Episode 9

Humane Education with Anna Boarini

Published on: 9th October, 2022

In part 1 of a 3 part series on humane education, VINE's own Anna Boarini sits down to talk with pattrice jones about different ways parents and teachers can bring humane education to their communities, how engaging with children can inspire your own activism, and the duck olympics.

This one is not to be missed.

Transcript
pattrice jones:

Is there a wellspring of empathy and creativity that we

pattrice jones:

could tap into in order to co-create a more equitable and peaceful world

pattrice jones:

for ourselves and non-human animals?

pattrice jones:

Our guest today on in context thinks there might be.

pattrice jones:

I'm pattrice jones, and I'm zooming to you from the grounds of Vine Sanctuary

pattrice jones:

and LGBTQ led refuge for farmed animals that works for social and environmental

pattrice jones:

justice as well as animal liberation.

pattrice jones:

My guest today is Anna Boarini, who is the Humane Education

pattrice jones:

Coordinator at Vine Sanctuary.

pattrice jones:

Because the topic today is humane education.

pattrice jones:

I'm thinking about a little lamb called Lucky, who came to the sanctuary.

pattrice jones:

Only a couple of months ago and the day that she came and for several days after

pattrice jones:

she came, no one could get any work done because her face was so unnaturally cute.

pattrice jones:

Every lamb is cute, but this lamb, this lamb has such a perfectly cute face that

pattrice jones:

everyone was staring at her instead of doing their work just to try and figure

pattrice jones:

out how is it so cute the way she chews?

pattrice jones:

Of course, as a very young animal who had just come to the sanctuary

pattrice jones:

with her family, she was initially really timid and most of the time

pattrice jones:

just stayed really close to her mother and even hid behind her mother.

pattrice jones:

But in the week since Lucky has felt more comfortable within the safety of

pattrice jones:

the sanctuary, and that has allowed her curiosity to emerge and her wish

pattrice jones:

to get to know others, including others who are very different than she is.

pattrice jones:

So since VINE's Humane Education Program aims to create the same kind

pattrice jones:

of situation for children, that's why Lucky's gonna be on my mind as

pattrice jones:

I'm talking with Anna Boarini, the animal care team member and humane

pattrice jones:

education coordinator at Vine Sanctuary.

pattrice jones:

Anna, thank you so much for talking to me at a time when you normally

pattrice jones:

would be doing other things.

Anna Boarini:

Oh, you're welcome, pattrice.

Anna Boarini:

Thanks so much for having me

pattrice jones:

Now, VINE Sanctuary has two different humane education

pattrice jones:

programs, Pastor Pals, which is an onsite program for local children and

pattrice jones:

youth, and Barnard Buddies, which is a virtual program that you initiated.

pattrice jones:

And that anybody anywhere in the world can sign up to join.

pattrice jones:

So can you tell our listeners and watchers about that?

Anna Boarini:

So, Barnard Buddies started in, was it 2018?

Anna Boarini:

Yeah.

Anna Boarini:

Cause that was the year I started.

Anna Boarini:

And it's a program where classrooms, Girl Scout troops, homeschooling

Anna Boarini:

kiddos, Become buddies with one of the animals at the sanctuary, and through

Anna Boarini:

that relationship that they build with the animal whoever that might be like

Anna Boarini:

lucky this year is one of our buddies.

Anna Boarini:

They learn about the sanctuary, they learn about their buddy, and they

Anna Boarini:

also learn about topics like climate change or food, how animals communicate

Anna Boarini:

with each other, how we communicate with each other and that it runs

Anna Boarini:

the full length of the school year.

Anna Boarini:

So kids get a really great opportunity to, to learn and be

Anna Boarini:

creative throughout the year.

pattrice jones:

So the way this works is that, say, a classroom or

pattrice jones:

perhaps a homeschooling pod or a Girl scout troop adopts an animal at the

pattrice jones:

sanctuary who will then be their buddy for the whole school year, right?

pattrice jones:

And then what, once every month they get a humane education lesson from you,

pattrice jones:

as well as an update on their buddy.

Anna Boarini:

So every month they get an update on their buddy.

Anna Boarini:

That includes photos and videos, stories about what their buddy's doing.

Anna Boarini:

They also learn about different members of the sanctuary.

Anna Boarini:

We kind of start with the families or best friends of their buddy and then move out

Anna Boarini:

from there and they get to meet others.

Anna Boarini:

And then they also get a human education lesson.

Anna Boarini:

So, This month is their first month and they're just meeting their buddies.

Anna Boarini:

And the, the lesson is all about welcoming everyone.

Anna Boarini:

But also where did their buddy come from?

Anna Boarini:

Because, you know, cows aren't native to the United States or North America.

Anna Boarini:

But they came over during colonization and we talk about where their buddy came from.

Anna Boarini:

We talk about who they descended from and why they're here now.

Anna Boarini:

And this is all done in an age appropriate way.

Anna Boarini:

But it's really interesting to find out, you know, pigs didn't come to the

Anna Boarini:

United States until the 15 hundreds, and the kiddos get to learn that.

pattrice jones:

And the kids who are in the program or the classrooms who are in

pattrice jones:

the program, that's, That runs from like preschool through fifth grade, right?

Anna Boarini:

Correct.

pattrice jones:

And the teacher signs up with you and then

pattrice jones:

you take care of the rest?

Anna Boarini:

I take care of the rest, absolutely.

pattrice jones:

And the reason I'm asking this is cuz there might be

pattrice jones:

somebody listening or watching who's like, Wow, I wish that my child's class

pattrice jones:

could do this, or maybe there's even a teacher listening in who'd be like,

pattrice jones:

Oh, I'd like my classes to do this.

pattrice jones:

And if they wanted to do that, how would they get in touch with you?

Anna Boarini:

They would email me@annavinesanctuary.org and just

Anna Boarini:

let me know they're interested.

pattrice jones:

And if they didn't remember your email address, they

pattrice jones:

could just go to vine sanctuary.org and use contact us and they'd get you?

Anna Boarini:

It would get to me.

Anna Boarini:

Absolutely.

pattrice jones:

Okay, perfect.

pattrice jones:

Now, one of the things you do with the kids in Barnard Buddies as they come to

pattrice jones:

the sanctuary for virtual fieldtrips.

Anna Boarini:

They do.

Anna Boarini:

So we've had classrooms as far away as New Zealand.

Anna Boarini:

Obviously they can't come for a field trip because they're halfway across the world,

Anna Boarini:

so instead they get virtual field trips.

Anna Boarini:

This year, I'm excited to say that we have quite a few local classrooms who

Anna Boarini:

will actually get to visit the sanctuary.

Anna Boarini:

But everybody gets the option of going on some type of field trip to meet

Anna Boarini:

their buddy and see them interacting with the animals, see the sanctuary.

Anna Boarini:

They get a little tour, they get to ask questions, and they get to get

Anna Boarini:

a little bit more of a deeper feel for what the community really like.

pattrice jones:

You've done these field trips a lot.

Anna Boarini:

Yes.

pattrice jones:

And what's the reaction of the kids like?

Anna Boarini:

They are so curious.

Anna Boarini:

They just wanna know.

Anna Boarini:

And it's like once someone asks a question, you can't stop them.

Anna Boarini:

I tell teachers, depending on the age, they usually last about 20 to

Anna Boarini:

30 minutes, but most of the time we go to 40 minutes to an hour.

Anna Boarini:

Because the kids are just so excited.

Anna Boarini:

They wanna know everybody's name, they wanna know where they came from.

Anna Boarini:

They wanna know their age.

Anna Boarini:

What are they eating, what are they doing?

Anna Boarini:

My most eccentric question was, do ducks have Olympics?

Anna Boarini:

And we discussed how, I don't know if they have Olympics because I can't ask them.

Anna Boarini:

I don't speak.

Anna Boarini:

Maybe they do have something like an Olympics, maybe they don't.

Anna Boarini:

Are they competitive?

Anna Boarini:

So these questions range from really basics, like, Oh, who is that?

Anna Boarini:

To these really deep questions about communication or family or

Anna Boarini:

just community in general, and, and we really run the gamut.

Anna Boarini:

And it, it's, it just depends on how creative the class wants to be that

Anna Boarini:

day and how engaged they are, which most of them really, really are.

pattrice jones:

And then you provide like follow up activities that they can do in

pattrice jones:

the classroom that might involve artwork or writing prompts, things like that.

Anna Boarini:

Yeah, so each class gets an update every month, but

Anna Boarini:

they also get some resources.

Anna Boarini:

So they range from preschool.

Anna Boarini:

This month is getting accounting activity.

Anna Boarini:

Second and third grade is getting a handwriting activity.

Anna Boarini:

And the fourth and fifth grade class has a reading comprehension worksheet that

Anna Boarini:

tells them about the history of vine.

Anna Boarini:

And then they also have a creative writing prompt.

Anna Boarini:

So depending on your age level, you get all sorts of resources and

Anna Boarini:

teachers can make them use them when they're teaching in their class.

Anna Boarini:

They can send them home as something else to do.

Anna Boarini:

You know, it just depends on on what the teacher wants.

pattrice jones:

Now it's a, it's a, it's sort of a truism in education that when

pattrice jones:

you're teaching, you're also learning.

pattrice jones:

And so, You've been doing this for a few years now, interacting with

pattrice jones:

these kids, introducing them to their buddies, reading them stories as

pattrice jones:

part of Barnard's story time, taking them on virtual tours, hearing all

pattrice jones:

of their amazing questions about Duck Olympics, and that makes me so curious

pattrice jones:

is to, to know what you've learned.

Anna Boarini:

I think I've learned just how creative humans can be.

Anna Boarini:

I think I had forgotten.

Anna Boarini:

Maybe I forgot because adulthood kind of just wears it out of you.

Anna Boarini:

But they're so, kids are so creative and their minds are so elastic and they want

Anna Boarini:

to ask these deep questions and really understand, and it made me think, I have

Anna Boarini:

to think, you know, a couple steps ahead.

Anna Boarini:

So with the Duck Olympics, I was, I wasn't expecting that.

Anna Boarini:

You never know what they're gonna say.

Anna Boarini:

And so then I had to be creative in my answer because that was the answer.

Anna Boarini:

The answer can't just be no because it's not, I don't know.

Anna Boarini:

I literally don't know if ducks have Olympics, so.

Anna Boarini:

Just being creative and, and making it so that they can be creative.

Anna Boarini:

I, I try to think about that when I, when I craft the resources for the teachers,

Anna Boarini:

I want those, I want the students to really flex that creative muscle.

Anna Boarini:

Which then in turn makes me have to flex my creative muscles, which

Anna Boarini:

it's just a great, it's just great.

Anna Boarini:

I love being creative and I love.

Anna Boarini:

They have taught me to kind of open up my mind to creativity.

pattrice jones:

And do you find that the kids are, do they have

pattrice jones:

feelings about the the animals?

Anna Boarini:

Oh my gosh, they have so many feelings.

Anna Boarini:

They truly really love their buddy by the end of the school year.

Anna Boarini:

I mean, they love their buddy from the job.

Anna Boarini:

I've never met a class that's like, ah, I'm not really into this.

Anna Boarini:

But they, they come to see themselves as active members of the community.

Anna Boarini:

And when someone new comes, they celebrate that.

Anna Boarini:

When the winter is hard, they feel that too.

Anna Boarini:

And so they really work on drawing from these deep wells

Anna Boarini:

of empathy that they have.

Anna Boarini:

And what I'm hoping is that they kind of save that.

Anna Boarini:

I think that a lot of times as we grow older the empathy well kind of dries up.

Anna Boarini:

We don't, we don't see, maybe we don't have that empathy that we used to as kids.

Anna Boarini:

We don't have that longing to like reach out for others and understand

Anna Boarini:

and so yeah, they have lots of feelings and . They really express them as well.

Anna Boarini:

You know, they, you know, when they're excited about their animal, you know,

Anna Boarini:

when they're sad, when they find out maybe their origin story or how they

Anna Boarini:

came to the sanctuary, they feel deeply.

Anna Boarini:

And I think it gives them an outlet for those feelings as well.

Anna Boarini:

You know, we all have a lot of fields and sometimes we don't have

Anna Boarini:

a place to put them, and Barnard buddies kind of gives them a chance.

Anna Boarini:

To express that emotion through maybe their creative writing essay or some,

Anna Boarini:

we do art projects a lot, you know, they can kind of get that out through art.

Anna Boarini:

So we really try to encourage those feelings as well.

pattrice jones:

I mean, it sounds like, like it occurs to me that, that, that

pattrice jones:

in, in the so-called normal course of socialization, that kids are, whether

pattrice jones:

overtly or covertly, encouraged to suppress their feelings in general.

pattrice jones:

And particularly their empathy and sympathy for animals, if not to

pattrice jones:

suppress it, to channel it into really, really narrow confines.

pattrice jones:

Like you can care about your pet dog but you can't care about the cow

pattrice jones:

that your hamburger was made out of.

pattrice jones:

And, and you're a baby if you do, or if you're a boy, maybe

pattrice jones:

you're a sissy if you do.

pattrice jones:

And so it seems to me that not just this program that you're talking about here

pattrice jones:

at VINE Sanctuary, but all of the various humane education programs that both

pattrice jones:

sanctuaries and, and other animal advocacy organizations do is kind of the opposite.

pattrice jones:

Instead of, instead of trying to teach kids to suppress their feelings, you're

pattrice jones:

trying to give students the opportunity to feel and express their feelings and,

pattrice jones:

and to continue to feel empathy and sympathy for others and, and, and to do

pattrice jones:

that in ways that are, that are, that are useful for themselves and the world.

Anna Boarini:

Yeah, exactly.

pattrice jones:

And, and is it, is it, and it seems to me that you're also teaching

pattrice jones:

other values like respect for differences.

Anna Boarini:

Absolutely.

Anna Boarini:

I think it all starts with empathy and it grows out from there.

Anna Boarini:

You know, we talk a lot about how difference is what

Anna Boarini:

makes our community strong.

Anna Boarini:

And that different ideas are important and that listening is important.

Anna Boarini:

That learning is important and continuing to learn and, and discovery.

Anna Boarini:

So it starts at empathy, but it doesn't stop there.

Anna Boarini:

It keeps going.

Anna Boarini:

And I think the beautiful thing about humane education is that in the case

Anna Boarini:

of the sanctuary, I might be the person that collates information

Anna Boarini:

and kind of puts it together.

Anna Boarini:

But the animals are really co-teachers and the kids are too, because

Anna Boarini:

they kind of dictate the learning themselves as well with their questions

Anna Boarini:

and with their curiosity and with the way that they interact when

Anna Boarini:

they're on site with the animals.

Anna Boarini:

So, It's very collaborative.

Anna Boarini:

And I think that's another thing they have to learn is, you know,

Anna Boarini:

collaboration isn't always easy.

Anna Boarini:

And it can be, it can be diff, It's, it's a skill and it's something that they

Anna Boarini:

learn throughout the program as well.

Anna Boarini:

Is, is working together in how working together is important

Anna Boarini:

for building community.

pattrice jones:

Wow, I'm having, I'm having so many thoughts

pattrice jones:

listening to you talk about this.

pattrice jones:

And on the, on the one train of thought I'm having is that clearly these kinds

pattrice jones:

of efforts are, are, can be really important in terms of the things that

pattrice jones:

animal advocates are trying to do.

pattrice jones:

And, and I wanna come back to that.

pattrice jones:

Cuz I want, I want your ideas about how animal advocates even if they're

pattrice jones:

not teachers or working at a sanctuary might incorporate these insights.

pattrice jones:

Into their own work.

pattrice jones:

But it also occurs to me that all of these things that you're listing, whether

pattrice jones:

it's empathy the messiness of working within community and having to work it

pattrice jones:

out, the importance of listening the importance of constantly learning of

pattrice jones:

creativity, these are all things that are absolutely essential for democracy.

pattrice jones:

These are all things that we actually, all of us, very much need the next generation

pattrice jones:

to be not only good at, but better at than than previous generations have been.

pattrice jones:

And so it seems to me.

pattrice jones:

This kind of work with children while extremely important in terms

pattrice jones:

of animal advocacy and promoting veganism also has, has, has many

pattrice jones:

knock on effects that are, that are very important for the wider world.

Anna Boarini:

Absolutely.

Anna Boarini:

I think.

Anna Boarini:

One of the ways that humane education is so important is it gets the

Anna Boarini:

idea that you need to be involved.

Anna Boarini:

And, you know, democracy, small D and large D democracy happen because

Anna Boarini:

people want to be involved and want to be part of their community and care.

Anna Boarini:

And that's kind of what my goal is with human education is to show kids that.

Anna Boarini:

You have your, your core community of maybe your family, your best

Anna Boarini:

friend, your dog, but that your community is much larger than that.

Anna Boarini:

It's the birds and the tree outside of your house.

Anna Boarini:

It's the lady that is the crossing guard in front of your school.

Anna Boarini:

It's the person down the street that you don't know, but that you need to

Anna Boarini:

work to make everybody's life better.

Anna Boarini:

And so it's that idea of working together and like you said, I think it

Anna Boarini:

does have repercussions for later on in their life that hopefully by having

Anna Boarini:

this basis at a younger age that then they'll wanna be involved later on.

pattrice jones:

So it, it seems like you have discovered in your working with

pattrice jones:

kids something that, that I think most of us suspect, which is that, which is

pattrice jones:

that there is this wellspring of sympathy and empathy , for animals, within kids.

pattrice jones:

They, and they wanna be friends, like they, especially like their buddy.

pattrice jones:

They wanna be friends with animals.

pattrice jones:

They're curious about animals.

pattrice jones:

They care about animals.

pattrice jones:

They're sad if animals are hurt.

pattrice jones:

And, and they want everybody to get along.

pattrice jones:

And, and so I wonder if you have any ideas for, for people

pattrice jones:

who are wherever they might be.

pattrice jones:

It might be a small town, it might be a college campus, it might be a big city.

pattrice jones:

They might be a member of a grassroots animal rights group, or a vegan

pattrice jones:

society, or who knows what, but they're interested in helping to shift our

pattrice jones:

culture away from cruelty to animals and, and towards respect for animals

pattrice jones:

and, and non exploitation of animals.

pattrice jones:

How, what, what ways could they use this, do you think?

Anna Boarini:

I think something that kids can teach us is the idea of trying

Anna Boarini:

to, is how they look at the world.

Anna Boarini:

Everything is exciting.

Anna Boarini:

Everything is new.

Anna Boarini:

They have this wellspring of empathy.

Anna Boarini:

And I think that sometimes within any movement we kind of get blinders

Anna Boarini:

on and we're so focused on whatever it is we're working towards.

Anna Boarini:

You know, maybe it's the end of animal testing or it's bringing

Anna Boarini:

more vegan food to your community, and we stop listening and learning

Anna Boarini:

because we're so focused on our goal.

Anna Boarini:

And if we can learn anything from humane education, it's that

Anna Boarini:

we have to stay creative and we have to be open to our community.

Anna Boarini:

So that means listening to other ideas.

Anna Boarini:

It means taking tactics from other people's activist toolkit.

Anna Boarini:

You know, we all have this toolkit that we can pull from and sometimes the tool's

Anna Boarini:

gonna work and sometimes it's not going to, but that doesn't mean it's wrong.

Anna Boarini:

It just means that you need to be curious and creative about how

Anna Boarini:

you're going about those things.

Anna Boarini:

And I think that the other thing that kids can give us is hope.

Anna Boarini:

I think a lot of times activists get beat down.

Anna Boarini:

We live in a carnist society.

Anna Boarini:

We live in a society that is exploiting the earth, that is exploiting animals, and

Anna Boarini:

it can be a lot, but kids have this sense that the world is great and beautiful

Anna Boarini:

and interesting, and I think that that's something we can take from them is

Anna Boarini:

looking at it with that lens of hope.

Anna Boarini:

You know, you can be realistic and understand that this fight

Anna Boarini:

that you're in is difficult and it can really wear on you.

Anna Boarini:

But at the same time, like you gotta be creative and you have to look and try

Anna Boarini:

and find what you're fighting for and have that hope that something can change.

Anna Boarini:

Cause if you don't, what are we working for then?

pattrice jones:

And it occurs to me that it might be useful, I think

pattrice jones:

wherever you are, there's probably, if you look out the window or around,

pattrice jones:

you're gonna find something that would be fascinating to a child.

pattrice jones:

And I wonder if, if you could, if allowing yourself to be fascinated by

pattrice jones:

those things might not be pretty helpful in terms of maintaining your own morale.

pattrice jones:

So often I think whatever problems we're trying to solve, we often, you know,

pattrice jones:

we're focused on the problem and our messaging is often focused on the problem

pattrice jones:

as opposed to, I'm not, I'm having a hard time finding words for this, but I feel

pattrice jones:

like maybe there are ways to, to one, pay more attention to kids themselves.

pattrice jones:

If, especially if you're doing something like picketing at a zoo or a circus

pattrice jones:

with messages that that tap into their inherent empathy and sympathy and

pattrice jones:

wanting to be friends with animals.

pattrice jones:

And I wonder also if, if there's not at least a piece of everybody who feel

pattrice jones:

that feels that way still, even if it's been all smashed down and covered

pattrice jones:

with callouses through socialization.

pattrice jones:

And I, I wonder if it might not be possible sometimes to, to call

pattrice jones:

out to that in, in adults as well.

pattrice jones:

Especially those, but not exclusively who are parents.

Anna Boarini:

I think, I think you're totally right.

Anna Boarini:

I think that we all have, we all have the capacity to be empathetic

Anna Boarini:

inside of us, but like you said, it becomes callous over time.

Anna Boarini:

We don't want to reach in that, well, it's there.

Anna Boarini:

You just have to tap into it.

Anna Boarini:

And the beautiful thing about children is that they don't have that yet.

Anna Boarini:

They're just willing to go out in the world and kind of put it all on the line

Anna Boarini:

and, and love really hard and want to be friends with animals and, and just

Anna Boarini:

be where adults, you know, we wanna fit into societal norms, we wanna.

Anna Boarini:

Go, You know, we don't wanna go against the current you just kind of wanna put

Anna Boarini:

your head down and get through life.

Anna Boarini:

And sometimes what that does is it beats you down, but it also

Anna Boarini:

makes it so that you forget joy.

Anna Boarini:

And I think that joy is something we can really pull from kids.

Anna Boarini:

You know, we give out pencils a lot.

Anna Boarini:

And there is nothing like giving a pencil to a six year old because they act like

Anna Boarini:

you just handed them a million dollars.

Anna Boarini:

And I think that that's something we can all take from little kids is that joy.

Anna Boarini:

It's a pencil.

Anna Boarini:

It's really not that big of a deal, but to them it's huge.

Anna Boarini:

And so finding those moments I think especially if you're doing activism if

Anna Boarini:

you're working towards a better world.

Anna Boarini:

It's really hard, and I know something that they've taught

Anna Boarini:

me is to find that joy.

Anna Boarini:

Sanctuary work is difficult and there are times, especially in

Anna Boarini:

like February and Vermont, when I don't wanna do what I have to do.

Anna Boarini:

I don't wanna pull my boots on in the morning.

Anna Boarini:

I don't wanna go outside.

Anna Boarini:

But I, I try to think to myself, okay, if I was a, if I was a third grader,

Anna Boarini:

how cool would it be that I get to wake up in the morning, go play in the

Anna Boarini:

snow, and I get to hang out with cows?

Anna Boarini:

What?

Anna Boarini:

I try to put it into that perspective, and I think that that's something we can

Anna Boarini:

all learn is to take that joy and try to incorporate it into our daily lives.

pattrice jones:

Well, I think that's beautiful and a, and

pattrice jones:

a perfect way for us to end.

pattrice jones:

You've been listening or watching in context.

pattrice jones:

I'm pattrice jones of VINE Sanctuary and I've been talking

pattrice jones:

with Anna Boarini of VINE Sanctuary.

pattrice jones:

This is the first of what will be a three part series on humane education

pattrice jones:

looking at how can we teach kids.

pattrice jones:

But also how can we learn from kids and what can we learn from kids that will help

pattrice jones:

us to become better advocates for animals and better community members ourselves.

pattrice jones:

Thank you so much for tuning in.

pattrice jones:

Thanks to Anna Boarini for spending time with me.

pattrice jones:

Thanks to our producer, Sarahjane Blum.

pattrice jones:

If you like this show, please like, share and subscribe and

pattrice jones:

thank you for all that you're gonna do with what you learned today.

Next Episode All Episodes Previous Episode

Listen for free

Show artwork for In Context with pattrice jones

About the Podcast

In Context with pattrice jones
Conversations about social and environmental justice and animal liberation
In Context with pattrice jones at is a bi-weekly half hour talk show that looks at timely questions facing animal advocates within the broader ecosystem of ideas about social and environmental justice.

Each show features pattrice introducing a topic by way of one of the animals at VINE before inviting a featured guest into a free-flowing discussion about their own work on the topic at hand.

The podcast comes to you from VINE Sanctuary, an LGBT-led farmed animal sanctuary in Vermont that works for social and environmental justice as well as for animal liberation.