The Minnesota Daily did an excellent in-depth look at the animal rights movement on the campus of the University of Minnesota, with special attention paid to Kevin Kjonaas. Kjonaas is currently the main force behind Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty. As a student at the University of Minnesota, he was involved in a group called the Student Organization for Animal Rights.
There are two items that stand out in reporter Dylan Thomas’ piece. The first is Kjonaas’ reply to questions about the use of violence and other attacks against researchers,
Kjonaas said SHAC does not participate in direct attacks on researchers or property but the group’s endorsement of the ALF and others who have physically beaten Huntingdon researches or destroyed property has garnered much controversy.
That controversy doesn’t deter Kjonaas.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with supporting individuals who risk life and liberty to free animals,” he said.
“Whether or not the public regards . . . direct action as fringe or as extremist or terroristic or whatever label they want to put on it, doesn’t really matter to us because the public at large is apathetic and is going to sit on its ass regardless of whether it agrees with us or not,” Kjonaas said.
Then what’s the point?
The other part is an amusing anecdote about an Animal Liberation Front animal release at the University of Minnesota in 1999. On April 5, 1999, activists broke into several labs and stole more than 100 animals including a number of pigeons. The ALF put out a press release claiming that all the animals had been placed in caring homes.
The only problem was the pigeons were tagged and someone noticed and reported that some of the tagged pigeons were, in fact, spotted near Interstate 94. The university dispatched someone to retrieve the pigeons.
And Kjonaas and other activists take on the matter? The pigeons on Interstate 94 were planted there by the university to make the ALF terrorists look bad. Yeah, it was probably The Smoking Man himself who put them there to cover up research on aliens being carried out at the University of Minnesota.
Source:
Animal rights advocates clash with U. Minnesota researchers. Dylan Thomas, Minnesota Daily (University of Minnesota), November 11, 2002.