Episode 98: “…find the common ground that will bring us together in our efforts.”

Welcome to the 98^th episode of Our Hen House, featuring Cheri Ezell-Vandersluis from Maple Farm Sanctuary and Bill Crain from Safe Haven Farm Sanctuary. 

In today’s episode, we will tell you about everything from our excursion to Queens – including the delicious vegan Indian food we had – to Mariann’s appearance on an LGBT-themed radio show, where she discussed the horrors of the horse-drawn carriage industry. We’ll also talk about 2 upcoming workshops we are giving here in New York City, and we’ll give you the nuts and bolts version of the most recent article we wrote for One Green Planet, entitled, “Cigarettes are Bad for You (and Other Life Lessons for a Healthy and Compassionate Tomorrow).”

Photo from Maple Farm Sanctuary (http://www.maplefarmsanctuary.org/)

Today’s episode is part one of two that will focus on some of the smaller farmed animal sanctuaries that are very much changing the world for animals. The sanctuary community is so deeply important to the overall animal rights movement, and in this week’s episode, as well as next week’s, we are delighted to shed light on some of the smaller sanctuaries that are on the front lines of animal rescue, rehabilitation, and education.

With that in mind, joining us today are two sanctuary founders – Cheri Ezell-Vandersluis from Maple Farm Sanctuary and Bill Crain from Safe Haven Sanctuary. Cheri will tell us the unbelievable, life-altering story of how she founded Maple Farm Sanctuary, and Bill will tell us about the incredibly special event that took place at Safe Haven last week in honor of Thanksgiving. We’ll give you a clue: It involved some lucky, rescued turkey ambassadors, and a whole bunch of Buddhists.

For our review, Our Hen House’s Hollywood correspondent Ari Solomon will give us his take on the movie, Contagion, from an animal rights perspective.

All that, vegan banter, and of course, current events from the world of animal rights.

This week’s news items include:

• “Investigation: Inside Egg ‘Factory Farm’” from ABC News
• “Police Raid Illegal Slaughterhouse” from WSVN-TV
• “Puerto Rico senate says monkey-breeding facility not wanted” from Caribbean News Now! 
• “Faux Fur May Not Be So Faux” from The Wall Street Journal

This week’s episode is dedicated to our dear friend, Marti Kheel, a tireless ambassador for animals and women. Marti’s passion and compassion paved the way for groundbreaking insight into the world of ecofeminism and animal rights. Thank you for changing the world, Marti Kheel. We miss you already.

You can listen to our podcast directly on our blog (below!) or you can subscribe on iTunes. Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it on iTunes, and don’t forget to leave us a friendly comment!  Of course, we would be thrilled if you would also consider making a donation. Any amount is hugely appreciated, and Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, so it’s tax-deductible! Thanks!