College Students Devote their Spring Break to Caring for Abused Farm Animals
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Action speaks louder than words
Thirteen students from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio are skipping the usual warm weather, alcohol-fueled Spring Break destinations in order to spend their vacation week caring for abused farm animals— who were rescued from the very same abusive conditions that the statewide ballot measure seeks to ban— at the Watkins Glen, NY-based shelter of Farm Sanctuary, the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization. As part of the Alternative Spring Break Program, the students will arrive at the farm this Saturday, February 27, in the midst of a record-breaking blizzard that has blanketed the Northeast with several feet of snow, and will live and work on the farm through March 6 according to a press release given by Meredith Turner, Media Relations Specialist for Farms Sanctuary.
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress
can be judged by the way its animals are treated
~ Mohandas Gandhi ~
A SHOCKING "MUST SEE" VIDEO
What is Farm Sanctuary?
It is an organization founded in 1986 that works to end cruelty to farm animals and promotes compassionate living through rescue, education and advocacy. They envision a world where the violence that agribusiness inflicts upon people, animals and the environment has ended, and where instead we exercise values of compassion. Currently, Farm Sanctuary operates two shelters — a 175-acre farm in upstate New York and a 300-acre farm in northern California. Their shelters rescue, rehabilitate and provide lifelong care for hundreds of animals who have been rescued from stockyards, factory farms, and slaughterhouses. There, the animals are given all the care and love needed to recover from a lifetime of abuse and neglect. All of the animals have nourishing food, spacious, clean barns, and acres of green, sunny pastures in which to roam in. Farm tours are available where visitors will see once tortured animals living in the comfortable environment that God intended for them to live in. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE visit their website and learn more of the abuses that our beloved animals suffer at the hands of greedy agriculture food giants. At www.farmsanctuary.org you will see many success stories and be able to watch videos of once mistreated animals getting the love and care they so desperately needed. You can take a virtual tour and also learn of what you as a consumer and a human being can do to end the ruthless, barbaric and brutal treatment of factory farm animals.
HERE COMES THE SUN
In conclusion
In doing research for this hub, I watched numerous videos of animal abuses in factory farms and slaughterhouses. I also read every word on the website www.farmsanctuary.org . As a responsible adult who loves and adores animals, I have made a decision to stop eating meat and dairy products. Not because I think it is wrong for humans to eat meat products, but because I will not condone the brutal treatment of animals for profit or for any reason. I hope everyone who reads this hub will join the fight to stop factory farms and the mistreatment of animals all across America, and especially Ohio.
I would like to end with a newspaper article I read close to a month ago. It is not about factory farms but it is certainly an animal cruelty issue. When I read this in the Columbus Dispatch I became very weak and thought I might actually faint. I find it so hard to accept that some human beings are void of common decency, compassion and love. The rose colored glasses that I have worn for most of my life, are now sadly being replaced with bifocals.
7 NEGLECTED HORSES DEAD, 31 RESCUED; CHARGES EXPECTED
Oak Harbor, Ohio (AP) - A farm where authorities discovered 38 malnourished horses had a history of complaints, and the owner received warnings about the horses' care, a humane officer said.
Acting on a tip, authorities rescued 31 of the emaciated horses over the weekend from a farm near Oak Harbor and took them to the Sandusky County fairgrounds, where dozens of humane officials and volunteers gave the animals food and blankets.
One of the Arabian horses was dead by the time authorities got to the farm. Six others were in such poor shape that they were euthanized.
Authorities were investigating yesterday and did not release the name of the farm or the horses' owner.
Nancy Silva, a humane officer in Ottawa County, said she had visited the farm at least six times over several years, responding to complaints about the horses' care. Some were getting loose; one got stuck in a gate, she said. Silva said the cruelty in the case strikes her as intentional.
The owner probably will face animal cruelty charges, a misdemeanor punishable by 90 days in jail and a $750 fine on each charge, officials said.
"The person was not feeding them, not watering them, not allowing them to be combed," said Silva.
It will be weeks before the horses can be moved from the barn, and even longer before they can be adopted. "These horses are very unhealthy," said a member of the Arabian Horse Club who volunteered to care for the horses at the fairgrounds. They are very thin, very underfed, probably haven't had veterinary care in a long time, and they are wormy, meaning they have internal worms.
A healthy adult Arabian horse should weigh 800 to 1,200 pounds. The rescued horses weigh between 400 and 600 pounds. (Columbus Dispatch)
I dedicate this hub to the 7 neglected horses who died mercilessly at the hands of their evil, cowardly, nameless owners. May heaven receive you with open arms and may your wretched owners rot in the same hell that they provided you with.
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daughterson-the videos made me cry too. I am just so thankful for farm sanctuary-a place that does rescue some of these poor animals. I hope that others with vast lands will follow in their footsteps. I had heard about factory farms, but as they say, a picture is worth a 1000 words. For me to stop eating meat in protest, you know that I was deeply affected. I have have always been a meat eater. Animals are living, breathing, feeling creatures with emotion and we so called humans have no right to torture them. Thank you so much for reading and spread the word to your friends about these factory farms. Lisa
Thanks, I think, for bringing this to my attention. I was unaware of the caging of pigs and tossing of chickens in the United States of America. Once again, profit chosen ahead of progress. Don't have the courage to watch that second video, but I may later. Guess I'll have to pass up that bologne sandwich and chicken pot pie now, huh? Thanks again.
troubled- the second video is the positive one of animals being rescued. And it is shorter. Thanks for reading.
OK, thanks.
Gobble Gobble
Oink Oink
Moo Moo
Baaaaaa
Quack Quack
It would be hard for me to give up milk and cheese.
troubled- yes goofy, it is hard for me as well, but we can get the milk and cheese from real farmers, like the Amish in plain city. Its not that far and the drive will do us some good.
My faith is restored in mankind which is often anything but kind when I read of such caring young people. If every person in the U.S. spent two hours a week helping out a senior citizen, or rescuing a distressed animal or taking a few dollars and donating them to someone who can, then we would ss so much improvement in society at large. I do believe we get stars in our crowns when we reach heaven and sadly some will be wearing a tin can version of a starless
crown for eternity...even though they were righteous. lovely Hub. ~~~MFB III
MFB- Thank you for stopping by and reading. I always enjoy your comments. I was also very touched by the selfless act of the young students wanting to do something positive for spring break instead of destructive. I think our young people "get it". And I agree that if everyone would just spend a couple of hours a week helping something or someone less fortunate our society would improve greatly. Shame on the people wearing the tin can version of a crown. I love that analogy. You always have a unique way of stating things. Thank you again for your comment, it is much appreciated.
But why???? Why keep animals if you don't like them and if you are not willing to give them the necessary time? And bless those kids who gave up their time for the sake of innocent creatures..
De Greek- Thank you so much for reading and stopping by to comment. I know, it is hard for good people such as yourself to understand. It makes absolutely no sense. In the cases of factory farms, it is a matter of mass production of meats, eggs, milk etc. The demad for these products from unknowing consumers such as myself is what perpetuates the need for these horrific conditions. The factory farmers dont see the animals as living, breathing, feeling creatures from God. They see them as money in their pockets. Thats all. So to get their attention and stop this madness we need to include farm animals in our animal welfare act. and enforce strick laws that include farm animals in animal cruelty statutes and laws. The easiest thing to start with is to not buy the mass produced products. If we all quit buying from them, they are out of business. But this has to be a group effort starting with each individual person taking a stance for what is right.
I have no real clue as to why an individual would willingly own an animal if they are only going to mistreat it. I conclude that in the psyche of these people they are psychopathic and evil. This is my guess.
Yes, bless those students. I admire them. Thank you for caring.
Wonderful sad Hub. I really found this such a compassionate and feeling piece of writing. The treatment of animals is so often brutal and does not say much for our understanding as people. But guess if we an treat people as badly as we sometimes do it is not too surprising that we treat other animals so badly also. But it's not OK at all to treat our fellow animals of whatever species like that.
Thanks to you for highlighting the issues and for telling the story of those wonderful students.
Love and peace
Tony
Tonymac-Thank you so much for stopping by to read and for leaving your heartfelt comment. You make a good point, that we treat fellow humans horrible so why would we treat another species of animal any different. No, youre right, it is not ok to treat any living creature badly. I am so ashamed that I have not been aware of so many things in my life. I guess I just could never even think that such cruelty exists in human beings toward anything. I am shocked and horrified at the things I have been discovering. I cannot even watch the news anymore. It makes me physically ill. I only get information through press releases in my office. Those can be traumatic enough. Your comments always mean so much to me because I know what a loving, caring, peaceful man you are. Qualities that I admire so much. Thank you again. Peace and Love to you, always.............Lisa
Animal protein is needed for our body of course up to certain age. However killing of animal for meat is sad.
H P Roychoudhury- Thank you for reading. I was never against eating meat until I discovered the way these factory farms were abusing and actually torturing the animals. I certainly never thought eating eggs, milk, or cheese would be harmful to animals until i watched the videos. If one could get the products at a farm that respects the animals and doesn't torture them then cheese, milk, butter, eggs etc. would be fine. We have become an utterly inhumane society in America and it must be stopped by us the consumers. If we don't buy their products, they are out of business. Thank you for your comment, it is much appreciated.
Some super markets do have Amish products -- I always look for Amish chicken, and now there are other free range, grain fed chicken and eggs available. If more people could afford to buy these products (they do cost a little more) it would have an affect. Food is kept cheap but at what a price!!!!!!
We eat it and much of it isn't even good for us any more.
Yes, the amount of animal products the average American consumes far exceeds any healthy requirements and the kind of products raised in these dastardly conditions, are surely no better for the humans who consume them than they were for the animals whose lives were virtually denied to produce them. I'm not a vegetarian, but I'm becoming more and more mederate in the amount of animal products I use and more willing to pay the extra to get products from animals raised in healthful conditions for those I do consume.
It should also be realized that these animal-factories which now dominate the current agribusiness have driven out the majority of old-fashioned farmers and ranchers who did provide their animals with more normal life-cycles. Big producers who use these inhumane methods so far out-produce and at such a fraction of the cost of the small farmer, the small farmers simply can't compete. The Amish and Mennonite people practice the humane methods in farming because it is their ethics and their entire life style is virutally self-reliant. They sell their products as part of a traditional cycle in which they sell the excess of their products abd contribute to the community's well-being by doing so. But they are not out to make huge profits and if they were unable to sell their excess, they would simply be able to cut production and have abundance for their own needs.
Perhaps if people who do eat animal products would deliberately choose the products of the few farmers who do still persist in humane practices, the others would have to either change or desist.
Of course - legislation against the cruelty would be a gigantic first step.
Certainly the health issues our people face are a strong indication of the unhealthy diets of our people and a good reason for strong legislation to prevent it at the level of unhealthy animal production.
It is certainly not an isolated problem. Its effects reach out and over the whole population and take a toll in health and in health costs.d
The disregard for life - animals and human - breeds more and more disregard for it. If animals can be regarded as so much "raw material" and debris in the production of food, what's to stop the trend till humans are also "farmed" for whatever products can be commercially used in medicine and in any other areas? In fact, surely some of the crimes one hears of reek of that in ways. This cruelty to animals is only possible by de-sensitizing people's compassion and respect for LIFE. If compassion and respect for life can wither enough to take the attitude that animals' lives don't matter - why expect it to somehow stop there?
Thank goodness for places like Farm Sanctuary throughout the world and the people who get involved and make such a contribution to the animals rehabilitation. Thanks for the hub!
Miss Nellie- You bring up so many good points that I just wouldn't have room here to comment. Glad you mentioned humans being farmed and the desensitizing of compassion. Geez, You really get it!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for commenting. Your wisdom and intelligence is always appreciated.
Property-Invest- Thank you for stopping by to read and comment. I'm so glad that you appreciate Farm Sanctuary as I do. People like you mean everything to me.
Farm animals have rights too!! Its horrible the way these animals are treated! I grew up on a farm, and thankfully saw little abuse... Baby pigs are the sweetest little animals you have ever seen! I stopped eating meat, except chicken, a long time ago.
Another thing about the factory farms, the animals are unhealthy and they need antibiotics all the time. Then we eat the meat and we wonder why we are getting cancer? Antibiotics strip your system and kill off the natural bacteria of your IMMUNE SYSTEM!
We need to start looking at the humane way other countries farm and listen and learn. And by the way, I would pay extra for meat HUMANNALLY produced!
OMG...that first video has me so upset! I HATE veal farmers! I would not eat veal or lamb if someone paid me a million dollars, and I am not kidding!
Baby calves are the sweetest little guys you could ever imagine. It was my job to teach them to drink milk replacer out of a bucket, because guess who gets the milk meant for the calf? At first the poor little things did not know what the heck to do, and inhaled milk, and this can lead to death because they get pneomonia. Luckliy, I had some time to teach them to drink out of the bucket so they would not have this problem, but there are lots of other farmers that I saw who were very mean with the calves and the poor little things died. Its very heart breaking, if people only knew what goes on!
My family got out of the dairy business a long time ago, and I am happy about that! At the farm where I live now, none of the animals are here to be eaten, and thats a good thing, believe me!
Back again! Nellie is right! The Amish are very humane with their animals. They raise free ranage chickens that are my main meat source, and we can even get these Amish chickens in the local grocery stores now, because the demand for it was there. These chicken run around outside and have a natural life until they are processed for meat. It does not bother me to eat a bird as much as it does a mammal. I think its inhumane to eat mammals, no matter what.
We could stop all this animal abuse tomorrow if we all just stick together and VOTE with our $$$$!
money talks, more than anything else.
Thank you for this hub...it may have saved many animals from the nightmare of abuse!
Here I am again!!
Can't help it! I love all my animals so much...I cannot imagine someone being cruel to them. They are so loving and INNOCENT! Animal abuse is just as evil as child abuse. Did you know that there is a law that you cannot kill one pig in front of another? That's how intelligent pigs are.
I live in an area that has one of the largest dairies in the country! It is HUGE! I think they milk something like 100,000 cows twice a day.
Let me tell you what happens to the people who live around these mega farms.
Their wells will be dry within 5 years, do you know how much water a cow drinks daily? Alot! The water demands of even a small dairy are enormous. These mega farms need more water than you can even imagine, and where will it all come from and will the water levels ever return to normal once the mega farm relocates?
Another thing, you have trucks, large dump trucks and semi trucks coming and going 24 hours a day...24/7 to fulfill the needs and haul away the milk of these mega dairies. Would you want to live next to one? The people that do are going to sue and I don't blame them at all.
Then we have the smell and odor of all these cows. Now, there is nothing wrong with a normal dairy farm, thats what the country is for....however these mega farms also have mega manure, and of course mega chemicals to spray for all those flys and it just goes on and on.
Mega farms do not provide employment for Americans, they hire mostly Mexicans at minimum wage. There is no way a mega farm is a benefit to the people around it.
Once the mega farm rapes one area they will simply pick up and move on to the next area. Just pray like heck that it is not anywhere near where you live!
Magnoliazz- You are the most amazing woman that I think I have ever encountered. I think you are my long lost twin. We both have the same raging passion for animals and both experienced some of the same things as I mentioned awhile ago on one of your hubs. You said it exactly right on all points. The dairy farms, oh Geez. I'm about to do a hub on what happened here in Ohio, Plain City. Look up the video that made National news. You will be so mad that I almost don't want you to see it. I was at the press conference and have been writing about it in the paper. This is the worst I have seen and same for many others. Maybe you shouldn't see it. Thank you for stopping by and I always love your comments. I wish everyone thought as you do. Sad so sad. What in the hell is wrong with people? Sadly, Ohio is mostly farm and agriculture. We are one of the few states that dont make it a felony to harm animals and farm animals are considered property but a good thing happened out of the bad situation on the dairy farm. It will be my next hub. Stay tuned!!!! Love, love, love to you.
Very timely in light of the new video detailing abuses at Conklin Dairy Farm. Keep pursuing your passions because they do make a difference in the world.
I like that quotation by Gandhi. Our country isn't very great, huh?
I feel so sad for those horses, but I'm glad that they saved so many of them. And those college kids rock! I wish I had been that cool when I was in college.
Thanks for the happy video! I enjoyed this hub, even if parts of it made me sad, because I got to see the happy pigs and ducks and other animals just walking around free to do whatever they wanted. They look so happy to be away from their evil previous owners. :)
~AC
Im also college student.But Im different from others
toyboyclip- thank you for reading. I am happy that you are in college but I don't understand. How are you different from others?
@lisadpreston...I grew up on a mostly crop farm, where the few animals we did raise were always treated with kindness and dignity by my father, who cared. Just recently I was exposed to the cruelness of Farm Factories, where animals are generally abused and kept in crowded, filthy conditions. It horrified me, and I applaud your work to change people's attitude toward our animal friends.
@jack_the_writer...I also viewed the Conklin Dairy Farm video. Absolutely horrific!! I had no idea that Farm Factories were Factories for the Abuse of Animals until I saw that.
As a former newspaper reporter, I took time to report this abuse in several articles I wrote for Internet sites. It was too much to ignore.
@lisadpreston...I was raised on a mostly crop farm, but the few animals we did have were treated with kindness and dignity by my father, who cared for them. I just recently learned about Farm Factories, and as an Ohioan read the Conklin Dairy Farm story from Plain City, Ohio. The video was horrific. I had no idea!
As a former newspaper reporter in my home area now writing Internet articles on several sites, I took the time to write about this abuse at Conklin to help others get the news and understand what goes on at Farm Factories where animals are generally abused and kept in crowded, filthy conditions. I just don't get it -- why people treat animals so badly -- except to guess that they themselves were abused, which is no excuse whatsoever, but at least gives a clue. And it's true that many, many animals living in homes where abuse is normal, are also abused.
Thanks to you, as a fellow Ohioan and human being who cares, for the work you are doing by the power of the pen!
Great hub, looking forward to come back and fascinted by your posts. Thank you.
Ron from http://www.intervalstraining.net
hiit- Thank you for reading and commenting. I loved your site on training. Now if I could muster up the commitment to do it.
Hello Lisa,
A coward I am for not watching the video ! Yet ! I will do,soon. I think those students are to be admired,not only there,but all over the planet the students seem to be loaded with empathy. I am struck by the very caring and interesting comments from your readers,gives a little hope! Thank you Lisa for highlighting this issue. P.S I buy soya based (pretend)sausages & Bacon from various health shops-I suspect this has other issues attached to it ? Luckily in France my neighbours are forever giving fresh and wonderful grown things that sometimes we have to guess what they are ! jandee
Conscience clear,
read and sickened by the brutishness of these so called humans. Reminds me of something years ago.
Chickens were slaughtered by young Women in similiar factories /warehouses. Chicken held up by feet and young Woman would cut head off with scissors. Place : Jersey ,Channel Island-Millionaire Paradise. I ran out in horror and jumped in company wagon and in agitation smashed it into the granite wall/gates. I was a driver there and had happened into the horrific scene by accident,
jandee
Barbsbitsnpieces- Thank you for reading and commenting. It's good to see a fellow Ohioan and reporter on the right bandwagon!
Jandee- Thanks for reading and watching. It is disturbing to say the least to see these things. I am so sorry for your experience. You must have been horrified. Thank you for your concern and passion toward our precious animals.
daughterson Level 1 Commenter 2 years ago
The second video brought me to tears after watching the first video. I love animals and it was hard to imagine that this is how our meat is produced or even our eggs. I always try to by free range eggs -- but what does that mean. I am so sad and so ashamed that I buy meat so produced. If it was up to me I would never ever buy meat again. I buy Amish chicken in hopes that they live a good life. This is so pathetic. I am still crying. Animals should at least have a life before we kill them, and with so little honor.