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Outstanding Activist!
Jean Liebenberg first set foot on our New York Shelter to visit a pig named Angie. It was 2004, and Jean had heard of Farm Sanctuary only a few months prior, when she attended an eco-festival and learned that many animals at our shelters were up for “adoption.” Caring members of the public, she learned, could help provide food, bedding and veterinary care for rescued farm animals by offering a modest monthly donation. Sponsors could then make special visits to see their “adopted” critter and even receive photos of and updates about their special farm animal friend. Always a fan of the four-legged animals typically found on farms, Jean became Angie's new “mother” and vowed to meet the pig as soon as she could.
Unbeknownst to Jean, that first trip to Farm Sanctuary would change her outlook on life forever. As a clinical social worker, Jean's work often brought her to peaceful places— like our New York Shelter— where she could help clients reconnect with their natural rhythms and biological drives. “I realized that much of the distress my patients attributed to personal disappointments or pathology was actually caused by their difficulties adapting to life in an increasingly impersonal, competitive and overcrowded city,” she explained. After spending time at Farm Sanctuary, Jean began making connections between her patients' struggles and those of non-human animals too. In sessions with her patients, Jean began thinking about the miserable lives of factory-farmed animals, who daily endure confinement, overcrowding and physical and emotional stress, and realized that—like her overworked and under-appreciated clients—farm animals were also subjected to the unrealistic demands of an overpopulated, technological society. Farm Sanctuary has since become a powerful symbol of peace for Jean.
Jean's initial visit to our New York Shelter also prompted the vegetarian of 26 years to reach further beyond her food choices and try her hand at helping farm animals more directly. Becoming more and more active by the day, Jean immersed herself in our farm animal protection efforts by increasing her support of our rescue and refuge work and by becoming a dedicated and dependable volunteer for the organization. Jean even fell in love with two more animals at the New York Shelter. And before long, Pedro rooster and Jean rabbit joined Angie pig as the newest members of Jean's rapidly expanding Farm Sanctuary family.
With her new “family” in Watkins Glen, Jean decided it was time to relocate. Packing up her things and heading for a small town for the first time in her life, Jean set up her new home just a few miles from the farm. As an active volunteer at the New York Shelter, Jean soon became enamored with two more resident rabbits: Brier Patch and Bunny Mack. Opening her heart and home to these two sweethearts, Jean enlarged her family once more by physically adopting the rabbits and providing them with refuge for life.
Like so many activists, Jean recognizes that it is easy to become discouraged by the amount of work yet to be accomplished. “Everything we do seems inadequate when we measure it against all that must be done, [but] what is good about working toward a large goal is that its achievement does not entirely depend on one person.” Though Jean's words of encouragement certainly ring true, our humble volunteer's contributions have and always will be invaluable to us and the animals we care for every day.
Thank you, Jean, for generously donating your time, energy and home to farm animals in need! Your commitment and compassion are truly inspirational!
Together, we ARE making a difference. If you would like to find out more about volunteering your time to educate others about factory farming and vegetarianism, please contact us at activist@farmsanctuary.org, or call 607-583-2225 ext. 229. Click here to find out what YOU can do to help!