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ESSENTIAL DESTINATIONS

MONTH: December 2006

Bush inks amended version of Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act

 

WASHINGTON D.C.--U.S. President George W. Bush on November 27, 2006 signed into law the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. AETA extends to animal industry workers the provisions of the 1982 Animal Enterprise Protection Act, which covered only property.

Sent to Bush in final form on November 13, AETA is expected to be the last major piece of animal-related legislation passed by the Republican majority who had controlled both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives since the 1994 midterm Congressional election.

Control of both the House and the Senate passed to the Democrats in the November 2006 midterm election. Opponents declared immediately their intent to challenge AETA in court and seek amendments in the next Congress, but support for AETA was strong among both parties, and despite allegations that AETA may infringe on civil liberties, in final form it was not opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union.

In final form, AETA was cosponsored by California Democratic Senator Diane Feinstein, a former two-term mayor of San Francisco, who has simultaneously one of the strongest pro-animal voting records in Congress, one of the strongest records for civil liberties, and a record of favoring biomedical research, for which she was honored in 2004 by the American Cancer Society. Throughout her political career Feinstein has often been closely aligned with Nancy Pelosi (D-California), who will be the House Speaker when the new Congress convenes in January 2007.

AETA provides that "Whoever travels in interstate or foreign commerce, or uses or causes to be used the mail or any facility of interstate or foreign commerce" for the purpose of damaging or interfering with the operations of an animal enterprise; and in connection with such purpose," shall be guilty of a federal crime, if the person "intentionally damages or causes the loss of any real or personal property (including animals or records) used by an animal enterprise, or any real or personal property of a person or entity having a connection to, relationship with, or transactions with an animal enterprise," or "intentionally places a person in reasonable fear of the death of, or serious bodily injury to that person, a member of the immediate family of that person, or a spouse or intimate partner of that person by a course of conduct involving threats, acts of vandalism, property damage, criminal trespass, harassment, or intimidation; or conspires or attempts to do so."

Much of the text of the bill defines the possible penalities for various levels of offense, and defines the scope of coverage.

"The term 'animal enterprise' means," according to AETA, "a commercial or academic enterprise that uses or sells animals or animal products for profit, food or fiber production, agriculture, education, research, or testing; a zoo, aquarium, animal shelter, pet store, breeder, furrier, circus, or rodeo, or other lawful competitive animal event; or any fair or similar event intended to advance agricultural arts and sciences."

The inclusion of animal shelters potentially allows AETA to be used against dogfighters who break into shelters to steal pit bull terriers and "bait dogs," a problem that surfaced in the mid-1990s and has occurred with increasing frequency. Thefts of shelter dogs by dogfighters are known to have occurred in three states in 2006. Alleged fighters are suspected but have not been caught in connection with many other cases.

The final version of AETA incorporates a stipulation introduced as an August 2006 amendment by Senator Feinstein that "the term 'economic damage'... does not include any lawful economic disruption (including a lawful boycott) that results from lawful public, governmental, or business reaction to the disclosure of information about an animal enterprise."

The Feinstein amendments also stipulate under "Rules of Construction" that "Nothing in this section shall be construed (1) to prohibit any expressive conduct (including peaceful picketing or other peaceful demonstration) protected from legal prohibition by the First Amendment to the Constitution" or "(2) to create new remedies for interference with activities protected by the free speech or free exercise clauses of the First Amendment to the Constitution, regardless of the point of view expressed."

The Feinstein amendments came after national animal advocacy groups had promoted opposition to AETA for months. Most continued to issue legislative alerts opposing AETA, including the American SPCA, Animal Protection Institute, Farm Animal Reform Movement, Friends of Animals, Humane Society of the U.S., In Defense of Animals, and PETA.

But the bill was not opposed by Steve Hindi of SHARK, who has been among the most tactically aggressive U.S. animal advocates since 1991. "I read the bill carefully," Hindi told ANIMAL PEOPLE, "and since everything we do is legal, I don't see where any of it applies to SHARK."

Wisconsin National Primate Research Center director Joseph Kemnitz told Doug Erickson of the Wisconsin State Journal that researchers sought the passage of AETA in part because of the effects on crowds of video trucks like the SHARK "Tiger" and Minnesota attorney Lori Peterson's "Black Beauty" in home demonstrations.

Home demos in Britain have several times escalated into home invasions and assaults on the occupants, but U.S. home protests have stopped at property damage.

University of Wisconsin at Madison School of Veterinary Medicine associate professor Eric Sandgren told Erickson that AETA is "kind of like a back-up. There needn't be indecision for events that do cross the line."

Said National Association for Biomedical Research president Francine Trull, who pushed AETA for seven years, "This is not intended to say that all animal rights activists are terrorists. That's just silly."

AETA gradually gained bipartisan support after 2001, but only became a Congressional priority in 2006.