ALF free pigeons in Surrey

This is the mighty Animal Liberation Front in action? Threatening people who put nets up that accidentally caught the pigeons instead of deterring them? Things have gone down a bit since Shamrock I see.

this has to be a joke along the same lines as the anarchists at glastonbury
funny though

Surely better just to pull the netting down and let the pigoens be happy. More netting? More pulling down. Don't need to make such a spectacular song and dance about it unless you fancy yourself as a bit of a militant. The report certainly has that tone of self-rightious animal rights militant role-playing that is one of the downside of the movement.

Doesn't seem worth the effort to make this out as some ALF direct action that's backed up by a whole history of ALF actions.

Yep, it's probably some low-paid council worker who put the netting up. Hardly a worthy target based on the overall scheme of things.

Yawn, we get the armchair pro animal abuse whingers wheeled out to spout their negative bullshit all the time.

The Animal Liberation Front is a name that anyone can use for any action that breaks the law in defence of animals. Cutting netting is probably criminal damage, thus it falls under that definition. Just because it isn't burning a slaughterhouse to the ground or liberating every animal from Huntingdon Life Sciences is irrelevant.

In some ways a large number of small actions such as this have more effect than a few large actions. And actions like this do go on all the time, mostly unreported.

I presume the organisations putting up the netting are either the company that owns the stations or the one that owns the track (Railtrack?) If they are killing pigeons by their actions then they are clearly a legitimate target. I doubt the "low paid council worker" is going to be personally targeted, like some moron claimed above. The usual method is to go for the people at the top, who deserve attention for many other non-animal rights reasons too.

Good on whoever did this, and long may actions of this sort continue.

It's funny how because you make a fairly limited critical comment in response to something that is pretty much a non-story you get called an 'armchair pro animal abuse whinger'.

Vegan, in your world it's all so simple, isn't it? You should be able to see two things from my comment that 'The report certainly has that tone of self-rightious animal rights militant role-playing that is one of the downside of the movement'.

1) I agree that the ideas and practice of people (be they individuals or corporations) should not abuse animals.

2) That you seem to be exactly the self-rightious animal rights militant that makes most of the animal rights movement hardly worth writing home about because it obsesses about the plight of animals and really has very little understanding of any other wider and human (dare I say it) revolutionary politics that might finally put a stop to most of the systematic abuse of animals.

Anyone that's critical becomes an enemy.

Dream on, vegan!

What's with the big citique man, it was hardly a threat? Releasing a trapped animal can bring out all sorts of emotions, joy, anger even tears, so cool it and let compassion breath. To acosta + RL, maybe you don't value a pidgeon or 'feel' the collective joy of these birds flying free - is that a sign of the system making you emotionally illiterate? Sadly actions like this are all to rare.To free one animal is not to negate the suffering of another, but part of the struggle.You are not the enemy, you were interested enough to read the story, it just didn't come up to your expectations Pip. Well done to the liberators.

Most AR people I know are very politicised. It's just wrong to say they obsess about one thing. Most people have a focus - if you tried to do everything you spread yourself too thin. I don't see a problem with working against animal abuse as long as you keep an awareness of wider issues, which I think most people do.

What wrong with being self-righteous? - most people think they are right about things, otherwise they would change their views. You are being pretty self-righteous in your criticisms.

Let me guess, you must be from that negativist wing of the anarchist movement that drones on about ancient history and criticises everyone for anything they ever do because it doesn't meet their pure ideals?

Well here's a tip: negativity and constant criticism isn't a good way to win friends and influence people. It just leeches energy from people who are actually doing things.

This isn't just some abstract argument to be had over tea and crumpets. Pigeons are suffering and dying in these nets. They need to be taken down, and the people who order them to be put up are scumbags who need stopping.

Here's to real positive anarchism in action!

Definition:

Self-right·eous
adj.
1. Piously sure of one's own righteousness; moralistic.
2. Exhibiting pious self-assurance.

Well-done everyone involved with the pigeon freeing.

You think that human politics is wider and more revolutionary than animal politics? That's the equivalent of saying black or womens liberation is politically wider than human liberation.

Logical schizophrenia, anyone?
HUMANS ARE ANIMALS, what ever happened to common sense!
Animal liberation = human & non-human liberation.

Trying to say that human liberation is more revolutionary and a wider topic than human & non-human liberation is quite simply delusional. You might as well be saying non-human liberation is more revolutionary and a wider topic than animal liberation, or animal liberation is more revolutionary and a wider topic than total liberation (animal & earth liberation).

Sometimes I think people like you are just joking, no mental illness or anything!

You think human liberation will bring about animal liberation? How, by coincidence?
It's as delusional as thinking non-human liberation will bring about animal liberation.
Human & non-human liberation will, suprise suprise, be brought about by animal liberation.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delusion

"A delusion, in everyday language, is a fixed belief that is either false, fanciful, or derived from deception. Psychiatry defines the term more specifically as a belief that is pathological (the result of an illness or illness process). As a pathology, it is distinct from a belief based on false or incomplete information, apperception, illusion, or other effects of perception."

I hope you get better soon mate, seriously.

this just makes the AR movement look desperate and plays into the hands of those putting it out there that the quality ALF action is in decline not that a lot of people are in jail. at the end of the day it was a great thing to do to free the birds but ALF action? its a bit OTT really, I pull things like pigeon nets down all the time and let animals out of traps, etc, etc - i'd hardly say its militant direct action!!! also to dramatise such actions to such an extent probably makes people who would do it all the time be a bit scared/nervous to do so, i just think its silly and a tad embarrassing to make such a big deal out of such a simple action, probably some egos involved somewhere along the line.

While in practice removing the net if it is harming the pigeons isn't a bad thing, acting like some big badman/women to the local media makes you just sound like a right idiot, I mean come on- '...They will be dealt with', sorry but I think maybe some egos need to be dealt with first.

Why all the nit picking ffs.The 'threat' is probably no more than understandable residue emotion after an action. Ok depending how you read it, it is certainly no more alarming than the big talk, big bravado of alot of activists ''.... we're gonna shut down a power station..'' ''...we're gonna stop the city..'' blah blah. Come on surely you know there's alot of talk about, its become part of the game. Slagging off just undermines each others confidence and creates division. This is an activists news wire, to you this may not be news, then neither is glueing your hands round a statue or rah rahing outside wherever, at least these animals got their freedom.

Any action that saves animals can be signed off as A.L.F whether it's an illegal act or a LEGAL act...
Well done to the person helping the pigeons.

"this just makes the AR movement look desperate and plays into the hands of those putting it out there that the quality ALF action is in decline not that a lot of people are in jail."

You are somewhat stereotyping, nothing more, nothing less. The ALF actions you are always hearing about are the ones the media are obsessing over. What about the traps sabotaged here, the netts taken down there? They are all ALF actions, just smaller ones.

ALF actions are not actions that are 'huge', they are actions claimed by the ALF ideology.

"at the end of the day it was a great thing to do to free the birds but ALF action? its a bit OTT really, I pull things like pigeon nets down all the time and let animals out of traps, etc, etc - i'd hardly say its militant direct action!!!"

You are confusing easy/simple direct action with militant direct action. Militant direct action can be easy and simple, or it can be hard and complicated, what's your point?

"also to dramatise such actions to such an extent probably makes people who would do it all the time be a bit scared/nervous to do so, i just think its silly and a tad embarrassing to make such a big deal out of such a simple action, probably some egos involved somewhere along the line."

I agree with the opposite analogy, if you don't highlight these actions people who would normally do it all the time may become scared/nervous to do so. Reporting a simple action is not making a big deal out of it, its just reporting news, make what you want out of it.

Just becuase you do similar actions and don't report them there's no point in getting jealous because other people do report them (or know how to/have time to more importantly)!

The sole reason this was repotred to the media is because they ran an article about the netting and a pigeon that had been caught in it, with liberals thinking writing letters was an effective way to deal with the problem. Instead the ALF proposed an efficient solution.

To Sarah: read michael's reply. It's not ego, its threatening further action and is very common.

I'm sure that if somebody had saved human lives that were caught behind netting it'd be applauded by these cynics. Are human lives more valuable in some discriminatory way?

Veg@n, don't patronise, I know the why's of the words issued to the press, but it doesn't make them sound any less like some wannabe badman/women.