Teresa Platt

Teresa Platt is executive director of the Fur Commission U.S.A., an entity that works on behalf of mink farmers and furriers. Platt argues in the following viewpoint that animal rights and environmental groups such as the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) victimize honest business owners. She claims that radical environmentalists vandalize the property of mink and dairy farmers in the mistaken belief that people can live without exploiting animals. She maintains that people have always depended on animal products such as food and clothing for survival.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to Platt, what is the “Justice Department"”
2. How long have U.S. animal rights and environmental activists engaged in eco-terrorism, according to the author?
3. In the author’s opinion, how much of...