A year and a half ago, we moved our sanctuary from the Delmarva Peninsula – where we founded the Eastern Shore Sanctuary in 2000 – to Springfield, Vermont, a rural area known for its rich history, breathtakingly beautiful fall foliage, and tragically, its proliferation of dairy farms. While co-founder pattrice jones relocated to Minnesota (from where she remains intimately involved with our operations), co-founder Miriam Jones, along with co-manager Aram Polster, settled the birds into their new Vermont sanctuary. The property is luscious, spanning over 100 acres in an area perfect for chickens, ducks, cows, and horses.
Cows? Horses?
That’s right! Last summer, we expanded our sanctuary to include other species besides birds, including cows and horses who have been rescued from situations including severe neglect, being tied to tractors to die, and being threatened with starvation due to financial hardship. These animals have joined hundreds of rescued birds (including dozens of ex-fighting roosters), calling our sanctuary their home. Here, they have been rehabilitated back to health, and they will spend their lives grazing in the grass and gallivanting with their friends. Cheryl Wylie, our full-time caretaker, has also joined our sanctuary family, using her extensive background working with animals to give the residents of our sanctuary the best care possible.
We are growing faster than we ever imagined, especially with our new commitment to caring for cows. There is no greater joy than seeing a rescued bird take her first steps outside of confinement, or watching as an emaciated cow begins to trust again, her body, her heart, and her joy in life becoming ever stronger. Our commitment to providing a safe space for rescued farm animals to live out their natural lives with dignity has never been stronger.
Things are bigger now, both literally and metaphorically. The land our sanctuary occupies is fifty times larger than what we had in Maryland. We are taking in larger animals. And it is time to take our work a step further: If we don’t change the world, and fast, there will be nothing left for any of us.
That is why we changed the name of our sanctuary and organization to VINE: Veganism Is the Next Evolution. Check out our new website: VINE Sanctuary
Our new name, VINE: Veganism Is the Next Evolution, encompasses everything we stand for. First and foremost, the world must embrace veganism. The cruel atrocities inherent in all kinds of animal production must be stopped, if for no other reason than for the sake of billions upon billions of tormented and murdered animals.
There are many other reasons to end the death machine of factory farming. Animal agribusiness is destroying our planet with its greenhouse gas emissions – more so than the entire transportation sector put together, according to the United Nations.
The human rights considerations for embracing a vegan lifestyle are also profound. In factory farms, workers are exploited and abused. Because of factory farming, world hunger is on the rise. Raising crops to feed farmed animals is unsustainable; people in developing countries are denied basic needs while resource-intensive meat production grows out of control to feed the affluent.
And at a most fundamental level, the intersections between speciesism and other forms of oppression – racism, sexism, homophobia, ecocide – are undeniable and real. We will never fully address any manifestation of oppression unless we honestly examine, and dismantle, the mindset that underlies them all.
With VINE, we will continue to bring these issues to the table, as we fight to remove the bodies of animals from it. We will continue to provide refuge to animals in need, and we will intensify our advocacy and outreach so others will learn about the necessity, and joy, of embracing a compassionate, cruelty-free lifestyle.
We hope that you will join us on this exciting new leg of our journey. Welcome to VINE.
What You Can Do:
Vermont is rich with grass-based small farms that honor the efforts of both humans and animals.
So many folks will never voluntarily go vegan- let’s help them understand that there are still choices available that make a world of difference in the lives of animals and the health of the planet.