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One
deathburger, hold the lettuce, with extra
pain
"For
the liberation of the helpless we will strike"
is the response given by the Animal Liberation
Front (ALF) when questioned about their
involvement with recent vandalism attacks
against McDonald's restaurants in
the past three months.
Broken
windows and spray-painted graffiti such
as "McKillers" and "McMurder
Killers," as well as the signature
"ALF" are the only remains of
silent protests on behalf of the animals
against the cruel and inhumane conditions
they experience before being slaughtered
for meat.
Police
focus primarily on ALF because of their
reputation for infamous actions to save
animals. On Feb. 6, police responded to
an alarm from a McDonald's in Torrance
only to find shattered glass and painted
polemics. On Feb. 14, a McDonald's
and a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Carson were
vandalized in the same fashion. ALF has
taken responsibility for the Carson attacks
but does not apologize for its conduct.
Since
animal rights laws do not protect animals
from being cooped up in cages or abused
on over-populated animal farms, ALF has
taken the responsibility of stopping animal
suffering.
Why
McDonald's? Well, McDonald's
kills more than half a million chickens
every week worldwide and slaughters innumerable
cows yearly, making them the world's
largest user of beef.
With
restaurants in over 100 countries, McDonald's
operates inside the thin walls of the animal
rights laws. That is not enough for ALF,
which disagrees with and challenges the
animal rights laws.
ALF's
mission statement is to effectively allocate
resources (time and money) to reduce animal
suffering in the world. ALF is trying to
achieve its goal of ending animal suffering
by forcing companies that abuse animals
to go out of business.
The
group is attaining this goal in small steps,
namely by executing its philosophy to inflict
economic damage to those who profit from
the misery and exploitation of animals.
In
order to save these animals, not only from
McDonald's but also from laboratories,
fur factories and animal testing, ALF is
disrupting the operations of businesses
to open their eyes to the lives of animals.
ALF
has been under heavy scrutiny from the public
before but refuses to stop its illegal actions.
ALF's press office released the following
statement in regards to the McDonald's
attacks: "McDonald's has been
designated a poster-company for the fast
food, meat and dairy industries, which are
responsible for massive and unimaginable
animal cruelty."
Many
organizations and other activist groups
support what ALF believes but oppose using
illegal actions. It is only through illegal
actions that ALF is able to directly help
the animals. This controversy is not always
black and white.
The
main focus of the attacks is saving the
animals that undergo inhumane treatment
and are helpless.
I
have recently turned vegetarian and through
my own beliefs I have to agree with ALF
that the abuse and suffering of animals
needs to come to a halt.
Eating
a hamburger is not as enjoyable once you
know the cow lived an overcrowded farm where
it had no room to move, walked around with
feces stuck to its fur, suffered from malnutrition
and then was tossed into the slaughterhouse
where cows are hung upside-down and hit
on the head with a club before being left
to die.
That
scrumptious burger that you bite into is
not only dripping with meat juice but also
tears from the silent cry to protect animals
from the cruelty that led them in between
your buns.
I
am not approving or disapproving of the
extreme measures of ALF because there seems
to be no alternatives to stop the brutal
treatment of animals.
Ginny
Galvin is a third year print journalism
major at CSULB.
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