VINE Sanctuary regrets any threats that may have been made by other animal advocates but reminds the Green Mountain College community that all of our communications have been respectful. We have consistently called for dialogue and offered to cooperate with the college in bringing this controversy to a conclusion that is happy for everybody.
Along those lines, VINE Sanctuary has contacted Farm Sanctuary—the oldest and most reputable farmed animal sanctuary in the country—to ask them if they have room for Bill and Lou and to offer to take in animals, if necessary, to create that room. Farm Sanctuary has affirmed their eagerness and ability to offer a home to Bill and Lou. Their communications director has been trying unsuccessfully to reach the college in recent days and will be happy to confirm the offer of sanctuary if her calls are returned.
VINE Sanctuary trusts that this will remove any impediment to sending Lou and Bill to sanctuary on account of Green Mountain College student or faculty hostility to VINE.
VINE Sanctuary reiterates our willingness to provide a permanent retirement home to Bill and Lou. Our sanctuary is closer to the college, so that students and alumni could visit Bill and Lou, and we would be delighted to care for them. However, we understand that the ongoing vilification of VINE on campus makes that an unlikely outcome.
Along with tens of thousands of people here in Vermont and around the world, we continue to implore Green Mountain College to abide by the agricultural tradition of kindly retiring elderly or disabled work animals. We are delighted that Farm Sanctuary can accommodate Lou and Bill, and we urge the college to seize that opportunity to bring this wrenching controversy to a happy ending.
Emailed to President Paul Fonteyn on 1 November 2012 with paper copy to follow.
It would be such a gesture of compassion…
Regarding Daniel Fitzpatrick’s response. I find it very positive. You have planted a seed. Hopefully it will grow. It’s all we can do, is plant that seed. Keep up the great work.
And just why is VINE so anathema to GMC and its students? Interesting that while they focus unendingly on threats (confirmed?)directed toward them, the only real threat is the impending murder of Bill and Lou. So very typical of those in power.
And… what a GIFT Daniel has given us all on your special day! Thanks for opening the door for him.
Daniel! Your beautiful, heartfelt words mean everything! Many of us began exactly where you are. Maybe you’ve begun a similar journey. My evolution took me; i didn’t necessarily take it. You’ll see with time. It might be fast, slow or stop where you are now. It may progress when you’re not even aware of it, then something will come up and you’ll be amazed at yourself!
I am so grateful you took time to share your thoughts here. Thank you for opening your eyes and your heart, for being willing to think more carefully and feel more deeply. Doesn’t matter how much or how fast your journey goes. Don’t push it. Don’t feel guilty. Don’t ignore it. Let it unfold naturally, and if it does, great! You’ll know.
Either way, BIG CONGRATS to you for taking time to write here about it.
Best to ALL!! — S
Please, COMPASION over killing.
Daniel, I’ve been so busy trying to reply to the folks writing me challenging comments that demand lengthy responses that I haven’t had any time to say thanks for the comments that I could just approve without comment. And I do want to say that I appreciated your words very much. Thoughtful people are often quiet, and so it’s easy to forget that the loud voices may not represent what everybody, or even most people, are thinking. Thanks for letting us in on your evolving thoughts.
And thanks to, to so many of you who have piped up with encouraging comments in the past few days. You have helped to keep my spirits up.
And, of course, I am grateful to those who have been engaging in reasoned dialogue, often giving comments much more attention than I have been able to offer.
Suz speaks for me, and I’m sure for many others, when she writes: “Thank you for opening your eyes and your heart, for being willing to think more carefully and feel more deeply. Doesn’t matter how much or how fast your journey goes. Don’t push it. Don’t feel guilty. Don’t ignore it. Let it unfold naturally, and if it does, great! You’ll know.”
As for the hamburger thing, I’ve tried many brands of beefless burgers, and if it saves you time and money and disappointment with products that aren’t tantalizing, may I please recommend Gardein’s “Beefless Sliders”? I tried them for the first time this week, with “hamburger” pickles and Nayonaise and ketchup and grilled onions and grilled mushrooms and . . . wow, they are utterly amazing. They’re not the least expensive alternative in town, but they’re well worth the extra dollar or two. Probably you’d eat all four at once — if you start out famished! Have ’em with fries. Truly, I think they are better than any beef burger I ever ate in my pre-vegan years, which were many. (They’re in the Kroger natural foods frozen section, and they should also be at some Whole Foods stores.)
Keep in touch, okay, Daniel? Please think of us as your new friends and supporters. We’re here for you. As we’re trying to be for Bill and Lou.
http://aldf.org/
http://www.greenmtn.edu/about/honorary-degrees.aspx
I want to also thank Daniel for expressing his thoughts ~ my journey started with a visceral reaction to the meat section during a grocery trip and has evolved ever since. I did not know why I started feeling this way, but my body and soul did…
Thanks to all who have voiced support. To those who have posted challenging comments in the spirit of true dialogue, I promise a response as soon as humanely possible, given our workload over here. To those posting insults or rants, I make no promises.
And, again, as per this memo, we are imploring GMC to seize the opportunity to allow Bill and Lou to retire to Farm Sanctuary. So, rants against me or VINE are beside the point anyway.
Thank you for working on helping Bill and Lou through this avenue. Boy, you are such a wonderful person. There’s nothing more I can say. I really hope that they find your letter with its solution as attractive and reasonable and in Bill and Lou’s best interest as it is.
Hoping for the best for Bill and Lou. Thank you for all your very hard work in securing a wonderful end of life.
Sincerely,
Boe Devi
215-531-3167
Would you kindly post the status of Bill and Lou?
Thank you for all your hard work to save their precious lives.
Val
Centennial, CO
I just made some calls to the slaughterhouses on one of the petitions’ lists.
I called the Canadian slaughterhouses. Left one vm, got hung up twice by one slaughterhouse, one slaughterhouse only spoke French, one slaughterhouse said they are tired of getting all these calls, said they were getting 15 calls a day also said “I’m not killing any animals”
I called three slaughterhouses in U.S. One hung up on me twice; another one said they are getting bombarded with calls and said “we don’t know anything about those animals – no one has contacted us about them. We getting sick of getting 10 calls a day.” Last slaughterhouse said “I think they’ve already been processed – you need to look into that.” I asked her were they processed at your location and she just hung up. That was the Croghan Meats, 9824 Main St. Route 812, Croghan, NY, Tel: 315-346-6613.
I’ll call the other 11 slaughterhouses later today.
Bye for now, Boe Devi
by Angel Flinn
http://gentleworld.org/theyre-all-bill-and-lou/
Don
Sterling, MA
We’ve had less time than before to tend to the blog — we are sorry, but other projects were calling. We are still very actively working to save Bill and Lou, as are many others, and as long as Bill and Lou are alive, there is hope!
For the animals,
Miriam