the animal rights view, we will never make large-scale progress for
animal rights in the United States." Norm Phelps, Program Director, Fund
for Animals: "Animal Rights 2002" convention, July 2, 2002.
Criminal Acts and Terrorism
"Arson, property destruction, burglary and threat are 'acceptable crimes' when used for the animal cause." Alex Pacheco, co-founder of PETA. Quoted in an Associated Press News feature, January 3, 1989
"Property destruction is a legitimate political tool called economic sabotage, and it's meant to attack businesses and corporations." David Barbarash, spokesperson for ALF. Interview on "The Connection," National Public Radio, January 7, 2002
"If someone's willing to risk 20 years of prison by ... burning a building used for animal torture, don't think they're going to worry about a silly restraining order that UCLA cooks up." JerryVlasak, NAALPO press officer , The Guardian, USC-San Diego, April 21, 2008.
"We are not terrorists, but we are a threat. We are a threat both economically and philosophically. Our power is not in the right to vote but the power to stop production. We will break the law and destroy property until we win." Dr. Steven Best, speaking at International Animal Rights Gathering 2005. The Telegram (UK) July 17, 2005.
“Given the choice of apathy or someone liberating mink, burning down a research torture-laboratory, or killing a vivisectionist or other DIRECT murderer of animals, I will choose the aforesaid actions over apathy any day of the week….since violence is an essential part of activism, even if an abuser of animals perished during a fire or other form of direct action, I would unequivocally support that, too.
Gary Yourofsky, in an article he wrote, quoted in “Animal Rights Extremism Meets Academia” by Jacob Laskin, April 19, 2007.
"Here's a little model I'm going to show you here. I didn't have any incense,
but -- this is a crude incendiary device. It is a simple plastic jug, which
you fill with gasoline and oil. You put in a sponge, which is soaked also in
flammable liquid -- I couldn't find an incense stick, but this represents that.
You put the incense stick in here, light it, place it -- underneath the 'weapon
of mass destruction,' light the incense stick - sandalwood works nice -- and
you destroy the profits that are brought about through animal and earth abuse.
That's about -- two dollars. " Rodney Coronado, animal rights felon for
the 1992 Michigan State University fireboming, and recipient of PeTA funds,
speaking at "National conference on Organized Resistance, American University,
Washington DC, January 26, 2003. Note: Coronado pled guilty to the charges stemming from the 1992 MSU arson
case but even so, PeTA donated $45,200 to the Coronado Support Committee in
1995. During the previous year, while Coronado was still on the loose and living
underground, PeTA granted a loan (not yet repaid) to Coronado's father for $25,000.
"If someone is killing, on a regular basis, thousands of animals, and if that
person can only be stopped in one way by the use of violence, then it is certainly
a morally justifiable solution." Jerry Vlasak, spokesman for Animal Defense
League, Penn & Teller Bullsh*t, April 1, 2004
"We will be just as ruthless as any of our targets. We will go for the throat." Dan Matthews, PETA Vice-President, North Queensland Register (Australia). November 1, 2007
"It is dangerous to engage in even the most innocuous-seeming discourse with
the FBI/ Homeland Security/ a local detective." Ingrid Newkirk, PeTA's
founder and president, Letter to activists posted on Yahoo, March 17, 2003
"So-called activists who talk to the police disgust me, and I think one of
the major reasons the animal liberation movement has not made more significant
gains is because many activists do not understand the evolutionary nature of
this movement. We're fighting a major war, defending animals and our very planet
from human greed and destruction. There is no room for collaborators." David
Barbarash, Spokesperson for the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) No Compromise,
the journal of the Animal Liberation Front
“There are about 2,000 people prepared at any one time to take action for us ... The children [of targeted scientists and executives] are enjoying a lifestyle built on the blood and abuse of innocent animals. Why should they be allowed to close the door on that and sit down and watch TV and enjoy themselves when animals are suffering and dying because of the actions of the family breadwinner? They are a justifiable target for protest.” Robin Webb, ALF leader, Sunday Herald ( Scotland) Sept. 19, 2004
"KFC has no excuse for refusing to adopt these basic, minimal animal-welfare
standards ... After two years of fruitless negotiations with the company, we're
trying a more personal approach." Bruce Friedrich, PETA Director quoted
in August 19, 2003 PeTA press release announcing PeTA's intent to dispatch activists
to Louisville, KFC's headquarters, to interact with the community, churches,
institutions, neighbors of KFC's president, and CEO, etc., in order to get KFC
to submit to PeTA's demands.
"When you're a 20-something grassroots activist, and you're deciding how to
spend your time and money to make a difference, it makes a lot of sense to cause
a million in damage with just $100 of investment. That's a better return than
any other form of activism I've been involved in." Rodney Coronado, LA
Weekly, August 29, 2003.
"It won't ruin our movement if someone gets killed in an animal rights action. It's going to happen sooner or later. The Animal Liberation Front, the Earth Liberation Front -- sooner or later there's going to be someone getting hurt. And we have to accept that fact. It's going to happen. It's not going to hurt our movement. Our movement will go on. And it's important that we not let the bully pulpit of the FBI and the other oppression agencies stop us from what we're doing. They are the violent ones. They are the terrorists ... we have to keep doing what we're doing." Jerry Vlasak, PCRM spokesman and Director of ADL, speaking at the Animal Rights 2004 convention (July 8-11).
"Getting arrested is fun." Dan Mathews, PeTA's director of international
campaigns quoted in Orange County Weekly (CA), July 25 - 31, 2003.
"In England we do have some problems with legislation that prevents us from
buying certain products, but over here you don't have the same excuse. You've
heard [Black Panther leader] Mr. [Bobby] Seale: you're allowed to bear arms.
Why are you here now listening to me? You can go out and get animal liberation!
Robin Webb, British Animal Rights Terrorist, speaking at a
Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) rally, Edison, New Jersey, November
30, 2002
"I think violence is part of the struggle against oppression. If something bad happens to these people [animal researchers], it will discourage others. It is inevitable that violence will be used in the struggle and that it will be effective." Jerry Vlasak, The Observer, July 25, 2004
"Whether or not the public regards . . . direct action as fringe or as extremist
or terroristic or whatever label they want to put on it, doesn't really matter
to us because the public at large is apathetic and is going to sit on its ass
regardless of whether it agrees with us or not," Kevin Kjonaas, National
Director, Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty USA (SHAC USA); spokesperson, Animal
Defense League; New York organizer, Viva! USA; quoted in Animal rights advocates
clash with U. Minnesota researchers. Dylan Thomas, Minnesota Daily, University
of Minnesota, November 11, 2002.
"Every time a police agency pepper-sprays or uses pain-compliance holds against
our people, their cars should burn." Rodney Coronado, convicted felon
in the 1992 Michigan State University firebombing and beneficiary of PeTA funds,
"Conference on Organized Resistance," American University, January 26, 2003
“"I don't think you'd have to kill -- assassinate -- too many ... I think for 5 lives, 10 lives, 15 human lives, we could save a million, 2 million, 10 million non-human lives." Jerry Vlasak, Animal Rights 2003 Convention, June, 2003
"Hit them in their personal lives, visit their homes . Actively target U.S.
military establishments within the United States... strike hard and fast and
retreat in anonymity. Select another location, strike again hard and fast and
quickly retreat in anonymity ... Do not get caught. DO NOT GET CAUGHT. Do not
get sent to jail. Stay alert, keep active, and keep fighting." Craig Rosenbraugh,
radical animal rights spokesperson for terrorism and a recipient of PeTA funds,
in Open letter to activists, published on the Independent Media Center website,
March 17, 2003
"Today's terrorist is tomorrow's freedom fighter." Kevin Kjonaas, National
Director and spokesperson, Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty USA (SHAC USA) Animal
Rights 2002 Convention, June 30, 2002
"[Grocers who sell veal] have no idea what's coming . If they have me arrested,
that's good for me, [and] bad for them. We have 75,000 members of our club who
aren't going to like it". Dee Crenshaw, Organizer. Farm Sanctuary, Alexandria
(LA) Daily Town Talk, March 18, 2001
"Sometimes breaking the law, and sometimes pushing the boundaries of what's
told to us is . what is right and wrong, doesn't matter. And it comes down to
questioning what is effective and what is not effective." Kevin Kjonaas,
Spokesperson and National Director for Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty USA (SHAC
USA), speaking at "Animal Rights 2002" convention, June 30, 2002
"I will be the last person to condemn ALF [the Animal Liberation Front]." Ingrid
Newkirk, PeTA's president and founder, The New York Daily News, December 7,
1997
"If an 'animal abuser' were killed in a research lab firebombing, I would unequivocally
support that, too." Gary Yourofsky, founder of Animals Deserve Adequate
Protection Today and Tomorrow (ADAPTT), now employed as PeTA's national lecturer
"Bank executives have had their yachts sunk behind their houses. Cars have
been blown up; windows have been smashed; offices have been stormed. We're tired
of yelling at buildings -- no one cares. We're tired of yelling at executives
while they're in those buildings, and allowing them to go home and forget about
us who are out there that afternoon -- we're going to their homes. We're doing
what's effective. We're shutting this company down." Lauren James, Organizer,
"Conference on Organized Resistance," American University, January 26, 2003
"I am convinced that we can shut down a lot of these animal abuse industries
whether the public agrees with it or not. And whether these industries are shut
down by violent or non-violent acts in the end, to me, doesn't really matter.
David Barbarash, Spokesperson for the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) No
Compromise, BBC Documentary, "Beastly Business" (October 1, 2000)
"We encourage others to find a local Earth raper and make them pay for the
damages they are inflicting on our communities... Furriers, meat packers, bosses,
developers, rich industry leaders are all Earth rapers . We must inflict economic
sabotage on all Earth rapers." Craig Rosenbraugh, recipient of PETA funds,
Spokesperson for Earth Liberation Front (ELF) statement, August 1, 1999
"A burning building doesn't help melt people's hearts, but times change and
tactics, I'm sure, have to change with them. If you choose to carry out ALF-style
actions, I ask you to please not say more than you need to, to think carefully
who you trust, to learn all you can about how to behave if arrested, and so
to try to live to fight another day." Ingrid Newkirk, PeTA's founder and
president, Interview in ALF quarterly Bite Back, February, 2003
"Why should any one of us feel that 'it shouldn't be me taking that brick and
chucking it through that window? Why shouldn't I be going to that fur farm down
the road and opening up those cages?' It's not hard; it doesn't take a rocket
scientist. You don't need a 4-year degree to call in a bomb hoax. These are
easy things, and they're things that save animals: And so I want all of you
in this room to, A) Question not just what is right and wrong, but what is effective,
And B) why can't all of us be doing it? I think the animal rights movement is
strong - that's my opinion. [But] it's time to start flexing our muscles." Kevin
Kjonaas, Spokesperson and National Director, Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty
USA (SHAC USA) "Animal Rights 2002" convention, June 30, 2002
"In light of the events on September 11, my country has told me that I should
not cooperate with terrorists. I therefore am refusing to cooperate with members
of Congress who are some of the most extreme terrorists in history." Craig
Rosebraugh, animal rights radical, spokesperson for animal and earth related
crimes and recipient of PETA funds, statement following Rosebraugh's subpoena
to testify before a Congressional subcommittee on eco-terrorism, November 1,
2001
"The employees. are not good people, and do not deserve to enjoy the Holiday
season. Let's make this one so stressful, they won't be able to balance their
hot cider between shaking hands." E-mail message from (SHAC) Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty dated December 15, 2002
"If we really believe that animals have the same right to be free from pain
and suffering at our hands, then, of course we're going to be, as a movement,
blowing things up and smashing windows ... I think it's a great way to bring
about animal liberation ... I think it would be great if all of the fast-food
outlets, slaughterhouses, these laboratories, and the banks that fund them exploded
tomorrow. I think it's perfectly appropriate for people to take bricks and toss
them through the windows. ... Hallelujah to the people who are willing to do
it." Bruce Friedrich, PeTA's director of Vegan Outreach, Animal Rights
Conference, 2001
"Huntingdon Life Sciences is going to close. You can't close it with those
evil riot police there, but they're not always here! It's not always daylight
... Come here when it's dark, when there's no moon, with people you can trust!
There are individuals in there who need you to do that! But when you get them
out, don't leave the equipment or the building standing either! Smash it! Smash
it! Smash it once and for all!" Robin Webb, British Animal Rights Terrorist,
speaking at a Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) rally, East Millstone, New
Jersey, outside a medical research facility, December 1, 2002
"I think [food producers] should appreciate that we're only targeting their
property. Because frankly I think it's time to start targeting them." Rodney
Coronado, convicted felon for the 1992 firebombing of Michigan State University
research facility (57 months in federal prison, 3 years probation), speaking
at the "Conference on Organized Resistance," American University, January 26,
2003.
"Believe me, you don't have to worry about prison. I've been there -- it's
a doggle. You can put your feet up and recharge your batteries, and go back
out there when you're released and start all over again. You can go to education
to read up. I mean someone, someone actually read up on electronics while they
were in prison, and went out and started doing electronic incendiary devices.
Use your time inside to teach yourself!" Robin Webb, British Spokesperson
for Animal Rights Terrorism, speaking at SHAC rally, Edison, New Jersey, November
30, 2002
"We're a new breed of activism. We're not your parents' Humane Society. We're
not Friends of Animals. We're not EarthSave. We're not Greenpeace. We come with
a new philosophy. We hold the radical line. We will not compromise! We will
not apologize, and we will not relent! ... Vivisection is not an abstract concept.
It's a deed, done by individuals, who have weaknesses, who have breaking points,
and who have home addresses!" Kevin Kjonaas, animal extremist and National
Leader-spokesperson for Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty USA, (SHAC-USA) rally,
East Millstone, New Jersey, outside a medical research facility, December 1,
2002
"Although fish and chip shops haven't been targeted before so far as I can
remember, they would be considered legitimate targets." Robin Webb, UK
Spokesperson for animal rights terrorism, The UK Guardian December 12, 2001
"Our philosophy is to go for one company at a time, and go for its
finances. If we had gone down and protested outside HLS every day for
the last five years we would have got nowhere," Greg Avery, SHAC, BBC
Online, October 5, 2004
"The $10,000 microscope was destroyed in about 10 seconds with a steel wrecking
bar we purchased ... for less than $5. We consider that a pretty good return
on our investment." ALF memo about destruction of lab at U. of Oregon
Oct. 1986
If a car being blown up in a driveway or animals being liberated from a lab
scares them, then I would say that fear pales by comparison to the fear that
the animals have every day. The kind of true violence that these animals endure
at the hands of people at Huntingdon leaves me with little sympathy. Kevin
Kjonaas, National Director and spokesperson, Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty
USA, (SHAC USA); spokesperson, Animal Defense League; New York organizer, Viva!
USA; as quoted in A harsh animal-rights campaign targets NJ firm, workers. Chris
Mondics, The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 14, 2002.
"Throughout the late '80s, me and a handful of friends just like you people
here, we started to break windows, we started to slash tires, we started to
rescue animals from factory farms and vivisection breeders, and we graduated
to breaking into laboratories . As long as we emptied the labs of animals, they
were still easily replaced. So that's when the ALF in this country, and my cell,
started engaging in arson." Rodney Coronado, convicted felon for 1992
Michigan State University firebombing and PeTA funds beneficiary, speaking at
SHAC rally, Edison, New Jersey, November 30, 2002
"Arson, property destruction, burglary and theft are 'acceptable crimes' when
used for the animal cause." Alex Pacheco, Director, PETA
"As a direct-action warrior, it made a lot of sense to me to attack institutions
in the fur trade . we need to destroy them by any means necessary." Rodney
Coronado, convicted felon of 1992 Michigan State University firebombing and
beneficiary of PeTA funds, "Conference on Organized Resistance," American University,
January 26, 2003
"Last night in San Diego a bunch of townhouses were burned down, and reporters
from two corporate TV stations just asked me, 'What good does that do your movement?'...
If that hadn't happened, you wouldn't be here tonight. People willing to risk
their lives to protect the environment by destroying buildings built on the
habitat of endangered species make people take notice... Fire is a very sacred
power, one of the key elements of our planet...We use fire to cleanse ourselves,
and when we address buildings and institutions that have no other purpose but
to destroy life, fire is the only way to stop them. When people ask if someday
someone might get hurt by one of our actions, I ask them why they don't get
so concerned about the people who are killing animals for a living. That is
what the terrorism in this society is. Destroying property to protect life is
the most sacred thing we can do." Rod Coronado, Earth Liberationist, convicted
arsonist in 1992 Michigan State University firebombing and beneficiary of PeTA
funds, speaking "Revolution Summer" in Hillcrest, CA (a suburb of San Diego),
August 1, 2003, the day a $50 million fire credited to the Earth Liberation
Front torched an apartment construction project, Zenger's Newsmagazine, 2003.
" [behind every corporation] there are people who have homes and liability
and privacy issues." Kevin Kjonaas, (SHAC) Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty
leader and spokesperson, quoted in the Mercury News, San Jose, California, May
10, 2003
"We have a 100 per cent success rate. Whoever we choose to target is finished."
Heather James, SHAC co-leader , London Evening Standard, March 29, 2004
"I wish we all would get up and go into the labs and take the animals out or
burn them down." Ingrid Newkirk, President, PETA, National Animal Rights
Convention June 27, 1997
"Property destruction is a legitimate political tool called economic sabotage,
and it's meant to attack businesses and corporations." David Barbarash,
Spokesperson for the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), NPR radio show, "The Connection"
January 7, 2002
"It doesn't matter if there are people in there. They're irrelevant! It doesn't
matter about the police. They're irrelevant! It doesn't matter about the high
fences. They're irrelevant! It doesn't matter about the doors. They're irrelevant!
It doesn't matter about the locks. They're irrelevant! What matters is our brothers
and sisters in there. Smash everything when the cops aren't here! Get them out!"
."We'll sweep the police aside. We'll sweep the government aside. We'll sweep
Huntingdon Life Sciences aside, and we'll raze this evil place right to the
ground!" Robin Webb, British Animal Rights Terrorist, Speaking at Stop
Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, (SHAC) rally, East Millstone, New Jersey, outside
a medical research facility, December 1, 2002
"If that means going onto their farms, releasing their animals and burning the place to the ground, that's morally justifiable, in our opinion…There were always innocent people who got hurt somewhere along the way but it was important that those who oppressed one group of people be stopped, and we don't see the animal liberation struggle being substantially different from these [apartheid and slavery] other struggles.… A sustained campaign against a particular industry or a particular organization has the potential to be quite effective." Jerry Vlasak, in response to indictments of 11 ALF/ELF arsonists. AP, January 20, 2006.
"It's time for the animal rights movement to take this [fur] industry and drive
the final nail into the coffin by whatever means it takes. If that means being
outside the executives houses, if that means blockading their doors, whatever
it takes." John 'J.P.' Goodwin, Humane Society of the US Campaign Director,
former executive director of the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade, in speech
at the World Congress for Animals, June 20, 1996
"Physically shut down financial centers . Using any means necessary, shut down
the national networks of NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, etc. Not just occupations but actually
engage in strategies and tactics which knock the networks off the air . Spread
the battle to the ... very heads of government and U.S. corporations ... "When
you see the loss of 9 billion [animal] lives each year, it's inappropriate to
hold a sign or pass out a petition. It's appropriate to go out and burn down
the factory farm." Joshua Harper, recipient of PETA funds, The Seattle
Post-Intelligencer, June 18, 2001
"Damaging the enemy financially is fair game." Alex Pacheco, animal rights
radical, PeTA co-founder and one of its original 3 board members, Washington
City Paper, December 18, 1987
"Animal liberation, of which the anti-vivisection movement is a part, animal
liberation is not a campaign. It is not a struggle. It is a war! It is an all-out
bloody war, in which the countless hundreds of millions of casualties have,
so far, all been on one side. How can we allow that to continue?" Robin
Webb, British spokesperson for animal rights terrorism, speaking at SHAC rally,
Edison, New Jersey, November 30, 2002
"Would I rather the research lab that tests animals is reduced to a bunch of
cinders? Yes." Ingrid Newkirk, PeTA's president and founder, New York
Daily News, December 7, 1997
"A lot of people think that -- Oh my god, that's going too far, you know. People
can support bringing animals out of labs, but they can't support arson. Well,
I'm sorry. I'm not here to, to please people. I'm not here to win the support
of people. I'm here to represent my animal relations who are suffering this
very second. And I don't care what anybody says about what I do to achieve their
freedom." Rodney Coronado, convicted felon for 1992 Michigan State University
firebombing and PeTA beneficiary, speaking at SHAC rally, Edison, New Jersey,
November 30, 2002
"[I see] a spark of hope in every broken window, every torched police car."
Joshua Harper, recipient of PeTA funds,The Seattle Post-Intelligencer,
June 18, 2001
"Get arrested. Destroy the property of those who torture animals. Liberate
those animals interned in the hellholes our society tolerates." Jerry
Vlasak, Animal Defense League, Internet post to AR Views list, June 21, 1996
"Perhaps the mere idea of receiving a nasty missive will allow animal researchers
to empathize with their victims for the first time in their lousy careers. I
find it small wonder that the laboratories aren't all burning to the ground.
If I had more guts, I'd light a match." Ingrid Newkirk, PeTA founder and
president, The Chronicle of Higher Education November 12, 1999
"I would be overjoyed when the first scientist is killed by a liberation activist."
Vivien Smith, Former ALF Spokesperson, USA Today, September 3, 1991
"Our nonviolent tactics are not as effective. We ask nicely for years and get
nothing. Someone makes a threat, and it works." Ingrid Newkirk, PeTA's
founder and president, US News and World Report, April 8, 2002
"Setting fire to the feed truck falls within the work they [the ALF] do. It
was most likely done in an effort to cause the most damage possible to the farm
without hurting anyone or any animals. What these farmers do to chickens is
terrorism -- what we do is not." David Barbarash, Associated Press story
filed after the arson of a poultry truck in Indiana caused $100,000 in damage,
July 3, 2000
"Getting together three or four friends of mine, we came back a week later
to that farm, we broke into the main laboratory, we trashed every single piece
of equipment, we stole documents and lists of fur farms across the nation. And
we started a fire in an experimental fur farm, an experimental feed building,
where they manufactured the experimental diets which were the focus of research
at this farm. And that fire destroyed all the equipment, and in the ensuing
raid, the raid that happened caused enough damage that six months later that
lab was forced to shut down. That was five people, folks -- once again maybe
like twelve hundred dollars, a couple weeks of planning, five people. But that
wasn't the end. I knew I had to continue, and for the next -- oh gosh, a little
over a year -- we took out, one by one, every recipient of what's called the
Mink Farmers Research Foundation. It's a foundation whose sole purpose is to
aid research to benefit the fur farm industry." Rodney Coronado, convicted
felon for 1992 Michigan State University firebombing and PeTA funds beneficiary,
speaking at SHAC rally, Edison, New Jersey, November 30, 2002
"We have found that civil disobedience and direct action has been powerful
in generating massive attention in our communities ... and has been very effective
in traumatizing our targets." JP Goodwin, Committee to Abolish the Fur
Trade, National Animal Rights Convention '97, June 27, 1997, now employed by
the Humane Society of the United States
"I know it's illegal [trespassing], but I don't think it's wrong," Ingrid
Newkirk, PeTA's founder and president, Montgomery County, Md. Journal, Feb.
16, 1988
"More than anything we applied arson, and effectively we destroyed -- um, let's
see -- the Northwest Fur Breeders Cooperative in Edmonds, Washington, which
we hit a week later after OSU. We hit Washington State University's Eastern
Washington experimental fur farm. We did get seven coyotes out of there, six
mink, and ten mice . We burned down a fur farm that was on the market to be
sold, in Oregon also. We went to the Michigan State University's experimental
fur farm program and destroyed thirty-two years of research, by using fire once
again, and rescued two mink from there." Rodney Coronado, convicted felon
for 1992 firebombing of a research facility at Michigan State University, at
SHAC rally, Edison, New Jersey, November 30, 2002
"In a war you have to take up arms and people will get killed, and I can support
that kind of action by petrol bombing and bombs under cars, and probably at
a later stage, the shooting of vivisectors on their doorsteps. It's a war, and
there's no other way you can stop vivisectors." Tim Daley, British Animal
Liberation Front Leader, BBC interview, 1987
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