An Inspiring Video from the Saints at Edgar's Mission

Have you ever heard of Edgar's Mission? It's a wonderful farm sanctuary in Australia. They've been doing great work to help animals for years. More than 300 animals live at Edgar's Mission, which consists of 60 breathtaking acres in Victoria, Australia.

If you get a chance, check out Edgar's Mission's Website Here.

The video posted here shows volunteers with Edgar's Mission doing what they do best: Saving lives. They're saving the life of calf named Buddy. Buddy is indeed fortunate to be alive. He wouldn't be if it weren't for the heroic work of Edgar's Mission. I'm glad he made it. The world is a better place with Buddy in it.

Here's the story that Edgar's Mission posted on Facebook:

Yesterday evening, as the sun began to set the call came in- a calf had been sighted lying perilously close to traffic on the side of the highway. Reports told us the calf was unable to stand and was barely able to lift its head. Swinging in to action, our first hint of trouble came in the sight of flashing police lights and fast moving traffic, both of which caused our hearts to sink. Pulling our rescue vehicle to the curb, we caught our first glimpse of the bloodied and pitiful looking ‘Buddy’ who was caught not between a rock and a hard place but between a steep embankment and busy major highway. One bystander reported the calf had sustained two untreatable broken legs, however the full extent of his injuries was still unknown, although it was evident Buddy had fallen from a fast moving stock crate. Buddy was also much larger than we had anticipated. And if we needed any more to dampen our spirits, it soon came in the words, ‘The guy with a rifle is on the way.’ But we heard no fat lady singing and nor did Buddy, the fact that he had miraculously clung to life this long told us he wasn’t giving up without a fight. And neither would we. Pleading for a chance to save a life, the greatest lifeline Buddy could ever receive was thrown as our wish was granted. 

Thank you Edgar's Mission! You make the world a better place.

A Must-See Video: PIG VISION - The Journey of Two Brothers

This video should be mandatory viewing, especially among anyone that eats pork and other pig products. This is one more appalling chapter in a very, very long book full of atrocities that humans commit on a daily basis against animals. This video shows us two different paths that pigs can follow: the factory farm system, with all of its horrors and violence and murder, and the life of a pig at a loving rescue sanctuary.

Please watch it. Even if you think you know what's going to happen, the video will surprise you with its combination of beauty and tragedy.

And if you haven't already, please go vegan.

Words of Wisdom (with an inspiring video)

Below is a splendid quote from historian, author and activist Howard Zinn (1922-2010). To reinforce the sentiment expressed in the quote, I've also posted an uplifting video about the 2010 rescue of two very sick piglets, Chloe and Coco, by the Australian animal rights groups Uproar (Pig Rescue) and Animal LIberation Victoria. Uproar and ALV nursed these two beautiful beings back to good health, and they now lead happy lives at an Australian animal sanctuary, free from harm. Please read the quote and watch the video. You'll be glad you did.

"To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places--and there are so many--where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory."

- Howard Zinn

Be Kind to Animals - Always

This week is Be Kind to Animals Week. I just read a lovely - and very inspirational - story about Yvonne Wall (right), who runs a horse sanctuary in California called Forever Free Horse Rescue (check out their wonderful website if you get a chance). The story (click here to read it) talks about Yvonne's tireless efforts to help abused, abandoned and neglected horses. She gives them a loving home where they feel both safe and wanted, and where they form bonds with each other and with compassionate people.

These stories are so important because we're inundated, day in and day out, with tragic stories about the harsh and violent treatment of animals in factory farms, slaughterhouses, laboratories, fur manufacturing facilities, hunting grounds and countless other places where harm and death run rampant. It is so important for us to remind ourselves that there are also good people in this world trying to make a difference. People like Yvonne Wall, who gives and gives and gives of herself. Her reward, as she tells it in the wonderful video that goes with the story, is to make a difference in the lives of these beautiful beings. 

People like Yvonne deserve our thanks and inspire us to do more. Those of us who are passionate about animal rights hold out hope that one day, this is what all interaction between human and animals will look like. 

My Column in the Waterloo Region Record

Hello Blog Pals,

Today my column on Animal Sanctuaries in Canada ran in The Record. I'm reposting it here. I hope you enjoy it!

Andrew

Christmas is a time to think of others, including animals

• By Andrew Hunt
• The Waterloo Region Record

Opinion columnists, including yours truly, often focus on the negative.

Wars overseas, battles over WikiLeaks, political strife, economic uncertainty and threats of terrorism have recently been among the topics of contention on editorial pages.

Occasionally, a column will appear that reminds us of the splendid work being done by Canadian volunteers. In this Christmas season, men and women have donated generously to charities or worked long hours to help make life a little better for those less fortunate. In a few cases, intrepid souls have even journeyed to trouble spots like Haiti to do what they can to help.

These Canadians deserve our praise and thanks. But it seems to me that of all the unsung heroes, the ones thanked the least are those helping animals. Whether they volunteer at shelters or adopt animals in need of homes, countless Canadians have shown — over and over — that ours is a society that cares about animals.

Some of the most remarkable work is happening in so-called animal sanctuaries, which provide safe havens where animals can live healthy and happy lives.

Animal sanctuaries are all over Canada. Each sanctuary has its own focus. For example, right here in our midst, the Donkey Sanctuary of Canada, located near Guelph, offers an idyllic atmosphere for donkeys.

Why donkeys? The sanctuary’s website explains: “Donkeys are often abused and neglected, and, once no longer wanted, placed into an equine auction. Then, if a buyer is not available at the moment of sale, the animal is sold to a slaughterhouse.”

The Donkey Sanctuary has been a success story, thanks to its founders, Sandra and David Pady, as well as the kind folks who volunteer or agree to sponsor donkeys through contributions. The donkeys are not only given a second chance, but they get to meet the many visitors to the farm – men, women and especially children who go to the sanctuary on a regular basis.

This is but one example. There are so many others. Here in Ontario alone, we have the Ferret Aid Society, bird sanctuaries (Freedom Flights, Cherished Wings, Parrot Adopt and Second Flight), Rabbit Rescue of Ontario and Trails End Rabbit Refuge and various wildlife sanctuaries, not to mention safe havens for dogs, cats and other companion animals.

Right in our own community, there is an organization dedicated to sheltering turtles (Turtle Haven) and we are blessed with the extraordinary Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory (formerly known as Wings of Paradise).

Support is essential to the survival of these sanctuaries. Donations are especially welcome, though some may also need volunteers.

Up in the Arthur/Mount Forest area, the Ruby Ranch Pig Sanctuary, situated on 12 acres of land, is home to some lively personalities. Seeing these pigs in action is to witness these amazing animals as they are meant to live. They frolic outdoors, make friends with other pigs and humans, and most importantly, they live healthy lives, full of love.

Compare this to the millions of pigs born into dark and cold enclosed spaces, mutilated by having their tails cut and castrated if they’re males, and living short lives, packed together by the thousands before meeting a violent end.

Places like Ruby Ranch, and all of the other animal sanctuaries across Canada, provide us with hopeful stories that have happy endings. They give us a glimpse of how animals and human beings are meant to interact. The people who run them do so with few resources and rarely do they get praised or thanked. Doing whatever you can to help them is a wonderful way of giving back.

Andrew Hunt is an associate professor of history at the University of Waterloo.

Stories of Hope (Dec. 5): In Praise of Animal Sanctuaries

There are so many animal sanctuaries I could single out here. These are safe havens for animals, run by people who love them (usually vegans or vegetarians), where all kinds of living beings - pigs and chickens, dogs and cats, bunnies and cows - can live full and peaceful lives, without the threat of being killed. Which one to praise? I picked the wonderful folks at the Ruby Ranch Pig Sanctuary, located right here in Ontario, for all the wonderful work they do to help pigs in all shapes and sizes. If you get a chance, have a look at their Website. The pigs who live at Ruby Ranch enjoy a wonderful quality of life - the way all pigs are meant to live - and the Video I've posted here shows a few of them outside, enjoying the sunshine and just "hanging out" with compassionate humans.

There are so many other animal sanctuaries that do wonderful work that I could not possibly hope to single out all of them on this Blog. Suffice it to say that if you Google "animal sanctuary" or "animal sanctuaries," you'll get a list of these wonderful places in your area. Help them out, if you can. I plan to donate later this month as a Christmas gift to the pigs. Your help - any help - will not only improve the lives of these animals, it will underwrite the kind folks who work so hard, with no real fanfare or applause, and often with the tightest of shoestring budgets. They're the unsung heroes and heroines of our society. But I think nearly all of these volunteers would be the first to say that it is not they who are blessing the animals - it is the animals that are blessing us.

An Uplifting Photograph is Worth a Thousand Words

I love this photograph from The Los Angeles Times of a happy Yorkshire pig named Lisa, chilling out with human friend Sansa Collins, who is the resident manager at Sanctuary One, one of countless animal sanctuaries across North America dedicated to giving abused, neglected and homeless domesticated animals a loving home. Sanctuary One is located in Applegate Valley, Oregon. This picture is from May 17. This is how human beings and animals were meant to be - friends, living side by side in an atmosphere of mutual respect.

What they say is right: A wonderful photograph truly is worth a thousand words.