Veganism is a stand for justice and liberation for all living beings that condemns and challenges the power humans have over nonhumans. While working to end oppression of nonhumans, we must ensure that we ourselves are not harming others, including our fellow humans. 

At Animal Place, we oppose white supremacy and other ideologies that place one group of humans over another...in the same way we oppose domination of humans over other animals. We encourage our supporters to do the same. Without personal reflection and a commitment to continually educate ourselves on the various systems of oppression in place, we will not be able to successfully dismantle these systems.

All grown up now, some of our animal residents are lucky enough to have been born at our sanctuary and only know a life where they are loved and appreciated for the individuals they are. All of the mothers of the individuals pictured were pregnant when rescued from slaughter.

Don’t miss your chance to feed Wilbur yummy treats -- and yes, he eats WHOLE pineapples, apples, and sweet potatoes! See for yourself on a guided tour this Saturday, 8/5, at our Grass Valley, CA, sanctuary!

Register now.

Bay (RIP) the turkey hen enjoyed what all domesticated turkeys not safe at a sanctuary are denied: fresh air, the warmth of the sun, spacious green pasture, a natural lifespan, and freedom & protection from harm.

Sometimes Monday calls for a pile of adorable piglets, circa 2015, safe and sound at their sanctuary. Can’t believe these babies are already teenagers and will be 2 years old in October. #friendsnotfood

If you’re in the Bay area, please join the hundreds of animal activists marching to demand the closure of all slaughterhouses, on Saturday, July 22, in San Francisco! Check out the event’s Facebook page for more details.

Society has conditioned us to be selective with our love. Instead, extend love to all animals, no longer letting species arbitrarily dictate your treatment of them.

Photo by Marji Beach

Use Your Power for Good

The power to create a more compassionate and just world lies within each of us. Act on it, altering your daily choices to treat Bob (pictured) and all other animals with respect and nonviolence. Go vegan.

This 4th of July we are celebrating the freedom of Zelda and 1,999 liberated “spent” hens… Freedom from confinement, constant suffering, commodification, exploitation, and death sentences. Help us help all the hens we sadly are unable to save by refusing to support the violence inherent to the egg industry and ditching eggs.

Every industry that exploits and commodifies nonhuman animals is violent and ultimately leads to the animals being killed.

Go vegan.

Liberation is Love

When Maddie first arrived at Animal Place, she spent several minutes galloping in her pasture...the largest she had ever seen. She spent the first seven years of her life in a concrete pen. Maddie could not get pregnant and, normally, that would be an immediate death sentence (either killed for veal or cheap "beef"). But Maddie was born at a dairy farm with one of the largest veterinary teaching hospitals. They took her to the vet hospital where she was forced to "donate" blood to help other cows at the hospital. She was poked, prodded, and denied friendships with other cows for 7 years.

We Love & Miss You, Maddie

When Maddie arrived to Animal Place in December of 2009, she experienced freedom for the first time. Having spent her first 7 years of life in a concrete pen, her blood forcibly removed to help cows at a veterinary hospital...Maddie had only known discomfort, suffering, and confinement. 

She flew across the pasture when the trailer doors opened. I had never seen a cow as large as Maddie move so swiftly! 

Maddie was never able to fully trust all humans, though she would open her heart to some. She preferred one on one interactions and, if you found her in the right mood, she would lean gently into your touch. 

Maddie is what the industry calls a freemartin. The dairy industry considers it a "severe sexual abnormality" probably because, to them, a female cow who cannot get pregnant is abnormal, useless, unwanted. 

To us, Maddie was someone who loved her friends, who stood still for a grooming session with Jazzy, who lumbered slowly over for her daily pain-medication-laced treats, who eyed the humans warily, who existed for herself not for human pride or want or greed. 

Maddie lived to be 15, 8 -10 years longer than she would have on a dairy farm. Her body simply failed her. Out of respect for her, we kept our distance as she was sedated and euthanized. We made sure that her closest friends - Jazzy, Shelby, and Magnolia cows - could touch, smell, and be near Maddie's body. All investigated her, but it was Shelby who stayed close, resting her head on Maddie, grooming her body. She is laid to rest in the pasture she loved. 

Maddie lived a good life, and unlike so many other cows, she had a good death. She will be dearly missed by her human caregivers and admirers but by her bovine friends most of all. 

-Marji Beach, education director 

It’s incredible how full our hearts can become when we include all living beings in our circle of compassion. 

Here, animal care director Hana shows compassion to Bert back when he was still an adorably tiny piglet.

Tiffany was rescued from a research lab where she lived in a small concrete pen, never touched straw, and never saw the light of day. She will now live out her days on our sanctuary. Unfortunately, 110 million pigs per year will not have such a lucky fate. Help pigs like Tiffany by leaving pork and bacon off your plate.

While these girls will forever live in bodies that lay a painful 6-10 times more eggs than they naturally would if humans hadn’t interfered, they will never again be exploited and commodified for their production of eggs. Every being has a right to complete liberation, yet this birthright is denied to most nonhuman individuals. Help rectify this injustice.

Help Liberate Hens!

Chicken #fact: social grooming is an important bonding experience. The hen in the middle is arching her neck and presenting her face for grooming by the hen on the right. These hens spent 18+ months in a cage where they could not pick and choose their friends. Because escape is impossible and birds use their beaks to enforce social hierarchy, farms have hens de-beaked so fighting is less severe. In less than a month, nearly 2,000 #hens will get to pick their own friends. #libertyforzelda You can help by adopting, volunteering, or donating toward their care. 

Nonhuman animals suffer gravely and fatally from most of society’s conditioned and habitual actions. Liberate them by liberating yourself from unconscious living.