Ninety-five
As advocates, our job is to win over the hearts and minds of others. Sometimes, often times, this is frustrating because when it comes to animals people have rather large blind spots. How often do we run into people who have their hearts wide open for cats or dogs or maybe even dolphins and whales and seals, but can’t conceive of opening their heart to others?
We can shock people with the realities of animal agriculture, and sometimes that works. Maybe it is even a necessary part of the equation, but if so it’s only one part. A new volunteer at the sanctuary asked me a couple weeks ago if I was vegetarian. When I told him I was vegan, the new volunteer shared that he had been vegetarian for a long time, and stopped because he couldn’t remember why he was vegetarian to begin with.
It’s not uncommon, but it’s a bit shocking. At least, it is shocking to me personally because my “reasons” have always been simple. The animals. If the reason is that simple (and obvious), how do you forget? (I have my theories.) And perhaps it is a personal shock because of all the time I’ve spent at sanctuaries; it is quite literally impossible for me to forget “why”. My “whys” have names. They are Izzy and Morty, Lenny and Jeremy, Jake and Norman, Heidi and Emily. They are wonderful, distinctive individuals, and every single one of them would have been killed at a very young age if an almost impossible quirk of fate hadn’t intervened to bring them to Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary.
Sanctuaries are incredibly powerful advocacy tools. Being around these animals, touching one for the first time, having a rooster fall asleep in your arms, it changes people. They make connections, they can’t help but to make connections, the kind of connections that maybe they didn’t want to see. Not everyone is lucky enough to live near a sanctuary, to get to know these wonderful individuals, and that’s the spirit that prompted the book, “Ninety-five,” published by No Voice Unheard. This is a book that can bring the sanctuaries to everyone’s life.
[...] we decided what we really want to do is to just have you meet the animals, and show you what they’re like when they’re allowed to be who they are. We want to introduce you to these amazing and charming creatures, and their remarkable personalities, emotions, relationships, desires and depth. We want to invite you into Marilee’s backyard, so to speak, to meet some of the ninety-five animals who are spared, in one year, by one person’s vegan diet.
The book is gorgeous to see – there are many beautiful pictures of individuals from various farmed animal sanctuaries – and the stories are touching. Sometimes heart-breaking. The pictures and the stories share the personalities, the individuality of each, and the commonality of the fate they avoided. Some of the animals came from what is now referred to as “factory farms”, others came from organic farms; some were from small family farms, others from live markets, and some have stories we can only guess at.
When I first saw a copy of the book, an advance copy sent to Terry at PSAS by the publisher, it was with a group of other volunteers hanging out at PSAS after chores were done. We were initially simply thrilled to see some pictures of our friends in the book, and then Terry shared some stories of people she’d showed the book to. People who took in the information, where they almost definitely wouldn’t have ever read some of the other literature on the topic. There is a real need for books like “Slaughterhouse“, but the reach of books like that is going to be extremely limited, because most people don’t have any desire to read about it.
Ninety-Five doesn’t avoid the difficult topics, but the education is through a celebration of the lives saved, of the individuals themselves. It is a book that will appeal to animal lovers for that very reason, and thus has a chance to change lives. They even discuss fish and sea life at the end of the book, something I didn’t expect, but which was very welcome for the simple fact that had it been missing it would have left an educational hole. Plenty of information was also included about the various sanctuaries featured in the book and resources for vegan support. It was a very well thought-out book, and an important addition to our advocacy tool set.
“If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian” is a popular quote, but given the amount of slaughterhouse footage available these days, has it been proven incorrect? Maybe it’s sanctuaries that need the visibility for real change to happen. It’s frustrating enough that so few vegans realize how many sanctuaries there are, obviously there are even fewer outside the movement who are aware. Sanctuaries have a power that we are not making enough use of, and hopefully books like “Ninety-five” will help us give sanctuaries the reach to accomplish the change they have the potential for.
Stephanie Ernst
Marji
Kelly G.
Deb
Mary Martin
I just received my copy yesterday. I can’t wait to start reading it. I have a few books ahead of it but I will probably put it at the top of the pile. I need something uplifting right now. One of my friends, Brownwyn, just crossed over, transitioned. She was a beautiful light chocolate muscovy duck. I will miss her airy vocalizations.
@kathi – I’m so sorry to hear of your loss of Brownwyn. I think you’ll really enjoy ninety-five, though some of it might be too close to home, since you’re grieving Brownwyn.
Deb,
Your columns on Ninety-Five and on rowdy goats Lenny and Jeremy are beautiful. That sounds like a book well worth reading. Thanks for telling us about it. Kathi, you are so fortunate to have a special bond with Brownwyn. She must be thinking just as fondly of you as you are her. Bless you both as you heal and store permanent memories of her in your heart.
Oh, and hiphip horray to that woman who saved the goats instead of buying goat cheese (though I’m probably writing this in the wrong space).
@Olivia – thanks! The book is definitely worth reading, and even more definitely worth sharing with others. And I agree wholeheartedly about the woman who saved the goats instead of buying the cheese. Jeremy and Lenny are big trouble-makers these days (they’re in their terrible twos!) but it’s so perfect that they *can* be. Alive, causing trouble, being their rowdy selves…
Those animals are our food. Cats and dogs and others are our pets.
Sue, cats and dogs are food in some cultures just not all. Cows are *not* food in all cultures. You should as yourself why some animals are dismissed from your compassion…chickens have cognition at the level of primates. Pigs are smarter than your dogs. Cows form intense emotional bonds with each other. Dig a little deeper into why you discount them than “just because”.
Sue – why?
I mean that seriously. What is the INTRINSIC difference between the joy of a pig or a dog, the suffering of a cow or a cat? Is there some unique biological difference? A strange behavioral quirk that magically makes chickens less able to have preferences than a dog or cat? Have you ever bonded with a cow, pig, sheep, goat, chicken or turkey? If you had, perhaps you might understand they are quite similar in many respects to dogs and cats.
And even if they weren’t, you would have no right to take their lives – when you don’t have or need to.
Dogs and cats are food in other cultures. So are horses. And guinea pigs. Oh, and rats. Rabbits are used as a food source in the United States and across the globe.
Look we eat meat and you have to realise that. Have compassion for animals but don’t deny what we need to eat for health. Some can do well being vegan or vegetarian but its because you have access to supplementation. Its a choice to eat meat or not. Do something about factory-farming that’s where you should be concentrating your efforts.
Sue, there is endless medical research that shows we do NOT need meat, and that we are harmed by eating animal products! There are more of these studies every day, it seems, showing that the best and healthiest diet is a whole foods plant based diet.
Access to supplementation is something that non-vegans require also, so let’s not bring that into the equation, it’s pointless.
You are right – it’s a choice to eat meat or not. So why NOT go vegan?
Great non-answer, Sue!
Deb said:
“Sue, there is endless medical research that shows we do NOT need meat, and that we are harmed by eating animal products! There are more of these studies every day, it seems, showing that the best and healthiest diet is a whole foods plant based diet. ”
Deb that’s just wishful thinking. Processed meats are bad for us but not natural red meat.
Rinalia said:
“Great non-answer, Sue!”
and what kind of answer would you have preferred?
Sue, the wishful thinking is yours. I’m certainly not making up all of the studies proving my point.
I forget that there will continue to be “ah-ha” moments in my vegan journey. Today, thanks to this post, I just had another one.
95 animals are spared every year thanks to *my* choice to be vegan?! It’s been a rotten week so far, but this news… it transcends my human worries. 95 animals? I’ve been vegan for 4 years, that’s 380 animals…. I’m sure the numbers are lower for the 12 years that I was lacto-vegetarian, but… 380 animals in 4 years?!
Deb…. honestly, you just made my day. Thank you. Thank you so much.
TVV – glad that this was new and welcome information for you! :)
Hello!
I have a question which I hope will be received as it is asked: with earnest and sincere curiosity, and no confrontation whatsoever. (Please take my word for this as emails cannot convey tones of voice, smile).
I co-run the Eastern Shore Sanctuary and Education Center, and one of my several resistances to opening the doors to the public (along with not wanting to expose already traumatized animals to more human involvement than they’ve already had) is a lack of anything other than anecdotal evidence pointing to the effectiveness of doing so.
More to the point: who has any data showing that this works?
My gut says it does not work to turn people vegan, even though I’ve heard my own share of anecdotes suggesting it does. We cannot take the word of people visiting sanctuaries who swear they are going vegan unless we can follow up and KNOW they are vegan months and years down the line; we cannot take the word of AR folks who say they went vegan after a visit to this or that sanctuary because I sincerely believe they would be AR folks anyway, whether or not they visited this or that sanctuary (meaning, something else would have reached them).
But that’s my gut, which is pretty much 100% turned against my own species anyway.
And so I rely upon EVIDENCE instead of either my gut OR the word of others whose guts believe it DOES work. ;-)
In short: Do these data exist? Is there any quantitative evidence that open door policies at sanctuaries leads to veganism?
And if not, can there begin an effort, among those sanctuaries who DO have such policies, to investigate the matter? If it can be shown that YES, visits DO have a cause and effect relationship upon whether or not someone goes vegan, then hell, I will be the first one to urge that we open our doors.
So, if anyone out there has any answers, can you please email me at sanctuary@bravebirds.org?
And THANK YOU for raising this issue, as well as all of the other remarkable work you do on this blog. I am not a blog follower (barely attend to our own blog due to lack of time) but WOW, yours is always worth the read.
Miriam, Eastern Shore Sanctuary and Education Center
The data will always be anecdotal, I don’t see how it could be otherwise. A decision to go vegan is never a one-event conversion – people’s history contributes – so quantifying it seems an impossible task imo.
I know of a handful of people who went vegan after spending time at the sanctuary and are vegan years later. I am at the sanctuary just 4 hours a week and I know terry doesn’t keep record of people who are changed by their experience, but I would assert that outreach/education is as fundamental as it is necessary. Getting people to the sanctuary is a huge education moment, with the benefit of the lesson being the opposite of abstract.
If education doesn’t work, what possibly can? If education does work, why would it work less well with the embodiment of those lessons in front of them?
Miriam, these are really interesting points.
Veganism always hung slightly out of reach for me as a vegetarian. I became vegetarian as a teenager because I was disgusted with dissection in biology classes & then began watching video of laboratory animals, that led to learning about farm animals… and so on & so forth until I took my first vegan steps.
Now, I have never been to a sanctuary, believe it or not!! But…several years ago, I was at a “petting farm” with my son — they were featuring all the baby animals that spring. The two calves they had looked so lost & frightened, they huddled together and it really bothered me to think they were missing their mother & here I was with my toddler. In another stall, there were two piglets. I became absolutely fascinated with their noses, their eyes, they interest in my son. They …looked… at us.
And that afternoon stands out in my memory as my “turning point”. I would have been an AR no matter what, but seeing the animals (in any venue) was what really drove the message home that I was doing the right thing.
Deb and Vegas, thanks!
I will preface my response with an acknowledgment that I truly believe nothing will ever work to change the world. I believe that because I allow myself to maintain space on the planet, I have an ethical responsibility to act as if this or that action will make a difference, and of course to perform said actions, but I honestly deeply believe that humans are intrinsically flawed on the species level and until we die out, no one else has a shot. So, that’s me. And so in order to act, given this knowledge (because it’s a knowledge in myself the way some people know there is a god), all I can do is learn what does and does not work and try to not be biased about the choices I make — hence my question about data.
I also have a very jaded view of education in general, as it hasn’t stopped much of anything that I can see — other forms of resistance have, but education in itself? Again, not so sure… I know plenty of folks who listen to NPR while they drive down the road in their SUVs on their way home to their new subdivision McMansions. They know and love Amy Goodman, for example, but what the hell are they doing with their knowledge? Yep, half of them are still locking their doors when black people walk by.
And this too is anecdotal, which leads me right back full circle. I can throw down as many anecdotes about people not doing the right thing after being exposed to the truth (in this case, about factory farming) as anyone else can the other way around — probably more, in fact. So, the few stories that are successes aren’t particularly compelling to me as a basis for action.
PARTICULARLY because of several facts:
1. The time and effort and money spent to make sanctuaries visitor-friendly is enormous. Could that time and effort and money be better spent? Again, to me, coming from a skeptical perspective, I say most probably yes.
2. Visitors are seeing animals who are HEALING at sanctuaries, and while they are told stories and perhaps shown pictures and items which are brutal and torturous, the animals themselves are happy. Is that truly compelling enough on the deep level that inspires change? I wonder if it’s more the experiences like Vegas had at the petting zoo which add up over time to move people in a vegan direction — I know that it sure was for me; even though it took me far too long to go vegan permanently, the first time I tried was after my last visit to the Pittsburgh Zoo.
3. I still feel creepy, I have to admit, when anyone comes here to Meet The Birds. I feel like the birds have had enough humans showing interest in them, and even though we are here to protect them and the context is wildly different, and of course the visitors are nothing but wonderful folks who are doing the right thing (because we are not open to the general public), I still have that gut feeling of UGH. Here we are once again deciding what chickens will and will not do. And while I also know, intellectually speaking, that they probably couldn’t care less, hahaha, I feel like I’m enabling some sort of exploitation, for whatever justifiable reasons I might have.
I also do not think it’s impossible to collect such data. Sanctuaries can keep records of all visitors and follow up with them one month, 6 months, one year, etc. after they visit — just by calling or sending short surveys asking are you vegan now? How about now? Still vegan? Ever going vegan? Why or why not? And so forth. I’m being brief, of course, but all sorts of organizations (non-AR) do similar things regarding their efforts to effect change in the world, so it could certainly be done by sanctuaries who are already investing huge amounts of time and money into visits as it is.
It just seems like something worth finding out for sure. In the end, some AR campaigns have worked (veal and fur, before they were derailed, were working magnificently) and others have not (meat consumption is UP UP UP the world over despite all the outreach and education everyone has been doing for decades). So, I just wonder if it’s time to start collecting quantifiable data on certain activities that we all take for granted are working. Because if they aren’t, then we need to do other things.
I will end by saying again I’m not judging ANY SANCTUARY who allows visitors. I think I said that before but if not, I will say it now. I would never in a million years say that any effort made on behalf of non-human animals is wrong, or should not be done (except of course for pseudo-efforts that are ultimately oppressive to animals). I also understand that I’m open for judgment here myself by publicly stating my feelings on the matter, and want to make it very clear that these are MY feelings and not necessarily those of our board or other workers.
Thanks for the dialogue!
Miriam
It goes right back to the question – if education didn’t work for you or me or any of the other vegans you know, what did?
It *was* education for me, and I honestly believe that education is required for people to change…to even believe there is a need to change and know what change is needed.
The people who haven’t changed yet might change someday. Everyone who has changed is proof of that.
The animals at sanctuaries that have visitors aren’t forced to interact, so the choice is theirs, regardless.
AR people mostly wouldn’t be AR people if they hadn’t gone vegan so you shouldn’t eliminate them from your numbers either.
Bottomline is that no one can point to one thing and say “this is the one thing that works.” People’s reasons and motivations are always anecdotal, but I don’t see why you’d want to discard people’s reasons just because they aen’t suited to a clean chart.
As far as I can tell, you are asking an impossible question. Throw out all information, ignore education, and look for data on “what works” from what is left?
Hey!
I must not be communicating properly…. I never said we should ignore education — what I did was question whether or not it worked, which is very different. I never said throw out information (in fact I think I was asking for more)… I’m also not sure what you mean by saying I was eliminating AR folks from my numbers (or not); and I actually think I DID speak to what worked for me (and implied some of the other things that I think have worked for other people as well as in a broader sense to decrease suffering, such as the veal campaign).
So, I’m going to withdraw the question. Upon further reflection, I think it’s far too loaded to discuss properly on a blog — too many ways for everyone to get defensive and misunderstand because of personal investments in all directions. Sorry, all.
Miriam
Yesterday you stated that any AR person who went vegan after a sanctuary visit didn’t count because they would have ended up AR people regardless. I think it is a big assumption to make, since few start with AR and move to veganism – usually the opposite.
As for education – for the people who didn’t learn anything about any issues, why did they go vegan? Randomly?
Again on the data – if you throw out anecdotal data, what can be left?
Miriam,
I appreciate your honest sharing and honest questioning.
I see humans a little differently than you do, I guess. Rather than looking at the worst traits, I try to dig until I find the best. I don’t always succeed with this approach, but I find that the exercise itself helps me. I see lots of evidence that we are all naturally inclined to goodness, as flowers naturally bend to the light. It’s just that we get so caught up in what the world says, we temporarily (sometimes it’s a LONG TERM temporary!) forget what we’re inclined toward, and then it seems as if we live in darkness.
I also think that when our motives are pure (simply doing good for the animals, who are so grateful for any efforts made in their behalf, and not trying so overly hard to convince others of anything), the education of our example and the animals’ example DOES sink in, even without words. Moreso, sometimes, without words.
Somewhere in some post recently I’ve seen the point made that animals are NOT moral agents. I humbly beg to differ. I think to be moral is to be honest and affectionate and compassionate and hopeful and faithful and meek and humane–and more. And since animals express those qualities in abundance, that DOES make them moral (hence moral agents), in my mind. The fact that, when animals live their lives to the fullest, they have the effect of TRANSFORMING those of us who are ready to see them unselfishly means, to me, that they are NATURAL-BORN moral agents. Maybe we should all just act like NATURAL moral agents, instead of moralizing to one another (I’m speaking to myself here!).
Being healed of selfishness is a knowing and a feeling kind of thing; it can’t necessarily be charted, though it should be able to be demonstrated by deeds (i.e., a change to vegan living). Maybe we are looking too much for short-term results instead of thinking long-range, and realizing that we ARE making a difference for good, thus giving less influence to its opposite. If the animals are attracted to good, and feel its beneficent effects, humans can’t help but do likewise, eventually! :-)
Just got an email from an author named Paul Rogat Loeb. Thought I’d mention, for what it’s worth, that he has revised his book “Soul of a Citizen” which he describes this way: “This book really seems to inspire people to get engaged and stay engaged for the long haul despite all the disappointments and obstacles.”
Though I haven’t read it, I have read (and I own) his other book, “The Impossible Will Take a Little While.”
Maybe he’s someone who is ready to be converted to veganism? He’s definitely a liberal who SHOULD care about doing right by the earth and the animals (and thus the human species).
Hi all,
I just wanted to share my experiences and views on animal sanctuaries. I recently went to one here in the UK (Hillside in West Runton, Norfolk for UK readers!) and it was an overwhelmingly positive experience. The animals had large enclosures, were exercised and grazed (where appropriate) regularly in huge fields, and all looked relaxed and happy. Many were stretched out basking in the sun, or playing with each other (there were several goat kids which had been born there, after their pregnant mothers were rescued). The only animals in ‘cages’ as such were those who were still recuperating after being rescued. All animals live out their natural lives in the sanctuary. There was an AR message throughout the place, many information posters about cruel farming techniques, and a 100% vegan cafe for visitors. Their gift shop stocked vegan cookery books and The Vegan Society’s animal free shopper among other things.
Places like this are vital for the animals, and I also think it’s vital to allow the public in to visit. When an animal sanctuary has a completely consistent message of kindness to animals, that message is very powerful and can change people’s minds. Too often, I have been to nature (for example bird) reserves and other animal sanctuaries (fraid so), which serve meat and dairy in their cafes and have nothing to say on the subject of animal rights. This to me is a damaging mixed message. “We take care of animals, and you should too, and by the way do you fancy a ham sandwich?” No-one is going to learn anything from that other than to be a hypocrite.
Given that the above type of place is the norm, I think many omnis would turn up at a place like Hillside and expect the same – expect to see all the nice cute animals and get a bacon roll in the cafe and just not have to think about the contradiction there. I have no doubt that many visitors are surprised that a meat-free message is advertised throughout the sanctuary, and that meat/dairy cannot be bought on the premises. Because of that, they might start to think ‘why?’ (especially children). And there is plenty of information about the meat and dairy industries on hand to answer any questions they have.
If animal sanctuaries like Hillside weren’t open to the public, this powerful and consistent message would go unheard among the hypocritical mixed messages of other similar places. It’s so important that people get to hear this message.
Another plus is that in places like Hillside, people can try vegan food (hey look, it isn’t bland and boring!) and buy a vegan cookbook (or ten!) for use at home. Therefore the place isn’t just saying ‘animal cruelty is wrong’ and then leaving people without any information on how to go vegan.
I don’t know where else people would get that message and that level of encouragement if not at places like Hillside. People learn best from consistent messages, and seeing as people are always going to want to visit animals, I’d rather they visited them at somewhere like Hillside than the alternative.
That book really does sound fantastic. I’m currently working on some photos I took while at Hillside, and I’ll post the link to the flickr page here when I’m done.
Miriam,
Farmed animal sanctuaries change peoples and non human lives everyday. I volunteer and write a blog for Animal Acres a farmed animal sanctuary in southern California and I’ve had nearly 4 people tell me that visiting the sanctuary, meeting the animals in person and talking with me about dairy production transformed them into becoming vegan. I can imagine that the people who run the tours and meet people all the time at the sanctuary have even more profound results than I do.
It is an amazing thing that happens when people visit the animals they were eating only the day before. The education is in the eye to eye contact from one animal to another animal. There is something there….there.
Sue,
You have to be writing…satire.
Deb…beautiful post.
Thank you.
Oh this sounds like a beautiful book. I love the idea of meeting the animals. It makes it….real, tangible. THIS is why I’m doing it. Not that I ever forget, but still, it would be wonderful.
One day a few years ago, I had the privilege of volunteering in the sanctuary to which Philip refers. It was shortly after I had turned vegan. If I hadn’t already been vegan, it would’ve changed me. I sensed that the affectionate people there–chickens, turkeys, pigs, goats, sheep, cows, horses–were delighted to have friendly human company.
Two difference-making activities that sanctuary has, I think, are educational programs for the public (children and adults) and fun holidays for humans and nonhumans to celebrate life together.
Where I would NOT want to see visitors hanging out with the residents is in sanctuaries for nonhuman people who are meant to live in the wild, such as elephants and primates.
If anyone would like to see my photos from Hillside, the flickr stream is here.
They are lovely. I like the black-and-white look. Every since individual is precious.
It’s so obvious they love one another, and get joy in snuggling close to one another (mother-and-child, sibling-and-sibling, friend-and-friend).
But of course!
Thanks Olivia! Glad you liked them. I was struck by how much the residents sought each other’s company, and how physically affectionate they were. I didn’t have to observe them for very long to see these behaviours, they were clearly behaving as they wanted to do, naturally. I don’t know what I expected before I went tbh – but I was very moved by their behaviour as it was clear evidence that they have rich emotional lives, family ties and friendships.