After ALF Action, New Bill Targets Stockyard Arsons
California senate proposes tougher penalties for ALF arsons at stockyards.
After the Animal Liberation Front set 14 trucks on fire at the Harris Ranch stockyards in January, Senator Anthony Cannella introduced Senate Bill 1302, which would give prosecutors the power to file aggravated arson charges — rather than simple arson — for arsons of animal abuser’s property. 
Damages in the January arson was estimated at $2 million. In a communique, the Animal Liberation Front took credit.
Under existing state law, a person is guilty of aggravated arson if they intentionally set a fire with the intent to hurt or kill somebody, or that causes losses in excess of $6.5 million. Although the ALF adheres to a strict code of not injuring human or non-human life, the law would put Animal Liberation Front actions in the same legal category as those who set fires with the intent to kill.
This continues the post-9-11 trend of characterizing activists who damage property or rescue animals as terrorists, and assigning false motives to those whose only intention is to save animals.
The legislation was reportedly introduced at the request of the dairy industry.
The proposed law specifically targets fires which are set at stockyards. In passed, any fire set “with the intent to disrupt the commercial operations of a feedlot or livestock salesyard,” and causes in excess of $100,000 in damage, will qualify as aggravated arson.
The difference between arson and aggravated arson are the prison sentences for anyone arrested. Someone convicted of aggravated arson can face a possible sentence of 10 years to life. Simple arson involving property has a range of prison time between 16 months and three years.
The bill comes in response to the January arson in which incendiary devices were placed under 14 trucks at Harris Ranch, a large stockyard located on I-5 in the California central valley.
In undefeatable logic, the senator who authored the bill stated this about the Animal Liberation Front:
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