About Us

Position Statements

"Humane Meat"

Farm Sanctuary opposes the slaughter, consumption and commodification of farm animals.

Those who are sincere in their concern for animals and for the environment make a knotty compromise if they choose to eat ostensibly crate-free or free-range meat instead of a vegan diet. The degree to which so-called humane meat is more sustainable than factory-farmed meat is negligible; plant-based agriculture is far more environmentally sound than animal agriculture-whether "humane" or factory farmed. And, while some farmers may treat animals better than others, we achieve a much deeper compassion when we do not eat animals at all.

It's worth noting for the sake of clarification that in January 2005, Farm Sanctuary joined 16 other animal protection organizations-some vegan, like us, some not-in signing a letter that expressed appreciation for Whole Foods Market's choice to set "farm animal compassionate standards." The language of the letter was vague and we regret that some have misinterpreted it.

Farm Sanctuary has never and will never support so-called "humane" meat. We maintain that the words "humane" and "slaughter" are mutually exclusive.

Welfare Reforms

Farm Sanctuary rescues animals, educates the public about the centrality of the vegan diet to compassionate living, and advocates for animals through investigation, prosecution, legislation and litigation.

Farm Sanctuary holds that legislative reform complements our aspiration to achieve a world free of the violence visited daily upon farm animals in animal agriculture. Incremental improvements are steps in a larger process. They serve to educate millions who have never before considered the plight of farm animals; they create modest improvements in the lives of farm animals; and they can squeeze the industry, making big agribusiness more accountable for the harm it causes.

When our goals coalesce, we are committed to working with other NGOs, including those that do not necessarily share Farm Sanctuary's sense of the centrality of the vegan life to animal protection. Farm Sanctuary believes the critical nexus for the animal protection movement is the dismantling of factory farming. We build bridges and engage coalitions to meet this challenge, and incremental change is one of the ways we will accomplish this goal.

Well considered and well executed, reform is one part of a multi-pronged approach driving us toward the end of farm animal exploitation. Eliminating the cruelest practices is a matter of legislation and market pressure (including establishment outreach where vegan options are added to menus and items produced from the cruelest practices are eliminated from them).

The days of factory farming are numbered and we believe we will live to see a time when factory farming is history. That day is within our reach and it will mark a great victory on the political front.

But what of the cultural front, where change is a function of personal transformation? Farm Sanctuary does not stop with legal protections or legislative reforms; those mark a beginning, not an end. Ending factory farming as we know it will save countless animals and spare our fragile ecosystem significant stress. But, we must also work to erode society's well conditioned and rarely examined sense of animals as commodities. That is about a deeper change at the very heart of animal exploitation and central to the human and environmental harm wrought by the general public's unreflective acceptance of farm animals as production units rather than as sentient individuals.

So how do we encourage personal transformation until we achieve that tipping point where the few become the many? When the notion of animals as beings and not things becomes the rule rather than the exception? Farm Sanctuary answers this question with our unrelenting commitment to exposing the stark realities of animal agriculture and with our tireless efforts to rescue and shelter its victims.