Animal Rights Movement

By the 1980s, both the FBI and Scotland Yard viewed radical animal rights organizations, such at the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), as domestic terrorist organizations. Indeed, animal rights activists in the United States make up one-third of what are called “special interest” or “single issue” terrorists, a category that includes anti-abortionists and radical environmentalists.

Today's animal rights movement has its roots in nineteenth-century England, beginning with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). This group, founded in 1824, recognized the legitimate use of animals for research but sought ways to make the conditions for the animals more humane—what is now known as an animal welfarist philosophy. By 1875, a faction of the RSPCA had come together against the practice of vivisection—the cutting open or injuring of animals for scientific research—and formed the Society for the Protection of Animals Liable to Vivisection. Shortly thereafter, thanks to the lobbying efforts of such groups, the 1876 Cruelty to Animals Act was passed by Parliament to regulate animal experimentation. America has a similar animal rights history to that of Great Britain: the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) was founded in 1867, and anti-vivisection societies emerged as early as 1883.

The late 1800s saw remarkable advances in medicine based on animal experimentation, including Louis Pasteur's treatments for anthrax and rabies, as well as advances in the study of diabetes. In light of such successes, the animal rights movement in England faded from view for well over half a century. The movement resurfaced in the 1960s in opposition to fox hunting, a cause in which animal rights activists forged bonds with activists engaged in class struggle, as fox hunting has historically been strictly an upper-class sport. This bond also arose in later campaigns against wearing fur.