We live in a time where the world is oppressive and stressful and ugly. And this harms all of us. The reason things are so bad is because we have infrastructure and systems. And those things need to be translated. It really erodes our empathy. And that’s a very important part of who we are.
For me and for many, this started with recognizing the hurt and violence and cruelty in the world and not wanting to be a part of it. These animals, just like other animals, want to live. They don’t want to be abused. They don’t want to be killed. They don’t want to be eaten. They want to live like cats or dogs or us. We are all animals. And we all have the same desires.
I bought this truck in California in the early 1980s. We use this truck to survey farms, stockpiles, and slaughterhouses. And the way we funded the organization in those days was to sell vegan hot dogs at Grateful Dead shows from this truck. It was an open crowd. And I remember every now and then, someone would come and stand in front of our table and look at these images and just be affected by them and start crying.
Hilda, our first rescued animal, was rescued in this truck, who we found abandoned in a pile of carcasses behind the Lancaster stockpile in Pennsylvania. So we took her out of the pile of corpses, took her to the vet, thinking she was going to die. When the vet was examining her, she actually started poking and then she stood up. And she has lived with us for more than 10 years. And she’s actually buried on the farm right now.
Sanctuaries cannot rescue all the animals that are currently exploited and slaughtered. So we need to change the system. And farm sanctuaries play a very important role in modeling a different kind of relationship with other animals. The animals become ambassadors. And those who are touched by them can go out and educate others.
I want people to be more cozy. My name is Jo-Anne McArthur. I am a photojournalist. I’ve been photographing our relationships with animals around the world for over 15 years now. This is one of the most important things about sanctuaries that we have to take into account, you rescue animals and you invite people to meet individuals.
They may come here and decide to eat less animals or go vegan. Or they can go out into the world with a changed person. They can become an activist. How can you put a dollar sign on it? You can not.
It changed me. And like I said, it set me on this lifelong path of activism. And now I reach millions of people through my work because I am inspired by sanctuaries.
Farm Sanctuary has become a fulcrum for so many people who have gone on to do incredible activities. Some of them have established organizations. Some travel the world exposing cruelty and educating people about what humans do to other animals.
I moved furniture for 16 years in 5 counties. I don’t know anything about farms, man. So she asked me, hey, can you help me with this piglet. I fell in love like immediately. So all my Spanish, pork-eating things are flying out the window, man. Every rescue, every emergency, yes, I’m there for them.
So I haven’t eaten animal food since the day after my heart attack. With the distance from the feeding and propaganda machine, I can see, oh, there’s a completely different way to live, ironically, a healthier one.
It took me the first 10 years before becoming a vegetarian for ethical reasons. Seeing them in this well-groomed environment can be life-changing.
Part of being here at the Farm Sanctuary made me get to know these invisible animals, as I call them, and they have no representation. We don’t see them. And how can we start looking at them if we don’t see them and talk about them.
Sanctuary to me just means a safe haven. All sentient beings deserve it. We have people who are getting out of terrible situations. The animals that are escaping terrible situations and need them need that shelter.
Every animal should be in a person and so should each person.
This part of Western New York isn’t too far from the Underground Railroad’s roots. And when Farm Sanctuary first got this property, I felt pretty good to know that the tradition of freeing individuals from oppression and exploitation is part of this area.
Provide a level of education so that people can consciously change their actions in order to rescue all animals.
You know, Farm Sanctuary is a place. But it is also a mission. The idea is to rescue individuals and ultimately change the world.
