Subscribe Today Proceeds from the
magazine support the
animals at the sanctuary
and No More Homeless Pets
Archives Many of our past editions
are available in .PDF format
Not Following the Herd
Author and sanctuary founder fights for farm animals
Many animal rights organizations lobby and campaign on behalf of animals who live and die in factory farms. Farm Sanctuary does more it's a home for those who are rescued.
Gene Baur is the founder and president of Farm Sanctuary. His new book, Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food, describes the two refuges he now runs in New York and California, how the organization grew out of other social causes he'd been involved in, some of the amazing rescues and transformations of the animals, and how we can all bring an end to the terrible cruelties of factory farms.
Best Friends: People often think that the animal rights world is closely allied with liberal politics, and you began as a poster person for that stereotype, working with Ralph Nader, living out of a Volkswagen bus, traveling with the Grateful Dead, and being involved in all manner of left-wing causes.
Gene Baur: The irony is that I grew up in a very conservative Catholic family. I went to Catholic school and then to a Jesuit high school. And some of the basic values of "Do unto others," the Golden Rule, and "Thou shalt not kill" all stuck deep inside of me. But I didn't feel that some of those institutions were really doing what their stated purpose should be.
In our neighborhood, there were refugees from the wars in El Salvador and Nicaragua. Crime was rampant. I'd grown up with the conservative viewpoint that people should take personal responsibility. But I also understood the difficulty these refugees had, being uprooted from their countries and trying to make the best of it in L.A. And I started moving into progressive causes.
My undergraduate degree is in sociology, and the more I learned about the conditions that bring about certain behaviors, the more I started leaning toward the left. I came to see that living responsibly means living on the planet in a way that is not wrecking it. But some business interests that speak about personal responsibility don't act accordingly. They exploit resources and profit from them without respecting the land or the animals or other people.
Want to read more of this story... Become a subscriber. Click here to subscribe.
To advertise in the magazine, contact:
Advertising Sales, Best Friends Magazine
Michelle Foster (323) 493-5277
Classified Advertising
Brenda Canterbury (435) 644-3965 X4664
Advertising Contracts FAX: (435) 644-2266
Membership questions? Contact Mailings@bestfriends.org or 435-644-2001 ext 4801. Thank you!
