Dear Members and Friends,
Sacrifice as a concept is beautiful. One form of sacrifice involves depriving oneself of something basic or beloved in order to give something to someone else, be it a god or another entity, animate or inanimate. I made a huge sacrifice when I chose to live most of my life in India, and less of my life in America, when adorable mother was alive. In another form of sacrifice, yearning serves as a marker to help remember god, or a beloved, or to meditate. My daughter told me that if, as a vegan, I ever yearn for ice cream, I should use that yearning as a point of meditation on the suffering of cows. Sacrifice is not meant to be an exchange, buying favors from a god. Diwali, Eid, Christmas, anniversaries, birthdays, Rakhi—all of these are occasions for love. Hurting another to express love is symptomatic of a suffering soul. As educators, as people trying to inspire good, I think we need to keep broadcasting as loudly, merrily, angrily, joyously, and passionately as we can, that animals are ours only to cherish. Gadhimai and all the animal sacrifices taking place every day in small village temples need our voices to ring yet louder today than they rang out yesterday; louder tomorrow than today.
Living Free
Living Free: Gandhigiri for Animals was a massive success! Tens of people volunteered and more than 4,000 people reached out to all over the country, in just one day!
Activists in ten cities organized events such as stalls, leafleting, talks, lectures, and spread the message of compassion for animals. The events were received with much enthusiasm by the general public, with many people joining the campaign as volunteers and several deciding to make the switch to a plant based diet. Come, be a part of the phenomenon called Living Free! We will support your outreach efforts monetarily also, by providing funding through our Quick Grants Scheme! Sign up to participate in Living Free by emailing info@livingfreeindia.org, and kick start your education and outreach efforts today!
Fruits of Collaboration
Close on the heels of the camel signature campaign, the Jaipur federation has succeeded in persuading the north western railways to hold a training workshop for its staff on ‘humane handling of live cargo’ between the 10th and 15th of December. The Pune federation on the other hand, has secured an agreement in principle to it’s member organisations being included in the annual internship programme for veterinary students of the Maharashtra Agriculture and Fisheries State University.
More good news followed as PFA Angul, was recently awareded the Biju Patnaik Award For Wildlife Conservation by Forest and Environment Department, Govt. of Odisha.
This, and the interest shown by IFA participants from Varanasi to Jodhpur in supporting federative work means animal protection is only going further mainstream!
Holy Cow
Jaipur is fast on its way to becoming a safe haven for all animals, including the highest factory farmed animal, broiler chickens. After the successful workshop on Farmed Animals, volunteers have started collecting data on chicken shops in the nooks and streets of Jaipur. The collected data will help implement existing licensing and food safety laws. Since many of the chicken slaughterhouses are illegal, this will be one of the first steps to reducing with the intention of eventually eliminating chicken slaughter. It will take many years, but working to end cruelty to these beautiful birds feels good.
