TORONTO COW SAVE

[Warning: There is a brief moment in the video where a person uses a few swear words]

"Being treated as lesser-than is what is going to unite us .. We are not free until everyone is free" - Collectively Free

"The gender binary is used not just to take away the personhood of humans, but also of animals" (ie: female animals experience different exploitation than male ones - being used because of their femaleness (like cows and goats who trapped in the dairy industry - the following photos, which were taken at Toronto Cow Save vigils, are of mother and baby cows whom the dairy industry had decided were no longer “of use” and had thus sent to be violently slaughtered).

Start your vegan journey today.

Learn about Toronto Cow Save and join our vigils every Tuesday morning at 9:30am.

Don’t live near Toronto? Click here for a full list of the Save groups around the world, or start your own.

Click here to buy our Toronto Save merchandise (we have t-shirts, sweaters, hats, and even dog bandannas)

Start your vegan journey today.

Learn about Toronto Cow Save and join our vigils every Tuesday morning at 9:30am.

Don’t live near Toronto? Click here for a full list of the Save groups around the world, or start your own.

All animals want to live lives free from fear and pain and filled with peace and love. Why would you deny them this?

Start your vegan journey today.

Learn about Toronto Cow Save and join our vigils every Tuesday morning at 9:30am.

Don’t live near Toronto? Click here for a full list of the Save groups around the world, or start your own.

Behind the scenes at “Ryding Regency” slaughterhouse in Toronto. This is the “holding pen” where they leave the cows to wait, anywhere from a few seconds, to a few hours, to over the period of an entire night (without food, and as far as we can tell, without water either), no matter how crowded and/or filthy the pen is, and no matter how cold/hot it may be outside, for their death. While you cannot see the “kill-floor” from this area due to the angles of the chutes that are used to squeeze the cows forward one-by-one, you can most definitely smell it and hear it, meaning that the cows can most definitely smell it and hear it; the gag-worthy, headache-inducing fumes emitted by the putrid mix of sitting blood and feces, and the at-times-extremely-loud mechanical clinking and grinding noises that would be scary-enough on their own, but in combination with the panicked bellowing of the soon-to-die and dying cows inside is utterly terrifying. These are their last moments, whether those moments last mere seconds or stretch over the entirety of a freezing Toronto winter night. If this isn’t torture, what is?

Don’t want to support such torture? Start your vegan journey here.

Learn about Toronto Cow Save and join our vigils every Tuesday morning at 9:30am.

Don’t live near Toronto? Click here for a full list of the Save groups around the world, or start your own.

Says Marc Ching from Animal Hope and Wellness:

“The owners and association that run one of the largest and oldest dog meat markets in South Korea, agree to close their slaughterhouses.

Not just the dog meat slaughterhouses, but all of them. The chicken slaughterhouses. The duck slaughterhouses. The rabbit slaughterhouses.

They told me that many local activists and international groups have lobbied and petitioned, asking for the same thing. They told me that when they come, all they do is argue and fight with them.

He said, "This is the first time ever, that someone has come asking how we can work together."

He said, "You should feel lucky, because today is historic."

Our first victory...

(Deeply rooted in tradition, Gupo Meat Market has been slaughtering animals for over a century.

Today marks the first time in history that they have agreed to make a change, accepting to work with our foundation.

While the process of emptying the cages still needs to be presented to the government, the hard part is over. Getting the dog meat traders themselves, to want to become something else.

This victory - let it be for the animals.)” 

This post was taken from the Animal Hope and Wellness Facebook page where a short, yet beautiful video of a little dog being rescued from a slaughterhouse+farm which is currently being destroyed can be found. His name is Ari and he is one of 47 that were rescued yesterday. Thanks to this instrumental leap forward of the closing of this large slaughterhouse-chain, so many more Aris will be saved from their suffering.

While far from being the “first victory” for Animal Hope and Wellness on behalf of the animals (they have already saved the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, by dismantling individual slaughterhouses/farms and direct rescues), it is certainly one of the most monumental. And not just for the animals who are being fought for and represented by Marc Ching and Animal Hope and Wellness, but for all animals and the entire animal rights movement!! In addition to those that will be rescued, re-homed, and given a new chance at life, this victory also means that a vast number of chickens, ducks, dogs, and rabbits will now be spared from ever having to experience such sadness and pain.

Endless gratitude to Marc Ching, those who work with him, those who support him, and the “business” owners who are finally letting their true compassion shine!!

TCS Vigil December 2016

Vegan because they died screaming and fighting for their lives. Vegan because, just like your dog/cat, they wanted to live and be loved.

Learn about Toronto Cow Save and bear witness with us.

Don’t live in Toronto? Bear witness with another Save group or organize your own.

Learn about Toronto Cow Save and bear witness with us.

TCS October Vigil

Even though there are technically laws to “protect” pigs and cows (chicken, fish, and turkeys have no protection whatsoever), these laws are so paper thin and so rarely enforced that they almost might as well not exist. Animals that are too sick or injured to support their own weight/cannot stand up are not supposed to be forced onto transport trucks and used for slaughter, and yet, it happens every day. St. Helen’s Meatpackers (which promotes itself as “local”, “humane” meat) is particularly notorious for breaking this law. Indeed, they have sick and injured animals coming in so often that they actually have been cited (a consequence that is essentially like a warning and does nothing to help the animals) multiple times for this offence. This gentle baby cow (about 2 years old when they can naturally live to be over 20) was lying on his side, and despite being obviously exhausted and in extreme pain, he would occasionally try and get up by flailing his legs about. His friends did their best not to step on him, despite the floor of the truck being slick with feces and urine, and even spent time trying to comfort him, Cows are herd animals who grow particularly strong bonds with one another and are scientifically known to have best friends within their herds. The injured one’s best friend spent time softly licking his face, and it was only during this time that the “downed” cow would close his eyes for a moment. 

Cows, and all farmed animals, are emotional creatures who have relationships with one another. This is not merely the musings of an animal rights organisation, it has been scientifically proven. Indeed lots of research (which can easily be found on google) has come out in the past few years regarding the emotional and cognitive intelligence of animals society generally deems, “dumb”. And the results? The species we eat (including fish and crustaceans) are just as intelligent, just as sentient, as the dogs and cats we have as family members. If imaging your dog/cat lying at the bottom of a filthy truck, only to later be dragged into a slaughterhouse with chains, bothers you, then this should bother you too. All animals want, and fight, to live..

Learn about how easy veganism really is.

Learn about Toronto Chicken Save and bear witness with us.

Learn about The Save Movement and find a Save group near you.