The following is an excerpt from This is the A.L.F., Issue #2, a booklet which was provided anonymously to NZAVS.
"The Animal Liberation Front consists of small autonomous groups of people in more than a dozen countries who carry out direct action according to the ALF policy. There is no central co-ordinating group; you cannot join the ALF by paying a subscription fee or filling in a form. Any group of people who are vegetarians and/or vegans who carry out actions according to policy have the right to describe themselves as part of the ALF.
The policy of the ALF was written by the original ALF group that formed in Britain in 1976.
The ALF takes direct action against all forms of animal abuse. This action falls basically into two groups: 1) The rescue or liberation of animals from premises or establishments in order to save them from persecution. Such animals are usually taken to good homes where they will be properly cared for. Animals are only released into the wild if they have a reasonable chance of survival. 2) Damage to property or premises connected with animal abuse, to force them out of business or to encourage them to mend their ways. Often both types of action take place during the same raid. It is against ALF policy to use violence against a person or animal. Self-defence is the only exception, and even then the minimum of force should be used. For example it may be necessary to restrain someone but not punch them in the face unless they are a serious physical threat. Raids are best planned to be carried out in such a way as to avoid confrontation with the opposition. Methods used to cause damage to property should reflect this policy both directly and indirectly, ie just as we do not accept killing or injuring anyone, so too must we avoid an action that may indirectly pose a similar threat… To sum it up, the ALF campaign is one of animal rescue and economic sabotage."
The history of anti-vivisection in New Zealand has shown the conventional legal channels, eg Petitions to Parliament, have been blocked. It is easily understandable that some anti-vivisectionists, frustrated with attempting to work through the system, should express their hatred of the vivisection industry by carrying out actions under the ALF name. It is to be expected that as more people discover that the system is as fraudulent as vivisection itself that these actions will escalate.
Although there is no central co-ordinating group, an ALF Supporters Group, providing support for ALF prisoners, can be contacted:
ALF Supporters Group (UK) (http://www.alfsg.org.uk)
or for news of actions refer to the Animal Liberation Frontline Information Service (http://www.animalliberation.net/)
or the North American Animal Liberation Press Office (http://www.animalliberationpressoffice.org/).
Is NZAVS part of the ALF?
No. NZAVS works to educate the public about the dangers of animal based research. Having seen so many legal channels blocked to anti-vivisectionists, NZAVS understands the feelings of some in the movement who have decided that it is necessary to resort to illegal direct actions to stop vivisection. NZAVS supports those who choose this route towards abolition. Direct actions that liberate laboratory animals or cause economic damage to vivisectors often gain more publicity and educate the public more than the most spectacular legal protest marches or rallies that are, with very few exceptions, ignored by the mass media. Things as they are, in this unsatisfactory situation where petitions to the government are meaningless, and legal channels non-existent for anti-vivisectionists, activism is likely to continue, even increase.
NZAVS notes that publicity for abolitionist campaigns seems to only eventuate after ALF actions have been publicised. Many of our campaigns, such as the unrolling of the 100 metres of Animal Research Takes Lives - Humans and Animals Both Suffer (http://www.health.org.nz/cover.html), that have not coincided with publicised ALF actions have been ignored by the mass media - who derive revenue from advertising the products of vivisection.