Why do laboratory liberations
alf_cl...@yahoo.com
from No Compromise Issue 15
Q: Why do laboratory liberations?
A: Laboratory liberations are essential in the war against
vivisection.
Education and economic sabotage save animals' lives in the long run,
but liberating animals from laboratories or other places of abuse is
the only way to save animals' lives now. Laboratory liberations are
among the most complex and risky actions an activist may undertake.
For these reasons, planning and preparation are the most important
steps in this type of action.
Q: How do you select a target?
A: There are a number of different criteria that a cell may use in
selecting one target over another for a liberation or other action.
The type of experiments going on, known security weaknesses, or homes
arranged for a certain type of animal are all criteria that may
influence an activist's decision. Because local law enforcement will
always look into the local activist networks first when investigating
a liberation it is a good idea to pick labs that are not in the same
area where you live (especially if you're known in the community as an
animal rights activist), or even in the same state or province.
Q: How do you find out what kind of experiments (and on what kind of
animals) are going on inside the lab?
A: Research avenues are going to be different depending on what type
of institution you are targeting. Some general rules for information
searches do apply, though you will have to do some of your own
research that is specific to your area and target.
Vivisectors themselves publish amazing amounts of information. Some
places that you might go to find some of their information include:
university libraries, published research sources such as scientific
and medical journals, the world wide web, medical school catalogs,
CRISP abstracts, annual reports, USDA inspection reports, Medline,
APHIS databases, ICAR databases and media reports.
Another avenue for finding out information on government institutions,
including universities, is through Freedom of Information requests.
Legislation on the right to access information varies from state to
state and province to province so you will have to find out what
information you have the "right" to in your area. An important note:
if you are going to use this information to plan a liberation, do not
place the request in your own name or to your own address. Records of
information requests are kept, and could be used to trace you to the
action. Also be advised that F.O.I.A. requests can take several months
to be processed.
A couple of good online resources for learning more about vivisection
are:
IDA's INVESTIGATING ANIMAL RESEARCH - A brief guide
API's Useful Tools for Investigating Animal Experimentation
Q: What kind of preparation (reconnaissance) do you need to do before
the action?
A: Because laboratory liberations are high-risk actions, the more
preparation, the better.
After selecting your target, you must become as familiar with it as
possible. Watch your target for many nights and days over a long
period of time so that you can get a good idea of security on site:
patrols and police response, staff and student activity, shift
changes, other activity in the area, surrounding neighbors, and other
factors. Keeping extensive written information of all of the above
will help in the planning of the action.
It is preferable to have maps of the entire area, including road,
topographical and aerial if possible. Maps can be obtained in
university and city libraries. In addition, blueprints of the targeted
building can sometimes be obtained in city or university libraries.
Over the period that you do reconnaissance on the site, you should
also draw your own maps including any features that you think are
significant to your action including escape routes.
When drawing up a detailed action plan, leave nothing to chance.
Figure out every step in the action and be certain that everyone in
the cell is familiar and comfortable with the plan beforehand.
At least once before the action, your cell should go through a dry run
that approximates the conditions you will face as closely as possible.
This means that you should try to do the "rehearsal" on the same day
of the week, at the same time that your action is planned for. This
may include going right into the lab to copy documents, check types
and number of animals, and to look for other features that may help or
hinder the liberation.
Obviously, you should always have a contingency plan in place in case
something goes wrong. It should be clear to everyone what the plan of
action will be should you come into contact with security officers,
police, students or staff on the scene. Know which way you will
escape, if you will act as a group or alone, and where you will meet
afterwards.
Some good online resources for planning your action include:
MapQuest allows you to look up and print maps of the area that your
target exists in.
TerraServer has arial and sa images for most of the USA and some other
areas.
Q: How do you get into a lab?
A: Obviously, there are many ways to enter a building, and which
method you choose will depend upon the security of the building that
you have targeted. Forcing doors, cutting through doors, picking and
drilling locks, forcing or breaking windows, and accessing ventilation
systems are all means by which you may enter the building. Roofs, and
interior or exterior walls may also be cut or drilled through for
entry.
Q: What arrangements need to be made for the care of animals following
the raid (short term and long term - vet care, safehouses, homes, and
transportation)?
A: The most important part of a liberation is finding loving homes for
the animals. Aside from the actual entry group, another set of people
may be required for this task. NEVER liberate an animal that you have
not found a good home for. Liberated animals should be placed in homes
of people not associated with your group, and possibly not even
associated with the movement at all. Once animals are taken, police
will be looking for them, so they have to be placed somewhere police
will not look, preferably well away from the area where the laboratory
is located.
After being liberated, an animal should be completely checked over by
a trusted veterinarian or other experienced animal caregiver. Special
homes may be needed for some animals considering you may be liberating
animals not normally kept as pets, or with special conditions
inflicted upon them by the abusers. The majority of large lab animals
are tattooed, may have implants, have organs or other body parts
removed, or may be very ill and/or contagious.
As was said, liberations are often highly complex, requiring a number
of people and a huge amount of planning. You will need people
responsible for finding homes for animals, researching and planning
the raid, lookouts, breaking in, carriers - people to get the animals
out, and drivers, as well as someone to coordinate the whole thing.
Q: How can one ensure they do maximum damage when destroying
equipment?
A: Maximum damage to equipment and laboratory facilities can be done
by a variety of means including use of paint, brute force, acid, water
and/or fire. Your choice of method will depend on the facility itself,
how much noise you will be able to make without being heard, whether
there are animals being left behind, whether other humans in the
building could be put at risk, and your own judgment of the
situation.
Slogans may be spray painted on walls and other surfaces. Buckets of
paint can be emptied anywhere inside the lab.
Brute force may include damage done using just the physical body as
well as tools such as bolt cutters, hammers, crowbars, drills and
other implements of destruction. Not all equipment is of high value -
in order to choose your targets for maximum financial loss,
familiarize yourself with equipment costs through vivisection industry
magazines like Lab Animal and laboratory supply company catalogs.
Lots of easy damage can be done using water and water sources in the
building. Running water while stopping up sinks, toilets and other
drainage areas is a quick way to do extensive water damage to a
building. In larger buildings, it is best to do this on the top floor
so that damage is done to all floors below.
A lot of financial damage can be done quickly to equipment and paper
files with the use of strong acid. Any strength of sulphuric acid will
work (battery acid is weak sulphuric acid), muriatic acid will also
work in a pinch.
Fire can also be an effective tool in destroying facilities. Your
choice to use this tactic will depend on many things including the
presence of animal and human life in the building, adjoining
facilities that may be put at risk, environmental danger due to fire,
and the comfort level of all cell members in setting the fire.
Q: What kind of security measures need to be taken with regards to
slogans and video, etc.?
A: Obviously, you don't want to "personalize" your action by leaving
behind clues that could help investigators. When planning what to wear
to an action, make sure that your clothes can be disposed of
(including your shoes), and that hair and hands are covered throughout
the action. You do not want to leave fingerprints or DNA in the form
of hair strands or other organic matter at the scene of the
liberation. When painting slogans, make sure that they are done in
straight, block letters and that paint purchases cannot be traced back
to you.
Make sure that as much of your body as possible is covered, especially
the face and hand area in case of video surveillance. Wear a balaclava
and gloves and make sure that all distinguishing marks such as tattoos
are not exposed in any way. Be aware that video footage may reveal
height, weight, sex and body shape.
For further security and other tips, see NC #13's Focus Section on
Direct Action, p. 13.