VINE Sancuary - Vegan Is the Next Evolution
May 2018
One day, a cow jumped over a beef farm fence to birth a calf in the forest, far from the grasping hands of humans. She and her son then found their way to a friendly person who conveyed them to a sanctuary.
Jan...
One day, the cow now called Jan made a fateful leap over a fence and into
what must have felt like another world. Over on Facebook, many people have
been moved by a post in which Cheryl wonders what Jan might be thinking in
this photo, so it seems to be a good time to tell Jan’s story and see what
we can learn from it.
As it happens, Jan plays a prominent role in the contribution of VINE
co-founder pattrice jones to a recent anthology concerning animals and
capitalism. Here’s how pattrice introduces Jan in that chapter:
One day, a cow jumped over a beef farm fence to birth a
calf in the forest, far from the grasping hands of humans. She and her son
then found their way to a friendly person who conveyed them to a sanctuary.
The mother’s fierceness in protecting her son from perceived threats made
them a poor match for a sanctuary offering tours to the public, and so they
both came to VINE Sanctuary, where they eventually joined the hardy herd in
our back pasture. The cows in that community organize their own affairs as
they see fit. They often choose to sleep in the forest rather than in the
barn and to drink from a brook or pond rather than water troughs. Other than
eyeballing everybody twice each day, just to ensure that nobody is ill or
injured in any way, sanctuary staff stay out of the way.
Jan and her calf Justin have flourished in that setting. As Justin has grown
up into a sweet-tempered young adult with a fondness for bird-watching, Jan
has made friends with cows her own age. She no longer glares and prepares to
charge any person who might dare to look too lingeringly at her son, but she
still becomes visibly wary when strangers appear.
I’ve endured more than a few uncomfortable moments under the searchlight of
Jan’s gaze, hoping she will see that she need not charge at me to protect
herself or her son. At such moments, it seems to me that Jan is both mad and
mystified, angered and confused by what she has seen people do to cows. In
Jan’s expression when she looks at people, even when she is comparatively
relaxed, I perceive a combination of challenge and question, as if she is
prepared to fight an enemy she cannot fathom.
In the months since that was written, Jan has continued to develop
relationships within the community of cows in the back pasture. Her son
Justin has reached adulthood himself and now stands taller than his mother.
He looks out for her as often as she looks out for him.
Here are some things we can learn from Jan:
Let’s take them one at a time.
Animals are Active.
Every day, in a multiplicity of ways, nonhuman animals resist their
oppression and exploitation by humans. They fight back. They run away. They
disregard human-constructed borders, and they have not ceded to human beings
the right to make the rules. Considered property themselves, they literally
trample all over our so-called “property rights” whenever they get the
opportunity.
Therefore we should recognize animals as the true leaders of the animal
liberation movement, seeing ourselves as their allies rather than their
heroes. This is important for two reasons: First, as the late ecofeminist
scholar and activist Marti Kheel argued, the “heroic ethic” in which people
“save the planet” reproduces the very human-centered way of thinking that
menaces the planet and our fellow inhabitants. Next, if we think of
ourselves as the center of the animal liberation movement, we might forget
to ask ourselves what animals themselves might want us to do or not do.
Animals are Individuals
Fierce and serious Jan is very different than her sometimes playful
bird-watching son and different again from her friends Princess and Luna.
Like many groups of friends, Jan, Luna, and Princess do share some
characteristics, such as being strong-willed and liking to spend quiet time
by themselves in the woods. In the latter they are different from their more
gregarious herd-mates Maizey and Poncho, who are also strong-willed but are
more high-spirited and sociable. Noticing these differences in personality
helps us remember not to stereotype animals or project our ideas onto them.
We hope that makes us less likely to make any assumptions about animals (or
what they might want) without paying close attention to what they might be
telling us.
Jan with Justin when he was a calf
Animals are not Objects
While Jan does seem to worry about what people might do, Jan doesn’t care at
all what people think about her looks. Like girls and women in a sexist
society, who are often treated as if their worth is determined by whether or
not they are considered attractive by boys and men, animals in our
speciesist society often are reduced to their physical appearance. Put on
display at dog shows and “livestock” fairs, many nonhuman animals are
literally judged by their looks. Even vegans sometimes do this. Again and
again on Facebook, we have posted a photo of a sanctuary resident along with
a caption concerning their personality, history, or role in our
multi-species community only to get a stream of comments like “handsome
boy!” and “beautiful girl!” That brings us to another thing we can learn
from Jan’s story…
Adult Animals are… Adults
When sanctuary co-founders Miriam Jones and pattrice jones first began to do
animal advocacy work, they looked to established sanctuaries for advice.
When advised by Karen Davis at United Poultry Concerns to avoid referring to
adult animals with juvenile terms such as “boy” or “girl,” that made perfect
sense to them. Treating adults as if they were minors is one way that human
beings signal disrespect. Thus, it has always been our organizational policy
to demonstrate respect for adult animals by not talking about them as if
they were “babies.”
Because that early advice did seem so basic and sensible, we’ve been
surprised by how much push-back we’ve gotten about this over the years. Even
animal advocates sometimes bristle when asked to rethink the habit of
referring to adult animals as “babies.” We’re so used to referring to
beloved animals as if they were juveniles, even when they are the equivalent
of our elders. It’s so easy to slip up and do this! But, besides being
accidentally disrespectful, this may make us more likely to think of animals
as passive objects for whom we can be heroes and therefore disregard their
opinions when deciding what to do on their behalf. Here at VINE, Jan helps
remind us not to do that.
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