Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) is his colleague from the same state. The claims in question were private actions and consequently fell into the civil law category and outside of the reach of the Act. Although my overall purpose was to estimate the current level of activity in the animal rights community with that discussed in the 1993 Report to Congress, I could not help but be drawn toward the more startling discoveries, the most stunning of which was (save perhaps the shenanigans going on in New Zealand) that academicians are seriously debating the issue of granting nonhuman animals legal standing. Carol asked me talk a little bit about the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. Murder perpetrated for the purpose of revolution, even if the killing is unplanned, escalates the social meaning of the action and defines a far greater threat to the status quo than do capital offenses committed in every other category I can think of. The plaintiff, who had been charged with animal cruelty in an earlier action in which animals under his care were poorly cared for and improperly nourished according to investigative reports, sought redress in the courtroom, albeit to no avail. It bothers me a lot, quite frankly, that we occupy ourselves in this way, especially in the face of the glaring monumental failures of our culture; our war-making propensity, our failure to resolve world hunger, our inability to turn back oppression against women and minorities, against people the planet over. The free lance reporter warned, "If this Committee wants surveillance, round-ups and convictions of animal activists, that’s already underway. From now on, we must be vigilant and take note of every animal-related bill that is introduced. She said she had heard animal activists threw rocks at windows of other researchers and destroyed their yards. There was no debate. They are facing potential imprisonment for twenty years on each of four counts of extortion, as well as one year on each of two other counts, according to information that I uncovered while preparing to write this article. I claim that the act is actually a smack in the nose of all of us-to society-and thereby constitutes a significantly larger offense, one that warrants a proportionally larger penalty. If they "threat[en]" to expose animal mistreatment at a facility where they work and thus cause economic damage, are they then "animal terrorists"? Property crimes are already punishable as so-called animal enterprise terrorism. At the time my role was to educate congress about the necessity for this legislation and to build a grassroots coalition (the Animal Enterprise Protection … Among other incidents, faculty and staff received threatening phone calls and messages, late night visits to their homes, death threats, and in one instance, a burning effigy was left on a researcher’s doorstep. He was followed by another Glaxosmithkline executive who discussed the already illegal death threats, vandalism and thefts allegedly committed by animal activists. Take the plunge. The Case Against Animal Rights and Environmental Extremism, Don’t forget to share, like or follow us. This, of course, strikes squarely at the center of the Act, as well as the free enterprise system at large, and threatens to dismantle it or any other law of commerce involving animals. The Act itself is remarkable in its brevity and its simplicity, if not its timidity. I received a mystifying anthology of reports from places like New Zealand, where parliamentarians are attempting to legislate equality between certain great apes and humans, and Austria, where serious efforts are being made to grant nonhuman animals the right to sue humans, and right here at home where activists seek the redefinition (through ordinance) of our relationship with our pets. The idea that violent animal rights activists threaten our culture may seem unreasonable to some people at first, especially to those who have not considered this issue in depth. All responsible and compassionate people subscribe to the principles of animal protection, even though animal rights advocates claim otherwise. I was then stunned to learn that no one has been prosecuted under the provisions of the Act. The bill is overly broad, vague, and unnecessary because federal criminal laws already provide a wide range of punishments for unlawful activities targeting animal enterprises.” By October 30, 2006, after AETA passed in the Senate, the ACLU wrote to members of the House of Representatives where the bill was still pending and suggested what it described as only “minor amendments”. The gorilla might share more of my genome than the Grey Hairstreak butterfly, but my respect for both is tied to our shared birthright. Much of his testimony was a repeat of the first drug company executive. Sites of Interest, THE ANIMAL ENTERPRISE PROTECTION ACT: A SCIENTIST’S PERSPECTIVE BRINGS THE…. Several prepared statements were offered by medical researchers, the Fur Information Council of America, and persons purporting to document the so-called threat from animal rights extremists. In this light, it may be valuable to consider each of the Act's provisions in our search for an understanding of its virtual impotence as a prosecution tool. The law was pushed through Congress by wealthy biomedical & agri-business industry groups such as the Animal Enterprise Protection Coalition (AEPC), the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF), with bipartisan … If an animal rights terrorist violates my right to privacy by protesting in front of my home, then punches me in the nose when I answer the doorbell and terrifies my five-year-old son in the process-all for the explicit purpose of either making a spectacle of me for the benefit of public relations, or to intimidate me into submission-the action constitutes something worse and far more dangerous to society than a simple punch in the nose. We built a coalition of about 170 groups to sign on to strengthen the Animal Enterprise Protection Act which was put in place in about the nineties. Copyright © 2018 National Animal Interest Alliance. You will be back on the street in two, maybe three years, no matter what you do." Thankfully, the device did not ignite. It is in this domain of daily harassment that the movement takes its form. They point to media smear campaigns by industry groups like the Center for Consumer Freedom, and many were stunned by full-page anonymous ads in both The New York Times and The Washington Post with a figure in a black mask labeling animal rights activists as terrorists. Earlier this year, when the founding president retired, I stepped into my current role. But it did lead another prominent UCLA researcher to quit in fear. If people write or call numerous times to protest animal testing at a research lab which as a result of the ensuing negative publicity loses a grant or other funding, are those who wrote and called then guilty of “harassment” defined as animal terrorism under these bills? She came on board last year and the foundation signed on, and we'd love to thank you for that, Carol. Moreover, my understanding of the natural world shapes my view on this question, and my morality stems from that understanding. AETA was not introduced in the Senate until September 8, 2006, just 3 weeks before it was passed in the Senate. National Animal Interest Alliance On the other hand, we are committed to ensuring that the law has no chilling effect on lawful activities designed merely to persuade.” Not one Representative questioned the Justice Department attorney. While it may be tempting to suggest that it is simply a disappointing conglomerate Congressional attitude toward animal enterprise terrorism that is at fault, in reality it is not our Congressional leaders who deserve criticism here. There is no exemption for “any lawful economic disruption (including a lawful boycott) that results from lawful public, governmental, or business reaction to the disclosure of information about an animal enterprise”. For now, we must work to amend this law or challenge its constitutionality in the courts. Further Strengthening a "Toothless" Act. We need the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act to fight these tactics, including the latest trend of targeting any business and associate working with animal research facilities. That was important. The University has been forced to spend more than $2.5 million to increase security at its research facilities.”. This, I believe, is a reflection of the state of our disarray and our confusion on this issue. If there is a fundamental principle in biology that we have uncovered in our search to understand ourselves, it is the principle of biological connectivity, the idea that we are inherently related to every other living entity on the planet. For example, under the provisions of the Racketeer Influences and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, an individual convicted of racketeering or extortion can be fined up to $25,000 and face the possibility of a 20-year prison sentence for each count of criminal conviction, a penalty that more than doubles the maximum punishment allowable under the provisions of the Animal Enterprise Protection Act. It is important to understand how AETA became law with so little opposition. When considering the future of this legislative tool, it is clear that its utility-the value of which has been questioned since its inception-would be fundamentally eroded if those advocating for extended animal rights or, more drastically, an expansion of the articles of human rights to encompass nonhuman animals, succeed. Guest Editorial and Commentary There was only an insignificant change made to the bill between March 30 and October 30, 2006. The ACLU had retreated from its earlier opposition to the bill, however. While there may be many explanations for the dormancy of prosecutors in the use of this legal tool, we can all be certain that the failure to exercise the Act in the courts is unrelated to the level of animal rights activity during the period since its enactment. I immediately picked up the phone and began calling colleagues who I knew could help me understand how this potentially important piece of legislation, written to protect honest users of animals from animal rights terrorists, had suffered such undignified rejection at the hands of the federal prosecutors it was designed to energize. Mickey Z. On this question, we must be frank. See www.noaeta.org and www.stopaeta.org. All rights reserved. — This week Advocacy for Animals is pleased to present an article by Odette Wilkens, who is Executive Director of the Equal Justice Alliance, a coalition of animal-protection and social-justice organizations dedicated to opposing the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act of 2006. Not a single soul since the Animal Enterprise Protection Act became the law of the land. It will cause animal advocates and others to refrain from protests, investigations or whistle blowing for fear they may be labeled terrorists and sent to jail. It is in that understanding that I know that the greatest disrespect I can pay those distant and not-so-distant relatives would be to deny our distinctiveness, to deny our diversity by declaring our equality. For the human attribute that drives us to protect the planet and its creatures is, in many ways, our ultimate achievement as a species, one of humankind's richest and fullest celebrations of intellect. At stake is a determination as to whether nonhuman animals are our equals in some strange perspective of the law, or whether humans have jurisdiction over nonhuman animals by virtue of our biology. Provisions for restitution of lost revenues are also a part of the law. Corporations could argue that undercover investigators and whistleblowers hurt profits beyond public reaction. Advocating for animals to live and live free of cruelty and neglect. coalition (the Animal Enterprise Protection Coalition) to assist with the passage of the law. As a legal instrument, it is neutral on the issue of animal rights or animal welfare. I fear that we do not truly understand this or the implications of failing to assemble. For Dr. Hershaft’s account of what happened that day, click here. 102-346) directs the Attorney General and the Secretary of Agriculture jointly to conduct a study and report to Congress on the extent and effects of domestic and international terrorism on enterprises using animals for food or fiber production, agriculture, research, or testing. That is not a choice that anyone should have to make.”. Also, “animal enterprise” could include even businesses that are unlawful in some states but legal in others like cock fighting. After accepting the responsibility to write this article, I immediately plowed into the subject expecting to find myself awash in information about the Act on the internet. It is a veritable invitation to serious terrorists to take advantage of what appears to be a clear mismatch between sentencing guidelines and the severity of the criminal offenses referenced in the Act; the implication is, "Come on. The question that I pose as central to this discussion and the one that I had to grapple with as I wondered about my decision to write this essay is, "Can the handful of philosophers, lawyers, and political activists among us who are promoting the idea that ethical distinctions cannot be made among members of the animal kingdom ever truly hope to win this extreme argument that they wage?" Texas Coalition for Animal Protection was established in 2002 to provide an affordable way to spay and neuter pets. If the offense is limited to vandalism, theft, or some other lesser crime, and damages amount to at least $10,000, an individual can go to jail for up to a year, and can be fined an amount that is unspecified in the law. Clearly, the more punitive vehicle should be used in such a case. It also increases the existing penalties, includes penalties based on the amount of economic damage caused, and allows animal enterprises to seek restitution. The plaintiff in this case argued that government agents violated the Act in their efforts to enforce animal welfare laws related to his explicit business interests that involved animals protected under the charter of the Animal Welfare Act. This is the real battlefield of the movement, and it is here that activists are most effective, methodically ruining the lives of one scientist, one spouse, and one set of children at a time. Animal Enterprise Protection Coalition Award for Outstanding Leadership 2006; Associated Equipment Distributors “Legislative Leadership Award” Contract Services Association Legislative Award; Club for Growth's 2006"Defender of Economic Freedom" Family … According to the Act's language, these offenses must be committed intentionally for a prosecution to move forward. The court found that the plaintiff had no right to sue for damages under the "private right of action" term of law because the Act is a criminal statute, and most significantly the court referred to a clause in the Act which states that individuals who lawfully disrupt an animal enterprise "for the purpose of enforcing animal welfare laws" are exempt from prosecution. I subscribe to the latter view, in a biological context, and claim that our intellect is our distinctive biological adaptation and the source of our compassion, itself the source of our remarkable capacity to care about the well-being of others, including other nonhuman animals. That exemption appears only to apply to "economic damage". What happened? Frank Losey, a Washington lobbyists for breeders, has bragged that after the hearing, he gave to staffers a note suggesting "breeders" be included as animal enterprises under the AETA. He arranged for about 5 supporters to be present. Congressmen and women who are sympathetic to the cause of animal rights must be reminded that they are aiding and abetting terrorism when they work to dilute the language of criminal statutes written to protect scientists, businessmen and women, entertainers and farmers, as well as law-abiding citizens in general, from hate-inspired violence. It is the philosophy that encourages us to think about granting legal standing to nonhuman animals that we are discussing. The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA), which was passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by George W. Bush in … That we respect and care about other animals is not the issue. Although the Act does distinguish capital crimes from other offenses, it does not provide an appropriate gradation of punishments to fit lesser crimes. Under the Animal Enterprise Protection Act of 1992 it became a federal crime to "cause more than $10,000 in damage while engaged in "physical disruption to the functioning of an animal enterprise by intentionally stealing, damaging, or causing the loss of any property […] used by the animal enterprise." If an individual inflicts serious bodily harm on a victim during the course of an attack on an animal enterprise, the perpetrator can be sentenced to prison for up to ten years under the Act's provisions. They’re the creation of the Animal Enterprise Protection Coalition, a network formed for the sole purpose of passing this “eco-terrorism” legislation. We have allowed the animal rights message to move unchecked into the classroom. We must lobby our legislators, educate them in relevant areas, and raise the political stakes by reminding our politicians just how many of us there are. It may, therefore, serve society to condemn crimes with revolutionary overtones in clear, unambiguous terms. The law amends the Animal Enterprise Protection Act of 1992 (Pub.L. The National Animal Interest Alliance is an educational coalition of animal owners and public, private and commercial organizations dedicated to animal welfare, responsible animal              (503)227-8450 We all agree that any tactic or strategy of involving violence or threats of violence is not to be tolerated. Congress has attempted to strengthen the Act (see July/August 1999 "Newsfronts"); the Senate recently passed the so-called "Animal Enterprise Terrorism and Ecoterrorism" amendment, but the measure has not become law. In preparation for this assignment, as I mentioned above, I asked a few friends to connect me with sources that could be used to supplement my own reading on the subject. Mission Statement The attorney claimed animal rights “extremists are engaged in a nationwide campaign to place law-abiding citizens in a reasonable fear of death or of serious bodily injury to themselves or their loved ones.” The attorney admitted the activities were already illegal under the existing Animal Enterprise Protection Act, 18 USC §43 or state law. | Animal Law Coalition, Maine Governor Signs Law Banning Cruel Factory Farm Practices, Ohio’s Goddard’s Law | Animal Law Coalition, Ohio’s Pet Protection Bill | Animal Law Coalition, Alaska Strengthens Penalties for Animal Cruelty, 2010 Bills Relating to Pet Protection Orders, Yakima, WA to Consider Repeal of Pit Bull Ban : StubbyDog, Shelter Medicine: A Comparison of Visual and DNA Identification of BREEDS of Dogs. Board Members If rodeo attendees are “intimidat[ed]” when people picket the treatment of animals and decide not to attend the event, will the picketers be charged with animal terrorism under these bills? “Businesses exist to make a profit, and if activists want change, they have no choice but to tug at pursestrings. The National Animal Interest Alliance and the NAIA Trust support S 1926, the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act introduced by you in October 2005. Then a researcher from the University of Wisconsin testified that she had been upset by harsh criticism and taunts directed at her by protesters of her experiments on primates. In response to their theatrics and petty criminal acts, we must deliver the solid, unambiguous message that their disrespect for the law will not be tolerated. Too many good, highly motivated teachers who work to inspire compassion in their students have been duped into believing that animal use is animal abuse. The other witnesses were a drug company executive, a lawyer from the Justice Department, and a free lance reporter. How will they direct us in our thinking about the natty problem of culpability when a nonhuman animal breaks the law, now that it has the legal equivalent of human rights? The Act is completely silent on the issue of harassment and character defamation, and this mode of coercion is the most commonly employed tool of intimidation used by animal rights activists today. This is an irrefutably strong statement. “This legislation will add to this climate of fear and distrust, and it will force Americans to ask themselves, is it worth it? Essentially, the concept of legal standing defines or establishes an individual's right to legal representation within our system of jurisprudence. An individual convicted in Nebraska of first-degree arson (a class II felony) can serve up to 50 years in prison. Over the course of the next few days I was deluged with page after page of news releases, op-ed pieces, and general information posts dealing with the current attitudes of animal rights leaders and criminal acts being executed in the name of animal rights. Heroes, Winners and Sucess Stories, Get Involved & Resources She offered few specifics. Next up was an executive from the UK from Glaxosmithkline, a drug company. Although the Animal Enterprise Protection Act is included as a component of the grand jury's case against Samuel and Young, other violations, including most significantly provisions of the RICO Act, explain why prospective penalties are so impressive. This category also includes the silly crimes: pies in the face, pushes and shoves as unsuspecting victims leave a meeting or office, those little acts that can bruise a shoulder, if not a psyche, and diminish the quality of life. The AETA was also pushed by the Animal Enterprise Protection Coalition, which was started by the National Association of Biomedical Researchers and is comprised of members of the animal testing, pharmaceutical, fur, ranching, animal entertainment, and other industries. Having been detoured there on many occasions, I was nervous about the task of ferreting the relevant from the extraneous, so I fired up my favorite search engine and browsed the web for information on two items, the "Animal Enterprise Protection Act" and the "Animal Welfare Act," fully anticipating both searches to yield the standard mega-response that typically goes with such unsophisticated search strategies. That’s not terrorism, that’s effective activism. Dr. Alex Hershaft, founder and president of FARM, points out most animal welfare groups seemed unaware of the bill until August, 2006. Instead, it is designed to protect individual owners of animals-particularly businessmen and women, as well as scientists-from domestic and international terrorism at the hands of those individuals and organizations that are radically opposed to the use of nonhuman animals in business and industry. However, it is important to stay calibrated in this discussion, so let me remind you that we are talking here about animal rights, not animal welfare.

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