A global information service about animal rights extremism

ARE Incident Map

History overview

Origins
The early years

Opposition to the use of animals by humans dates back to philosophical debates in the 17th century. The first organised pressure groups were formed in the United Kingdom (UK), and were initially concerned with the treatment of animals in agriculture...Read more


Crossing the boundary of non-violence
In the 1980's, direct actions carried out in the UK began to flout the ALF’s original principle of non-violence towards “any animal, human or non-human”. Read more


The campaign against Huntingdon Life Sciences
A major campaign was launched in 1999 to close down Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS), Europe’s largest contract animal research laboratory based in Huntingdon, in the UK. Since its inception, Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty has claimed to be a lawful and legitimate protest group, but between 1999 and 2007 its supporters subjected employees... Read more


Targeted Campaigns
The past decade

The ARE movement continued to develop in the 1990's-2000' with a series of highly targeted campaigns against members of the biomedical research supply chain including transport and the work of individual academic institutions. Read more.


Other Resources

Visit the Resource Library to download more information on the history of animal rights extremism.

  • A history of animal rights in Germany (En, De)
  • The Evolution of Animal Rights Groups in Spain (En, Sp)
  • History of Animal Rights in Sweden