Who We Are

To protect farm animals from cruelty, inspire change in the way society views and treats farm animals, and promote compassionate vegan living.
In an ideal world, there would be no need for Farm Sanctuary as it exists today. There would be no factory farms or stockyards. Cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and sheep would be free to roam in their pastures, sleep in the sun, scratch at the earth, and enjoy life.

Animals in today’s industrialized farms are treated like commodities. They are crowded into warehouses, confined so tightly that they cannot easily walk or even turn around. They are de-beaked, de-toed, and their tails are docked without anesthetic. Their bones break because their bodies have been manipulated to grow so fast that they can’t support their own weight. Factory farm animals are denied fresh air, sun, wholesome food, room to move, and the freedom to exhibit their natural behaviors. This rampant abuse of millions of animals every day is largely invisible to the public.

Livestock play a vital role in the agricultural and rural economies of the developing world. Not only do they produce food directly, they also provide key inputs to crop agriculture. Most farms in the developing world are too small to justify owning or using a tractor, and the alternatives are animal power or human labor.

For many smallholder farmers, livestock are the only ready source of cash to buy inputs for crop production – seeds, fertilizers and pesticides. Livestock income also goes towards buying things the farmers cannot make for themselves. And that includes paying for school fees, medicine and taxes. Income from cropping is highly seasonal. In contrast, small stock, with their high rates of reproduction and growth, can provide a regular source of income from sales. So can milk and milk products like butter and cheese. Larger animals such as cattle are a capital reserve, built up in good times to be used when crops are poor or when the family is facing large expenses such as the cost of a wedding or a hospital bill.

In the past, farmers could restore the fertility of their land by letting it lie fallow for several years or longer. But as population pressure increases, fallow periods decline or even disappear and different ways of maintaining food production are needed: enter the animal.

Animals are a crucial link in nutrient cycles, returning nutrients to the soil in forms that plants can readily use. They can bring nutrients from pasture and rangeland and concentrate them on crop land through their manure and urine. The animal manure and urine that people in the developed world see as pollutants are vital fertilizers in the developing world. Few smallholders can afford enough mineral fertilizers. Animals give farmers a reason to plant legumes as pastures and cover crops that protect the soil and restore its structure and fertility. According to a Winrock report in 1992, `The greatest threat to [the African rangelands] comes from human populations and expansion of cultivation. There is no solid evidence linking livestock to this process.