The Animal People documentary follows 6 animal rights activists who were arrested and charged with domestic terrorism for trying to end the animal cruelty involved in the Huntingdon Life Sciences testing center.
SHARON VEGA: ‘In 1999, animal rights campaign Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) was founded. As their name implies, their mission was to end the animal cruelty involved in the Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) testing centre in Cambridgeshire. The SHAC campaign was known for taking extreme measures to get their message across. Many of the things they were accused are not actions we condone or promote — activism does not have to become violent. However, the journey of those activists over the past twenty years has been an interesting one, intertwined with terrorism, prison, charges, and much more. A new documentary is shedding light on the entire ordeal.
Executive produced by vegan actor and environmentalist Joaquin Phoenix, “The Animal People,” which premiered at the Austin Film Festival follows six animal rights activists charged with domestic terrorism. The FBI stepped in after the SHAC protestors raided the HLS lab in 1999 and there was “middle-of-the night vandalism,” as the documentary’s blurb describes it. Leading up to the trial of the six activists, the United States rewrote laws under corporate pressure. The film explores how this affects free speech’. SOURCE…
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