The Animal Liberation Front, also known as the ALS, is a international, underground organization that has a very direct approach, sometimes illegal, fighting for the rights of animals worldwide. These activists often remove animals from captivity such as laboratories, farms, and zoos. The ALF also take care of the animals they rescue by placing them into safe houses or veterinary care, making sure that they are safe and that they have a place to live for the rest of their lives.
Direct action
The Animal Liberation Front takes direct action when it comes to saving animals that are being held captive in cages or are being mistreated. The activists consider that animals should be free, such as humans. They should have right, just as humans, and should not live in cages. The ALF doesn’t fight for a more humane treatment of the animals, but for total freedom. Bigger cages aren’t the answer as their aim is empty cages. All animals have the right to live and to be free. In order to achieve their goal , the activists sometime resort to illegal actions, although they reject physical violence. Often, after saving animals from laboratories or farms where they are being kept captive, they destroy these places. They claim that, saving animals from a laboratory only means that they will be replaced with other animals. That is why extreme measurements must be taken as destroying laboratories means slowing down the process or even stopping it.
History
In 1963, as a protest to deers being killed by hunters, the Hunt Saboteurs Association was created in order to prevent hunters from catching deers. In 1972 a similar organization was formed. The sole difference is that this new organization would take a more direct approach, cutting the tires of the hunter’s vehicles and preventing the hunt from ever happening. In 1976 Ronnie Lee eventually formed the ALF n order to free animals and prevent them from being killed.
