Animal Profiles
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Sadness to Sweetness
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Adopting Senior and Special-Needs Animals
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Summer and Freedom, from Dairy to Sanctuary
Protest the National Chicken Council Conference
Published September 29, 2009 @ 04:08PM PT
If you live or work in Washington, D.C., there's a protest planned by FARM and United Poultry Concerns this Thursday you may want to participate in over your lunch hour: "The National Chicken Council's 55th annual conference is taking place in DC Thursday, October 1st -- which also happens to be on the eve of World Farm Animals Day (Gandhi’s Birthday)." Get more info on the event here.
If you need a little inspiration -- a reminder of how unique and wonderful and full of personality the animals for whom you'll be standing up and speaking out are -- check out this sweet and wonderful recent post from Marji at Animal Place: "A Hen Profile in Black and White." This quick glimpse into the personalities of some of the sanctuary residents is well worth reading -- and sharing.
And back briefly to World Farm Animals Day: As you may recall, a couple weeks ago, Michael Weber of FARM shared a thoughtful post about WFAD, coming up this Friday. If you haven't checked the event directory yet to see if there's something planned near you, on or around WFAD, you can still do that here. If you hurry, you may still be able to get some free materials for what you have planned too.
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Photo by Flickr user monkeysnaps
And a Precious Few Find Sanctuary, Joy, Friendship, and Love
Published August 25, 2009 @ 03:27PM PT
Photo of Hannah the goat by Deb Durant of Invisible Voices
I need some good news. I can't bring myself to write about any of the less-than-pleasant things rumbling around in my head. So I'm not going to. Instead, I'm going to ask you to read two stories elsewhere (or actually, multiple stories, but at two different blogs). I'm going to ask you to celebrate with me a few of the oh-so-rare victories--lives saved, second chances given, our fellow animals provided a chance to experience joy, peace, love, and friendship, after pain and suffering they did nothing to deserve, just as they didn't deserve the slaughter for which they were slated, the same suffering and slaughter that the millions who were slaughtered today didn't deserve either.
First, a story about Patty and Susie from "A Lesson on Friendship" from Animal Place Sanctuary (I included this in the last roundup, but I want to make sure you read it):
Chuckles and Arabelle: Who They Are, Not How They "Taste"
Published August 03, 2009 @ 07:15AM PT
Chuckles came to Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary in 2001; he was around 1 year old, and had been found wandering the streets in Northeast DC.
When Arabelle arrived at Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary last summer, she was a tiny baby, small enough that it took a few days before Terry and Dave were certain that she was a guinea hen, rather than a turkey. Yet the guineas weren't interested in hanging out with her, and so it was a gentle turkey named Gertrude who took her under her wing and raised Arabelle.
Though in those early days she seemed to move and act like her surrogate mother, and we wondered if she thought of herself as a turkey, Arabelle now spends all of her time with one of the other guineas, Chuckles. They roam their part of the sanctuary, always together.
The Love of Louie and Libby
Published June 22, 2009 @ 08:08AM PT
I am not going to suggest that you read this story. I am not going to ask that you read this story. I am going to beg you, plead with you, to read this story shared by Joanna of Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary.
Particularly if you are someone who doubts the depths of emotions animals feel, who doubts the way they love one another and build specific, chosen relationships as we do, who is unsure of how unique each individual is and how deep the bonds between them go, who thinks that they are distinctly different from us--please read this.
We could change little bits in this story, and it would read just like the story of a devoted elderly human couple, a pair of soulmates connected in ways only they can fully understand, in ways that make their lives worth living. It is a story we can all relate to--about love and about the things we do, the sacrifices we make, the care we provide, and the lengths we go to for the ones we love and wish to protect.
But Libby and Louie are not humans. They are chickens. And their story is nothing short of remarkable. It will swell your heart and bring tears to your eyes. It will change the way you think about chickens. It will change the way you think about "chicken"--and eggs, given how hens suffer and die for them, given how Libbie herself suffered so much for them. I hope it will change the way that you eat.
A preview, if you feel you need one:
A Mother's Loving Protection, A Father's Dedication: A Family Like Any Other
Published May 28, 2009 @ 06:39PM PT
From the Telegraph comes the most heartwarming, beautiful story of the day. And it's a tear-jerker. "Bird brain" is an insult I despise because it implies that birds themselves are unintelligent, unthinking beings when they certainly are not. And this remarkable story tells us that we shouldn't underestimate the size of their hearts either.
Petey and the Rake: The Curiosity of Playful Pigs
Published May 06, 2009 @ 06:44AM PT
Those of you who've been lucky enough to catch Deb Durant's previous guest posts on this blog (or who are familiar with her blog, Invisible Voices) know that her stories about the animals at Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary and her gorgeous accompanying photos are a treat. The following post and photos are no exception. Make sure to click through for the whole story and all the photos. -S. Ernst
Petey came to the sanctuary over a year ago, rescued with his brother, Otis. In this picture of them running through the snow last year, they are expressing such obvious joy that even people who don't know pigs at all can't help but to remark on it. Maybe because they were little piglets in that picture, and piglets are remarkably similar to dogs, which most of us are familiar with.
Their current happiness makes a sharp contrast from the situation they were rescued from. They were victims of extreme neglect, extreme enough to be prosecutable under various laws. If you are familiar with the status of farm animals' meager protection under the law, you will recognize just how extreme the neglect would have to be for the law to come into play. These are animals whose brutal deaths are protected by the law, after all. Their lives have far less protection. In this particular neglect case, when the county stepped in, a momma pig and her eight piglets were living on a trash heap. They were rescued, and two of the babies came to Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary.
Petey and Otis are about half grown now. As with adult dogs, adult pigs retain their curiosity about life, though without that exuberance and excessive energy that we associate with the babies. Sometimes that means it is expressed more subtly.
Sometimes it is even more blatant.
Jeremy and Lenny: Rescued from Death at a Small Local Dairy
Published March 03, 2009 @ 06:13AM PT
Jeremy and Lenny came to the sanctuary when they were just a few days old, rescued from a goat dairy. At the small local dairy, they were considered garbage. That's true of babies at all dairies. It is the way of business.
A woman visiting the dairy, a believer in buying local and from small operations, witnessed the treatment of the babies born in front of her eyes and was horrified. The baby goats had value to her - not as an investment, not as commodities, not as food, but because they were alive, and she believed they should be allowed to live free of harm, free to be themselves. Simply because they were alive, because they were individuals, because they wanted to live, as we all do. This realization opened her eyes in an instant.
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