Back to the Future: Re-examining Old Tactics

"It's the bloody animal rights again"

After the big crackdown and changes in legislation many tactics have fallen by the wayside. However I think it is time to re-examine old tactics and see how they can be effectively applied even within the draconian laws we have now. The movement has always been very good at pushing the boundaries and that shouldn't stop now simply because the boundaries have changed. 

A good example of recycling old tactics is the recent return to phone bloc actions. A phone bloc action is when you call a company on a specific day and complain about something e.g. their involvement in animal testing.

In the past this was a very popular tactic within the SHAC campaign, back then it was much a case of ringing the number over and over and over and over... you get the idea, so as to block their lines. Nowadays though that kind of conduct cannot be advocated publicly so the whole idea seemed to have all but disappeared. However the tactic has now recently reappeared, advocated by smaller groups and individuals and now coming with strict disclaimers urging callers to not make repetitive phone calls. What callers do do however is  totally upto them!  This is a 2011 approach to this old AR tactic.

By looking at old tactics that maybe illegal or questionable now and re-imagining them we can get back to action and kick the animal abusers ass (metaphorically speaking, oh, of course)!

It is also worth remembering that while aboveground activists like us must work within the edges of the new oppressive laws underground activists don't have to. It has always been illegal to smash a window of a fur shop, to paint strip an animal researchers car or to threaten an animal abuser at their home. These are tactics that worked and still work. I don't advocate any of these tactics  – but when people go to jail for aboveground protest you can see what motivates people to do the more effective stuff – all they have to do is avoid getting caught!

World Day for Animals in Laboratories 2011

All pics shamelessly nicked from

Matthew Orlinski

A New (Old) Militant Spirit At World Day for Lab Animals 2011!

World Day for Animals in Laboratories has long been a compliant A to B march a long way from the militant spirit displayed at the World Days of old. In the 'old days' (and I am actually only talking a few years ago) there was always a spirit of non-compliance and resistance. This spirit fed the movements energy and manifested itself in a movement that was ready for action and ready to be effective.

While resistance on an A to B march is not as effective as covert direct action it feeds an attitude that allows other resistance to take place but also is an effective tool as part of a diversity of tactics.    

This year in Manchester we began to see a return to this spirit from the young, fresh progressive faces within the movement. Although not everything attempted was successful the spirit is something we need to build on, not just at World Day but through out the movement if we are ever to return to the level of effectiveness we had prior to the SHAC trials. There are a number of groups that are pushing forward in this regard including recent SHAC actions and the campaigns against importing animals for experiments.

The first act of mild resistance on the march was an impromptu protest outside a Manchester lab building which saw marchers crossing the road away from the agreed route. While this may seem like nothing it is a mental barrier of authoritarianism being lifted slightly and moves the protest back into the control of the participant, away from authoritarian sterility.     

The second action was securing the safety and release of an activist who was attacked by security and detained by police. A reasonable sized group assisted with this and this is the minimum any activist should expect in terms of solidarity from other activists. The activist thanked everyone for their assistance at the end of the march, but there was no need at all. The only regret is that more did not assist.     

The next bit of creative, independent thinking was when a sit down protest was attempted by some activists and although this was short lived is exactly the type of autonomy we need to see.

Evidence gatherers attempted to film and photograph the sit down but were unable to do so effectively due to activists employing FITwatch tactics. After the sit down was over three activists  then continued the FITwatch action that eventually led to the removal of police evidence gatherers from the march.

There was also a protest against fur (in the middle of in all) at Armani, now that is creative thinking at its best! We should all think about how we can use A to B marches more effectively and not wait for others' instructions.

This is a significant step forward towards the non-compliant World Days of old and a move back to the days of an effective anti-authoritarian movement where the words 'there are no leaders' actually means something! Well done to all involved!

The SHAC Trial - Political Sentences Are Good for You

The second group of SHAC defendants have been sentenced. Once again a small group were held accountable for everything that has ever happened to Huntingdon Life Sciences and it's associates – I think others can articulate what a sham of a show trial it was. That isn't the point of this article.

My point is simple, while distressing for those involved, the fact politicised sentencing is necessary is a sign of our effectiveness. If any one thinks multi-billion pound industries and the governments they control are going to let ordinary people tell them what to do  they are deluding themselves! No matter what tactics you use if you are actually effecting them they will be trying to stop you by whatever means necessary.

It is not the nature of the tactics the state objects to it is the fact they work. It is the fact they are aimed at billionaires and their companies that pay the Lib/Lab/Con election campaign funds. It is the fact the these multinationals actually take the threat posed by SHAC seriously.   

As a movement we need to be proud of the fact that we are considered such a threat that mere involvement in a animal rights campaign can lead to sentences longer that those given to murderers! Because if we are going to win then we will have to fight them and they play nasty. It's when animal activists stop getting political sentences we need to worry!

Media Lies are Good for You!

The media is of course now full of nonsense about how every action ever done in the name of SHAC is the fault of the defendants (even if they were children at the time of these actions and many haven't even been proven). But even if the lies were true – who cares? I'm not saying I condone every one of those actions but all of them pale into insignificance when compared to puppies being punched in the face, being  poisoned in the name of sweetener, having pipes shoved down their necks and being mutilated.

Anyone that says the actions of animal activists so far have made them 'as bad' as the animal abusers are seriously twisted. I seriously don't see the equivalence.

When have you ever heard of an SHAC campaigner feeding a group of HLS workers a toxic chemical until 50% of them slowly and painfully died? When have you ever heard of a animal rights activist keeping an animal abuser in a cage and torturing them to their slow painful death? The fact is the extremists are all on one side – HLS's side!

So I say let the media do our work for us! Let them make companies think we are all 'terrorists' and therefore back down all the quicker. Let the media lies fuel the fire and move us closer to a day when all animals are free.

Now is not the time to lose heart. The battle has only just begun and they have just begun to start fighting us – things are not going to be easy. But for every last animal locked inside that hellhole there is only one single option open to us we must fight and we must win!   

Love, Light and Liberation for All. Human and Non-Human! 

For Sarah Whitehead, Nicole Vosper, Tom Harris, Jason Mullen, Nicci Tapping, Alfie Fitzpatrick all jailed for the crime of being good people!

Mary Bale Charged with Animal Cruelty

A bit of moderately good news is the 'cat bin woman' Mary Bale has now been charged with animal cruelty. Bale has been charged with causing “unnecessary suffering to a cat” as well as “of not providing the animal with a suitable environment” - you don't say!

The investigation has been carried out by a charity, the RSPCA, because clearly it is not the police's job to investigate crime. No, clearly it is a non-profit charity that is funded by donations job to investigate crimes – wouldn't want to divert tax money from defending our corporate masters, would we now?

Hell, as far as the police are concerned throwing a cat in the bin isn't even against the law! As a police spokesperson put it at the time “we have not arrested the woman because she has not committed a criminal offence.” But then again neither is it a criminal offence for man to hit a woman with a baton or kill a newspaper seller when it comes to the cops, so no wonder they are so confused about the law. Poor things!

Anyway, now all that is left is for some Magistrate or Judge to dish out some insignificant slap on the wrist and  everyone will be happy, right?! Don't you just love our justice system?

Has UK Animal Rights Lost It's Edge?

Speaking after the second wave of guilty pleas from the SHAC trials DCI Andy Robbins, of Kent Police state “Since this investigation began in 2007, there has been a sustained reduction in criminal activity linked to animal rights extremism.”

Does the DCI have a point? Has state repression effectively crushed much of the militant edge that effectively complimented the lawful protests conducted by the vast majority of us in the movement? 

I have always been a lawful activist but appreciate the work of the underground. The effectiveness of lawful activity is often directly linked to the actions of more militant forces. Something I think some of my aboveground colleagues often forget.    

While it is certainly true that since the 2007 shake up things have improved and gradually got back to 'business as usual' within the community, it would be dishonest to over look the lasting effects the trials have had. The UK animal rights movement was very much shaken by the arrests and repressive sentences and there is no getting away from that.

To some extent the police repression has worked. Rather than simply fuelling the fires of resistance as has been the case in the past, the police have succeeded in crushing some of the spirit of militancy within the UK scene.

Peaceful activists are bullied by police at demonstrations and face repeated arrests. This is not an attack on 'unlawful activists' and it's time for us moderates to realise that! The police are not combating the 'extremists' they are combating all of us. The conditions are right for militancy.

My more experienced, older friends, tell me that the UK movement goes in waves. The UK animal rights movement has always been versatile and rebellious but how far will the police be allowed to push the movement before the next wave of rebellion begins?

US Comrade Proclaims: “Don’t ask, ‘How can I not be labeled a terrorist?’ Ask, ‘How can I be a threat?’”

Will Potter on the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act from Press Action on Vimeo.

I just watched a video from our comrades in the USA. The sound is crap on this clip but well worth the strain on your eardrums. Will Potter of GreenistheNewRed.com has hit the nail on the head with this one – it's time to stop worrying about the perceptions of our actions and get back to being a threat to the animal abuse industries.

The time for worrying and wondering have past, we have had time to get over the extraordinary  new levels of repression. We are all now required to get up and act – in whatever way we individually feel is best.  

Whatever your thing is; leafleting, marches or direct action - we must stand united as one body against the abuse. If we fight each other the animals lose.  Let's stick together, support each other and show NETCU there is no way to stop the 'animal rights nutters' in the UK!