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Animal Rights Movement Criminalized
With little fanfare by the mainstream media George Bush has signed S. 544, the Animal Enterprise Protection Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-346) into law. The Act creates a new offense entitled "animal enterprise terrorism", defined as traveling in interstate or foreign commerce, of using the mail or any facility in interstate or foreign commerce, to cause physical disruption to the functioning of an animal enterprise by intentionally stealing, damaging or causing the loss of any property (including animals or records) used by the animal enterprise. The term "animal enterprise" is defined as: (1) a commercial or academic enterprise that uses animals for food or fiber production, agriculture, research, or testing; (2) a zoo, aquarium, circus, rodeo, or lawful competitive animal event; or (3) any fair or similar event intended to advance agriculture arts and sciences.
This is a direct response to the growing efforts of the animal rights movement to challenge those businesses that make a profit from the exploitation and suffering of animals. This law targets actions such as freeing of lab animals, destruction of fur and factory farms, etc. Only by taking the profit out of these hideous enterprises will they be limited within the current economic system. By seeking to restrict opposition to these destructive and cruel policies the government wants to relegate people to the treadmill of legislation, where the big money interests of the cattle, fur, animal, dairy, etc., industry will win out.
This is a direct response to the growing efforts of the animal rights movement to challenge those businesses that make a profit from the exploitation and suffering of animals. This law targets actions such as freeing of lab animals, destruction of fur and factory farms, etc. Only by taking the profit out of these hideous enterprises will they be limited within the current economic system. By seeking to restrict opposition to these destructive and cruel policies the government wants to relegate people to the treadmill of legislation, where the big money interests of the cattle, fur, animal, dairy, etc., industry will win out.
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