About the Programs
We will be providing more detailed information about our programs soon, but for now here is a listing of our current programs.
No-Kill Indiana
We sincerely believe that by working together with other shelters and animal advocacy groups throughout the state, we can build a state where NO animals are killed because of a lack of housing. To our naysayers who insist that irradicating euthanasia is impossible, we point to history, which has proven time and again that impossible can be overcome with passionate dedication. We will share our failures and successes with other organizations throughout the country in order to move toward a no-kill nation [PDF]. This campaign is quite complex and we will share more details with you as time goes on.
Vegan Outreach
Compassion begins at home. That is why we are dedicated to educating people about the social and environmental benefits of a vegan diet. As Mahatma Gandhi said, "You must be the change you want to see in the world." Veganism is about far more than what you eat. it is about how you view yourself in conjunction with the world of which you are a part. This program largely consists of passing out information to the public via leaflets, brochures, booklets, and websites, but we will also be giving classroom presentations and workshops.
Anti-Oppression Education
This program is intimately connected to our vegan outreach because we feel it is irresponsible and shortsighted to extend compassion and the fight for justice to non-human animals while ignoring compassion and justice for humans. In addition to continually educating ourselves (collective members and volunteers), we are also involved in facilitating workshops for schools, organizations and community members about transgressing racism, ableism, heterosexism, genderism, sexism, speciesism and other forms of oppression.
Political Prisoner Support
Imprisonment has long been used as a weapon against dissent. With the recent expansion of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, it should be more evident to animal rights activists that our struggle is intimately connected to other movements for justice. Should the recent trend continue, it is not unreasonable to believe that we will see an increased war on animal rights activists. As has been seen with other movements, such as that with Black liberation, Puerto Rican independence, and First Nations autonomy, when movements gain support and success they are increasingly criminalized. For this reason, we feel it is important to support those that are serving prison sentences because they stood up for justice. While this support is largely in the form of letter-writing campaigns to the prisoners themselves, we are also involved with writing letters to appeal boards, judges, and others who have the ability to ensure justice; we sponsor fundraisers for prisoner support; and we distribute information about political prisoners and what individuals can do to support them.
On Hold
The following programs are currently on hold until we have bought our land:
Community Supported Agriculture: Providing affordable, organic, locally-grown produce is a vital part of healthy communities. A portion of our land will be set aside as an organic CSA. We will also work with others in the area to start up other CSAs.
Companion Adoption: We will be a sanctuary that also serves as an adoption agency, placing animals in loving, permanent homes. However, we are postponing this program until we are able to build the safe and healthy structures necessary for housing animals awaiting adopting.
Companion Foster Network: We will be setting up a network through southcentral Indiana to provide temporary housing for animals in need of homes. This will be an integral part of our No-Kill Indiana program and will ensure that we are able to maintain a safe and healthy population on our premises while providing housing for as many animals as possible.
Affordable Health Care: For many adoption agencies, there is an unstated establishment of classism. Understandably, the agencies require new caretakers to provide for a certain amount of health care for individual animals. Much like that for humans, however, health care for companion animals can be quite expensive. This inhibits working class people from adopting animals from no-kill shelters, opting instead for Class B dealers and the ilk. This is why we will be working to create a network of veterinarians throughout the state to provide affordable health care for those in need. You can think of it as Medicare for companion animals.
