Animal Rights Terrorism

There is an interesting article over on FoxNews.com concerning the rise in attacks by animal rights terrorists. While many people have a tendency to write off actions by these ‘groups’ as harassment and vandalism there appears to have been a turn towards more violence that would justify the description of many of these incidents as terrorist attacks. Fire bombing vehicles and home invasions are not the same level of violence most people associate with organizations like al Qaeda, but it is still the use of violence to advance a political agenda. What is of concern is the escalating level of violence and the indications that further escalation is possible. The article quotes a spokesman from the North American Animal Liberation Front, an organization that publicizes ‘activist’ attacks but claims no connection to them, as saying: “As with any social justice movement, when met with resistance from the state, violence becomes inevitable.” The problem with that argument is that it provides justification for anyone that disagrees with a law to commit violence. As more chemical companies become involved in detailed safety tests on their products or contracting those tests to independent labs, more facilities are going to be drawing the ire of these groups. We have already seen a spreading of the protests and harassment of companies that do business with ‘notorious’ animal testing labs. It is only a matter time before the violence also spreads.