Want to Help Animals? Be a Vigilante!

Armory contributor Marcia Mueller challenges animal activists

by Marcia Mueller

Every day animals are tortured on factory farms and slaughterhouses, baby chicks are ground up alive, wild animals are caught in steel-jaw traps or filled with bullets and arrows, bull are tormented in the corrida, and old, crippled, and sick animals are forced onto trucks for an arduous journey to a brutal death. And most animal activists preach peace and nonviolence . Really? Where has that gotten us? How has that helped the animals?

I get the pragmatic part of it. Legally and morally human beings have placed themselves on a higher plane, which means they have the right to torture and kill but never, under any circumstances, be harmed themselves. The Animal Liberation Front (ALF) made it a central tenet of their operations to never, ever harm human beings or even place them in jeopardy. And they followed that rule. But the ALF was still hated for the animals they rescued and the property damage they did.

So nonviolence to humans did not count as the animal rights movement got more attention and some victories, especially as the work of SHAC (Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty) got attention and raised fear among the exploiters. Responses came in the form of the Animal Enterprise Protection Act and the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, which criminalized damage or even interference in the operations of an animal enterprise. Now even publicizing animal abuse in factory farms is resulting in ag-gag laws to punish whistleblowers. In Canada a woman was jailed for giving a thirsty pig a drink on his way to slaughter after the truck driver complained.

No animal organization would dare promote any kind of harm, property or otherwise, against abusers. But individuals could consider vigilantism and guerilla activism to strike back. Maybe the known neighborhood bully would have to consider the consequences of abusing his dog, or the neglectful horse owner would have to fear retaliation from those who knew what was going on. Maybe law enforcement would have to punish abusers rather than risk vigilante justice. And maybe the trapper would have to look about him in the woods—just in case.

With the levels of violence against animals increasing—faster slaughter lines, more live exports, legalization of hunting hibernating bears, killing baby wolves in their dens—and the numbers of deaths increasing, we need to realize we cannot table, leaflet, click, or vote our way to a humane world for the animals.

So what are our options? Go nowhere? Give up? Get even? Think about it.

 

 

Armory Notes:

• I am unaware of any other blog with the Armory’s mission of radicalizing the animal movement. I certainly hope I am not alone, and that there are similar sentiments being expressed by comrades unknown to me.

If you know of other blogs dedicated to animal rights and the defeat of capitalism, please comment with a link.

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