ALF claims responsibility for explosion

The Animal Liberation Front, an animal activist group, recently took responsibility for the fire that destroyed a Sims Poultry truck on May 3.\nDavid Barbarash, spokesman for the ALF, said the actions taken by the group were to cause economic damage to the business in an effort to destroy the slaughter industry. In his eyes, the tactics used by the ALF are justified. \n"If a business is making profit by the exploitation of animals for personal gain, then any non-violent action that doesn't harm anyone is appropriate," Barbarash said in a phone interview Thursday. "We don't see the destruction of property as violent."\nRichard Dunbar, owner of the Bloomington poultry plant that delivers chickens to various grocery stores, Greek houses and nursing homes around the area, said he is not surprised that the ALF came forward to take responsibility.\n"It was the only thing that made any sense," Dunbar said. "It was a senseless thing to do, but it was the only thing that made sense. We don't have any former employees who would set out to do something like this."\nIn a press release, the animal rights group stated that it had not caused a single injury or death in its 23-year history. The ALF also emphasized that they did not use explosives in the poultry fire. \n"The ALF uses incendiary devices, which are basically containers of flammable liquid set to ignite and create a fire," Barbarash said in a press release. "The ALF uses this method because it has been proven effective without causing harm, injuries or death." \nMayor John Fernandez spoke out against the ALF's rationalization that the actions were appropriate and that no one was in harm's way.\n"ALF members cannot truly believe that no one could have been hurt in the Sims Poultry fire," Fernandez said in a press release. "ALF certainly endangered City police officers and firefighters and for that I hold them accountable. Unfortunately, they have once again combined the senselessness of violence with the cowardice of anonymity."\nAs for Dunbar taking precautions to ensure that nothing like this happens in the future, he said the poultry plant will most definitely bulk up security.\n"We were at risk because we hadn't done a lot before as far as security," he said. "We're going to fence in the property and put up surveillance cameras. We'll take precautions. That's for sure"