As much as I enjoyed receiving Rock Band from Shannon for our two year anniversary, my gift to her really brings a sense of warmness to me. I had a great deal of difficulty deciding what kind of gift she would enjoy, until I stumbled upon Farm Sanctuary. This is an organization that rescues farm animals from hazardous and abusive situations and allow them to live out their lives in peace. The more I read into it, the more I felt compelled to make a much deeper impact on these animals lives. I honestly believe that Veganism in its self is a form of activism but I do not think it is responsible for us to stop there.

I was able to embody this in my gift to Shannon, an adoption of a chicken from Farm Sanctuary. Today I received a package in the mail from Farm Sanctuary with picture of a very adorable hen named Jodi. She escaped from an egg farm and is currently living out her natural life at the California shelter. I hope if I’m ever in the state of California I will have the opportunity to visit the facility and see how much Jodi loves her new home. I’ve posted a picture of her to the right of this paragraph; let me apologize in advance for the poor quality of my cell phone camera. On a more disappointing note, when I first spread news of this effort the responses conveyed were of a great misunderstanding. Shannon’s mom asked if I at least got her flowers, she obviously thought it was some sort of joke. My father had a similar reaction, he actually busted out laughing and then for the first time, he made jokes about my Veganism. Not only was this irritating but it clearly shows how the mind set of the general public works, they do not see chickens as sentient beings, so it must be some sort of joke if one tries to save one. After all we are talking about one of the only species that when exploited as food is still called by its original name. Most animals are desensitized by words like “meat”, “beef”, “steak”, “veal”, etc. This just further proves how little people care about birds in general.

I know deep down that you cannot convince every one, but I will still continue my efforts to reach out to those willing to listen. After all if no one speaks up for Veganism then it will eventually die out, and for the animals sake, we cannot allow that to happen. On the bright side, I feel as though donating to this shelter is the most direct impact I have ever had on the well being of animals too often exploited.

P.S. Clicking the Google Ads on this site helps me fund this adoption.

Categories: Activism
Tags: Activism, animal rights, donation, farm sanctuary, gift, non profit, veganism