THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 22, 1996 TAG: 9606220248
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DIANE TENNANT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LANDOVER, MD. LENGTH: 80 lines
Increased security at Central Meat Packing in Chesapeake will not stop animal liberationists from attacking the company again, a speaker told a crowd of between 200 and 300 at the World Congress for Animals on Friday.
Freeman Wicklund, general manager of ``No Compromise,'' a magazine for people who seek to free animals, said he did not know of specific plans to attack the Chesapeake business again. But, Wicklund said after his speech: ``I don't think it's just empty rhetoric. I think it's serious. I think right now we're on the upswing of direct action.''
Central Meat Packing has been vandalized about 15 times in the past year and a half, according to the company's founder, Earl Edmondson. During the most recent attack, in May, the initials ``ALF'' and other slogans were spray-painted on the building.
ALF stands for Animal Liberation Front, a loose network of underground activists who raid laboratories, fur farms and other businesses to release animals or cause economic damage to the owners. It does not have a headquarters or spokesmen, though Wicklund identified himself as a supporter.
Sponsors of the World Congress for Animals include People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which moves to Norfolk on Monday.
``Last month, the ALF caused $60,000 damage to Central Meat Packing in Chesapeake, Va.,'' Wicklund told the crowd at the USAir Arena. ``Now the slaughterhouse is surrounding itself with chain-link fencing and six very expensive surveillance cameras.
``It appears they just don't understand that as long as they live off the violence and suffering of animals, the ALF will continue to attack them, in an attempt to restore freedom and dignity to animals, regardless of their security precautions.''
Wicklund was interrupted several times by applause and he received a standing ovation at the end. As he walked through the arena afterward, he was stopped many times by people asking how they could join the ALF, or support imprisoned ALF activists.
Edmondson, contacted Friday at his business, said he was shocked that he had been spotlighted at the national meeting. ``They have no right to attack a private business that is legal and ethical in every respect,'' he said. ``To take credit for it, to brag about it before hundreds of people, to say that increased security won't stop them, is preposterous.''
Edmondson said he had not put up a chain link fence, as Wicklund claimed, but ```we have done much more than that.'' However, he declined to specify the new security measures he had taken, out of concern that it would fuel publicity about the attacks.
Wicklund, a recent college graduate from Minnesota, called upon animal rights organizations to unite in support of the ALF, which is among the most radical groups. Some animal welfare or animal rights groups have shied away from the ALF, believing it casts the entire movement in a bad light.
``It is not the ALF that hurts our image, it is our silence on the ALF that hurts our image,'' Wicklund said.
Uniting the diverse organizations in the animal rights movement is the theme of the three-day World Congress for Animals.
Speakers, including a member of the British Parliament, urged the splintered movement to form a consensus on top priorities, then work politically to achieve them. Vice President Al Gore, because of his knowledge of environmental issues, was mentioned as a possible ally if he runs for president in the year 2000.
The largest ovations were for Ingrid Newkirk, co-founder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which has a $12 million budget and claims 500,000 supporters. She spoke mainly about PETA's new campaign against fishing.
Newkirk said announcement of the anti-fishing campaign caused panic, and sent the Virginia General Assembly into emergency mode. ``You'd think they were being bombed or something,'' she said. ``They were pretty much making fishing a constitutional right and making interfering with it a hanging offense.''
The General Assembly passed an emergency regulation this spring that made interfering with fishing a misdemeanor.
The World Congress for Animals leads up to the March for the Animals on Sunday. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
In May, slogans were spray-painted on Central Meat Packing in
Chesapeake.
KEYWORDS: ANIMAL RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS PROTEST
DEMONSTRATIONS by CNB