Alan Cooper, Autobiography - Foreword
On first impression many see Alan Cooper simply as an ageing hippy who dresses outlandishly. For those of us who know Alan and have worked with him we see the real person, someone who has dedicated his life to the protection and defence of non human animals who are unable to speak for themselves.
When the zoo industry targeted Alan and made his life hell for over a year by accusing him of sexually molesting Freddie the dolphin, they did it in the hope he would stop campaigning against them, but they made a very big mistake. Even though Alan was suffering greatly from the abuse, threats and intimidation, he not only continued his fight against the captivity industry. He increased his workload. How he managed it with all the pressures going on around him still amazes me. Most people under such stress and threat would simply have stopped what they were doing and hidden away, but not Alan Cooper.
When the trial finally started it was not long until most knew Alan had been set up, even national newspapers who had already branded Alan started to see they had been used as puppets of the captivity industry to crucify an innocent man. For me the end of any doubt must have been when a photographer, who stated he had worked for the Sun newspaper for many years, was asked by the defence to explain what he had witnessed. He was very explicit in his testimony of how for over 15 minutes he and 3 others had watched Alan masturbating and sexually abusing Freddie the dolphin. The defence then asked ... "where are your photographs of this disgusting incident" ... the cameraman stated he was too shocked to take any! Even the judge nearly smiled at this ridiculous statement. But the defence went on to expose him even more by asking how much such photographs would be worth and how a photographer of such experience for such a "notable" newspaper could fail to capture the photograph of a lifetime that would have made him a rich man. After that testimony the case against Alan just crumbled away.
Cooper has had to live under the shadow of that disgusting act of desperation by an archaic industry. Has it stopped him speaking out for and defending the rights of all animals? Read on and see how just one person who truly believes in what he does has and continues to fight for the rights of all animals.
Doug Cartlidge
Executive Director
European Cetacean Organisation.