Ways to Help Farm Animals + Walk for Farm Animals Results

[Guest guest]

Yesterday we held our Oakland Walk for Farm Animals, which was a great success.

45 people came out to walk on behalf of farmed animals in general and Farm

Sanctuary in particular. The walkers were so amazing, having raised lots of

money through pledges, and I'm so pleased to say that yesterday's walk alone

raised $3,000! Congratulations to all who participated! Some great photos can be

seen at http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b30a69d8250c.

 

We'll definitely be doing it again next year. And keep in mind that if you

couldn't make the Oakland walk, you can sign up for the San Francisco walk by

contacting Alka Chandna. The walk is on October 26th. Keep an eye out for Alka's

announcement.

 

After the walk, I spoke briefly about the many ways we can help farmed animals.

A few people emailed me and asked if I would reiterate them in writing so they

can refer to them easily, so I thought I'd include them here.

 

Ways to Help Farm Animals

 

1. Go Vegan!

10 BILLION land animals are killed each year for food. By going vegan, you are

part of the solution - not part of the problem. I always hear people say they

want to make a difference in the world. Every day we make choices that effect

our own lives, other people's lives, the environment, and other animals. It's

not that we CAN make a difference. It's that every day - in everything we do -

we DO already make a difference, for good and for bad. By choosing not to eat

animal products, we make a HUGE difference, which I find incredibly empowering

and exhilerating.

 

2. Learn to cook vegetarian!

If going vegan sounds overwhelming, take comfort in knowing that MOST vegans

were not " born this way. " It is a challenge only in so far as it is a matter of

learning new habits. Our " eating habits " are just that - HABITS. By buying a

cookbook or taking a vegetarian cooking class, you can learn to incorporate new

dishes into your regiment and begin saving so many (how many?) animals a year -

just by YOU going vegan. Please contact colleen for information

about the Compassionate Cooks monthly vegan cooking class.

 

3. Read the literature and learn the facts!

It is only by witnessing and being willing to look at what we are contributing

to that we can begin to feel compelled to make a difference. The grisly facts

behind the meat and dairy industries are purposefully kept hidden from the

public eye. It was Paul McCartney who said " If slaughterhouses had windows,

everyone would be vegetarian. " I encourage everyone to look. Only by having the

courage to see will we have the opportunity to begin making a difference. One of

my favorite songs, Amazing Grace, speaks to this: " I once was lost, but now I'm

found. Was blind but I now I see. " By opening our eyes and looking at the

cruelties, it is truly like an awakening, which is freeing, for both us and for

the animals. Personally, my favorite literature is Vegan Outreach's Why Vegan

and Vegetarian Living as well as PeTA's Vegetarian Starter Kit.

 

I also think it's really important for us to learn about vegan nutrition so that

we're safe and healthy and so that we're not passing on misconceptions. Dr.

Michael Greger has a wonderful CD called " Optimum Vegetarian Nutrition " that

I've burned. I would be happy to send anyone copies.

 

4. Get active politically!

Farm animals have virtually no legal protection in this country. Farm animals

are exempt from the federal Animal Welfare Act and from most states anticruelty

laws, at the request/demands of the meat and dairy industries. As long as

something is considered " accepted, " " common, " " customary, " or " normal " farming

practices. Most of us know these, but here are just a few of the " accepted "

agriculture practices:

 

Pigs are castrated, have their tails cut off, and their sharp " eye " teeth pulled

out without an anesthetic. Gestating (pregnant) sows (female pigs) and farrowing

(birthing) sows are housed in 2x7 stalls where they are unable to turn around.

This cycle continues for four years, until they are sent to slaughter. Day-old

baby calves are transported from the dairy farm before they are able to walk,

resulting in calves being thrown, dragged, or trampled. Cattle farmers often

drag " downed, " crippled cows and will sell cows for slaughter when they are

physically unfit to travel. Cattle are dehorned, castrated, and hot-iron

branded without anesthetic. Baby chicks' beaks are burned off with hot

cauterizing blades, which is extremely painful and often results in death.

" Egg-laying " hens are starved to make them enter the next laying cycle - this is

called " forced molting. " " Laying hens " raised for their eggs spend their entire

lives (up to 2 years) in wire cages not much larger than file drawers with 5-8

birds per cage. These are called " battery cages. " Male chicks and live unhatched

eggs are disposed of at the hatchery by suffocation or grinding them up while

still alive. Geese are force-fed by pump-feeding food down their throats to

produce " foie-gras. " Ducks are " de-billed, " confined in warehouses with slatted

floors (which results in leg deformities, and though aquatic animals, are denied

water for swimming and preening, which is inherently cruel.

 

We desperately need to get protections for farm animals, and Farm Sanctuary has

done amazing things on this front. They succeeded in passing a Downed Animal

Protection Bill in California and have been working for 10 years to get a

federal bill to prohibit the sale of " downed animals. " Recently, the Downed

Animal Protection Act was destroyed in the Farm Bill, but there is a chance to

revive it by contacting your senators and reps and asking them to co-sponsor it!

I'll send along a separate email about this in particular.

 

Also, another way to get involved politically is by joining the Humane Activist

Network, which means you'll be called upon a few times a year to contact

Congress about pressing legislation. I am the " District Captain " for Oakland and

Berkeley and would be happy to give you more information about this. I could

also hook you up with your " District Captain " if you are not in Oakland or

Berkeley. Just email me at colleen.

 

5. Proclaim Farm Animals as Sentient Beings!

One of Farm Sanctuary's campaigns is the Sentient Beings campaign, which

encourages cities to create an official proclamation declaring farm animals as

Sentient Beings. 5 cities have done so right now (Cincinnati and 4 in NJ), and

we are looking for some motivated individuals to encourage their cities to do

the same. On one level this is symbolic, but on another, it has a very real

application. Where farm animals have been recognized as sentient beings

(formally in the charter of the European Union), they have gotten a lot of

protections, and many specific cruel practices, like veal crates and battery

cages are banned or are being phased out. It is also a wonderful opportunity to

raise awareness and public discussion about the roles farm animals can/should

play in society and how we ultimately should treat them -- and if they should be

used for " food " at all! Please email me at colleen if you are

interested in learning more about this.

 

6. Spread the word - Speak up!

Host video screenings. Create forums for discussing these difficult issues. Pass

out literature. Talk to students. Write letters to the editor of your paper once

a week about farm animal issues. Thank editors who do address this issue. Keep

literature in your bag or car to distribute at any unexpected time.

 

7. Encourage humane societies to be just that.

Many humane societies work very hard on behalf of dogs and cats, but they drop

the ball when it comes to extending their compassion to other sentient beings.

Please write to your local humane society and encourage them to serve vegetarian

meals at their fundraising events. There are a couple animal groups working on

this type of campaign right now, including Compassion Over Killing in D.C. and

Animal Place in Vacaville, CA. Please contact them or me for more info.

 

8. Start a chapter of an animal protection group at your school, office, or

church!

My experience has shown me that people care very much about this issue, but it

takes people to organize events such as these to raise awareness. I started a

local chapter of Unitarian Universalists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

and have found an incredible response - weekly tabling, monthly cooking classes,

forums, poetry readings, teen veggie workshops, speakers, etc.

 

9. Volunteer at an animal organization

Farm Sanctuary West is only 2 hours from here, and they are always looking for

volunteers at their sanctuary. It is an incredibly magical place and the perfect

place for a field trip with children or middle and high school students. They

also have a wonderful internship program, where you work and live on the farm

for a couple weeks, 3 months, or whatever works for you. It's a life-changing

experience. Another wonderful organization close by is Animal Place, and they

have open houses and opportunities to meet their wonderful rescued " farm "

animals. They're in Vacaville - only an hour from here.

 

10. Support Farm Sanctuary

People's participation in the Walk for Farm Animals is a HUGE benefit for the

animals at Farm Sanctuary. Over $50,000 is raised each year from these walks.

All the walkers and donors are making a great contribution to the animals. It

enables Farm Sanctuary to work on such campaigns as their " No Veal " campaign,

whereby restaurants around the country are signing the pledge stating that they

will not sell veal in their establishments. Your support helps them with their

current campaign in NJ, where they have introduced a bill to ban cruel factory

farming practices. Your support enables them to continue providing sanctuary for

hundreds of farm animals at their shelters in New York and California. There is

so much we can do. There is no time to be sad and powerless. The 10 billion

animals killed every year are counting on us, and there is no time to waste! If

not you, then who??

 

Thank you all for your support and tireless efforts to make a difference for

billions and billions of animals.

 

 

 

 

 

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" Nonviolence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution.

Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages. " ~Thomas

Edison

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" Don't do nothing because you can't do everything. Do Something. Anything. "

~Sasha