Animal rigths terrorists

[chrisvenus]

Animal rights terrorists wind me up more than anything else. I'm not sure why but I think its because they are so arrogant and self-assured and so inconsiderate of anything but their own opinions.

https://www0.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/08/348975.html was just bought to my attention with the line "[foo] encourages people to turn up, wear black, and club these terrorists into a bloody pulp" and I can't help but agree.

With comments in there like "bring scarves for your faces or masks and cause chaos" and "block the main roads, occupy shops who support the lab, spray and scrawl, sticker and fly poster and make it cost" shows that they are no longer trying to be heard but trying to cause people as much hastle and in the case of businesses financial problems to try to cause them to cave to their demands.

What is there that can be done against these people? When is the next pro-test thing happening? Is there anything that I can do as an ordinary everyday person to minimise the damage these ****s are going to be doing in oxford?

And I think this is the first thing that has got me to really care about anything political.

Comments

[easternpromise.livejournal.com]

TBH, no matter what someone's message is, the ends *do not* justify the means! I think that's something that most animal rights activists simply haven't yet come to understand (or just plain don't want to). I really think, considering some of the harrassment and intimidation that they've dished out, they ought to be locked up for a really long time, but I don't see it happening sadly. I don't agree with animals being mistreated, but then I don't agree with human beings being mistreated either, and these people seem to be quite prepared to mistreat humans in their attempts to stop animals being so-say mistreated. That's just plain wrong.

[chrisvenus]

I totally agree. The post is not anything about the rights and wrongs of animal testing. Its more about the rights and wrongs of their methods. My wanting to participate in a pro-test thing is, as much as anything, to try to make a point to the animal rights terrorists that they don't enjoy popular support and that there are a lot of people that disagree with them. I have heard tell of some people who attended pro-test rallies despite being against animal testing because they so strongly disagreed with the animal rights people's actions.

I was going to put my views on animal testing here but I don't think that I am goign to since they are secondary to the above.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

people who attended pro-test rallies despite being against animal testing

Hmm, that seems kind of misguided to me. Surely they ought instead to be organizing their own rallies. It would be more effective to be saying "Most people who oppose animal testing also oppose animal-rights-terrorism", rather than just adding to the numbers at "Mad-eyed vivisectionists enjoy experimenting on animals" rallies.

club these terrorists into a bloody pulp

Now Chris, you know what they say about two wrongs...

[chrisvenus]

Is it that two wrongs still make a wrong but it can be rather satisfying?

[cultureofdoubt.livejournal.com]

What bugs me is the number of otherwise sane people who don't class this bunch as terrorists because they don't directly attack people (although personally I think arson is dangerous enough and puts firemen at enough risk that you'd be an idiot to think it was any better). I'd love to see the current attitude to certain other terror groups applied to this lot. I'm certainly at a lot more risk from animal rights activists than Muslim suicide bombers.

[secondhand-rick.livejournal.com]

the number of otherwise sane people who don't class this bunch as terrorists because they don't directly attack people

I remember a friend of my mother's who worked at Huntingdon (I think) being given one of those stick doodads with the torch and mirror attachment for checking the underneath of her car for bombs.

[glamwhorebunni.livejournal.com]

I used to have to check under our car for bombs every morning. Hurrah for the Irish.

[jakemalone.livejournal.com]

They utterly infuriate me. The hard core basically just want to cause trouble and mask their thuggery with a 'good cause'. Because of their harassing tactics, hardly anyone is prepared to publically stand up and present a reasoned defence of testing, so the debate becomes ludicrously polarised. Kudos to you for thinking about getting involved.

[gently-snoozing.livejournal.com]

Having had to deal with SHAC and associated (and they are incredibly splintered and alternately radicalised) over the years, the term sociopathic scum seems somehow, generous.

[vampire-kitten.livejournal.com]

Not to mention it's entirely pointless - they are protesting the wrong people. If they actually want to do anything, they need to protest the EU which mandates animal testing before a drug can be used on humans. All they are doing is forcing the research to happen elsewhere - even if they closed every lab in britain, it would simply continue on abroad (with less strict laws). Idiots.

Helen suggested starting a kitty on how long can she stand in complete silence, wearing leather, holding meat in front of the protestors before they leave/hit her. Money in, guess to the nearest second - closest wins half kitty, rest goes to something suitably animal tortury.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

I should think cutting a kitty in half was sufficiently animal tortury to be getting on with...

youtube link

[hendybear.livejournal.com]

Have you watched the youtube video link. It made my blood boil, it's subtitles are so utterly stupid it's almost laughable. To add to this it's rating of 4.5 out of 5 is based upon the total of ONE vote.

The entire video is pretty much trying to portray the police as abusing their powers; this begs the question "why were they given these powers?" I think the video and page that Chris linked make that pretty bloody obvious!

I hate to sound all puritanical but when the majority of the public decide that animal testing is wrong then our self serving grubby politicians will find it in their own interest to change the law. Whilst these protestors use such low tactics the only thing they will achieve is to gradually strengthen the laws against free speech.

Gah now I sound all American..

Re: youtube link

[chrisvenus]

I hadn't looked at the youtube. I have no. And I have created a youtube account just so that I could vote it one star. I thought abou commenting as well but decided I didnt' want to get in a debate with *morons*.

[secondhand-rick.livejournal.com]

This reminds me of the days of the Reclaim The Streets parties, one or two of which I attended.

There would always be a small group of nutters there whose stated intent was to 'fuck up a copper' or two; and probably to try and smash the windows of MacDonalds.

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

Is it really useful to call this terrorism?

Sure, it's inconvenient and costly to have a couple of hundred thugs running around the city smashing things up for political reasons. But even a peaceful protest is inconvenient and costly, although somewhat less so, for anyone who was planning to get any work done wherever it's happening.

"Terrorism" does not mean "breaking the law for political reasons", although I'm sure the Home Office would quite like it if it did. Then they could prosecute anti-war protesters under the Prevention of Terrorism Act if they did anything (at all) wrong on a march. Calling all and sundry a terrorist just because you think they're a wanker, is asking for trouble.

There's nothing wrong with "animal rights wankers" as a descriptive term, is there?

[chrisvenus]

I am generalising. The fact is though that I think that some of these people ar terrorists. see secondhand_rick's comment about the mirror on a stick. They threaten to kill people if they dont' concede to their will. They have burnt down buildings in oxford because people go against them. They shut down the work on the building by threatening the families of the builders. I agree that I am overgeneralising but that's something they are going to have to deal with.

I agree that in this case they are being wankers more than anything else. However, if a terrorist goes out, gets pissed and hurls abuse at me then just because that isnt' terrorism doesn't make him not a terrorist.

Bunch of wankers and terrorists I say (while continuing to over generalise).