THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Wednesday, May 22, 1996               TAG: 9605220155
SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A9   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 
                                            LENGTH:   47 lines

ALF LINKED TO PROTESTS IN ENGLAND, CANADA THE ORGANIZATION HAS CLAIMED CREDIT FOR RAIDS AT SEVERAL U.S. UNIVERSITIES.

The Animal Liberation Front is a radical underground animal-rights group that has used terrorist tactics to thwart animal experimentation in England, Canada and the United States.

In March, David Callender, 37, a member of the group, was sentenced in Birmingham, England, to 10 years in prison for a firebombing campaign. Authorities confiscated bomb-making materials from Callender and a log that identified targets including cattle farmers, slaughterhouses, egg producers and horse breeders.

The organization once raided a research lab at the University of Arizona, freed 1,100 animals and set two buildings on fire.

During the 1990s, the group also has been accused of conducting raids at universities in Oregon, Washington and Michigan where animals were used in research. The Liberation Front, in a news release, claimed responsibility for a 1992 fire at Michigan State University.

ALF claimed credit in 1991 for contaminating a soft drink in London that resulted in the recall of 3 million bottles of the beverage. The company that bottled the drinks had used research animals to develop drugs.

Michael McGraw, a spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), whose national headquarters will move to Norfolk July 1, said in a January interview that while PETA supports the Animal Liberation Front ``in spirit,'' its own activities are nonviolent.

``Most of our campaigns are positive and have a flamboyant approach,'' McGraw said, citing the organization's recent ad campaign which featured supermodels declaring they would rather go naked than wear fur.

McGraw said very little is known about ALF. ``No one knows who belongs to it,'' he said. ``Anyone in the world could do anything and then claim they're with ALF.''

Speaking anonymously, members of the Norfolk Police Department's Criminal Intelligence Unit and the local FBI office said they were monitoring PETA because of its connection to the ALF.

``PETA is a lawful organization, but it is connected to ALF, which is a known terrorist organization,'' a Norfolk police officer said. ``Because of that connection and the animal research that is done in the Tidewater area, we will oversee its activities.'' MEMO: News researcher Kimberly R. Kent contributed to this report.

KEYWORDS: VANDALISM ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS

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