VEGAN SANCTUARY

Linking a Revolution

2011-03-31T20:26:00.000-07:00

Besides going vegan, volunteering one's time at Animal Acres is one of the best ways to help farmed animals.

And when someone volunteers at a farmed sanctuary like Animal Acres they are directly helping animals that have been rescued from the fate of being another countless victim of the meat, dairy and egg industry. However, there's also another way of volunteering one's time that can help save countless farmed animals lives too and it's nearly as easy as just turning on your computer.

From Your Computer Comes A Vegan World

Social activism creates change in the world when people communicate with one another and the ideas behind that activism spread within a community, then beyond. When one human empowers another to make the connection from, what they sense is true about the world in their heart, to doing the right thing in their lives.

When people volunteer to make a difference in the world not only do they help those in need but they also empower others to communicate and spread the word. This is what assists getting people involved in the specific cause as well.

This is what effective activism is all about. Not telling people what to do...but encouraging them by example and engaging them to see for themselves what is really happening in society.

Great activists change the world by laying down the foundation for other people to make the connections to other people and so forth and so on. This is so much different and extremely more successful than demanding or commanding that people change.

Empowering others to see for themselves is how revolutions start and today it's actually easier than ever.

We see this type of foundation for change happening right now before our eyes with the uprisings in the Middle East.

Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, cell phones etc are playing the main role in keeping the momentum continuing for the usually voiceless masses by making communication simple and by exposing the oppression to the world.... in real time.

Animal activists have this same power right now. The power to connect to other potential future vegans by using the Internet to be a very effective uncensored news agency and a revealer of oppression, cruelty and truth.

We have the opportunity now to spread the word so to speak, by showing the images of oppression and violence. When we share the videos that reveal the reality of how animals are violently turned from living, feeling beings into unnecessary food items we make that unjust universe known.

We live in a time that no matter how hard the animal killing industries try they can no longer censor the images and reality of where our animal food comes from. The lies, myths and walls that have been erected to specifically prevent people from seeing for themselves the misery, death and pain they actually cause when they themselves buy animal products... are now disappearing.

Even though bills are being passed

as this post is written to outlaw filming undercover video in businesses that kill animals for food products the censorship is slowly however, coming to an end because we all now possess the power of the internet at our finger tips.

It's now up to each and every vegan activist to volunteer our time in sharing the images of truth with the rest of our social network. The videos available online now are some of the most important tools we have in changing the world for the animals.

Yet, it is impossible to change the world without taking action.

The non human animals need your volunteer efforts now.. to paste that video link in an email, tweet it to a twitter, or link it on that "friends" Facebook page.

This is why people volunteer in the first place. They want to make a difference.

If we do nothing at all the world remains a cruel and more hopeless place where apathy becomes the actual camouflage that maintains the cover for those who continue to abuse and exploit.

We can easily see in politics here in the US as well as throughout the world that those who are overwhelmed by greed, selfishness and hate need to maintain their power with lies, fear and violence.

We live in a society where extreme violence toward non human animals is completely accepted because those who might actually care, or who might demand change or who might fight the powers that be are kept ignorant of how their meat and dairy is created.

We now have the opportunity to challenge a violent system of oppression with a simple few clicks from our computers. It is we animal rights advocates who now have the power to awaken the world to a possible future without so much ignorance and so much killing.

By simply volunteering a few minutes of your life to posting this video here on the pages of your social network contacts, your twitter followers or email contacts we can slowly destroy a world built on speciesism and controlled through ignorance.

I can tell you now for a fact that these videos are having an effect and are waking people up and changing their lives.

Living vegan not only entails a life that refrains from causing harm to others but also includes recognizing that we can change the world by educating other humans of what the consequences are when they eat or wear animal products.

There is no such thing as humane meat.

Be a sanctuary for others, go vegan and share a video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-xLc0C8u9Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUkHkyy4uqw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWVu1Pnc-iQ

Farmed Animals Are Not Food, They Are Our Teachers

2011-02-03T01:19:00.000-08:00

Lorri Houston is the founder of Animal Acres and considered the "pioneer" of the farmed animal sanctuary movement. In 1986, Lorri co-founded Farm Sanctuary, which opened the country's first sanctuary for farmed animals. For 18 years, she directed the group's rescue and fundraising efforts.

Through her farm animal sanctuary efforts, Lorri has directly saved thousands of animals from the cruelties of factory farms, stockyards and slaughterhouses, and brought national attention to the plight of animals used for "food production."

In this months blog post Lorri tells us the lessons that can be learned from farmed animals when we see them as teachers and that the farmed animal sanctuaries which protect them are not only places of refuge but places of learning and transformation for humans.

In 1986 I discovered a living sheep on a stockyard “dead pile” and her rescue led me to establish the first shelter in the country for farmed animals, as co-founder of Farm Sanctuary. The sheep, who was named Hilda, was my first teacher. She was the one who set me on a path to rescue thousands of other suffering farmed animals and establish the farmed animal sanctuary movement.

Hilda enjoyed 12 blissful years at Farm Sanctuary, and during our years together, she continued to show me how much can be accomplished when people care enough to be a vital participant in programs and campaigns to stop farmed animal suffering. In 1986, very few organizations were advocating for farmed animal protection, most people thought the word “vegan” was a character from Star Trek, and there were no shelters in the country devoted to farmed animals.

Today, along with Animal Acres there are now over 30 farmed animal sanctuaries throughout the country.

In our first year of operation in 2005, I saw how much an urban farmed animal sanctuary can do – and how much people wanted to have farmed animal sanctuaries in their cities. A dedicated team of over 200 people came out to help us build the sanctuary. We saved over 200 animals from slaughter, welcomed thousands of sanctuary visitors, and reached millions of people with news coverage of our efforts in the Los Angeles Times, the Daily News and other major media.

Dozens of Hollywood’s famous friends of farmed animals joined Animal Acres to lend their voices and support.

Although I have been involved in the farmed animal sanctuary movement since 1986, the success of Animal Acres was a reminder to me of the crucial role played by farmed animal sanctuaries – both for animal advocates and the general public.

In our own animal protection movement, farmed animal sanctuaries are helping teach animal advocates that cows, pigs, and chickens need our help, too – and the new and growing interest in farmed animal protection issues continues to prompt campaigns to ban cruel factory farming and marketing practices.

Humane enforcement agencies are more willing to intervene to stop farmed animal cruelty if there is a shelter facility in the area for farmed animals. Shortly after Animal Acres opened, a California humane agency was able to conduct the first U.S. raid on a slaughterhouse for cruelty to animals, and subsequently confiscated dozens of severely neglected animals, who were then brought to Animal Acres for rehabilitation and refuge.

For people who come into contact with farmed animals only at breakfast, lunch, or dinner, farmed animal sanctuaries provide a positive way for the public to learn that farmed animals are friends, not food. Sanctuary visitors interact with the “animal ambassadors” while being educated on the harsh truth of how farmed animals are treated to produce meat, milk, and eggs.

It’s just a little easier for people to hear about the cruelties of dairy production when they are getting a big cow lick. Even the youngest sanctuary visitor “gets it” after giving a pig a belly rub and sampling a veggie hotdog. Farmed animal sanctuaries make it fun – and profound.

As a founder of Farm Sanctuary, and now Animal Acres, I have personally seen thousands of people “touched” by a farmed animal, and then make the decision to save ALL farmed animals by going vegetarian or vegan.

More than anyone, those of us involved in direct rescue efforts for farmed animals recognize the only way to “be the change” is to use the sanctuary to open peoples’ hearts and minds to the plight of farmed animals.

Every year, over ten billion animals are raised, transported, and slaughtered under the most inhumane and cruel conditions possible. During my own investigations of the meat, dairy, and egg industries, I have witnessed more suffering than I could have imagined in my worst nightmare.

At hatcheries, I have seen tiny day-old chicks thrown alive into trash dumpsters because they were male and could not be used for egg production.

I have given water to thirsty “downed” cows who were left suffering for hours, in parking lots, with temperatures over 100 degrees.

I have looked into the hopeless eyes of calves chained to veal crates, unable to walk or even turn around.

I’ve watched in horror as pigs with broken legs dragged themselves to the killing floor, as they were kicked and shocked by slaughterhouse workers.

People often ask me what is the hardest part of doing farmed animal rescue and sanctuary work. Witnessing animal cruelty is very difficult, but leaving suffering animals behind is devastating. Over the years, I have had to make hundreds of “Sophie’s Choices” -- choosing which ones to save, and which ones to leave behind. I remember the hardest rescue I ever worked on like it happened only yesterday – the Buckeye Egg Farm Rescue.

The Buckeye Egg Farm in Ohio is a typical egg production factory farm. To produce eggs, four to five hens are crammed into a bare wire cage about the size of a folded newspaper. The confinement is so severe, the hens cannot walk, stretch their wings, or even lie down comfortably. The Buckeye Egg Farm was one of the largest egg production facilities in the country, housing 14 million hens in large warehouses which held 80-100,000 birds per building. Tornadoes struck the Buckeye Egg Farm facility, and overnight, over one million birds became trapped in demolished buildings.

There was no way to prepare myself for the devastation, and the suffering. The warehouses which housed the birds had been severely damaged, and most of the buildings were missing sides,

For several days, we tried to rescue as many hens as we could, while urging the owners of the facility to remove hens from cages as quickly as possible and humanely euthanize the ones that could not be taken to sanctuaries. On my last trip to the Buckeye Egg Farm, the birds had been in the cages without food or water for twelve days. I expected to see birds weak and near death--what I saw instead were birds who were very much alive and moving frantically in their cages.

The Buckeye Egg Farm would not allow animal groups to help release birds from cages, claiming it was “too dangerous” to allow non-employees to enter demolished areas. They agreed to let us have as many hens as we could take, but we had to agree to this stipulation. Still, there were times I had to make a mad dash to a cage of hens. I approached one cage that was smashed in half and reached down to pick up a bird who was caught in the wire of a mangled cage. I tucked the hen safely into my shirt, and then I tried to pry open the cage bars to rescue another hen who had her wing caught in the wire – but I was forced to leave the area before I could get her. The look on her face will never leave me. I also had to break the rules when I saw birds stuck in the manure slurry pits that accumulated under the cages. The live birds were slowly sinking into the wet manure. I got three birds out of the pit before I was stopped.

After a great deal of pressure, the Buckeye Egg Farm agreed to remove trapped birds and euthanize them. The "bird removal" crew consisted of six to eight workers to remove almost 100,000 birds from piles of debris and mangled cages. It was agonizingly slow, and cruel. The workers grabbed the birds by the legs and threw them into a tractor loading bucket. The tractor then drove to a large trailer, and dumped the live birds into it. The birds fell, flapping their wings and screaming, onto the other birds in the trailer, who lay dead, or dying. A tarp was then pulled over the trailer, and CO2 gas was pumped into it for 5 minutes. When the tarp was pulled back, many of the birds lay gasping until the next loader full of birds was dumped on top of them.

After attempting to remove and euthanize birds for a few days, Buckeye Egg Farm halted its bird removal effort, and sent in bulldozers. Hundreds of thousands of birds were crushed and buried alive.

We documented all of this cruelty and death. The endless rows of trapped birds. The animals stuck in quick-sand like manure pits. The birds being thrown into gas chambers and left suffocating, gasping for breath. We tried to convince authorities to prosecute the facility for animal cruelty, but we were unsuccessful. It was considered a “natural disaster”, though it was clear the suffering was caused by the “unnatural” confinement of millions of animals. In the end, there was nothing I could do but save as many as possible. On the last day we were allowed in, I drove off with 500 hens. I didn't glance back as we pulled away...I couldn't.

It is hard to witness animal cruelty and leave suffering animals behind – and when I am struggling to cope with my anger and grief, I try to remember another animal teacher who crossed my path, a hen named Henny.

When I was directing Farm Sanctuary’s shelters, I received a call from the ASPCA that a chicken needed a home–a chicken that someone had managed to take from a factory farm, and ended up on a New York City bus. Fortunately, the kind driver knew this was a chicken in trouble, and drove her to the ASPCA. At the time, our New York shelter was completely full because of the Buckeye Egg Farm rescue. We didn’t have any rehabilitation pens open at our shelter, but after hearing about her heroic escape, I just couldn’t say no. So, until she was healthy enough to be with the other shelter chickens, “Henny” moved in with us.

At the time, my family consisted of four dogs, three cats, two humans (and now one chicken), and we were all residing in a small, one bedroom cabin. I didn’t want Henny to be locked alone into the bathroom, so I cautiously let her into the main room, keeping a particularly watchful eye on the dogs. I was concerned that Henny would be intimated and not “fit in”, but I didn’t have to worry for long -- at least about the chicken.

The dogs were the first to learn that Henny would rule the roost. The minute my largest dog KJ stuck her nose into her, Henny gave KJ a peck on the nose—clearly there was going to be no dog “nosing” in this household. This chicken had attitude–she was from New York City alright.

Later that night, after everyone seemed to settle in and things were starting to get peaceful, I was relaxing on the couch with Pierre (cat) in my lap. Henny walked over to the couch, surveyed the situation, and then jumped on to my lap–which of course meant, she also jumped on to the cat. Pierre leaped into the air hissing and screaming and Henny didn’t ruffle a feather. She just calmly settled into my lap, ignoring the glaring cat, and started cooing.

The first night, I put her into a bedded carrier so she (and the rest of us) could sleep soundly throughout the night. She didn’t seem to like this idea, and I felt a little guilty as her eyes followed me into the bedroom. That night, she must have worked her way into my dreams, because I woke up knowing I couldn’t put her in the carrier again.

By now, everyone had accepted Henny into the household, so it seemed safe enough to just let her find her own sleeping spot in the house. The big dogs grabbed the couch, the cats and small dogs jumped on our bed, and we all crawled under the covers. Within seconds, I heard the tiny “click-click-click” of Henny’s feet, and they were coming closer and closer. I peered over the side of the bed, and there was Henny, looking up. I’d seen this look before – Henny was going to jump on to the bed. I went to the bathroom and grabbed a towel for the bed, and Henny jumped up and slept with us until dawn. (In case you’re wondering, Henny was “housebroken” and never had an “incident” on the bed or furniture.)

At night when Henny and I cuddled together, I was amazed by her trusting and loving nature. She was after all, a hen who had lived her entire life under cruel factory farm conditions. She had suffered “debeaking” a painful mutilation that involves cutting off the tip of hens’ beaks to reduce pecking injuries because the birds are so severely overcrowded. Then, for months, she endured intensive confinement in a bare wire cage with several other hens–a cage so small that she could not even stretch her wings. Finally, when she was no longer “productive” she was literally torn from her cage and thrown into a transportation truck headed for slaughter. Bruised, battered and worn-out laying hens are ground up and used for pot pies and baby food.

In the few weeks she stayed with us, I discovered that Henny was curious and intelligent (she learned in one night to stay on the towel in her corner of the bed). Henny was fearless and self-assured (I learned this when I saw her “take on” a ninety pound growling dog because SHE wanted the chew toy). Henny was friendly (she greeted me at the door each day after work and then followed me around like a puppy dog). And, Henny loved to be loved (and gave me enormous amounts of love in return.)

Henny had never known a kind touch from a human. Humans had only inflicted fear, pain and endless days of torment. Yet, she had chosen to bring us into her family – a family filled with generosity, forgiveness, and hope. It was a sad day when Henny was ready to be with her own people (well, maybe not so sad for my companion dogs and cats), but I was grateful for the time I had with this remarkable teacher, who reminded me of all that one chicken, or person, can be.

My biggest mission in life is to teach people that farmed animals are animals. Animals who feel pain or comfort, or joy or sorrow, just like a dog or cat. Farmed animal sanctuaries provide the opportunity for people to learn, and love.

At times, working on behalf of ten billion suffering animals is heartbreaking, and daunting. But Hilda, Henny, and the other farmed animals who have touched my life, have given me hope – because each and every person can do something to stop the suffering now, simply by choosing what, or whom, to eat.

When people learn about the suffering these farmed animals must endure, they are shocked and appalled, and they will go vegetarian, or vote to stop an abusive farming practice. In addition to the creation of dozens of new farmed animal sanctuaries, the past ten years has ushered in laws and initiatives banning cruel animal agriculture practices, along with the introduction of vegetarian and vegan food options at almost every major supermarket and restaurant throughout the country.

For the first time in history, people are seeing cows, pigs, and chickens as living, feeling animals, and it is changing the way society views and treats farmed animals. Farmed animals themselves finally have a voice. They can be their own advocates – and perhaps that is why the farmed animal sanctuary movement is so successful.

I urge everyone to get up “close and personal” with farmed animals. You don’t need to open and run a farmed animal sanctuary to help spread the word that farmed animals have feelings too. But I do believe, that the farmed animals themselves are the best advocates, and it takes you and I to tell their stories.

Visit and volunteer at farmed animal sanctuaries as often as possible – if you don’t live near one, do an internship at one (Animal Acres offers one month live-in internships, as do other sanctuaries.) If you let yourself be touched, if you open yourself to farmed animals voices, you will be inspired – and the messages you learn and share on blogs, facebook, myspace, twitter, and all those wonderful communication mechanisms now available, can be brought to millions.

It took Jane Goodall to show the world that chimpanzees were more like humans than other animals, that chimpanzees had complex emotions and lives, not unlike our own. We need Jane Goodalls for cows, pigs, and chickens, too, and you can be that person. We need everyone who cares about farmed animals to do everything they can to show the world that farmed animals are animals too, that there is a face on their plate.

If farmed animals can be the teachers, there might be hope for the human race yet.

Join the farmed animal sanctuary movement – and help us save lives.

Become a living sanctuary for others.

Go vegan.

Nick Cooney- Interview

2011-01-01T15:56:00.001-08:00

What Psychology Can Teach Us About Spreading Social Change.

Author/Activist Nick Cooney

Understanding the human brain is an essential ingredient in winning the fight for the rights of non human animals. It's also a major in road to developing a strategy for convincing humans to have a change of heart toward the other species in this world. After all the architect of speciesism as well as every other wrong belief held about the other animals of the world is the human brain.

Understanding why we believe what it is we believe is at the "heart" of grasping what the human brain actually does.

Our human brains are also the generators of what we call intuitions and we often act on those intuitions without always knowing if we are right or wrong about the intended consequences of those actions.

This is especially the case when it comes to the ethical questions we are often confronted with.

Our intuitions are also what gives us the motivation to take the well being of others to "heart" and to move toward living vegan. It is from our brains where our empathy originates which in turn gives rise to our making ethical decisions.

Our longing for compassion and justice comes from a sense of what we share with others rather than what separates us.

Yet just because we feel deeply about an issue, such as advocating humans to live vegan, does not ensure that we will always do what's best.

Feeling passionate about a cause does not prevent us from making mistakes as advocates or activists.

The important part is learning from those mistakes and working together for a world that becomes a sanctuary for everyone.

The new book Change Of Heart authored by Nick Cooney gives us much insight into ways in which the assumptions we make about our own activism and our beliefs as animal rights supporters might be wrong.

The search for correct answers and discerning the correct path to take in the struggle for animal rights is not as simple as just going with what our heart feels.

And it should be said that while I don't agree with Nick on a few of his strategies I do very much appreciate his compassion for animals. I also respect his advice, insight and his perspective.

I also commend him for searching to find answers in the piles of data provided by nearly 8 decades of empirical research and then putting it all together as a practical tool for activists to utilize in making the world a better place for non human animals.

Living vegan is as much about ethical integrity as it is about compassion. Living a life that is a sanctuary for others requires both the intelligence to understand the current situation of things as well as the results of what our past choices have brought forth.

Going vegan is simple.

Arguing for non human animal rights is not. None of the advocacy work is ever easy.

Yet, it empowers us all to embrace the uncertainty of change and to do our best to live with integrity and compassion for the animals as well as our fellow human activists.

The term change of heart may be a poetic metaphor for transforming ones perspective on life but it is also the perfect reminder that if we live with an open mind we may actually have the courage to learn from our own mistakes.

Nick Cooney is the founder and director of The Humane League, an animal advocacy organization based in Philadelphia, PA that focuses on farm animal protection issues. Nick has written for publications including The Philadelphia Inquirer and Z Magazine, and his advocacy work has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including Time magazine, the Wall Street Journal, and National Public Radio. He holds a degree in Non-Violence Studies from Hofstra University and formerly worked conducting nutrition education programs with the University of Pennsylvania's Urban Nutrition Initiative.

Philip:

When did you go vegan? What was the motivation for you becoming vegan?

Nick:

I went vegetarian and then a few months later went vegan at the age of 18. I'd never had a companion animal growing up, nor had I ever met a vegetarian - I don't think my high school had a single one as far as I knew. So I'd never really thought about animals much before. Then, while on my college orientation the summer before college, a girl I was hanging out with told me about how she was against animal experimentation and how she'd done a paper about it in high school. I'd never thought about the issue before, so when I got home I went to my local library and checked out the two books they had on animal rights. One was "Animal Liberation" by Peter Singer, which opened my eyes not just to what goes on in animal testing labs but to what happens on factory farms as well. It was pretty clear that the right thing to do was go vegetarian, so I made the switch right away. A few months later I started college and met some vegans through the campus animal rights group. That was the first time I'd heard about veganism, and I decided to go vegan myself - again, it just seemed like obviously the right thing to do. This was 11 years ago.

Philip:

What inspired you to focus on farmed animal issues in your life and your work?

Nick:

I haven't always been focused on farm animal issues - my early years as an animal advocate were focused mostly on campaigns against animal testing. Eventually I realized that I was able to help many, many more animals by focusing on farmed animal issues. As we all know farmed animals account for about 98% of the animals that are tortured and killed for human use in our country, with about 11 billion land animals used every year. That's a massive number, but the silver lining to that dark cloud is that because there is so much suffering going on, each of us also has the ability to do so much good and help so many animals. With time and effort and an intelligent approach, it's really not that hard to get members of the public to go vegetarian or go vegan. And since the average American consumes dozens of farmed animals per year, that means each of us can easily help hundreds if not thousands of farmed animals a year just through veg outreach efforts.

Philip:

Can you talk about your new book and what led you down the path to studying psychology and activism?

Nick:

I've always been interested in psychology - trying to figure out why people do what they do, why they respond to life and to other people the way they do, etc. And as someone running a non-profit, I wondered day in and day out for years whether what we were working on was the most effective thing we could be doing, or if there was some other issue, approach, or message that would do more good.

Change Of Heart combines these two areas of interest, and was written to answer one basic question: how can we activists more effectively persuade people to change their behavior (to go vegan, boycott fur, etc.) ?

Everyone has their own opinions about how to influence others, and some anecdotes to back up their opinion, but no one in the advocacy or non-profit world has ever taken a thorough look at what the science has to say. Researchers have conducted literally tens of thousands of studies over the past eighty years on what does and does not motivate people to change their behavior. These include studies in the fields of psychology, sociology, persuasion science, communication, diffusion, social marketing, and more. I wanted to systematically comb through that research and pull from it lessons and techniques that we activists can use to be more effective in our work. In doing this, I think that Change Of Heart fills a much-needed gap in our knowledge about what it takes to create a more compassionate world. Putting what I learned into practice has already made me a more effective advocate for animals, and I'm sure the same will hold true for anyone else who reads this book.

Philip:

Can you provide some advice for vegan activists who want to help influence other humans to find a place in their hearts for farmed animals and to go vegan?

Nick:

Well the most accurate way for me to answer that question is by not really answering it, by saying that there is no single best way to get people to have compassion for animals and go vegan. For one thing, we need to target our message to our audience, and keep in mind what is important to them and what influences them; a "one message fits all" approach is not ideal. Leaving that aside, here are a few quick tips that the research indicates will make us more effective in getting people to get people to go vegan:

1) Don't encourage the general public to go vegan.

Encourage them to make a smaller change like meat reduction or perhaps vegetarianism. Usually.

It may seem counter intuitive, but just because we want people to go vegan doesn't mean that saying "you should go vegan" is the most effective way to get people there. The research is very clear that if we want people to make a large change, we'll usually be more successful by first getting them to agree to a smaller change and then later encouraging them to make the larger change. This is called getting our "foot in the door," and a meta-analysis of over 900 studies found that by getting our foot in the door first with a smaller request, we'll be overall about 15% more effective at getting people to agree to our larger goal, such as going vegan. Some activists are concerned that if a person is encouraged to make a smaller change (anything less than veganism) that person will become complacent and think they are already doing enough, and will never move on to being vegan. The research indicates that we don't need to worry about that. People who make a small change become MORE likely to later make a larger change, as long as down the line someone encourages them to take that next step.

Communication researchers have also widely studied what they call "message discrepancy," which is how different a speaker's message is from the audience's current belief. Researchers are interested in finding out which message will create the most attitude and behavior change in an audience: a message that is only slightly different than the audience's current belief, a message that is moderately different than their current belief, or a message that is extremely different than their current belief. In a nutshell, it is the moderately different messages that create the most attitude and behvaior change. Suggestions like "have a meatless meal one day a week" are probably too minimal, and encouragements like "you should go vegan" are too different from what the general public currently does to create a lot of behavior change. A message somewhere in the middle of these should be more effective, create more change in people's diets, and thereby help more farmed animals.

Of course, there are some places that are perfect for encouraging veganism: when we're addressing an audience that is already very sympathetic towards farm animals and/or that has already made changes in their diet. Animal Acres is an example of a place where promoting veganism to visitors and members makes perfect sense. But when we're reaching out to the general public, we'll create more change for farmed animals and get more people to eventually go vegan by making a more moderate initial request.

2) Don't guilt people

Let's all put away those "Meat is Murder" t-shirts, please. It may be true, but the research is clear that guilt-inducing messages are counter-productive. They really do make people less likely to be persuaded. The next time that you're having a conversation with someone about being vegan, don't say things like "Did you know that every time you drink milk, you're paying to have little male calves pulled away from their mother the day they are born and stuffed into veal crates?" While it is good and of course appropriate for us to explain what happens on factory farms, saying "you're causing this" will make the person pull back and be resistant to change. So leave the guilt trip out.

3) First Conform, Then Dissent

People will only doubt their beliefs about eating animals when they find themselves in disagreement with someone who they would expect to agree with, someone who is similar to them. If people perceive you to be very different from them (based on your looks, political beliefs, general lifestyle, etc.), they're going to expect you to hold the wrong opinion. Countless studies have found that people are more likely to be influenced by those who are similar to them in appearance, dress, demeanor, and political beliefs.

If you're going out for an afternoon of veg outreach, try to look as similar as possible to the people you'll be interacting with. It may mean dressing in a way that you don't particularly enjoy, but keep in mind that you're out there to help animals, not to express your self-identity. Furthermore, when you're in a conversation with someone, try to agree with them on other topics of conversation as much as possible and steer clear of any political or religious debates. That will help people decide that you are "one of them," and it will cause them to listen more closely to your reasons for being veg.

(please see * at the bottom of this post for my comment)

Philip:

It's an incredible time now for people interested in psychology with the explosion in the fields of the cognitive sciences, cognitive behavior research and the advancement of knowledge in understanding human behavior as it relates to the brain. What are some of the findings coming out now in this era of cognitive related study that relates to how people might become more compassionate toward non human animals?

Nick:

One thing that research in this area has been finding is just how irrational people are when it comes to analyzing situations and making judgements. For example, one study used an fMRI machine to study the workings of the brain when people were confronted with information that their preferred political candidate had been making contradictory statements. The results indicated that instead of dispassionately analyzing the situtation, people searched for justifications as to why their preferred candidate's statements weren't really contradictory. When they found a justification, they were rewarded with a rush of pleasurable emotion. In other words, our brains reward us for not thinking. These sort of findings make it clear what we are up against in trying to alter anyone's beliefs to make them more compassionate towards animals. Sadly, humans are not the logical, rational creatures we believe ourselves to be. And let's please keep in mind that we animal advocates aren't either!

Philip:

From my experience of living vegan for over 20 years I've evolved into one of those people who tend to think that you'll never reach some humans with a vegan message, never. So, I feel it's important to focus on only those who, with the right information/education will actually go vegan.

For instance, when you meet someone who has the potential let's say to become the next Will Tuttle why waste time on attempting to change someone who is a Ted Nugent personality type?

Is this an accurate or worthwhile strategy?

Nick:

I agree with you. In a world of unlimited time and money, we could focus our efforts on everyone equally. But since we live in a world of very limited time and very limited money, we need to focus on the "low-hanging fruit" - those who are most likely to make a change. This is why groups like Vegan Outreach focus on college students and why peta2 focuses on teenagers - young people are statistically more likely to go veg, and they are much more open-minded than adults, so by focusing our outreach on them we'll create more change and help more animals.

If I'm out passing out veg leaflets and someone wants to argue with me about the issue, I ignore them. There are two many other people out there who are potentially interested in the issue to waste our time on those who are almost surely never going to change.

Philip:

With that said, I also think that when people become psychologically more comfortable about the so called better treatment of farmed animals (like what Prop 2 in California proposed) they will actually increase their consumption of animal products rather than choose to live vegan. That is my experience.

What are your findings in regard to the treatment vs use or the welfare vs abolition argument?

Nick:

Based on the research and my own experience, I would actally strongly disagree with you on this point. This is a long and involved question but let me just note a few points from the research. First, as I discussed earlier, the research clearly indicates that if we want people to make a large change (like going vegan) we'll be more effective by first making a smaller request of them (like meat reduction or vegetarianism). The reason this is the case is that once a person makes a small change, their self-identity shifts - they start to see themselves as someone who cares about farm animals, who enjoys vegetarian food, etc. Similarly, when people vote "yes" on bills like Prop 2 they now start to think of themselves, at least in small part, as someone who cares about farm animals. This will make them more receptive to pro-vegetarian messages they may be given in the future, especially when those messages point out that even with the new legislation animals are still badly mistreated.

Secondly, in terms of treatment versus use, the key question for us advocates is not "what do I believe?" but "what message will create the most behavior change and help the most animals?" Seeing or reading about the suffering of animals will motivate many people to go vegetarian or vegan. Reading a philosophical tract about the inherent rights of animals will motivate far fewer people to make such a switch. That's just human nature - in general, we respond much more to emotional arguments than to logical ones, and we care much more about tangible phenomenon (like suffering and cruelty) than about ideas.

But you don't have to rely on my research or anyone's opinion to answer these questions - they are easily testable. We can look at data on the consumption of animal products in states that have passed anti-confinement legislation, control for population growth and possibly other variables, and see whether or not consumption of animal products went up more in those states than other states. Based on my research I think it's highly likely that consumption went down slightly or stayed the same in thoes states, but the data can speak for itself. Similarly, it is easy to test which message (one focused on animal suffering, or one focused on the philosophical rights of animals) creates more attitude and behavior change in recipients. We at The Humane League have actually done this testing to a limited extent and found the suffering-based messages to be exponentially more effective, but anyone can test this out for themselves.

(Please see * at the bottom of post for my comment)

Philip:

When is a good time to advocate veganism to a friend or family member?

Nick:

I think that living by example, and always being willing to share information, answer questions, and share vegan food is the best way to get friends or family to move towards veganism. We have to remember to never, ever be pushy. The research is clear that people don't like to be told what to do, and if they feel we are trying to convince them of something they will instinctively pull back and become less likely to be persuaded. They need to learn about how and why we are vegan without feeling like we are trying to convince them to be the same way, even if secretly we are.

Philip:

What are a few examples of how people can become more effective advocates for animal rights and living vegan?

Nick:

I think that the best thing that anyone can do to be an advocate for animals is to engage in veg outreach in order to spread the veg message to others. In just a few hours time we can get someone else to go vegetarian or vegan. In other words, in just a few hours time we can do as much good for animals as we will do from our whole lifetime of being vegan! That's pretty amazing to think about.

The most effective techniques I've found are simply getting graphic video, pictures, info and resources into people's hands. Whether it's passing out Vegan Outreach booklets at your local college or music show, spreading Meet Your Meat or other graphic videos to new audiences online, leaving stacks of Veg Starter Kits around your town, using sites like take5save5.com to get veg info in people's hands, or funding online veg advertising, all of these are proven effective ways of creating new vegetarians and vegans.

While we're doing outreach, it's best to keep in mind some of the lessons that I noted earlier, other lessons and techniques outlined in Change of Heart, and the lessons noted in The Animal Activist's Handbook by Bruce Friedrich and Matt Ball, which I recommend.

Philip:

How much does speciesism play a part in keeping people from feeling empathy for the animals who are used by humans for reasons involving exploitation. Reasons such as entertainment, food or scientific research?

Nick:

Seeing non-human animals as different from us because they are not of our species is certainly a major barrier that we as activists have to get past. As I discussed earlier, most people see animals as part of the "out group": those other than ourselves, and therefore not worty of much ethical consideration. We need to work on breaking down those barriers by emphasizing our commonalities with animals: our desire to avoid pain and suffering, our care for those close to us, our pursuit of pleasure and happiness, etc.

One very interestinig thing I learned from my research is that people don't like victims. We often talk about "protecting the innocent," but the research shows that the more innocent a victim is, the less we care about them and the more dissimilar we feel from them. Since animals are particularly innocent and particularly exploited, that means that we are psychologically inclined to feel very different from them and to not have empathy for them. There is no easy way around this, but if we are aware of it we can at least try to recognize it and deal with it when trying to persuade others to live more compassionately.

Philip:

Do you have any final thoughts you would like to add?

Nick:

The reason that I wrote Change Of Heart was to share with other activists the lesson that research can and should play a vital role in our understanding of how to create social change. We all assume we know what motivates people, and therefore what approaches and messages will be most effective, but a lot of our assumptions are wrong. Looking to the research enables us to cut through all the dissenting opinion, infighting, and anecdotal evidence that we use to justify our own positions.

We each have a very limited amount of time on this planet in which to create change for animals. We need to be as intelligent as possible in our advocacy work, and use the messages and approaches that are going to create the greatest amount of behavior change and help the greatest number of animals. Approaching our work with this mentality, and always keeping our eyes open for newer and more effective ways of spreading change, can mean the difference between helping a couple hundred animals in our lifetimes and helping a couple thousand, or even tens of thousands. The animals that are suffering so intensely on factory farms deserve nothing less than our best, most intelligent efforts to free them from misery!

Philip:

Thank you Nick for all you do for the animals and for taking time to have this dialogue.

If anyone would like to learn more about Change Of Heart or read excerpts, please visit http://www.ChangeOfHeartBook.com

* As animal activists if we think it's wrong to kill animals for food... then of course we should never encourage killing them in small steps either.

* The data for this topic, taking into account for human population growth does not yet exist. However, the consumption of "cage free" eggs, "happy meat" and animal products in general have risen in places where so called humane legislation has passed. I strongly disagree with Nick on this point here. I do not think any animal advocacy group should ever encourage humans to use animals for food.

Readers. What do you think?

Marley Goldman

2010-11-29T10:13:00.000-08:00

A conversation with the future of Animal Rights.

Nine year old animal activist and vegan Marley Goldman with a photo of the turkey

she adopted at Animal Acres.

Just nearing her 4th birthday Marley Goldman was eating at a restaurant with her father Gregg Goldman when she asked him a simple question.

"Dada, how come the food that you're eating has the same name as the bird?"

Her father responded by explaining to Marley who was waiting enthusiastically for her answer as she loved to learn everything she could about the world around her, that the names were in fact the same because they were both the same thing. That chicken the food in which he was eating was the same as chicken the bird.

This conversation would eventually lead Marley only a few months later and just 4 years old at the time, to explain to her father,

"if you eat the chicken you hurt the chicken."

Marley knew that her father was a kind and gentle man and would never want to hurt anyone.

Marley also knew that it was up to her now to make it clear, not just to her father but to all of the other human animals, as she liked to call them, that eating animals was not the best or the correct thing to do.

That eating a hamburger or chicken was really about taking someone's life away.

Reality T-Shirt designed by 4 year old Marley Goldman

And so begins a young activists goal to educate the humans around her about where their food with a face actually comes from.

If you were to ask Marley today about eating animals she would point out to you in a soft, kind, passionate, non judgmental manner that a lot of what people call food are actually living creatures with feelings who are just like you and I.

We've all asked ourselves the question in one way or another how it is that some people can feel a much deeper empathy than others. There is an adaptive evolutionary reason why people would want to be kind to their own flesh and blood so to speak.

Yet what makes some people care about complete strangers or care about others such as non human animals who are so different? What is the intuition or mechanism that compels some people to become concerned with the plight of those who cannot defend themselves and take it on with a commitment as if their own life depended on it?

Most, but not all of what we believe about the world comes from what we are taught as children. Children's brains are like sponges absorbing up information like liquid and holding onto it until education, experience or one's culture allows for some of that information to be expelled back out. Yet most of what we learn when we are young stays with us forever.

The behavior of babies is now showing scientists that we all have kindness and empathy built in yet extending it to others who are different from us takes much more work and is a very rare quality.

Why and how can some children extend their moral concerns and feelings towards non human animals and some never feel anything? The answer does not lie simply in just how children are raised and what they are taught by their parents, etc. For instance two siblings born and raised in the same house can end up with completely different views of the way the world should be.

As animal activists and advocates for living vegan these are the questions we need to ask ourselves and attempt to find answers. We need to create the possibilities that we may reach those humans who might actually change their ways.

Nine year old Marley Goldman is a person who when you meet her, you will be changed.

Talking with Marley you can begin to feel more hope for the future of animal rights and veganism than just about anything imaginable.

Marley is an incredible example of someone who has tapped into everything that makes the world a better place. Beside being an example of our species moral progress Marley is the perfect explanation from where expanded empathy and kindness come from. Just meet her.

Marley and Me

Philip:

How long have you been an animal rights person?

Marley:

9 years.

Philip:

And you're only 9 now? That's pretty incredible. So please tell us how old you were when you actually thought or felt something about animals.

Marley:

Well, the biggest first time was when I was two and a half and I got my first kitten. I went to an animal adoption place and we adopted her. That was the first interaction I had with an animal that I can remember.

Philip:

How old were you when you became vegan?

Marley:

I had never eaten meat before.

Philip:

When you say you never ate meat do you mean you never ate meat since you were born? Was this because of your parents...I mean did you make this decision on your own? Usually babies eat what their parents feed them.

Marley:

Well, I was being fed whatever they would give me but it was vegan so I just never wanted to eat meat.

Philip:

Oh OK so your parents were already vegan?

Marley:

My mom was.

Philip:

So tell us the first time when you realized you were vegan or what that actually meant to you?

Marley:

The first time I kind of really knew about it was when I was around one and a half but I didn't know it was called vegan I just knew I wasn't eating animals. I can't really remember perfectly when I knew what it meant but probably the same time I was old enough to make my own decisions about what I could eat and that was around 3.

Philip:

So you knew what the word vegan meant when you were 3?

Marley:

Well, my mom described it, what it meant.

Philip:

So did you notice other people eating animals?

Marley:

Well, I didn't know that it was animals they were eating but I would ask "what is that?" and people would tell me what it was.

Philip:

I heard a story from your father that you asked him why it was that he was eating something that had the same name as the animal called chicken?

Marley:

Yes I asked him at a restaurant why is that food called the same thing as the bird? And he said well, it is the bird.

Philip:

What is it about animals that you love so much and have such a connection with that you didn't and still don't want to eat them?

Marley:

Well, they are just like humans. They are living creatures and they deserve to be treated just like us and treated with equal rights like we treat humans. Humans are animals. A lot of people think like there are humans and animals but everyone is an animal basically.

Philip:

So Marley tell us what it's like to be 9 years old and so enlightened, to be so wise about all of this and also if you can tell us what other kids your age think about all of this.

Marley:

Some of them just don't understand it or pay attention to it but a lot of my close friends are trying vegan or going vegan or at least vegetarian. My friend Josh who is one year older than me and is the hard core meat guy but he adopted a turkey from animal acres after I brought him here and is now trying to go vegan. One of my other friends she is kind of a mainstream vegan now. She doesn't eat a lot of healthy stuff but won't eat meat now.

A lot of kids are curious but a lot of kids don't really care that I don't eat animals.

Philip:

When was the first time you came up to Animal Acres?

Marley:

I think I was about four when I first came here. And then I had my 5th birthday party here.

Philip:

Was that your idea when you were 5 to have your birthday party at Animal Acres?

Marley:

Yes, and I designed the card with a little red barn and I had about 20 people.

Philip:

I hear you also design your own protest signs?

Marley:

Well, I just think about the cause and write about how it should be stopped. Mostly animal rights but also an anti war protest too. I went to the dolphin protest against killing dolphins in Taiji. We stood on the side of the road with our signs and just spread our message against killing. I went to Seaworld once years ago and left after 3 minutes. I didn't like it.

Philip:

When you meet people your own age what do you tell them about being vegan?

Marley:

I tell them to ask their parents and then come to Animal Acres. (Laughs)

Philip:

Nice. Do you think Animal Acres can change people who eat animals and get them to think twice about them as just food?

Marley:

Yes, I do. When people see the animals they consider food they see something different. People just think of food as a hamburger but they have never stared a cow in the eyes. Or Turkeys and chickens who you think of as meat, eggs or soup but they are creatures who are alive and have feelings.

People can make there own decisions, yes, but they should at least know what they are eating.

Philip:

So you're a vegan for ethical reasons not just for health or the environment?

Marley:

Well, it is an environment thing and a health thing but it's that animals are raised in a place that is not natural for them and its hurting peoples health and the animals health. Everyone.

Philip:

So tell us about the future. Do you see kids going vegan and what's your feeling about the future and people being vegan? Do you see a vegan future?

Marley:

Yes. When kids are younger and before they get too old they can change before meat is the only thing they know. But the problem is that its the parents who are feeding the kids this way.

I've taken 3 people here to Animal Acres and its changed them.

Philip:

What do you see as your future in being vegan?

Marley:

Well, I hope I can help someone. People and animals.

Philip:

Is there anything else you want to say to people who will be reading this?

Marley:

Yes, I want to say that being vegan is easier than it is eating meat and animals. It's more compassionate and you'll feel better.

Philip:

Why do you think people feel it's so difficult to live vegan?

Marley:

Because it's change from what they are used to. They think that its something so alien to them that its just not done.

Change can come about in many ways.

Marley was so inspired by Karen Dawn's video post about rescuing two turkeys that she wants to do that next year at her house. Marley wants to now adopt two turkeys about a week or so before thanksgiving and invite people over for an afternoon tea with the turkeys. Marley realizes this gives people enough lead time to change their dining plans and decide not to eat turkey!

There is clearly a way despite the myths, lies and false beliefs that people are indoctrinated with by society regarding non human animals, that some humans can find enough compassion, kindness and truth in themselves to transcend it all. Some people are able to call attention to this way by example of who they are. Some people are equipped with enough spirit, love and wisdom that their existence reveals a fragment of proof that we can actually witness a phase of human evolution happening right in front of our eyes.

Marley with a new friend at Animal Acres.

Help Marley change the world into a sanctuary for all animals.

Be a sanctuary,

Go vegan

*A very important thank you to Gail and Gregg Goldman for making the world a better place for everyone.

Thankful, Grateful....Mindful

2010-11-23T23:32:00.000-08:00

7 Suggestions On How To Integrate Being Mindful With

Living Vegan

It's always the perfect time to be thankful, grateful and mindful about the lives we live.

This is the time of year however when we Americans supposedly take time out to reflect on what it is specifically we have to be thankful about.

Rather than write about the usual hypocritical aspects of what Americans now unashamedly call Turkey day I think it's rather important to notice the relationship between being thankful, grateful and mindful with living vegan.

Living vegan is easy. It's very simple. It's not born from some magnificent sacrifice and there is really nothing that remarkable about it. The only thing remarkable or special in regard to being vegan is when we realize that 99% of our neighbors are not vegan.

Living vegan is not a diet. It's not a fashion or lifestyle choice either.

Being vegan is about opening our hearts and minds and about expanding our moral concerns to everyone.

Yes, everyone.

So with the above idea in mind (no pun intended, yet definitely noticed) during this time of year we can look at what it means to integrate and incorporate being mindful into our daily lives as vegans.

Since being thankful and grateful fall under the umbrella of being mindful we'll focus (no pun intended again but noticed once more) on bringing mindfulness to living vegan.

Being mindful or mindfulness comes directly from the teaching of Buddha himself and has become a main part of the Buddhist tradition.

Being mindful simply is about being purposefully aware.

Being mindful is about noticing what we are experiencing and what our responses might be to that experience. Being mindful is about contemplation and focusing ones attention.

While there are certain activities involved with being mindful it is not a technique but rather a way of being.

It's not about doing something but rather about connecting and being aware.

Mindfulness is a subtle activity and you are in some ways...doing it right now while reading this.

There is something real and extremely beneficial to be said about deliberately transforming our moment to moment experience of the world and becoming absorbed in the present moment.

Mindfulness can feel like the ah ha moment we can sometimes experience.

In that brief flash of insight we notice our own attention being focused and we're automatically absorbed in the ...what's happening now moment.

When we have insight like this it really feels as if time is slowing down. This is because when we're truly focused on something time disappears.

We all know the saying that a watched pot never boils. This is because when we're focused on the water in the pot our perception of time changes because we're being mindful to the situation. That is the beauty in being focused and in deliberately paying close attention to what is important.

This is where the practice of mindfulness can benefit our living vegan.

Being mindful is about paying attention and attempting to understand our own minds. This can help lead to self knowledge of who we are, why we are drawn to living vegan and why the rights of non human animals matters to us.

Being mindful helps us see the big picture of our being vegan. To discover what's important and what's not.

Mindfulness is one-third attention training, one-third being focused on a very important aspect of who we are and one-third of everything else.

OK, I made that very last bit up about mindfulness but it sounded very Zen and actually made sense. This is really because being mindful is a very open and simple concept.

Anyway...

Here are 7 suggestions on how to bring mindfulness into being and living vegan.

These are not rules or techniques and certainly not a to do list but rather some simple ways to incorporate mindfulness into your own veganism.

1. Self Inquiry. Self reflection with some type of inner growth work.

Learning about who we are through introspection.

Asking ourselves important questions and attempting to find the answers.

Personally connecting to what it is that drives or draws us to living vegan.

Being vegan is something which takes place and happens within us.

Becoming vegan is not something that is an external something or that takes place outside of us. It happens inside and that is where we begin to investigate as well.

2. Study.

Read, listen, research. There are so many important books, websites, podcasts and other resources from which we can learn everything we need to know about animal rights and living vegan.

Studying is about understanding the theories behind what we feel so that we might know which action to take.

Studying is important so we can have a more reflective attitude toward being vegan.

We all should know the difference between an abolitionist vegan and an animal liberationist vegan.

And those are just the A's.

Not everything is found in books however, so this can also include studying nature or our own relationships with others in regard to our veganism.

This is about connecting the dots, growing in wisdom and understanding the principles about being vegan.

3. Personal, mindful practice.

Finding something that takes you beyond yourself yet where you can also become mindful about being vegan and contemplate it. This can be anything from practicing meditation, practicing yoga, hiking, running or even gardening.

Something where you can connect your thoughts about being vegan to an activity and then connect with it on a regular basis.

This is where you can notice the connection to moving, breathing and being alive. This is where you make the connection that we animals are all the same. We move, we breath, we feel.

4. Finding a teacher.

Looking for guidance and direction from someone. Someone who can give us advice, who we can learn from and who we have a connection with.

The truth is we can learn from everyone and in a very real sense we can make everyone we meet into our teacher.

The world and our own perception of the world becomes a very different place when we treat everyone as if they were our teacher.

We can learn a lot about being vegan from people who are not vegan.

We can learn incredible truths about compassion and kindness from people who seem cruel and who mention that they're not concerned about the lives or well being of other animals.

We can discover new aspects about ourselves when we see how others shut down at the mention of our veganism. We can also learn from others how and where we close up or shut down too.

This is easily noticed for example when we walk directly past a homeless human and we fail to stop and offer help.

5. Community.

Humans are social animals and we need to be with others.

It's very important to feel we're part of a community.

That we belong somewhere. That we fit in and connect with others in important ways.

That we share ideals and values with certain other people.

Every major social and political movement throughout history thrived and succeeded by building a community of support and collaboration. A supportive group of other people helps us stay focused on the journey ahead.

Being with other vegans who get us, who think like us can help round off the rough edges that we've built up from living in an animal eating/wearing/exploiting society.

The consequences of not having a community or belonging to a group is alienation.

Feeling cut off from the world can make us believe that we can't fulfill our role or purpose in society.

6. Volunteering/Giving back.

This is compassion in action and the essence of living vegan.

Being a mindful vegan is all about volunteering to help relieve the suffering in the world and to making the world a more peaceful and loving place.

On the outer level it's all about making a difference for others, being generous to others and being connected to our altruistic nature.

It's not about writing a check (although money is always needed when animals are being rescued and need to be cared for).

However, on a more mindful and contemplative level it's about giving without expecting or wanting anything in return.

It's about focusing our attention on dropping the need to be recognized for giving back to others and or for receiving attention from our giving back to help.

So being mindful about giving back might be doing something compassionate or kind without anyone else ever even knowing about it.

7. Being thankful/grateful.

In the context of being mindful it's important to focus on being thankful and grateful.

The world is not a worse place than it was in the past. We have so much to be thankful and grateful for

about being alive today and that we are living vegan.

We have so much cruelty free food to choose from and so much positive vegan culture to become involved with. We need to learn to appreciate our circumstances so that we can become better activists and better advocates for the non human animals.

Living vegan makes a real difference.

Being thankful helps us stay focused on the actual positive aspects that we're doing something that is saving lives.

Every vegan saves approximately 95 farmed animals lives each year.

Being grateful when we are motivated by compassion, kindness and empathy.

Being thankful however does not mean we don't realize and recognize that it's far worse today for the 55 billion farmed animals being killed for food every year on this planet than it ever has been.

It's not a better time for the animlas raised and slaughtered for food than it was in the past. The same modern technology that makes our lives easier, more efficient is also the cause of so much greater harm and makes life a million times more horrific for the animals, whom we eat, wear or exploit.

Yet as vegans living today the burden is on us to help other humans discover a much more compassionate way of living on this planet we share with our fellow earthlings.

Becoming vegan is the only solution to ending the death and suffering being inflicted on the other animals of the world.

Being mindful on a personal level of what it means to live vegan is such an incredibly important aspect to developing veganism for the rest of humanity.

The implications of not being mindful about our own veganism is that we run the risk of losing focus and losing the power each of us has in helping develop the next phase of human evolution.

That evolution is human veganism.

And it will come about by our all being more mindful together.

Be a mindful living sanctuary to someone else's existence.

Go vegan.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deborah-schoeberlein/teachers-take-a-breath-in_b_768044.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/16/technology/16brain.html?_r=1&hp

Inner Acres

2010-11-03T23:18:00.000-07:00

The Personal Lessons Learned About Living Vegan

From A Farmed Animal Sanctuary.

I long to accomplish a great and noble task.

But it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.

Helen Keller

(1880-1968)

Cowboy and friend

Now whenever I spend a day at Animal Acres something within me opens up.

It used to be much more common for me that I would experience myself shutting down after being there.

Especially on that 50 minute drive back to Los Angeles where I would seem to focus on the fact that this beautiful safe haven for animals was a bit of a delusion and not the reality for which the vast majority of farmed animals live their lives.

The reality is that there are nearly 12 billion farmed animals killed every year for food in the United States. The reality is that the modern farmed chicken industry today will confine up to a quarter million birds in one building alone. The reality is that an industrial hog producer in America will kill nearly 80,000 animals in one single day. The reality is there are about 400 rescued farmed animals living peacefully at the sanctuary here at Animal Acres.

This massive imbalance of killing and cruelty versus kindness and protection is heart wrenching to say the least. One can't help but feel the weight of this reality bearing down and literally crushing any positive feeling, either about the sanctuary itself or what we as individuals might be able to contribute in helping bring an end to this violent and oppressive injustice our society calls, food production.

Yet now, after the end of each day and after having spent more time with the chosen few non humans at Animal Acres, I leave the sanctuary with more awareness about these thoughts.

I now leave with a much deeper acceptance of this reality and of the positive aspects of living vegan.

It's not just about the obvious connection to the animals and seeing them living happily and in peace. It's not just about recognizing their wisdom, humor, insights and how brilliantly they appear to live in the endless present that makes being around them so perfect and so rewarding. No, that's only a part of it all.

For me now, it's also the understanding that providing sanctuary for even one life matters immensely. Especially to that one life who has been given refuge.

I know this sounds quite obvious but sometimes it's the easily recognized and obvious things that are the big lessons and the ones which hit us the hardest when we seriously acknowledge them for the first time.

When we pause and think about the actions we take everyday for instance to protect our own lives or to increase our own well being we may also recognize that our life too is only just one life and yet worthy of sanctuary.

We do what needs to be done everyday for our own lives and it never seems meaningless or unimportant. So why would it be any less important to save or vastly improve another life?

When someone adopts one dog or one cat from a kill shelter it makes a huge difference to that one animal. It's never an unimportant or insignificant event for the life saved , especially on a personal level for that being.

And in this exact context the lessons I've learned and have found to be so moving about my time at Animal Acres is the awakening to what living vegan means when wrapped up in this specific sentiment.

Living vegan makes a huge difference in this context and understanding it as having meaning and importance has served as new inspiration for making it the foundation of a different reality than the one I used to stand on.

Although I've been living vegan for many years I never fully grasped that my being vegan was something that happened from my inner life and not something that came about from outside myself.

When we are able to discover it and sense it directly from within, it deepens.

When we find those places, those inner acres of meaningful terrain they can be the strongest ground we have to stand on.

This new foundation for me is one constructed on appreciation, contemplation and compassion.

And from this also comes the insight that living vegan is simple and not in any way at all very remarkable.

Being vegan is also not at all even the slightest bit challenging .

This to me, gives veganism a truth that cannot be denied.

In a world that's so brutal and seems so dismal it's not always what we do or who we are that means anything but rather how we connect those experiences to our inner life that can make a difference.

When we stop worrying about how nothing we ever do will actually make a difference and live with the knowledge that everything we do matters, we not only gain strength from our choices but we are able to notice that what we do... we can do quite well.

If in that moment whatever we are doing is actually our main focus and inspiration then everything else disappears and this becomes who we are and gains much more meaning.

Cleaning out one barn stall, carrying one bag of pig feed, feeding an apple to a goat resident all makes a difference.

The importance and meaning of whatever we do comes about when that activity is cared for and respected.

Nearly everything we do are just tiny activities but they can all add up. The same is true for every life that is given sanctuary.

The same is true about living vegan and in remembering the lessons we've learned when we're inspired by what is important to us. It's in those lessons that something important arises and something meaningful can be given back.

Living vegan is the most important step we can take when we open up to the idea of living compassionately.

When something is important and has meaning it's because we found that something in ourselves and then opened up to it.

Be a Sanctuary for someone,

Go vegan.

Click MP3 below to Listen

Someone

2010-10-07T12:37:00.000-07:00

We must begin seeing other animals as equal. Existence makes us all equal.

Alice Walker

Erin and Bruno at Animal Acres

You, are now in front of a computer reading this sentence. You, who clicked on an internet link which brought you to this blog is the same you who feels that you are one thing and the computer is another thing.

You, acknowledge the computer is only a physical object in front of you however, you also know that you are more than just merely a physical object.

You, have moods, feelings, thoughts, memories and expectations.

You, have wants, desires, awareness and personal characteristics that make you, who you are.

You, have a mental life, yet you are also more than just that specific dimension as well.

You, are that one, that place, where the world ignites around you or seems as if it illuminates from inside you and perhaps it feels as if you are noticing all of this from somewhere behind your own eyes.

These impressions, these feelings are merely the firsthand results of your own perceptions of what it is to feel like a self.

Even though none of these feelings, perceptions or experiences are you, (anymore than are your eyes, hands or mouth), the feeling of being a self exists.

And the boundless contents of who you are, are not just sensations, thoughts or experiences but are also made up of your assumptions of who you might be for example in a social context or of your ability to be kind, or of your level of confidence or lack there of.

All of these phenomenon add up to the complex notion that you are more than just a body or brain or even a mind.

You, are someone.

Although there are many mysteries in the universe that are unanswered and you may not actually know why you are a someone... you, do in fact know what it feels like to be someone.

It feels exactly what you are feeling right now.

Alive, aware and conscious in this exact present moment.

In simple terms, this is it.

In a more generous explanation it is the feeling that you are the emissary or the agent of that distinct and unique, internal dimension you might interpret as yourself.

But being someone is even more than just this.

The simple fact that your ideas, emotions and sensations all have a subjective quality is exactly what it means to be someone.

And without a doubt you can experience all of the above without ever even being aware of lets say, your liver, your lungs, your aging process or even your own thoughts.

Very often humans will make the claim that non human animals are unaware of their own lives or not conscious of who they are. But the very fact that we humans are not always self aware or conscious of what our body or brain are doing at any particular moment does not mean we're not a someone with feelings, needs or a life to be cherished and honored.

And all of this, makes you, being a someone, the most important substance in the world.

All of this ability to experience happiness or suffering, in this specific context, makes you the only legitimate sphere of concern as well.

Even when you care or have concern about others it all originates from you being a someone who has those interests with or for others.

Now with all this said we can pause here, reflect and realize we're

(you and I) not the only ones who must be someones.

There are others out there who also have similar qualities of subjectivity and similar components that make being a someone a very relative concept.

We notice that others are someones too on the basis that they declare they are alive and conscious beings through the outward signs they display.

For instance how do we even know that our human friends and family are someones like we are?

We can only infer that they are by relying on their reporting to us that they are.

Sometimes with our family and friends it can even be a bit too much reporting.

However, it's not just in words or language that matter in regard to this but rather a reportability based on external signals that are relayed to us which will make the case, that there is someone there.

This is true for not only humans but non human animals as well.

If you are possibly doubting this premise than you can sincerely take notice that there exists no sanctuaries or shelters for chairs or stones. None of us (in our right minds) have compassion for cars , ipods or sticks. And with this said it should be noticed here and focused on....that when it comes to ethical or moral concerns, being a someone is all that's important.

Being a someone is the only context in which happiness and suffering actually matters. Nothing else in the world has any value other than how it affects the actual or the potential experience of some-body who is a someone.

You are a someone and so is every other being that possesses the qualities of having a subjective component to themselves, even if they are not aware of that actual component.

This element might be what many call sentience or if we are generous to one another, consciousness.

Whatever differences we might have from another someone it is our fundamental similarities of being someone that make us all equal.

When we humans live vegan we become a sanctuary for other someones and our actions reflect exactly what it is that makes the world a better place.

When we choose to be kind and love all others and not just some, we make the world a happier, healthier and more preferable place for every-one.

When we become vegan we save the life of someone else and become a personal sanctuary for the many others who want to live and be loved just like, you.

Be a sanctuary for someone....

Go vegan.

Many of you might remember this song and video which was performed live a the 2010 Animal Acres Gala.

This song was written and recorded by Josh Auer.

The video was created by the fabulous Casey Suchan and Denis Hennelly of

Open Road Films. My sincere gratitude to everyone who made this work come to life.

Click here to watch the video

Josh Auer's music...

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/dear-you-ep/id301749161?i=301749261

One Year Anniversary

2010-09-23T15:35:00.000-07:00

Commemorating one year of blogging.

Here again is the first post from September of 2009.

BE A SANCTUARY

The sanctuary here at Animal Acres is a true safe haven for a few very lucky non human animals. Each and everyone of these beautiful, individual residents living here were destined for the slaughterhouse. However, through caring, compassion and real understanding these now happy former farmed industry refugees have all been given a new life.

The animals here now have the opportunity to live in peace and form friendships. They also have the hope to live a life which everyone born into this world whether human or non human deserves to live.

Each of us in our brief moment here on earth seek a life filled with respect, dignity, happiness and freedom. Our own experience of being sentient allows us to reflect on and recognize that other animals all wish for a life filled with the same positive circumstances, conditions and experiences that we wish for ourselves. So when our empathy becomes illuminated and we become conscious of this obvious truth it requires us to see others unblurred and more clear. We are then able to focus on others in the same manner we will at times... glimpse ourselves.

The fact is when we awaken to this reality and we then make the decision to take action... it naturally manifests itself into a commitment to non violence against others. When this realization happens we can become a sanctuary to someone else by going vegan.

Living vegan positions this awareness and this action side by side together for animals who are usually left out of the empathy equation.

It seems without fail that non human animals are almost always forgotten about when it comes to people being conscious of and in demonstrating the whole "do unto others....." philosophy thing.

Unfortunately in the infamous concept of the "golden rule" animals are habitually ignored, their plight in life usually disregarded and as members of the moral community they are sadly most often overlooked.

However, the nonhuman citizens here at Animal Acres no longer are fated to be used and have their lives stolen from them like the mind boggling numbers of other countless unprotected food animals throughout this land who will. These unlucky other creatures condemned by the appalling status of existing merely as someone's property will live and die in despair.

The other unfortunate aspect to all this is that the animal residents living here at Animal Acres represent a tiny, minuscule fraction of the 12 billion non humans who will be killed in the US for food production just this year alone. The heartbreaking volume represented in this mathematical statement is something that the human mind cannot fully ever comprehend in regard to the pain, death and numbers involved.

And it is this grievous arrangement we humans have designed based on the irrational belief system of animals as property that lies at the center of non human animal abuse and slavery. This order of things is the principle reason that most of the animals now living here were injured, thrown in the trash or left to die on the floors of auction and slaughter facilities. It is within this system that animals are denied any rights. It is this notion that becomes the main cause of the suffering, misery, cruelty and death inflicted against them every second of every day.

Of course this information strikes us as depressing, dark and brutal. And it is. Yet, it is even worse because the truth embedded in this heritage of killing is something most of us want to reject and turn a blind eye towards.

The brutality created from using non humans for food, clothing and entertainment is that terrible darkness that we do not wish to acknowledge.

No one in their right mind wants to stare down such a dark tunnel with seemingly no light at the end. Yet the light can be seen. It appears when we reject not just the inconvenient truths or words but the whole scheme and resultant order of the way things are. Sometimes finding the light in the darkness is simply just about rejecting the negative or violence in our lives and in the world. Sometimes it's as effortless as simply opening our eyes.

Going vegan is really that simple. It's like opening our eyes or just opening our hearts.

By becoming vegan we are no longer complicit with the ideology that only finds value in animals as something to be used. When we open our hearts and allow the defenseless refuge into our own personal sanctuary we really can save many...many lives.

When we make the move to veganism we detach ourselves, our bodies and our existence from this cruel and totally unnecessary vicious cycle.

When we begin to appreciate that we never need to eat, drink or wear anything derived from animals to live a happy and healthy life we then notice their suffering and their death as truly unnecessary.

When we notice that the animals we label as food live lonely, fearful, horrendous lives for such trivial motives we absolutely perceive what a horrible aberration the farmed animal industry is.

When we can look at a pig and see a someone. When we can view a goat, a lobster or a hen and notice a being whose life is of value to herself we can actually begin to change the world we live in.

Because the world completely opens up to us when we extend that same sentiment and feeling to everyone around us. The crow on our lawn, the elderly human struggling alone in the super market, the miserable elephant chained in a circus, the terrified rabbit about to be skinned for food or fur, a desperate human female in a far away country who cannot feed her own children and yes, even the slaughterhouse worker who is only doing this job because we demand his product.

When we make the decision to live vegan we immediately begin to grasp this viewpoint. We open ourselves up to a deep emotional understanding that may have been shut down for years. Our empathy and ethical intuitions towards others and especially non human animals has most likely been buried or even erased.

Growing up we were convinced by the adults and authorities around us that animals did not deserve to be considered when having compassion. Every place in our lives, except maybe deep within ourselves, told us over and over that animals don't count as much or don't care about themselves as much as we humans care about ourselves. Yet most of us probably know a cat or dog and realize that these beliefs are untrue and inaccurate.

It's in this awareness about the animals we know, who we love and who we share our lives with that we can begin to transfer these emotions, concerns and feelings for directly over to the nameless, voiceless and forgotten other animals who simply were born into different bodies than what our particular culture identifies as pets.

These other animals, gentle and kind and unremembered are the ones you can be a sanctuary to by living vegan. Animals who should have never been brought into existence in the first place.

Without demand there would be no innocent animals heartlessly killed as supply.

When we mindfully oblige ourselves to no longer participate in the violence and death we actually can begin to save lives. Not much at all has to be changed either. We can all be personal walking, talking, even acting, producing, taking meetings and stuck in traffic Animal Acres by simply becoming vegan.

We can save lives everyday without the vet bills, without ever having to shovel piles of animal waste, tend to a sick calf or spend hours upon hours raising funds.

When we live vegan we function on a personal level akin to a sanctuary like Animal Acres. In fact we become in our own way just as important in pursuing an end to animal exploitation, cruelty and killing as does rescuing individual animals in peril. By maintaining habits consistent with the position and consciousness that humans and non humans have the right not be treated as property, we in a sense evolve into a sanctuary of loving kindness and compassion. We can actually make such a huge difference in the lives of animals and it's quite simple and extremely easy when you come to THINK of it.

So if you haven't done so already become a sanctuary for the animals and go vegan.

Listen here SANCTUARY by Donna Delory

PATTY SHENKER

2010-09-01T14:21:00.000-07:00

It seems when we ignore that specific urge many of us have to stand up for those who are exploited, persecuted and abused, we not only allow others to suffer, but we allow ourselves to become indifferent to the world we live in.

Apathy is itself a form of self -destruction.

It is also a sure path to a life without meaning.

Relating to, sympathizing, and identifying with the plight of the underdog, has been a dominant theme and a motivating factor in the life and activism of Patty Shenker. No one could ever accuse her of apathy or of not taking action in a cause she felt drawn to.

Ever since she can remember Patty felt that urge to stand up for the powerless, the helpless and the most vulnerable citizens in the world.

Specifically, it was her father's experience in an anti Semitic Russia at the beginning of World War One that would influence her understanding of the horrors of persecution, prejudice and violence.

In 1922 Morris Shenker was only 15 years old when he arrived in America and escaped the wrath aimed against Jews that was spreading throughout Europe. It was her fathers feisty spirit to fight against the odds, to survive and then to defend others that shaped Patty's view of the world and pushed her into action.

That action tended to be more often than not taken on behalf of the non human animals whom she always recognized as the most defenseless of all the oppressed others.

Yet, Patty also saw the other animals as no different than anyone else who were alive in the world and who wanted to live.

The journey to Animal Rights was a process that arrived with frequent epiphanies and episodes of insight. These moments of deep perception moved Patty to transform her life step by step, notch by notch, even before she realized the details of what animal advocacy actually consisted of.

So in 1970, with no guide book or an organized movement to inform her, making the decision not to consume the flesh of other living creatures was much more about working with her own intuition rather than following in someone else's footsteps. Going vegetarian back then was more about being true to herself rather than fighting or rebelling against society, which so many people her age were doing at that time. It was not about some counter culture revolutionary attitude or a reaction against conforming to a cookie cutter like existence of the American dream, but rather Patty's discernment for wanting to live a life of non violence.

For Patty violence was a foe who could be defeated through kindness. And to be victorious meant she would need to start on a personal level by giving up the food choices that were created from violence and who's offspring were suffering and death.

In order to live in a world of non violence a fundamental change had to take place and Patty's instincts told her it would begin on her plate. She would later coin the compelling phrase "Peace Begins On Your Plate" which says it all about the foresight of this particular adopted girl from St Louis, Missouri.

Opening her heart to the animals used as food and including them as members of the moral community also opened her mind and her awareness to the many aspects of what animal rights was really about. Patty soon noticed that an openness to compassion, which driven by a philosophy of non violence often led to solutions and to many wonderful connections in the world of animal advocacy. In the years to follow she would become involved with many of the top animal rights organizations including Farm Sanctuary, the worlds very first farmed animal sanctuary.

A passionate civil and animal rights activist, Patty has been honored over the years for her dedication and commitment to animal causes, garnering awards from Animal Acres, C.A.R.E., the Animal Rights Legal Clinic of Rutgers University, the California Wildlife Center, to name but a few. Patty also owns two properties for the benefit of rescued animals; One that houses Dreamcatchers Wild Horse & Burro Rescue with over 200 rescued horses in northern California and the other which is a dog rescue here in Southern California.

Patty is currently on the board of directors at Animal Acres, the sanctuary she helped start in 2005.

She is married to Douglas Stoll, who teaches in the Los Angeles School system and they have raised their daughter Julia as a vegetarian. Julia just started her senior year at Boston University and has never eaten an animal in her life.

Vegan Sanctuary recently had the honor to talk with Patty Shenker about the process in becoming a long time committed activist over many years, about her living vegan and about the wonderful place called Animal Acres.

________________________________________________________

Philip:

Why did you become an animal activist? What inspired you?

Patty:

I became an animal advocate for several reasons. I grew up caring about animals; and of course I loved them as well. I cannot stand injustice, cruelty and suffering and my father taught me to help the underdog. I think I just took him literally! Becoming an animal advocate for most of us is a process, as it was for me. After becoming vegetarian, it took me years to give up leather and a little more time to become vegan. As proud as I am of being vegetarian this long, I want people to know that the important thing is that one goes vegan eventually.

Of course, the earlier, the better!

My father was and still is my greatest inspiration and role model. But there definitely are other inspiring people who have changed my life; two of them being Lorri Houston and the political artist Sue Coe. Another being Tim Gorski, who busts poachers in Asia among other pro-animal projects.

Philip:

You are one of the people who started Animal Acres and were involved even before it had a name. Can you tell us of your involvement and the history of Animal Acres?

Patty:

Rescuing farm animals with Lorri Houston started a bond between us and which also led to a very close friendship. In about 2004, Lorri and I started dreaming about a farmed animal sanctuary in the LA area. We knew that we would get caring celebrities, lots of media and plenty of compassionate, dedicated animal advocates who would lend their talents to help farmed animals. We certainly understood that there were many animals needing to be rescued and when given sanctuary would then become their own best "ambassadors".

We also knew that we could reach so many more people being close to Los Angeles.

Aaron Leider, my good friend, real estate broker and now an Animal Acres board member, brought Lorri and me to the property and even though it was the first property we looked at we both immediately knew it was our "sanctuary". We looked at several others places but they couldn't compete with the Acton property. The response to our first volunteer efforts was incredible and Animal Acres began with our first rescues, Louie the First, a chicken and then Gandhi, a calf, who unfortunately did not survive.

Animal Acres continues to grow and rescue hundreds of animals and I am so proud to be on the board and to be a Gandhi honoree.

Philip:

There feels like a growing awareness with more and more people wanting to contribute to help make the world a better place, but many people don't know how to get started. As such a longtime activist, what words of encouragement would you offer to other activists?

Patty:

I am not that optimistic any more. I think that's for the young- and for certain type of personalities. But I do have to admit that I've seen huge changes for animals in the forty years since I became a vegetarian so we must be doing something right. Back then, just being a veggie, I was seen as a freak; now, it's quite accepted and is actually seen by many to be a health and a environmental necessity. The United Nations has even come out with a report that a shift towards a vegan diet is vital to save the world from hunger, poverty and the worst impacts of climate change. This is incredible but, just like the zoo issue, too many people will ignore the facts with their short-sightedness and arrogance. They'll just say "I can eat whatever I want" or repeat the brainwashed mantra of lies that the human body needs milk & meat or that global warming is some kind of liberal trick.

Still, the fact that there is a growing consciousness about animals for many and there are some improvements for these abused, suffering beings is another wonderful step forward in our evolution toward a kinder world. I think every social issue makes incremental progress and our movement is no different. I truly believe that, whenever and wherever we confront and stop any form of cruelty, whether to humans or animals, we are making the world a better place.

Philip:

Can you please share with us about Billy the elephant and you're involvement with his plight as well?

Patty:

Some children can't stand to see animals in zoos and circuses, I was one of them.

The fact that elephants suffer physically, psychologically and die at a much younger age in captivity but it all became clear to me that confining them for entertainment purposes was morally wrong and had nothing to do with conservation. I had to get involved in the fight against their captivity and to fight against the zoo industry's lies and distortions to keep the public's support. We were able to get Ruby to PAWS Sanctuary (she didn't fit in the zoo's plans as she cannot breed anymore),

Gita died at the zoo, only days after Betty White and the zoo told the public that she was fine. She also lay suffering for over 12 hours before she was attended to and finally died. We were unable to convince LA City Council to stop the $45 million dollar "Pachyderm Forest" with plans to bring in other elephants & start a breeding program. We're still hoping to stop these plans and get Billy, the lone, Asian bull elephant at the LA Zoo to the northern California sanctuary, PAWS, through a groundbreaking lawsuit. The wonderful Bob Barker and I paid for the barn that awaits him at PAWS. Go to Helpbilly.org for more information and become Billy's friend. He desperately needs your help!

Philip:

I'm wondering what you think about using graphic images of animals being abused and killed by humans as a way to wake people up to the reality of what actually happens to non humans in a world where they have no rights.

Patty:

I think graphic images are often necessary to shock people into the realities of so much horrible abuse which animals endure, but I do think there's also a fine line for when people can't take it all in and they get totally overwhelmed and lost or become angry rather than educated.

However, Shaun Monson's documentary Earthlings for instance is a very successful although very difficult film to watch , it has persuaded so many people to become dedicated vegans and effective animal advocates. There are so many creative ways though to educate, to inspire and to change people's attitudes towards animals. I"m constantly in awe at the writings, videos, photos and animation I see just on Facebook from activists all around the world.

The important thing is to keep educating via any media, to keep speaking up and speaking out and do it with a kind, reasonable voice. That's why Sandra Mohr and I started

FreeAnimalVideo.org- as a tool for advocates to donate or use our videos to educate and inspire people about animal issues.

But graphic images as artistic expression can also change the world. Take an artist like the painter Sue Coe for instance. I was taken by her exhibit-Porkopolis which came out to Los Angeles after which I bought her painting, Modern Man Being Followed by His Meat. We later became friends and I continue to collect her works but she often gives me works as gifts. She isincredibly intelligent and an inspiring speaker not only for animals but for all disenfranchised groups, as her art conveys.

Philip:

I'm wondering about what you think in regard to people who care about animals and are even vegetarian, yet so unwilling to notice and ackowledge the cruelty in the egg and dairy industry?

Patty:

This is an important question and I'm glad you asked me because I was vegetarian for so many years (31 to be exact) before becoming vegan. For me, killing seemed to be the only issue in my definition of living non-violently. For many of those early years, I had no idea about factory farms in general or about the specific cruelties to different farmed animals. I just thought that I was no longer a part of the killing of animals for food. As I learned about more, I think I just simply refused to recognize the inherent violence to the birds who provided the eggs and to the cows and calves who provided my cheese. I see so many people, who like myself, have long ago given up eating veal because of the inherent cruelty yet, they continue to consume dairy and are totally unaware that they are supporting the veal industry. I think what or actually "who" got me to change to veganism were the farmed animals themselves who I had gotten to know and some I had personally rescued.

Once you meet a veal calf, you can no longer keep your defenses up; these precious babies force you, in their sweet, nonverbal way, to realize a truth and you have no choice if you care about animals but to make that change!

There's a wonderful quote in the book- The Art of Herbivore- about these two industries which brings a feminist perspective to this issue.

"Eggs & dairy are industries built on the exploitation of the female reproductive systems.

I wish more people, fighting for equality and fairness when it comes to feminist issues, would see the unity of oppression in all of this and advocate for all females, including non-human ones."

Philip:

I had the opportunity to talk with Carol J Adams for Vegan Sanctuary's very first interview about a year ago and she so eloquently talks about the relationship and exploitation of female animals used for food. I have to just mention here, it's this idea of how all oppression is wrong no matter where it exists and how it's all related as well. It was this thought pattern that initially turned me into an animal rights activist.

Patty:

Yes, for sure and that last quote about advocating for all females is not only brilliant in its observation of the egg and dairy industry as related to women's issues but it also calls for everyone involved in women's rights also fight for equality for female farmed animals too. In doing that, the link between social causes can been made very clear.

I'm foremost an animal advocate but I also fight for gay rights, abortion rights, human rights, etc. Because, as I said earlier, I cannot tolerate injustice and the abuse and suffering that always accompanies it. My father fled Russia as a child because of the persecution to his family and the Jewish people. He spent his life fighting for justice and equality so I grew up in a very politically involved family. Although I've given up my association to Judaism, in large part because of the religions disregard and callousness towards animals. In my opinion, Jewish people need to be able to identify with the persecution, intolerance and cruelty towards animals and then need to refuse to be a part of it in general. Presently, I'm very concerned about our right of choice in this country as the anti choice forces become stronger they are wanting to overturn the law that women in America fought so hard for- the right to choose to terminate a pregnancy.

Prop 8 is another big issue for me. The right to marriage must belong to all of the people, not just heterosexuals. There are certain constitutional rights which were written to ensure equality and fairness, even when some people don't like it. That's what makes this country truly great! I don't expect everyone to become an animal advocate; I just want them to stop being part of the abuse.

As animal advocates, I believe we must speak out against prejudice and injustice for other people as well. Our own rights could be taken away while we're fighting for the animals so we need make sure that doesn't happen or everyone in this fight loses.

I also strongly believe that we must be vigilant as our country becomes more conservative, more religious, more over crowded, and poorer. History repeats itself... far too often!

Philip:

Patty thank you so much for sharing your experience and thoughts. Are there any final thoughts you have?

Patty:

In closing, I just want to say thank you to everyone who is part of Animal Acres and who works to help animals in general everywhere. I'm sure everyone feels like I do- compelled to work on their behalf. Knowing what I know, I cannot turn my back, mind, or heart away from them- and I know you can't either.

As Isaac Bashevis Singer, a Holocaust survivor wrote- "There will be no justice as long as man will stand with a knife or with a gun and destroy those who are weaker than he is".

Just a few of Patty's rescued non human family members

Be A Sanctuary for others.....
Go Vegan.

And also go check out Patty's great website PattyShenker.com

Being Kind To Others For Ourselves

2010-08-03T01:43:00.000-07:00

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. ~Dalai Lama

Besides the undeniable way in which Facebook helps organize our personal communities, it's also a great place to read comments from people who have volunteered their time and energy helping others.

Whether they've been volunteering at a sanctuary like Animal Acres or have been rescuing homeless animals, their enthusiastic posts sound like they're coming from people flying high on ecstasy at a rave or a love festival. This analogy isn't so far-fetched when you consider that the similarities in responses are not just a coincidence.

Over the past few years a number of researchers in the fields of cognitive science and psychology have shown that the love, compassion and kindness we express to others are much more conducive to our own mental well-being than we ever actually imagined. (Note: At the end of this post, I will provide links to these studies.)

The connection between being kind to others and the flourishing of happiness, whether that happiness is personal or on a global level, appears to be quite obvious.

(Since happiness is a rather vague word I will use it here in this post to mean the state of well-being)

There is a chain reaction when we are kind to others; the recipients of our kindness in turn feel better and thus act kinder to others, and so forth and so on. Kindness does appear to make life worth living.

One known fact in this chain that links us all is that each of us who is alive and conscious wants to be happy. Non humans as well as humans.

Every sentient being moves toward happiness and away from the absence of it. The basic principle that everyone longs for happiness and freedom from suffering is what causes us -- humans and non humans alike -- to feel compassion for one another.

Whether we're conscious of this principle or not, it's what helps make empathy possible.

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. ~Plato

Put another way, the individual and collective goodwill generated by humans and other animals who are treated with kindness and compassion, and who pass this feeling along, becomes the greatest source of happiness that exists.

Simplified still more: To treat others kindly is to act out of concern for their happiness yet it also proves to be a path to our own personal happiness as well.

Although this is a bare-bones explanation of altruism and its consequences, it tells us that there is a clear connection between being kind to others and feeling better about ourselves.

We simply need to honor the fact that including other beings in our wish for happiness is actually what makes us feel better and is what brings about concrete benefits to everyone.

There is a beautiful, truthful, unified irony here in our being compassionate activists. For what we soon discover is that we can all benefit not only from our own kindness to others but also from observing another's kind deeds done for others. You could say that we can all band together to "selfishly" help those who cannot defend themselves or speak out. By "selfishly," we can say that as activists we all benefit from giving, nearly as much as our intended beneficiaries do.

photo:Cameron O'steen

This is not about so called positive thinking. This is about putting the Golden Rule into action and about actually doing something. Positive thinking never found a home for a shelter animal or rescued a dog from a busy highway.

The benefits of committing acts of kindness are backed up by scientific evidence. Computer studies have analyzed data showing the reactions of good deed doers. There has even been exciting new research done that involves studying the brains of Buddhist contemplatives with fMRI machines. The monks have spent decades meditating on compassion or sympathetic joy. Over the years, these people have actually enlarged the areas of their brains that are responsible for feeling love.

Results of diverse studies have also proven that people who volunteer, people who perform acts of kindness, and people who focus on love and compassion (that is, meditate) have all shown marked improvement in their physical well-being.

In addition, the studies have shown that engaging in acts of kindness brings about feelings of euphoria and joy, followed by periods of calmness.

According to Allan Luks, the former executive director of the Institute For The Advancement of Health who conducted research in this area, "These feelings involve physical sensations that strongly indicate a sharp reduction in stress and the release of the bodies natural pain killers, the endorphins." This initial rush, he said, is then followed by a longer-lasting period of emotional well-being.

photo:Cameron O'steen

So from this information we can hypothesize that whatever a person's current level of happiness is, it will generally improve when they are kind or help others in need.

Volunteering to help care for animals at a sanctuary or shelter, for instance, not only contributes to the happiness of the animals but also causes feelings of fulfillment and accomplishment and a stronger sense of love and compassion toward one's self.

These states of mind not only feel good and affect us, but they also spread to those around us. Love and compassion are seriously contagious

Although it is true that cruelty, hate, jealousy, spite and shame are also contagious, they merely promote and spread the same negativity which created them. And, importantly,

they are never sources of happiness.

Like the Buddhists who focus their attention with laser-like intensity on love for all beings, we, too, can also practice becoming specifically aware of our compassion for animals.

photo:Cameron O'steen

There is something about being purposefully aware of what it feels like to be compassionate that brings us closer to recognizing our own kindness.

Any skill requires that we practice and refine our technique if we are to become accomplished. The same can be said about practicing kindness; we need to payclose attention to our mind when it fills up with the desire to be kind. The more we perceive and recognize this desire in ourselves, the more effortless it might be to live compassionately more frequently.

Now, as readers of this blog know, the definition of being kind to nonhumans includes not eating them and not being complicit with their exploitation and their deaths, even indirectly.

Living vegan expands our thinking to embrace others' wants and others' happiness. When we begin to move toward this attitude and away from always thinking about what seems best for ourselves (the "me first" mentality), we actually walk right into our own happiness, sometimes not even consciously aware.

As an ethical decision that is based on compassion and kindness for others, veganism, when done mindfully, becomes a rational way to strengthen and reinforce our own happiness.

The entire notion of living vegan and becoming a sanctuary for others is simply about understanding that what would benefit ourselves, we simply do for others as well.

Live vegan, be a sanctuary for others.

It's easy and it's a beautiful feeling.

“What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?”-Jean Jacques Rousseau

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=meditate-on-this-you-can-learn-to-be-more-compassionate

http://www.mindandlife.org/collaboration.html

http://www.upaya.org/newsletter/view/2009/11/30#story6

http://www.crystalinks.com/medbrain.html

HELP US PLACE 114 GOATS WHO ARE NOW RESIDING AT OUR EVACUATION CENTER.

The animals rescued from a cruelty case in April are now healthy enough for adoption.

PLEASE POST ON YOUR FACEBOOK, BLOGS, AND OTHER SOCIAL NETWORKING VENUES THAT HOMES ARE URGENTLY NEEDED FOR OVER 100 RESCUED GOATS. WE NEED TO PLACE THESE ANIMALS TO ENSURE THERE IS SUFFICIENT ROOM AT OUR EVACUATION CENTER FOR THE SANCTUARY ANIMALS (IF WE NEED TO EVACUATE.

Please click here or visit our website for an URGENT ADOPTION ALERT to post and distribute.

http://www.animalacres.org/volunteer.html

http://www.animalacres.org/donate.html

A Sanctuary for Words

2010-07-22T10:15:00.000-07:00

Creature Quotes

Our ethical concerns are not merely just the products of what culture we were raised in.

Each one of us possess ethical and moral intuitions that have been hard wired into us.

Our concerns with right versus wrong are rooted in our biology. What is important to each of us in ethical and moral terms become massively empowered by our ability to speak, write and use language.

Whether we are the writer or the reader, the speaker or the listener, the vehicle of language, when operated intelligently, can drive us to expand our moral boundaries beyond our own family and friends and beyond our own species to embrace all other sentient creatures.

Cowboy at Animal Acres

Yet it is also language that empowers our hatred, prejudices, and ignorance. Sadly, when abusive thoughts produce abusive language, those who accept the words can be incited to demonize, to destroy -- even to murder innocent victims.

In other words, language can either be used to begin violence or to end it.

Most of the cruelty and killing we commit against the other animals is due to the speciesist vocabulary that we unwittingly employ every day.

Mere words can make nonhumans unimportant or invisible. Think of how often humans refer to nonhumans, whose gender we probably know, as an "it" instead of "him" or "her."

This is a simple way to reduce someone to an object rather than a person and to diminish who they are as living individuals. (All living animals are someones as well as persons.)

What does it mean when we call another human a pig or a chicken or a cow?

The mere fact that these names are considered deep insults when we use them in reference to human animals reveals a tragic insight into the way in which non humans are routinely perceived and treated through words alone.

But while language exposes severe prejudices, it also has the power to change peoples lives for the better.

Compassion and empathy can be deeply communicated through words which might enable people to feel love for others where they had shut down before.

Language written or spoken can be that external something that might provide insight in our minds and hearts. Words which are felt are like thoughts that find our emotions and can provide the opportunity to transform us forever.

Photo: Vanessa Woods. Lomela and Mwanda at Lolaya Bonobo sanctuary

Countless "Aha" moments that have changed our planet for the better have come about simply from words, spoken or written. From language properly used.

If you are an animal activist, there is no better way to share your wisdom and emotions with others than the words that fill this comprehensive new website....

Creature Quotes: Advancing Toward Freedom For All Species.

This compilation of moving and thoughtful quotes from deeply compassionate and deeply reasonable thinkers throughout the ages was edited and compiled by SBH Clay. It is a wonderful read and a powerful tool to reinvigorate yourself with brilliant words in the defense of freedom and equality for all species.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. In that case, the plethora of photos of beautiful animals in this online book is the equivalent of 500,000 words. The vocabulary spoken by the animal's eyes peering out from these virtual pages is certainly capable of warming many frozen hearts.

I urge everyone who takes animal liberation and animal advocacy seriously to bookmark this page immediately.

Having a resource such as this at one's fingertips will no doubt aid you in reaching out and touching everyone around you...for the animals.

Blackie at Animal Acres

Be a sanctuary with your words.

Be vegan.

Click on link below to open the file and scroll to page 19 where you can read quotes from Vegan Sanctuary.

http://www.creaturequotes.com/PDFs/CHAPTER%2020%20COW-FOG.pdf

Melanie Joy Interview

2010-07-03T10:53:00.000-07:00

Vegan Sanctuary talks with Melanie Joy about her groundbreaking new book

Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs and Wear Cows.

An Introduction to CARNISM.

The belief system that enables us to eat some animals and not others.

Melanie Joy is a social psychologist, professor, author, and personal/relationship coach. She is known for her work transforming disempowering, dysfunctional relationships to empowering, functional ones. Her work addresses relationships at both the macro and micro levels, including:

*humanity’s relationship with animals and the environment

*relationships among social groups

*intimate relationships

Melanie has written numerous articles on psychology, animal rights, and social justice and is also the author of the activist handbook...

Strategic Action for Animals: Handbook on Strategic Movement Building, Organizing, and Activism for Animal Liberation.

Philip:

I'm really excited to have this discussion with you and I want to talk with you mainly about beliefs and specifically about the problems of human's beliefs regarding non human animals. However, before we get into all of that can you please explain to the readers Why we love dogs, eat pigs and wear cows?

Melanie:

That’s a great first question. When I say “We Love Dogs” in the title, I’m referring to people in U.S. and some other western cultures, since dogs aren’t beloved companions in all places in the world. However, the reason people love certain animals and eat others is similar among meat-eating cultures around the world: because there is an invisible, powerful belief system that teaches us to harbor very different perceptions of and behaviors toward different animal species.

Philip:

I was beyond thrilled when I read your new book which gave a name to the belief system of eating animals which you coined as carnism. Can you define the term and how, why you came up with the word?

Melanie:

Carnism is the term I use to describe the widespread, invisible belief system, or ideology, that conditions us to eat (certain) animals. It’s essentially the opposite of vegetarianism or veganism. Most people view meat eating as a given, rather than a choice. But when eating meat isn’t a necessity for survival, as is the case in the majority of the world today, it is a choice—and choices always stem from beliefs. We tend to assume it’s only veg*ns who bring their beliefs to the dinner table. But carnists (meat eaters) don’t love dogs but eat pigs, for instance, because they don’t have a belief system when it comes to eating animals.

I want to point out that “carnist” is not meant to be a pejorative term. It’s merely meant to be descriptive, just as capitalist, Buddhist, socialist, or raw foodist is. If we have a name for vegans and vegetarians, it only makes sense to have a name for those who act in accordance with the opposing belief system. And referring to a carnist as an omnivore isn’t accurate; an omnivore is an animal, human or nonhuman, that can ingest both plant and animal matter.

Similarly, a carnivore is an animal that needs to eat flesh to survive. And while it’s possible that humans are naturally omnivorous (though there’s plenty of evidence now surfacing to suggest we are naturally herbivorous), we certainly aren’t carnivores. But the problem goes beyond anatomy: omnivore and carnivore describe one’s biological predisposition, not one’s ideological choice. If humans are omnivores, then I (as a vegan) am as much an omnivore as a carnist. And referring to a carnist as a meat eater is also inaccurate; “meat eater” divorces the behavior of eating animals, or “meat,” from the belief system that enables such behavior. This is why vegans don’t refer to ourselves as “plant eaters;” we understand that eating plants is a behavior that reflects an underlying ideology.

I want to stress, though, that it’s important not to use the term carnist in a derogatory way and that we need to be careful in our use of it around carnists. Many carnists do perceive the term as offensive because—in my opinion—on some level they consider eating animals to be offensive. So referring to them as a carnist can cause them to become even more defensive about their meat eating.

Philip:

Do you think with this information we can come to some understanding that our world is not filled with all cruel people doing mean things to animals but rather a lot of good people who actually believe inaccurate things/ideas about animals. Wrong ideas or myths that have been drummed into their heads since they were children? And also that we as a species fail to criticize these beliefs the way we eventually have done about so many other myths about the world and others that we now realize are false.

Melanie:

Yes. In fact, a goal of my book is to help veg*ns and carnists alike realize that humane people can and do participate in inhumane practices without even realizing what they’re doing. We are so conditioned to eat animals that for most of us, the notion of not consuming them is absurd, an impossibility, a profound threat to our sense of self, belonging, and our core philosophical orientation. It’s so easy for those of us who are vegan to forget that—for most of us—we weren’t born that way. Once we come into this vegan consciousness—step outside the carnistic paradigm—we see the world through radically different eyes. It’s like we’re living on another planet, speaking a different language from carnists. But we need to remember what it was like for us, and we need to communicate with carnists in a way they can understand, from a place of common ground. For better or worse, we are ambassadors for the movement, and it’s up to us to reach out to carnists in a way that invites them into conversation. We can’t do that if we view them as selfish oppressors.

Understanding carnism can help us (and carnists) see that the system is comprised of a set of deeply entrenched, invisible, and quite powerful defense mechanisms that become internalized—that shape the psychology of carnists. The whole system is organized to maintain itself, to prevent people from making the connection between meat (and other animal products) and animals, between their values and practices, between themselves and other beings. When we talk to carnists, we often encounter such defensiveness and assume (understandably) that such a reaction is because the carnist doesn’t care, doesn’t want to change, prefers complacency over compassion, etc. And while in certain cases there may be some truth to this, the much more common reason carnists are so defensive is because carnism lives inside their minds and hearts; the invisible system shapes their perceptions, feelings, attitudes, and behaviors. Learning about carnistic defenses is essential for veg*n advocates so that we can speak to the carnist, rather than to her or his defenses, and so that we can have compassion and respect for people who are not (yet) vegan.

I wrote my book in hope that veg*ns would give it to the carnists in their lives. I wrote it to reach out to carnists and invite them into the conversation, and to help them understand why they do eat meat and other products procured from animals, rather than simply why they shouldn’t eat these products.

In answer to the last part of your question, yes, I do believe we’ve fallen into the trap of failing to recognize carnism just as we have with other oppressive ideologies, both historically and currently. My hope is that my book helps people to think more critically about all systems of which they’re a part; carnism operates in a very similar way to other oppressive ideologies.

Philip:

On page 60 in your book you explain how horrible ,cruel and inherent the suffering and death is that is completely inseparable part of the dairy industry. So, I'm wondering why you chose not to use the word vegan in your book?

Melanie:

I wrote my book to try to reach out to carnists, and the focus of the book was on carnism (rather than vegetarianism or veganism). So I rarely used the term “vegetarian” and avoided using “vegan” except for one or two instances. I didn’t want carnists to feel that I was pushing an ideology at them but rather exposing the ideology that’s been guiding their choices thus far, and encouraging them to step outside of that system.

I’ve been told by many carnist readers that they were open to reading my book because it didn’t feel “preachy” and it didn’t feel like it was about vegetarianism or veganism per se, but about the horrors of carnism. They said they didn’t get the sense I was trying to “sell vegetarianism” to them. And many of these same people told me that they stopped eating animals after reading the book.

The terms “vegetarian” and “vegan” immediately conjure images and feelings in carnists’ minds. I often do an exercise with my students asking them to “describe a vegetarian” and the list of adjectives they come up with is rarely, if ever, flattering. When I do the same exercise with “vegan” the students either don’t know what the term means or they have even more prejudicial ideas about vegans than they did about vegetarians.

“Vegetarian” and “vegan” have very different connotations for you and me than they do for most carnists. These are loaded words, immediately invoking imagery and feelings that can put carnists on the defensive. Having said this, I made sure to refer, at points in my book, to “meat and other animal products” and I also included fairly extensive descriptions of the dairy and egg industries, so that readers would be aware of the cruelty inherent in all animal foods.

Philip:

As a psychologist I'm wondering if you can explain how it is people can believe one proposition while at the exact same time successfully believing something completely different?

How do such cognitive gymnastics occur?

Melanie:

In my book I elucidate the specific mechanisms that carnism uses to maintain itself, mechanisms that exist on both social and psychological levels. These range from what I call the Three Ns of Justification (eating meat is normal, natural, and necessary) to de-individualization, not recognizing the individuality of members of species we’ve been conditioned to consume (a pig is a pig and all pigs are the same). All defenses are woven together to create “psychic numbing,” which is the psychological and emotional disconnect that enables people to eat meat and other animal products. Carnism is an illogical system that uses psychic numbing to prevent people from seeing the absurdities of carnistic beliefs and behaviors.

Philip:

I've always felt that eating animals was part of a belief system that we no longer needed to participate in. Yet it appears to be only an off shoot of a larger dogma we have about non humans.

Why do we drink the milk of some animals and not others? Why do we think it's ok to shoot wolves from helicopters but would never allow the same to be done to their domesticated ancestors?

Why do so many humans believe it's acceptable to imprison and conduct painful experiments on a chimpanzee for her entire life but think it's wrong to use human stem cells for medical research? There are, as we all know too well, horrible myths and beliefs being embraced that allow us to do so many cruel and unnecessary things to non human animals.

Do you imagine that carnism is but a small part of a much wider more encompassing erroneous belief system that we humans possess about the other animals of the world?

Melanie:

Yes. I see carnism as a sub-ideology of speciesism, just as anti-Semitism, for instance, is a sub-ideology of racism. The ethos, or ideological backdrop, of speciesism is what makes carnism possible in the first place.

But I do believe that we need to address carnism as a separate “ism” because even though it’s informed by speciesism, it has distinct features that make it unique. And my hope is that by understanding carnism, people will be less resistant to examining other expressions of speciesism, or perhaps speciesism as a whole. Also, I think it’s impossible to expect the average carnist to seriously consider their participation in the vast, all-encompassing paradigm of human supremacy (which is what informs the ideology we call speciesism). For those of us who have been exploring these issues, it simply seems logical—an ethical imperative—to examine our human privilege. But for most people in the world today, the notion of human supremacy is overwhelming, abstract, absurd, and so far outside their cognitive and emotional comfort zones that it’s deeply threatening and intellectually confounding to seriously consider this issue.

I’ve been criticized by some vegans for not “challenging” carnists enough, for creating a word—carnism—that can be what they see as a distraction from the broader issue of speciesism. But this criticism fails to take into account the psychological nature of human beings; it is based on the assumption that ideological purity will sell itself, that social transformation is simply a matter of educating people about oppressive ideologies. But as we know, more often than not, the facts don’t sell the ideology. We need to meet people where they’re at, and asking carnists to reflect on their carnism is, in my opinion, an excellent place to start encouraging conversations about human-nonhuman relationships in general as well as to reduce harm caused to animals by reducing carnistic consumption.

Philip:

When people truly believe something it changes everything about the way they behave in the world. Every culture it seems practices a form of carnism, but we know from spending time looking back at history that a deeply held belief system can be overcome and a conceptual or compassionate revolution which destroys that belief system can take place. What is the most efficient way we can advocate for veganism and to transform peoples beliefs about the other animals of the world?

Melanie:

I believe that raising awareness of carnism is vital to mobilizing the vegan movement. Understanding carnism enables us to radically reframe the issue of eating animals: if we see meat (and other animal products) consumption not simply as a matter of personal ethics, but as the inevitable end result of a deeply entrenched belief system, this can dramatically change the way we think and talk about the issue. Furthermore, by understanding the mechanisms and structure of carnism, we are at a tremendous advantage.

We can communicate and advocate much more effectively, as we navigate carnists’ defenses, and we can actually identify the structure of the system we’re working to transform. Because, in my opinion, veganism isn’t simply about abolishing the consumption of so-called animal products, but about transforming the very system that makes eating animals possible in the first place. Understanding carnism can help us focus on the cause of the problem, rather than simply on the consequences of it.

Philip:

Melanie, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and your ideas with us.

For all the animals every where it is much appreciated.

For more information on Melanie visit her websites. Melaniejoy.org

Carnism.com

Become a sanctuary for others.

Go Vegan.