LETTERS `Eat the bastard
Sir: Dhiren Bhagat's article 'Auschwitz for the Chickens' (31 August) dealt with the need for serious consideration of the moral issues arising from both vivisection and intensive livestock production. Sadly, he chose to couple this with a report on an Animal Liberation Front raid in a way which might give any casual reader the Impression that the ALF is a mildly eccen- tric, but essentially well-intentioned body. Within any organisation the motivation of the individual members is likely to vary considerably, but the attitudes of those participating in the ALF raid contrast sharply with those revealed in the organisa- tion's newsletter Animal Liberation.
In Animal Liberation, edition number eight, readers will find: 'Now that very little publicity is being achieved at this moment, remember, that when you hit an animal abuser, to let them know it is ALF, i.e. by leaving painted messages or by putting ALF on the brick destined for the window!' For those who may have reserva- tions about throwing bricks through win- dows the editor advises: 'If you are not a regular reader why not pay a visit to your local library or bookshop and see what they've got? You can put leaflets or leave messages in appropriate books. If you think that a book is likely to lead to animal suffering, take it home for safe keeping on the fire or compost heap. Dump it in the canal if you like, but don't poison the wildlife or pollute the canal banks.' On pages eight and nine of this edition a letter is carried chiding ALF members as follows: 'Don't be frightened by the word anarchy. Whole nations would be living in free and working societies if they hadn't been set upon by oppressive governments; of these, the countries that come closest to anarchy are the ones that have (through war) defended their way of life . . . . People either exploit animals for their living, or for their perverse kicks. There is a certain friend of ours that chooses to pursue both of these rituals. He's such a nice chappy with a friendly smile, we should kick his fucking teeth out, then string him up by his bollocks and set fire to him . . . then eat the bastard.' For those who detected a distinct bias towards vegetarian, if not vegan, attitudes in the magazine, the ulti- mate fate of the 'friend' must seem some- what ironic.
Despite Dhiren Bhagat's eventual dis- claimer about any admiration for direct action, it seems surprising that the Specta- tor should carry an article so sympathetic towards an organisation which is regularly praised and publicised in the anarchist magazine Class War. Could it be that Dhiren Bhagat has not really done his homework and, rather like the hacks of the early 1970s who depicted the IRA as glamorous liberty-loving crusaders, he has written only about those aspects of the ALF which they would wish to bring to the attention of Spectator readers?
S. P. Leavey County Secretary,
The National Farmers' Union, East Sussex and Kent branches, High Street, Cranbrook, Kent
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