Media Names Washington Fur Farm Where 400 Mink Were Liberated

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Mink farm raided last week identified as the Harvey Beck mink farm in Granite Falls, Washington

After a non-specific report of 400 mink being released from an unnamed farm in Granite Falls, Washington last week, yesterday local media identified the farm as the Beck Mink Farm.

The Animal Liberation Front has not (yet) taken credit.

This farm has personal significance: the Harvey Beck farm is the first fur farm I visited nearly 15 years ago. Located in Granite Falls, a small towm approximately 20 minutes NE of Seattle, the farm sits just off Engebretsen Road, down a gravel path. Curious to see imprisoned mink close up, we visited the farm on many occasions.

I’ve seen the sickness of this mink prison: The thousands of caged mink, and corpses stacked in the processing shed in the property’s SE corner. I couldn’t be more happy to learn that years after my first visit, a person of persons unknown finally won freedom for 400 of its captives.

When we show the fur industry that even motion sensor alarms are no deterrent, the demoralizing effect of knowing the A.L.F. will get inside their farms no matter the obstacles is a powerful message, and one that brings us one step closer to the end of the fur industry.

Endless gratitude to those who made this happen.

– Peter Young

400 Mink Liberated in Washington State

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Largest mink release in Washington in seven years

The Fur Commission USA is reporting 400 mink were released September 9th, 2010 from a fur farm in Granite Falls, Washington.

The name of the farm was not specified. According to the fur farm directory The Blueprint, Granite Falls is home to two known mink farms: The Jeff Craggs fur farm, and Beck’s Mink Farm. View images of the farms here:

Jeff Craggs farm

Becks Mink Farm

The largest mink release in the state occurred in 2003, when 10,000 mink were released from the Roesler Brothers Fur Farm in nearby Sultan, Washington. That farm was reported to still be open as of the summer of 2009.

While the target of the September 9th raid is not known, one of the two mink farm owners is familiar to activists – Harvey Beck reported an attempted raid of his farm in the summer of 1997. No animals were reported to have been released in that incident.

In a verbal folly of Bush proportions, while endorsing a bill that would target “eco-terrorists”, Beck made this statement to Washington state lawmakers in 2001:

What does ecoterrorism have to do with our civil liberties and free speech? Absolutely nothing but destruction.

No claim of responsibility by the Animal Liberation Front has been made.

– Peter Young

Hunt Continues for Fugitive and Accused Saboteur

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Animal Liberation Front-Line just received a brief report about the continued FBI hunt for Andreas San Diego.

Last week in Des Moines, Iowa, the FBI attempted to question an individual about the whereabouts of Andreas San Diego. The person told agents to contact their lawyer, and refused to speak to them.

San Diego has been sought by the FBI for nearly seven years, after he was allegedly pulled over by police in a routine traffic stop near the site an explosion at the headquarters at an HLS customer. A previous bombing had occurred at another HLS target in the area weeks prior. San Diego was placed under surveillance by the FBI. When they lost track of him, he was subsequently indicted.

In recent years, the FBI has released reports of San Diego being spotted in North Carolina, Europe, and Costa Rica, among other locations. Despite his addition to the FBI’s “Most Wanted Terrorists” list, and three features on America’s Most Wanted, San Diego has remained free.

The FBI has made no statements indicating what links San Diego would have to Iowa. The person questioned stated they have been visited frequently by the FBI in relation to other investigations.

– Peter Young

Iowa A.L.F. lab raid case set for trial

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Scott DeMuth set for trial in Iowa Animal Liberation Front lab-raid case

At the final pre-trial hearing Monday, it was confirmed the case of Scott DeMuth will proceed to trial. The trial is set to begin on September 13th.

Scott DeMuth is charged with one felony count of conspiracy in connection with the Animal Liberation Front action that caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage at the University of Iowa in 2004. 401 animals were also rescued in the raid. DeMuth was 17 at the time of the action.

At Monday’s hearing, DeMuth’s attorney referred to “acts of deceit” by the government, saying prosecutors have refused to release evidence such as photographs and police reports to the defense.

“I don’t know what the government’s case is,” he said. “I believe the government can’t prove their case.”

The government stated they intend to call 60 witnesses.

For background, in March I covered the bizarreness of the government’s case against DeMuth in this post:
“Eight reasons the Iowa A.L.F. investigation is a fraud“.

At the hearing Monday, several Homeland Security vans were parked outside the courthouse.

– Peter Young

Breaking: FBI Raids Utah Activist House for the Second Time

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The FBI raids my home for the second time in five months.

Today I awoke at 9am to FBI & ATF agents raiding my home in Salt Lake City. This is the second time my home has been raided in an A.L.F. investigation in five months.

Ten agents with the FBI and ATF corralled myself and my roommates into the living room, handed us a search warrant, and spent the next five hours removing belongings from our home.

The warrant indicated they were seeking evidence in recent Animal Liberation Front arsons, including two in Utah.

View the search warrant here.

The warrant called for seizure of the following (language borrowed directly from the warrant):

“Documents, correspondence, or computer files relating to:

• communications regarding criminal acts or plans to commit criminal
acts in the name of animal rights;

• claims of responsibility for criminal acts, including correspondence
between Walter Bond and animal rights extremist groups, such as the
Animal Liberation Front, the North American Animal Liberation
Press Office, and Animal Liberation Front-Line (formerly Voice of the Voiceless);

• individuals or groups involved with illegal animal rights extremist
acts;

• the arsons at the Tandy Leather store and Tiburon restaurant in Salt
Lake County, Utah, and the arson at the Sheepskin Factory in the
Denver, Colorado area;

• animal rights extremism tenns, such as “go vegan,” “straightedge,”
“A.L.F.,” or the moniker “Lone Wolf;”

• correspondence between Walter Bond and Peter Young;

• mechanisms, tools, and field guides/instruction manuals used to
facilitate illegal animal rights extremism acts; and

• evidence that Walter Bond lived at the residence in 2010.”

(Note: Walter Bond is in jail in Colorado, accused of burning down a Sheepskin Factory store in Denver).

The warrant also sought “evidence of accelerants used in the arsons in Utah”, computers, phones, and all electronic storage media.

Every member of the house was taken outside by an FBI agent individually and asked if they wished to “cooperate”. As every member of the house responded with some variation of “no comment”, an FBI agent asked questions including: if they had information to provide about Walter Bond or the “Lone Wolf” arsons, inquiries about other roommates, and offers to have seized items returned quickly in exchange for informing on Walter Bond and others. One female at the house was told “you could really help us” by accepting an informant role and secretly providing information about me.

(In a post next week, I will cover my experiences with the FBI using women as paid informants to target male activists.)

Also mentioned repeatedly by agents during their attempted questionings was their belief that Walter Bond was a one-time resident of the house (the assertion is completely false).

Every person questioned was told in various ways that, while Walter Bond was the ostensible target of the warrant, an unstated target was myself. One roommate was told – “I know what the warrant says, but you know who we’re really here for. We want Peter Young”.

During their attempted questioning of me, an FBI agent stated he realized the chances of me cooperating were “not very good”, but that it was “time for (me) to grow up” and “put this behind (me)” by giving them information for their investigation. I was also told erroneously that because I was not under arrest, I did not have the right to speak to an attorney.

As stated, this is the second raid of the residence – an established Salt Lake City activist house – in five months. The first sought evidence in the 2004 Animal Liberation Front raid of the University of Iowa, in which 401 animals were rescued. The FBI attempted to link me to the action, both tangentially, and by assumptions of very poor footing. They successfully argued probable cause to a judge who granted a warrant, and in March the FBI spent 7 hours searching my home.

The warrant indicated that the Animal Liberation Front-Line reporting done on the recent A.L.F. “Lone Wolf” arsons may be a factor in the raid. The warrant specifically calls for seizure of “documents, correspondence, or computer files” relating to “communications between Walter Bond and…. Voice of the Voiceless”.

When the raid concluded, the FBI severely damaged the rear of their vehicle when exiting the driveway by hitting a pole.

– Peter Young

Activsts Take Credit for Oregon Mink Farm Arson

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Received anonymously by above-ground activists in the U.S.: A communique taking credit for an arson at the Ylipelto Fur Farm in Astoria, Oregon (read the full story of this action in this morning’s post here.)

The full communique is as follows:

“We delivered eight incendiary devices to the lovely folks at Ylipelto’s Fur Farm, at 92659 Simonsen Loop Road in Astoria on the morning of July 27th. It is nice to see that the enslavement, torture, and death of thousands of innocent creatures affords certain people luxuries like boats, nice cars, and various (expensive, no doubt) “farm machinery, and we were more than happy to alleviate them of these. A careful attack sent structures up in flame both in the front and rear of the property, simultaneously. We hope that this can leave an impression on our friends, Veikko & Eeva, that making such a living off of the subjugation of sentient creatures (for something as selfish and disgusting as the fashion industry, no less) will not be tolerated. We hope that others ike them will also consider where their priorities lie (the nearby Wilkinson & Stunkard farms, to name a couple), and decide whether or not they’d like to be next. –Don’t think that you’ve be given a choice; your actions serve as your voice. “

A.L.F. Takes Credit for Fire at Utah Foie Gras Restaurant

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A.L.F. Lonewolf strikes again: A Utah foie gras restaurant is set on fire, temporarily closes.

Overnight, Channel 4 news in Salt Lake City received a communique from “Lonewolf”, taking credit for an arson at Tiburon, a foie gras restaurant. The fire reportedly did $10,000 in damages, and temporarily closed the restaurant.

This is the second “Lonewolf” communique in recent weeks. The first took credit for two arsons: one at a Sheepskin Factory store in Denver, and the second a Leather Factory store in Salt Lake City.

The fire was first reported on by the Salt Lake Tribune on July 3rd. The coverage made no mention of a possible animal liberation motive.

Two and a half years ago another foie gras restaurant was targeted in Salt Lake City. A restaurant called The Metropolitan took foie gras off their menu as a result. The restaurant was quoted as saying they stopped serving foie gras after anonymous activists smashed their windows and turned off the gas main. The action cost them tens of thousands of dollars.

With these recent “Lonewolf” actions, and other communiques over the last 18 months, we see the A.L.F. abandoning the group model and working in a way that is both streamlined and minimizes risk: as individuals, working alone.

– Peter Young

A.L.F. Takes Credit for Fires at Two Animal Skin Dealers

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In one communique, the Animal Liberation Front takes credit for arsons at two animal skin dealers.

After mysterious fires broke out at two animal skin dealers across two states in two months, this week the Animal Liberation Front took credit. The text of the communique is as follows:

“The arson at the Sheepskin Factory in Denver was done in defense and retaliation for all the innocent animals that have died cruelly at the hands of human oppressors. Be warned that making a living from the use and abuse of animals will not be tolerated. Also be warned that leather is every bit as evil as fur. As demonstrated in my recent arson against the Leather Factory in Salt Lake City. Go vegan!

ALF Lone Wolf”

The first arson destroyed the Sheepskin Factory store in Denver the night of April 30th, 2010. Over 40 firefighters responded to the fire that destroyed the building. The business was uninsured.

The second fire damaged the Tandy Leather Factory store in Salt Lake City sometime in the days before June 5th, 2010. The store reportedly closed for several days (or more). A sign posted on the door after the fire read “closed for fire clean up”.

This is a rare case of the A.L.F. claiming responsibility for more than one action in a single communique.

Owners of the Sheepskin Factory suspected the Animal Liberation Front from the outset. The owner’s daughter stated:

“From the beginning that’s kind of our initial thoughts of who was responsible for this,”

Predictably, regressive elements of the animal rights / welfare movement in Denver were quick to condemn these arsons, pointing a finger at the Animal Liberation Front rather than animal abusers:

“I know hundreds of animal activists and I don’t know anybody who thinks setting a fire will do any good. Folks who own the building will get reimbursed by their insurance company and they’ll be up and running, in better working conditions than they had to start with. That’s not doing anything for animals that are suffering.” said “animal activist” Dan Hanley.

Hanley was apparently unaware the Skeepskin Factory arson he referred to targeted a building that was uninsured.

An employee of the Sheepskin Factory said this of business owners targeted by the A.L.F.:

You’ve got to keep on fighting.

These recent actions show the Animal Liberation Front will continue to do the same.

– Peter Young

Activists sue police over protest at A.L.F. target

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Animal rights group sue police after unlawful order to disperse at nation’s largest fur feed cooperative, targeted four times by the Animal Liberation Front.

On May 8th, approximately 15 activists from the Salt Lake Animal Advocacy Movement (SLAAM) converged on the Fur Breeder’s Agricultural Cooperative in Sandy, Utah, the largest fur farm feed cooperative in the country. After 30 minutes of protesting (including chants reminding the FBAC their building was burned to the ground by the A.L.F. in 1996) police arrived and gave an order for activists to disperse.

Fur Breeders Agricultural Cooperative

After capturing the unlawful order on video, this week SLAAM sued the police of unincorporated Salt Lake County. The lawsuit includes a formal complaint against the police, a restraining order against police who issued the orders, and permanent injunction against two officers, as the complaint states the group members are “legitimately afraid” of them.

The Fur Breeder’s Agricultural Cooperative (FBAC) has been targeted by the Animal Liberation Front at least four times, including one arson and bombing which thoroughly destroyed one of its buildings. Other actions at the site have included two releases of mink from the experimental fur farm located at the southwest of the facility, where feed is tested on mink. The book Operation Bite Back also details an attempted arson by Rod Coronado in 1991. The incendiary device he placed failed to ignite.

Activists report that on May 8th, approximately 15 people gathered outside the experimental mink farm, on the south end of the FBAC property. Several employee cars pulled into the facility, parking beside a building with a faded sign reading “Fur Research Laboratory”. One of the people who arrived identified himself as the “owner” of the property. Soon after, police arrived and gave an order to disperse or be arrested. Activists documented the unlawful order on video and turned it over to attorneys. The lawsuit followed soon after.

The Fur Breeder’s Cooperative has been a frequent target because of its position as one of, if not the, most vital lynchpins in among the weakest animal abuse industries: fur. The feed supplier is crucial in keeping the nation’s second-largest mink farming state (after Wisconsin) afloat through the production of inexpensive feed. Feed represents 50 to 60% of the total cost of “producing” a mink. The FBAC plant is so significant, when the co-op stopped delivering to one remote Utah town, several mink farms were forced to close.

They arrest activists when they illegally burn down their buildings. They arrest activists when they legally protest. In this “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” catch 22, it should come as no surprise to police and animal abusers when activists make the reasoned assessment to use those tactics which offer both the highest impact and lowest chance of arrest.  When protesting becomes illegal, the only avenue left for change is that which animal abusers fear most. A point best made visually, with a photo from inside the Fur Breeder’s Cooperative the morning after its 1997 bombing by the A.L.F.:

– Peter Young

A.L.F. Scapegoated in “Researcher” Car-Sabotage

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A.L.F. again becomes scapegoat in vandalism case of a researcher who doesn’t experiment on animals

Just after the Animal Liberation Front was falsely blamed for the release of a kangaroo from a roadside zoo, this week investigators are hinting the A.L.F. may be behind the sabotage of a UC-Santa Cruz researcher’s car. The punchline? The researcher doesn’t experiment on animals.

The story: Early May 23rd, person(s) unknown severed the brake lines on an SUV as it sat in a Santa Cruz driveway. The owner was someone described only as a “UC-Santa Cruz researcher”. The FBI and police swarmed the scene. There were no reports of graffiti, and no claim of responsibility by any underground group. By all appearances, it was a case of generic-brand vandalism. The San Jose Mercury News admitted:

The scientist’s research did not involve animals

In light of this admission, the Animal Liberation Front should be immediately ruled out. Yet sill, investigators immediately hinted at a possible animal liberation motive.

So far, it has been a case of “indictment by suggestion”, with investigators indirectly implicating the A.L.F. by stating the perpetrators “may not necessarily be an animal rights group”. The subtext being: not necessarily, but probably.

Here is the quote from Santa Cruz Deputy Police Chief Rick Martinez:

“It may not necessarily be an animal-rights group and it may not necessarily be an environmental group,” he said

The media covering this case is the larger part of the problem, with local papers sparing no opportunity to point out “UCSC researchers whose work includes testing on animals have been targeted in recent years.”

There is major precedent for police and FBI in Santa Cruz blaming the animal liberation movement for actions for which there isn’t a hint of evidence. Remember the attempted home arson of a UCSC animal researcher in 2008, where the smoke hadn’t even cleared before the FBI called it a case of “attempted murder” by animal rights activists. No claim of responsibility was ever made, and no other motives or suspects were entertained in investigator’s statements to the media.

There are two forces at work allowing this false and deceptive blame on animal liberation activists:

1) The media’s complete inability to understand the motives of the A.L.F. (to save animals)
2) The Animal Liberation Front making an easy scapegoat in the absence of something better.

There could be several reasons to blame the A.L.F.for generic property crimes. One, it raises the status of an investigation, giving police and FBI a sense of cowboy-style bravado in being involved in a “terrorism” investigation. Two, it could remove the burden from law enforcement for their failure to catch generic-brand vandals: failure to catch a nebulous, shadowy underground group is more easily understood.

As stated on Animal Liberation Front-line several weeks ago, animal abusers and the FBI may have discovered the most convenient of scapegoats in generic vandalism cases: the A.L.F.

– Peter Young

Damages From Sheepskin Factory Arson at $500,000

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More news and photos emerge from mysterious fire that destroyed a sheep skin merchant in Denver.

Investigators have estimated damages from the arson fire that destroyed a sheep skin seller at $500,000. The building is being called a “total loss”.

Also revealed is that the owners of Sheepskin Factory had no insurance. While they claim to be reopening, they must absorb all costs from the arson fire which destroyed the building, equipment, and all inventory.

Police released photos of a person they say “may” have set the fire, taken from security camera footage around the time of the fire. The images show only a person with a backpack and hood, with no face or other identifiable features visible.

As of yet, no group has claimed responsibility for the fire. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is still investigating.

View photos of the burned down building here.

– Peter Young

Sheepskin Factory Burned to the Ground in Colorado

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Over 42 firefighters responded to a blaze at Sheepskin Factory April 30th in Denver, Colorado. The fire reportedly broke out at 3:15am and gutted the building. It has been ruled arson.

Sheepskin Factory sells sheep carcasses.

Agents from the the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating the fire.

To date, neither the Animal Liberation Front nor other clandestine animal liberation group has claimed responsibility. Reporting on this action is not to be taken as a speculation of an animal liberation motive. Rather, I wish to offer what may be a broader and more accurate view of the scope of underground animal liberation activity.

Numerous unclaimed but “suspicious” actions are reported at animal abuse sites every year. For example the 2009 explosion at the only Slim Jim production facility in the U.S., for which a cause was not determined.

Similar unclaimed actions have been reported in Colorado. On January 13th, 2002, another sheepskin business went up in flames north of Denver in Greeley. The building was burned to the ground. No claim of responsibility was made in that fire either, but the fire was deemed suspicious due to A.L.F. graffiti threatening arson being found at a similar plant in Denver the previous month. This latest arson marks the second burned down sheep skin business in Colorado.

– Peter Young