Animal Legal Defense Fund

The Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) was founded in 1979. It is a legal organization that follows the animal extremist ideology and until recently solely focused on animals. Like other animal extremist organizations, they too have branched out to focus on environmental activism as well. ALDF files high profile lawsuits and provides free legal assistance and training to prosecutors with the goal of changing the legal system in order to push their animal extremist and environmental activism agenda. In addition to their goals of changing the legal system, the ALDF also supports animal extremist legislation and fights legislation that they believe stops animal extremist groups from their activism. For example, the ALDF opposes laws that protect farmers and ranchers from undercover animal extremist operatives who get hired under false pretenses with the sole purpose to attack animal agriculture.

The ALDF has defended radical animal extremist groups like PETA and Friends of The Earth, a group listed on the Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium website.

Link to website: https://www.trackingterrorism.org/

The ALDF is affiliated with the following organizations:

• Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing, Environmental Law Institute, Center for Animal Law Studies. Together with the ALDF, they formed a coalition against lab animal research.
• National District Attorney’s Association – According to the ALDF website, “NDAA created the National Center for Prosecution of Animal Abuse (NCPAA) in partnership with the Animal Legal Defense Fund and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). NCPAA educates and trains prosecutors and law enforcement professionals on the effective handling of animal cruelty cases, with a particular focus on the link between animal abuse and violence toward humans.”

ALDF Animal Extremist Culture within their Organization

The culture and direction of an organization determines their business practices. The ALDF is very open about their anti-animal agriculture position, and it is evident on their website under their mission statement and posted employment rules:

“It is the mission of the Animal Legal Defense Fund to protect the lives and advance the interests of animals through the legal system. To support that mission, the Animal Legal Defense Fund strives to create an office atmosphere that encourages and supports the best practices and products available to reduce the suffering of and harm to nonhuman animals.
Consistent with this mission, the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s staff and volunteers agree that they will not introduce into any Animal Legal Defense Fund office, or at any Animal Legal Defense Fund function outside the office (e.g., staff lunches, meetings, etc.), products that are derived, in whole or in part, from an animal. Such products include, but are not limited to, meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy products (including milk, yogurt, and cheese), leather, and wool.”

Information about ALDF Co-Founder Roger Galvin: https://www.activistfacts.com/person/1510-roger-galvin/