Group shot with the Ghosts team and TPS during production, 2012.
by Anita Krajnc for Toronto Pig Save
“When the suffering of another creature causes you to feel pain, do not submit to the initial desire to flee from the suffering one, but on the contrary, come closer, as close as you can to him [/her] who suffers, and try to help him[/her].”
– Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom
Mr. Bean, a rescued beagle I adopted for my mom, entered our lives in the late fall of 2010. On our morning walks along Lake Shore Boulevard, I would find myself faced with scores of transport trucks carrying pigs. I’d see the pigs looking out with fear and sadness in their eyes, and with their little snouts poking through the portholes. At the time, I was reading biographies written by Romain Rolland— a vegetarian Nobel laureate—on Tolstoy, Gandhi, Ramakrishna and Vivikananda, and was impressed at how each of them knew their priorities: when there was an injustice in their community they took action by engaging in community organizing.
Seeing those transport trucks roaring down Lake Shore every day prompted me to act. We do not want a situation in which no one is there to witness animal suffering except those participating in the cruelties. Animal suffering for “meat” and “dairy” is not an abstract thing. When we witness the pigs we see the unfiltered truth. Tolstoy says that to know a creature’s suffering, one has to come close “as close as we can” to know it deeply and to sympathize and act.
In July 2012, Toronto Pig Save launched a grassroots campaign of bearing witness at a busy intersection at Lake Shore and Strachan as well as in front of Toronto’s pig, cow and chicken slaughterhouses and has since organized three vigils and leafleting events each week throughout the year. Toronto Pig Save has organized a sustained, nonviolent campaign of bearing witness to put faces to the chilling statistics of animal exploitation and to ensure we are continually reminded of the plight of the pigs, cows and chickens entering the city for slaughter.
Bearing witness is a way of expressing sympathy with the suffering animals. To be personally with the victims and see with one’s own eyes what is being done with them now shows the victims that someone cares, affects the witness with the greatest resolve to help them, helps soften the hearts of the animal exploiters, and makes the public notice by politicizing the transport trucks and slaughterhouses.
The animals know who their friends are. There is no greater hope the animals can have than to see others show them compassion and love. The affect on the witness cannot be overestimated—it is so great. When you look into the pig’s eyes, it changes everything… bearing witness forces you to look into their completely unjust situation. It’s hard not to be struck with an overwhelming sense of sorrow, identification, and a determination to act on the behalf of the suffering ones. One develops a new determination and courage in making the truth known of their needless suffering if people only knew and went vegan and became activists.
We bear witness as a collective, which makes it more bearable as we offer each other support and assistance. Bearing witness is a very intense experience and along with the regularity of the vigils each week, people are brought closer together, not in a superficial way, but on a deeper level, thus deepening bonds and also creating lifelong friendships and building community.
Coleen Tew, a co-founder of Hamilton Burlington Pig Save said, after attending Guelph Pig Save’s first vigil at Conestoga Meat Packers in Breslau, Ontario in February of this year: The vigil “was so powerful to me. I have never seen this industry up close. Tears come to my eyes when I think about it. [We] have started something so empowering in Pig Save. Look how it is catching on! [People] have hope, and it inspires us all. All of the people at that vigil were inspiring to me. You could feel the love in the air for those poor babies. I feel blessed to be a part of this. When I think of those pigs, any other problems in life seem so minute, so I will carry that with me always.”
The regular vigils in front of slaughterhouses and transport trucks affect the workers and public by changing the social and political climate and keeping the issue on the pubic agenda. Formerly unseen and uncontested transport trucks and specific slaughterhouse are politicized. We are not, however, hostile to workers, rather, we try to reach out to them by offering them free vegan coconut BLTs and informative videos. We are saying the pigs matter. We are there for them. We chant: “We see you, we’re trying, we care!” The regular vigils serve as an example where those who love animals live up to their convictions in good deeds on the street. We put forth the idea that the animals are our equals, deserving our time and respect as we expose the terrible cruelty of the animal exploitation industry.
The other key ingredient that TPS highlights, is community organizing in which everyone is a leader. We apply the positive, love-based, and inviting principles of a Gandhian approach. Millions of people in our cities and towns do not have to stand on the sidelines. Our hope is a mass-based movement in which everyone starts to bear witness. Collectively, through bearing witness and community organizing we wield the power to engage in social change.
Anywhere you are you can do the same thing. There are slaughterhouses in every community. Fortunately there has been a huge growth of the Pig Save movement, with each new group having its own character and galvanizing the other groups through the sharing of ideas and resources. Teamwork is a hallmark of all the groups and of a community organizing approach.
Learn more about Toronto Pig Save.
Comments are closed.