Kathy Stevens - Animal Camp: Reflections on a Decade of Love, Hope, and Veganism at Catskill Animal Sanctuary

KATHY STEVENS

Founder and Director of
Catskill Animal Sanctuary

Skyhorse Publishing Inc.

Copyright 2010, 2013 by E. Kathleen Stevens

Photographs David Sax and Jill Meyers except where noted
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

ISBN: 978-1-62087-566-7

Printed in the United States of America

Dedication

I believe that in all of us is a good and pure knowing that beneath the surface of things, beneath gender and skin color, religion and nationality, social class and sexual preference, and yes, beneath species... we are all the same.

This book is dedicated, with love and hope, to that good and pure knowing in you.

T he two comments I hear most frequently are, Oh, you must love what you do, and, just as frequently, It must be so hard. Honestly, both things are true in equal measure. I cant conjure up work that would be more joyful or fulfilling. Twelve years after we opened our doors, these animals still take my breath away. The contributions Catskill Animal Sanctuary makes toward our vision of a world free from suffering feel good, pure, and purposeful. Right livelihood is the term used by Buddhists, I believe. At the same time, the work is relentless and sometimes overwhelming. On both counts, Im fairly certain my CAS colleagues agree with me. To present just the good stuff might make for a wonderful book or good PR for Catskill Animal Sanctuary, but it is not complete to suggest that the sun shines every moment of every day. Whether it is bumping up against entrenched belief systems that cause unspeakable suffering, or saying goodbye to a beloved animal friend, or constantly feeling the pressure of fundraising to meet an always growing need, this work aint for the faint of heart.

When Skyhorse Publishing told me they wanted to do a paperback reprint of the original Animal Camp, I responded with an enthusiastic, Oh no! Seriously. I was proud of my first book, Where the Blind Horse Sings. But Animal Camp? Not so much, to be honest. I felt it was incomplete. Beyond that, the idea of having a three-year-old book represent Catskill Animal Sanctuary in 2013 and beyond felt awful. Weve grown so much in the last three years! Just as important, Americas attitudes towards veganism are quite different than they were just three short years ago, and I hoped to be able to address this exciting shift. If the book was going to be placed out in the world again, at the very least, it needed to be updated.

So I asked if I could do a major revision of the book: Wed keep the strong chapters, cut out the dated ones, and add several new essays that better reflect who we are as an organization in 2013.

To my amazement, Skyhorse said yes. Bless them.

This Animal Camp is a collection of personal reflections on the work of Catskill Animal Sanctuary. Grouped thematically rather than chronologically, the essays reveal both the joys and the challenges of our workthe deep satisfaction that comes from removing animals from desperation, for instance, along with the weight of the world feeling that sometimes accompanies our efforts to open eyes and hearts to the realities of our food-production system.

Dozens of important books on agribusiness and its treatment of animals have been written in the last fifteen years. Some of the best have been published in the last five. I strongly urge you to read a few. Powerful documentaries have been produced, too: works like Peaceable Kingdom, Food, Inc., Earthlings, Vegucated, and more. A full list of recommendations is included at the back of the book. Yet my favorite work of all about the life of a farm animal is Sy Montgomerys The Good, Good Pig, a memoir depicting the long life and daily antics of a pig companion named Christopher P. Hogwood. As much as the many well-researched works have taught me about the lives of pigs, Christopher P. Hogwood helped me know pigs.

It is this same void that Catskill Animal Sanctuary and Animal Camp seek to fill. There is a dearth of firsthand information about farm animals from folks who know them like you know your kids. These stories, told by people like us who live and work among the animals in joyful environments, encourage a level of understanding of the beingness of animals thats otherwise missing. If my musings help you see farm animals in a whole new light, Ive done my job. If they go a step furtherif theyre an exciting invitation to move toward a more compassionate lifestyle, well then... the animals have done theirs.

Animal Camp is organized into three sections. The first, titled What We Do, shares a wide range of CAS experiences with you, from the sublime to the shattering, from actual rescues to tour days, from Chef Lindas vegan cooking class to farewells to beloved animals that somehow feel both crushing and triumphant. This section is an introduction for all the folks who say, Tell me about Catskill Animal Sanctuary. My only regret is that our wonderful summer day camp, called Camp Kindness, isnt included. Its a unique and life-changing program for children, but the season came and went before I could write that chapter.

Why It Matters looks at the stuff that never makes most folks radar screenthe impact of agribusiness on all of us, for instance. Watch as twenty-pound hens struggle to breathe on a hot day and feel the agony of a pig bound for slaughter. As you delight in the beauty and freedom of four calves once bound for the dinner plate, as I attend a fundraiser for one species at which another one is served for lunch. I also say goodbye to my beloved teacher and friend Rambo in this section, because what happened immediately after he died illustrates what I believe in my bones: In the ways that truly matter, we are all the same. As much as his life mattered, his death mattered, too, in what it taught us and in its implications for how we share what we know to be true about our animal friends.

When We Smile is a section of snapshotsessays depicting brief moments in time. It brings us back to joy after the somewhat heavier preceding section. Enter the daily life of Catskill Animal Sanctuary and experience the joy that defines nearly every day. Share my delight in simply observing the antics of The Underfoot Family, the cast of characters free to roam the entire farm all day long. Given their ability to make their own choices about how to spend their time, they entertain and inspire and teach us. And they get in trouble. Arthur the free-range goat winds up in time-out several times a week. Youll laugh, youll cry, youll fall in loveand youll understand why we all consider it a privilege to do this work.

Taken together, the three sections of Animal Camp provide a glimpse into a most challenging, unique, wonderful worlda world in which I feel privileged to participate. My fervent hope is that my depiction of this world will challenge you to make the lifestyle changes we must all make, right now, to minimize un-speakable suffering and to heal an ailing planet.