Speciesism

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Cattle rancher stops killing cows, converts farm to animal sanctuary

Farmhouse Garden Animal Home© Photabulous!

Canadian cattle rancher now runs an organic vegetable farm and animal sanctuary, currently home to 31 cows, three horses, three chickens and one duck.

Mike Lanigan, a third-generation cattle rancher, recently decided to spare the lives of his cows and convert his meat and produce business, to an organic vegetables only farm combined with a non-profit animal shelter.

The epiphany came after spending several hours nursing a premature calf. Lanigan realized that his morals did not align with his actions and he did not want to kill his cows anyone.

"I just thought it was hypocritical to give so much love," Lanigan told local media outlet Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), "and then you can shut the door at the end."

But the response from his neighbourhood, in Uxbridge, Ontario and fellow farmers has ranged from supportive to others seeing hims as a threat.

"Right now," Lanigan said, "I think farmers feel under attack. There's a lot of really strong animal activism going on â€¦ I didn't realize all of these nuances to running a sanctuary, to saving my cows. I didn't see all of this."

Farmhouse Garden Animal Home - video capture Image by: (CC BY-SA)

Farmhouse Garden Animal Home's mission is "provide a safe home for the animals in our care, and to show that all animals deserve love and compassion. Each animal is a unique individual, and it is through learning about, and interacting with these individuals, that we can teach others to love them as well".

You can read more about Mike's story and the animals that are now resident at the Farmhouse Garden Animal Home (located in Ontario, Canada or view video).