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frequently visit an Internet site that focuses on fur trapping.
The site features a chat room where members can ask questions,
sell equipment, and tell stories. Most of us know each other
and get together at meetings for a meal.
A
few weeks ago, a new member appeared in the chat room. This
wasn't unusual because new members frequently join. However,
this person tried to get the other members to advise him
about how to trap illegally and how to dispatch animals
by an inhumane method. One of the long-time members suspected
that this person was a radical animal rightist, who wanted
to embarrass fur trappers.
If
true, this was a new tactic of the animal rights fringe;
and if it worked, it would have been effective. The point
is: Radical animal rightists have drastically changed their
tactics. They have moved beyond dressing in bunny suits
and staging noisy protests at animal industry events and
circuses to acts of harassment and stunts that can physically
harm - and even kill - innocent people.
Animal
Liberation Front press officer Jerry Vlasak was recently
asked during his testimony before the U.S. Congress if he
supported murder as a means to stop animal research. Vlasak
responded: "(It) would be a morally justifiable solution
to the problem."
Why
has the radical animal rights movement stepped up its attacks
on the animal industry?
One
reason is that some of their "missions" have cost them public
support. Earlier this year, two members of the radical animal
rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
were charged with killing and dumping dogs and cats in a
Dumpster in North Carolina. They obtained these pets from
local shelters, promising to find homes for them.
In another case, animal
rightists housed a calf in a trailer. The trailer became
so hot that the calf almost died. Other groups compared
serial killer Jeffery Dahmer to slaughtering pigs and equating
broiler slaughter plants to the Holocaust.
These
examples beg the question: Will radical animal rights groups
stop at nothing to attack legal, humane animal operations?
Meat
processors may face additional unwelcome visits by animal
rights or eco-terrorists. Some individuals have declared
themselves "conflict gypsies." These people protest or attack
more than one segment of the animal industry within a short
amount of time due to the physical location of the facilities
of these segments. For example, a radical animal rights
group may protest a research laboratory today and firebomb
a processing plant tomorrow or the next day.
In
light of these stepped-up attacks, meat processors - and
their suppliers - must constantly evaluate and enhance their
security and food safety systems. Your facility is just
down the road! You must be extra vigilant.
Dom
Castaldo, Ph.D. , Mt. Morris, Ill. , E-mail:
critterdoctor@hotmail.com
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