It seems life (or rather, the ALF) is imitating art with their recent ‘liberation’ of ungrateful deer, see Bloodhound’s blog Wildlife prison or wildlife paradise? Happy deers don’t even think about escaping.

In 1998, The Onion, a satirical online newsite wrote a spoof article about the ALF liberating cows, which included the following sentence:

The long-distance transport of the Cumberland cows was deemed necessary in light of an event last August, when 80 Milking Shorthorns were released from the Miklewski farm in Beloit, only to wander back into their pens the next day.
The Onion, 16th Dec 1998, ‘Animal Rights Activists Release 71,000 Cows Into Wild’

Extremists are being brought to book for their tactics (the ‘SHAC 7’ are awaiting sentencing), both the media and public sympathy are against them and the animals are ignoring them - life’s pretty hard for militant animal rights activists!