The Animal Liberation Front (ALF) is an international,
leaderless, decentralized political and social resistance movement that engages in and promotes non-violent
direct action
Direct action originated as a political activist term for economic and political acts in which the actors use their power (e.g. economic or physical) to directly reach certain goals of interest, in contrast to those actions that appeal to oth ...
in protest against incidents of
animal cruelty
Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse, animal neglect or animal cruelty, is the infliction by omission (neglect) or by commission by humans of suffering or Injury, harm upon non-human animals. More narrowly, it can be the causing of harm ...
. It originated in the 1970s from the
Bands of Mercy
Bands of Mercy were formal, locally led organizations that brought people—especially children and adolescents—together to learn about kindness to non-human animals. The Bands would also work to help animals and prevent cruelty in their area thr ...
. Participants state it is a modern-day
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...
, removing animals from laboratories and farms, destroying facilities, arranging safe houses, veterinary care and operating sanctuaries where the animals subsequently live.
[Best, Steven & Nocella, Anthony J. (eds), ''Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?'', Lantern Books, 2004, p. 91.] Critics have labelled them as
eco-
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...
terrorists
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
.
[
Active in over 40 countries, ALF cells operate clandestinely, consisting of small groups of friends and sometimes just one person, which makes the movement difficult for the authorities to monitor. ]