Animal Liberation Front
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The Animal Liberation Front (ALF) is an international, leaderless, decentralized movement that emerged in Britain in the 1970s, evolving from the Bands of Mercy. It operates without a formal leadership structure and engages in direct actions aimed at opposing animal cruelty. These actions include removing animals from laboratories and farms, damaging facilities, providing veterinary care, and establishing sanctuaries for the rescued animals. Participants describe their efforts as non-violent and compare their activities to the modern-day Underground Railroad. However, the ALF has also been criticized and labeled as an eco-terrorist organization by some groups and individuals. Active in over 40 countries, the ALF operates through clandestine cells, often consisting of small groups or individual. This decentralized and covert structure makes it challenging for authorities to monitor or infiltrate the organization. According to Robin Webb of the Animal Liberation Press Office, this structure is a key reason for the ALF's resistance, stating "That is why the ALF cannot be smashed; it cannot be effectively infiltrated, it cannot be stopped. You, each and every one of you: you are the ALF." Activists associated with the ALF describe the movement as non-violent. According to the ALF's guidelines, actions that promote animal liberation and take all reasonable precautions to avoid harm to both human and nonhuman life can be attributed to the ALF, including acts of vandalism that may cause economic damage. In 2006, American activist Rod Coronado stated, "One thing that I know that separates us from the people we are constantly accused of being—that is, terrorists, violent criminals—is the fact that we have harmed no one." There has nevertheless been widespread criticism for its alleged involvement in acts of violence and for the failure of some spokespersons and activists to condemn such actions. This criticism has led to dissent within the animal rights movement regarding the use of violence and has attracted increased attention from law enforcement and intelligence agencies. In 2002, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), an organization that monitors extremism in the United States, highlighted ALF's involvement in the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty campaign, which the SPLC identified as employing terrorist tactics, although the SPLC later noted that the ALF had not caused any fatalities. In 2005, the ALF was listed in a United States Department of Homeland Security planning document as a domestic terrorist threat, prompting the allocation of resources to monitor the group. That same year, FBI deputy assistant director John Lewis described "ecoterrorism" and the "animal rights movement" as the number one domestic terrorism threats. In the United Kingdom, ALF activities are classified as examples of domestic extremism and are monitored by the National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit, which was established in 2004 to oversee illegal animal rights activity.