Throughout the world, some animal activists choose to break the law. Their illegal activities cover a broad spectrum. They include, for example, blocking the entrance to a fur store, rescuing animals from a vivisection laboratory, destroying property that is used to torture or exploit animals, and arson. The word "violence" has been employed indiscriminately to refer to this broad array of activities. While the law generally recognizes the difference between crimes against property and crimes against persons, that distinction has been blurred in the case of illegal acts by animal activists. Until the term "violence" is defined with precision, using it to describe all law-breaking by animal activists is fundamentally unfair and is an impediment to communications within the animal advocacy movement.