The Underground book is now stocked by most major online booksellers
A quick mention for those who have unused post-Christmas Amazon & Barnes & Noble gift cards (or who just prefer me to not have their home address), Underground: The Animal Liberation Front in the 1990s is now stocked and ready to ship by most major online booksellers. Here is a short list + links:
(For those with a sharp eye, I’m working with Amazon to correct the page for the book, which erroneously lists Rod Coronado as an “editor” [Underground does have several of his articles and letters from prison]).
If you missed the official announcement for the book two weeks ago, view a full rundown of the book and its contents here.
The two fur farms most raided by the A.L.F. both go out of business
Two fur farms in the U.S. have been raided by the Animal Liberation Front more than any others: Brainards Mink Ranch (Snohomish, WA, raided five times) and the Carmel Mink Ranch (Hinsdale, MA, raided four times). In the last several months, both farms have been reported closed.
Brainard’s Mink Ranch was the closest known mink farm to Seattle, and saw a total of five mink releases as far back as 1996. Carmel Mink Ranch was the closest mink farm to Boston, and in 1997 four activists were arrested in a raid at the farm. In that action, six mink were liberated before police arrived.
It is unlikely the A.L.F. can be directly credited for the closures – Brainard’s Mink Ranch was last raided in 2001, while Carmel Mink Ranch was last visited by the A.L.F. in 2007. However the closures will perhaps bring a little peace to those who have visited their sheds in many overnight actions over the years and given freedom to their prisoners.
Briana Waters agrees to testify against man accused of wild horse corral arson
Briana Waters, charged with involvement in an E.L.F. arson in 2001, has agreed to testify against Justin Solondz, her former boyfriend. Solondz is set to be extradited from China to face arson charges for his alleged role in two actions: an E.L.F. arson at the University of Washington’s Center for Urban Horticulture in 2001, and an A.L.F. arson at the Litchfield Wild Burro and Horse Corrals in Susanville, California.
As part of her plea bargain, Briana Waters has agreed to provide “new, useful information” about the Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front to the government, as well as testify against Solondz at his trials for the two arsons.
Justin Solondz is set to be returned to the U.S. soon. He became a fugitive after his indictment, and was arrested in China two years later. He has been held in a jail there ever since on unrelated charges. It was only recently announced he would be extradited to the U.S. in the near future.
Rare photos from the Alaskan Fur Company arson in Minnesota
In 1999, anonymous activists set fire to Alaskan Furs outside Minneapolis. The arson was not officially claimed by the Animal Liberation Front, but bore all the telltale signs of an A.L.F. attack. The fire gutted the building, and total losses were estimated at $2 million. It remains one of the costliest arsons in the history of the animal liberation movement.
Check out some rare photos of the fire’s aftermath:
Ten months in the making, the Animal Liberation Front history book Underground is published
After months of scanning, laying out, editing, polishing, and re-polishing, the Underground book is finished, printed, and ready to ship. Underground is 500+ pages of history, interviews, how-to articles, and essays on and by the Animal Liberation Front.
Underground: The Animal Liberation Front in the 1990s compiles the rare first 15 issues of Underground, the magazine of the North American Animal Liberation Front Supporters Group. At over 500 pages, this huge compilation offers the most comprehensive look available on the Animal Liberation Front at the end of the 20th century.
I picked up Underground #3 at my first animal rights group meeting in Seattle in 1996. The tactics and ideas I was introduced to in that issue would go on to affect the rest of my life, and of many others who read Underground in the 1990s. I can’t overstate how meaningful this book is to me personally, and how valuable I think its message is.
Much of the history and articles in this book was never seen outside the pages of Underground.
Dealing with grand juries
Fur farm addresses
How to sabotage traps
A.L.F. legal case updates
Directory of infiltrators and informants
Letter from Rod Coronado
Letter from A.L.F. prisoner David Barbarash
Anti-prison work and the animal liberation movement
Choosing A.L.F. targets.
Security tips for activists
History of the Swedish A.L.F.
History of the Justice Department letter-bomb campaign
Destroying the U.S. fur industry
Grand juries as a tool of repression
Who turned in Rod Coronado?
Making Freedom of Information Act requests
Reward offered for mink liberators
Fishing sabotage tactics
Mink liberations reaching all-time high
Rod Coronado on fur farm raids
Interview with A.L.F. activist on raiding the University of Alberta
Rod Coronado support debate
How to use a slingshot
Roger Troen defends snitching allegations
Interview with an A.L.F. activist
Preparing for hunt sabs
Fur farm liberations
Letter from Keith Mann
How the A.L.F. raided the University of Arizona
Excerpt from Free the Animals book
Barry Horne goes on hunger-strike
Arrests in Massachusetts mink farm raid
Utah A.L.F. arrests
Direct Action Defense Fund
A.L.F. bulletin to fur farm raiders
Interview with an E.L.F. member
Story of “Chatham 3” mink farm raid arrests
Update on attempted arson defendant Lise Olsen
More Utah arrests for a mink liberation & McDonalds arson
Trial for arson at Utah trapping supply store
Debate over ecological impact of mink releases
Mink liberation myths vs. facts.
Introducing the Provisional A.L.F.
A.L.F. prisoner Josh Ellerman
Burned-down Oregon slaughterhouse closes
Syracuse activists sue police
RCMP surveillance of Darren Thurston & Gina Lynn
Introducing the North American A.L.F. Press Office
The A.L.F. as “terrorists”
Update on So Cal man accused of attempted slaughterhouse arson
A.L.F. fugitive Josh Ellerman turns himself in
More A.L.F. arrests in Utah
How to sabotage McDonalds
A.L.F. informants in Utah
Chatham 3 mink liberation case
Rod Coronado on pacifism
Mink liberation charges in Wisconsin
A.L.F. fur farm raid communiques
Barry Horne hunger strike resumes
Update on Utah A.L.F. snitches
“Smashing the Fur Trade Quickly and Efficiently”
Accused A.L.F. activist Alex Slack dies
A.L.F. raids University of Minnesota
Message from A.L.F. fugitive’s father
A.L.F. documentary announced
Daylight raid at Washington fur farm
A.L.F. security protocols
Fake A.L.F. prisoner discovered
Former A.L.F. spokesperson debate
Activists acquitted of Utah bombing
Story of A.L.F. fugitive Justin Samuel
Gina Lynn jailed for refusing testimony to a grand jury
List of U.S. fur farm raids
History of lab raids
And so much more. Underground is a densely-packed, 518-page book of A.L.F., direct action, and animal liberation movement history.
A.L.F. activity peaked in the 1990s, and for that decade Underground was the #1 source for A.L.F. news.
You can order from Animal Liberation Front-line here. Within days, Underground will also be available from Amazon, Powells, and all major online booksellers.
Thanks to everyone who helped make this book happen over the last 10 months: everyone who helped scan, edit, made Photoshop corrections, loaned their old issues, and donated money and software so this book could see the light of day. I don’t know if I will ever again be part of a publishing project this incredible.
Anonymous artists spray-paint “Go Vegan” on billboard in California
The past six weeks have seen three billboards altered illegally (see photos here and here) by animal rights activists, and now we have a fourth. Today I received anonymous photos of yet another beautified billboard: this one a Burger King billboard in Berkeley, California. It was improved with a simple message: “Go Vegan”.
Great work to the anonymous artists who turned a death-promoting billboard into free advertising for the animals.
Walter Bond fuels speculations of a guilty plea by asking supporters to write judge
This week Walter Bond’s support group sent a request to supporters asking they write Walter’s judge and request “the minimum sentence”, a request that would indicate Walter has pleaded guilty to two Animal Liberation Front arsons: Tandy Leather Factory in Salt Lake City, and Tiburon (foie gras restaurant), in a neighboring suburb.
Walter Bond was recently transported to Utah from Colorado, where he received a 5 year sentence for burning down Sheepskin Factory, a sheepskin retail store.
Write a letter today to Judge Stewart, requesting the minimum sentence for Walter Bond. Your letter will help to give a more 3-dimensional and personal perspective on the positive character attributes Walter possesses and how highly he is valued by his friends and associates. The judge who handled Walter’s case in Denver made a point to say that she read over 50 letters people like you and me sent her way before handing down the minimum penalty.
Please write this letter immediately and send it off ASAP! Inspire others to write a letter as well by forwarding the Animal Rights Prisoner Support Newsletter www.arprisoners.org where two of Walter’s articles — “Why I am Vegan” and “Slaughterhouse Blues” — appear.
Address a formal business letter to:
The Honorable Judge Ted Stewart
United States District Court
District Of Utah
Chamber #148
350 South Main Street
Salt Lake City, Utah 84101
Include your address and the date. The salutation is, “Dear Judge Stewart:” and the reference is “United States of America v. Walter Bond.”
Please send this letter to Walter’s public defender, who will deliver all the letters to the Judge himself.
Nathan Crane, Esq.
STIRBA & ASSOCIATES
215 South State Street, Suite 750
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111
Finally, please mail a copy of your letter to Walter as well, to keep him informed:
Walter Bond
2011-03339
Davis County Jail
PO Box 130
Farmington UT 84025-0130
Tell Judge Stewart why you think our hero Walter Bond deserves his leniency. By doing this, you will actually increase Walter’s chances of a receiving the minimum.
Thanks everybody!”
There was no mention of a guilty plea, but the message would indicate news of this may be coming shortly.
In the meantime, please write Walter’s judge and request the minimum sentence. Several judges in past cases have remarked that letters influenced their sentence.
More developments on the Walter Bond case will be posted as they come in.
Taking pre-orders for Underground: new 500+ page book of A.L.F. history
Just weeks after the Rod Coronado book came back from the printer, we are putting final touches on the next book. Underground: The Animal Liberation Front in the 1990s isa collection of the rare first 15 issues of Underground, “the official magazine of the Animal Liberation Front Supporters Group”. For most of the 1990s, Underground proudly celebrated and reported on the work of the A.L.F. Nearly every issue is brought together for the first time in one massive volume of A.L.F. history.
*A.L.F. interviews
*A.L.F. action reports
*Essays by Rod Coronado, Jonathan Paul, and other convicted members of the A.L.F.
*Anonymous “how it was done” accounts of landmark A.L.F. raids
*Detailed info on A.L.F. rescue and sabotage tactics
*Over 500 pages of Animal Liberation Front history
After a series of zines and four books, this is the biggest project yet from Warcry Communications. This book was a huge undertaking. Between tracking down someone with a complete set of every issue, to fixing the over 500 raw scans of the originals page by page, dozens and dozens of hours went into this collection seeing the light.
The files are at the printer. We’re awaiting the proof copy, and if everything looks good the book will be out June 15th.
A list of every known U.S. Animal Liberation Front fur farm raid
This took some work to compile, but here it is: a list of every reported fur farm raid in the United States. From the first (incomplete) report of a fur farm raid in 1986, to the most recent: 400 mink liberated from a fur farm outside Seattle. Most of these were claimed by the Animal Liberation Front, while many were not.
Flaming Arrows, a collection of writings by Rod Coronado, is back in print with 17 additional pages
Of the four books Warcry Publishing has released so far, this is the only one I’ve read cover to cover over 10 times. There is no way to capture how important this book is, and how fortunate I feel to have a hand in bringing it back in print. For now I will just say:
*The book is back from the printer.
*It has 17 additional pages of writing not included in the original
*Half the profits are going to Rod Coronado to help with his post-prison life
*First hand accounts of A.L.F. raids on animal research labs
*How Rod Coronado sank two whaling ships
*A detailed narrative on the A.L.F.’s “Operation Bite Back”
*Letters from prison
And much more.
There were some obstacles along the way to this seeing print, including spending months fruitlessly attempting to track down the original files before piecing the book back together from scratch. But we made it and Flaming Arrows is back in print.
An anonymous commenter on the previous article alerted me to this: a third pro-animal research billboard has been targeted, this one in Seattle.
The website Puget Sound Anarchists posted this about the alteration (it is unclear of this is a communique from the person or persons responsible):
The Rat/Her billboard near the University Bridge was attacked last Thursday. An answer to the question “Who would you rather see live?” was written to read, “Both, actually.”
The URL, uwkillsanimals.com, was also added due to the proximity of the sign near the UW campus. The person responsible for this attack is in no way affiliated with uwkillsanimals.com. This attack was done against the lies that data from experimentation on animals can be extrapolated to humans. Many tax and tuition dollars are being wasted to torture animals at the University Of Washington.
Yesterday I (belatedly) reported on two Foundation for Biomedical Research billboards (one in Portland, the other unreported) which had been spray-painted to challenge the message that animal research comes down to “either a rat dies or your child dies”.
Undoubtedly, the FBR has come to regret their billboard PR campaign. Overnight artists have turned it against them, and into free advertising for the animals.
Reportedly the Seattle billboard has since been taken down.
Check yesterday’s post for the first two billboards, and see the Seattle billboard below.
Two animal research billboards spray-painted to give the other side of the research debate
Two billboards from the pro-animal research group Foundation for Biomedical Research were improved in recent weeks. The location of the first was not reported. The second was in Portland, Oregon, and was altered to promote the new anti-vivisection website www.researchkills.org.
Road to animal research lab in Florida blocked, sign painted
In the first of two Florida actions in one week (see article on alligator liberation here), anonymous animal liberation activists took credit for sabotage near the site of a Primate Products research facility, located at 34200 Doctors Hammock Road, Immokalee, FL 34142 (map).
The anonymous communique, received by Bite Back, describes the action:
“May 8, 2011
A message was sent this morning to Primate Products and Scripps Biotech at a remote* primate testing and breeding facility in Hendry County…
A road blockade appeared earlier this morning, obstructing potential participants in an animal testing conference scheduled this week in a remote location near the rural town of Immokalee. The blockade consisted of large debris, including tires, tree stumps, concrete block and pallets, interwoven with chain and cable, cover in tar which obstructed the entrance way to the laboratory facilities owned by Primate Products. A message left on a banner, read ‘Stop Primate Torture’ and a sign was painted ‘Go Vivisect in Hell’
According to the program for the primate research conference, this week’s activities include trainings on ‘behavior modification’ for primates, to make them into ‘willing workers’ in scientific studies where they are tortured through animal testing practices including forcing diseases and drug overdoses, sensory deprivation and unnecessary biomedical procedures. The event also boasts classes on how to convince facilities to ‘buy in’ on animal research. The PDF with details on the conference can be viewed on Primate Products website, www.primateproducts.com.
Several participants in this conference have been the target of animal rights advocates around the world, due to their records of profit-driven abuse and mistreatment of animals, including non-human primates, the closest known genetic relatives to human beings.
A messages was also left for Scripps Biotech, based in Palm Beach Gardens. If Scripps Biotech moves forward with plans to expand their laboratory facilities, using $579 million in public money, for vivisection and genetic engineering in Palm Beach County, they will become one of the largest animal testing facilities in the southern United States.”
Anonymous communique claims credit for Florida alligator liberation
In a communique received by the Animal Liberation Press Office, a group calling itself The Resistance took responsibility for rescuing four alligators and allowing them to escape to a nearby river.
So far in 2011, this action is the first live animal liberation that has been publicly claimed. This appears to be the first action claimed by a newly formed group called “The Resistance”.
Since the 1980s, the trend in live liberations has been towards releasing animals directly into the wild. With the difficulty in locating homes for irreversibly domesticated animals, groups like the Animal Liberation Front have increasingly moved away from actions like laboratory rescues, and towards liberating wild animals like mink, fox, and birds directly into their natural habitat.
The communique for the alligator liberation reads:
“Somewhere in Florida on May 1, a 14-foot alligator, was liberated from his pit of despair where he was a caged tourist attraction. He was imprisoned in a shallow pool of stagnant green water, no pump, no food, unable to return to his home only yards away. Three baby alligators used as photo props were also freed. All four made it to the river as night fell. The next time the prison guard goes out on the river, we hope his former detainees will greet him appropriately. This liberation is dedicated to POW Walter Bond and all of our imprisoned comrades. –The Resistance”
