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From Animal Lib Press. Jan 9th, 2012.
For Immediate Release
January 9, 2012
Received anonymously:
at about 3:40 am on sunday, january 8th, 14 cattle trucks caught fire at the harris feeding company in coalinga, ca. containers of accelerant were placed beneath a row of 14 trucks with 4 digital timers used to light 4 of the containers and kerosene-soaked rope carrying the fire to the other 10 (a tactic adapted from Home Alone 2 [if you’re going to try this make sure to use kerosene, gasoline dries to quickly]). we weren’t sure how well this was going to work, so we waited until there was news reports before writing this. we were extremely pleased to see that all 14 trucks “were a total loss” with some being “completely melted to the ground.”
We’re not going to use this space to expound upon the horrors and injustices of factory farming. there is more than enough armchair-activists and those of passive politics who are more than willing to do that (anything to keep from getting their hands dirty). we, the unsilent minority (the 1%, if you will), choose a more direct form of action.
We’re not delusional enough to believe that this action will shut down the harris feeding company, let alone have any effect on factory farming as a whole. but we maintain that this type of action still has worth, if not solely for the participant’s peace of mind, then to show that despite guards, a constant worker presence, and razorwire fence, the enemy is still vulnerable.
finally, to all those who fantasize and romanticize about direct action yet remain on the fence: there is a lot of stuff that needs to be destroyed and we can’t count on spontaneous combustion and careless welders to do all the work.
until next time…
[Press Office note: Harris Ranch Beef Company is California’s largest fed cattle “processor” producing nearly 200 million pounds of beef a year. The largest cattle feeder on the West Coast and 14th largest nationally encompasses a 100,000-head feed lot. At any given time there will normally be between 70-100,000 head of cattle on feed. Harris Feeding Company feeds about 1/3 of all the cows murdered in California. Cows spend the last days of their short, brutal lives standing in their own waste, until hauled off to have their throats slit and their bodies sliced into small pieces for human consumption. Video of the “feed lot” here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9yx0SwwaMo]
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From Fresno Bee. Jan 11, 2012.
Animal rights activists take credit for Harris Farms fires
Animal rights activists are behind the burning of cattle trucks at Harris Farms in western Fresno County early Sunday, according to a statement released by a clearinghouse for activists.
The statement purports to describe how the fire, which heavily damaged 14 tractors and several cattle-hauling trailers, was set and says the attack was aimed at “the horrors of factory farming.”
Harris Farms CEO and Chairman John Harris said in an email Tuesday that he and others with the ranch are “appalled by this senseless, but very alarming attack.” He called it a terrorist action.
“I had suspected Animal Liberation Front may have been involved and now they are in fact claiming responsibility for it with multiple details,” Harris wrote.
The clearinghouse that distributed the statement claiming credit for the arson is the North American Animal Liberation Press Office, which says it has no direct dealings with underground groups or illegal activity.
Spokeswoman Nicoal R. Sheen said her office does not take part in illegal actions but does distribute communiqués from those who do.
The Animal Liberation Front, a decades-old organization that has been linked to many acts of “eco-terrorism” such as arson, has a link to the Press Office from its website.
Fresno County Sheriff’s spokesman Chris Curtice said detectives are looking into the claim that the group is responsible for the Harris Farms arson but said that he could not comment further except to say “that was one of the directions they were looking into anyway.”
The fire started just before 4 a.m. in the truck storage area of the sprawling Harris Farms feed lot at the intersection of Highway 145 and Interstate 5.
Several tractor-trailer rigs were engulfed in flames when deputies and Cal-Fire firefighters arrived. It took about 45 minutes to put out the blaze.
Harris Farms is one of the largest family-owned agribusinesses in the nation. It is California’s largest cattle feeder, beef processor and beef marketer.
According to the statement distributed by the press office about the Harris Farms arson, “containers of accelerant were placed beneath a row of 14 trucks with 4 digital timers used to light four of the containers and kerosene-soaked rope carrying the fire to the other 10. … We were extremely pleased to see that all 14 trucks ‘were a total loss.’ ”
Harris called the damage “substantial,” but said he didn’t want to reveal a dollar figure for his company’s loss.
The statement boasted that “despite guards, a constant worker presence and razor wire fence, the enemy is still vulnerable.”
It ends by saying “until next time.”
Harris said the attack will have no effect on his company.
“We are gratified by the support and concern we have received from the public and the outrage this attack has created,” he wrote.
“We must live in a society that is safe for all and no one can tolerate violence such as this. ALF and similar terrorist groups pose a real threat, and I am confident that the many law enforcement agencies working on this case will bring them to justice soon.”
Harris has some experience with ALF. In 2003, he said that someone had painted “ALF” on water tanks on his ranch around that time.
The group was in the news then because one of its representatives was a panelist in a “revolutionary environmentalism” conference at California State University, Fresno.
Harris was critical of that conference, saying Fresno State was bringing “known terrorists to the area.”
The North American Animal Liberation Press Office highlights “revolutionary environmentalism,” including these recent examples:
- A Dec. 1 statement that an anarchist group was responsible for sabotaging a rail line in southern Oregon to stop the transport of “resources from the earth without consequence.”
- A Nov. 22 claim by the Animal Rights Militia that the group “liberated animals from a Vermont farm for the second year in a row.”
- A Nov. 18 communiqué from activists taking credit for a break-in and mink release at an Oregon fur farm in late September.
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