How does a construction contractor from a tough Brooklyn neighborhood become an impassioned animal advocate?
In the award-winning documentary THE WITNESS, Eddie Lama explains how he feared and avoided animals for most of his life, until the love of a kitten opened his heart, inspiring him to rescue abandoned animals and bring his message of compassion to the streets of New York. With humor and sincerity, Eddie tells the story of his remarkable change in consciousness.
THE WITNESS has been an official selection in 32 film festivals where it has received eight awards for Best Documentary and two for Best of Festival. It has been broadcast on the independent film showcases of several regional PBS stations, as well as LinkTV, FreeSpeech TV, and United Kingdom's Community Channel. Thus far, the film has been translated into 11 languages, including Russian and Chinese.
Working hard to overcome the many challenges of growing up in a poor and violent Brooklyn neighborhood, Eddie Lama developed a deep sense of identification with the vulnerable and voiceless beings of our world. In one of the most moving sections of The Witness, he describes the harrowing experience of being beaten and left for dead, crying out for help and no one responding. Eddie then shares how this trauma helped him understand the plight of animals, who so often endure violence with no one to even witness their tragic fate, much less advocate on their behalf.
Upon accepting it, he said, "In my lifetime I have been both the oppressor and the oppressed, both the fomenter of discord and the advocate for peace, both the perpetrator and the victim. But most significantly, I have been both the silence and the voice. It is the human voice that is the primary tool for change."
Eddie’s willingness to so openly share both the dark and the light of his own life has inspired many of those who have seen The Witness to follow his example, making a conscious decision to do all they can not to participate in the exploitation of others, be they “two-legged” or “four-legged.”
"We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals. Remote from universal nature, and living by complicated artifice, man in civilization surveys the creature through the glass of his knowledge and sees thereby a feather magnified and the whole image in distortion. We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth." - Henry Beston, The Outermost House, 1928
Watch EARTHLINGS full Movie
EARTHLINGS is the single most powerful and informative documentary about society's tragic and unforgivable use of nonhuman animals, narrated by Joaquin Phoenix with soundtrack by Moby. Directed by Shaun Monson, this multi-award winning film by Nation Earth is a must-see for anyone who cares about nonhuman animals or wishes to make the world a better place.
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I am a fourth-generation dairy farmer and cattle rancher. I grew up on a dairy farm in Montana, and I ran a feedlot operation there for twenty years. I know firsthand how cattle are raised and how meat is produced in this country.
Today I am president of Earth Save International, an organization promoting organic farming and the vegetarian diet.
Sure, I used to enjoy my steaks as much as the next guy. But if you knew what I know about what goes into them and what they can to do you, you'd probably be a vegetarian like me. And, believe it or not, as a pure vegetarian now who consumes no animal products at all, I can tell you these days I enjoy eating more than ever.
If youre a meat-eater in America, you have a right to know that you have something in common with most of the cows you've eaten. They've eaten meat, too.
When a cow is slaughtered, about half of it by weight is not eaten by humans: the intestines and their contents, the head, hooves, and horns, as well as bones and blood. These are dumped into giant grinders at rendering plants, as are the entire bodies of cows and other farm animals known to be diseased. Rendering is a $2.4 billion-a-year industry, processing forty billion pounds of dead animals a year. There is simply no such thing in America as an animal too ravaged by disease, too cancerous, or too putrid to be welcomed by the all-embracing arms of the renderer.
Another staple of the renderers diet, in addition to farm animals, is euthanized pets - the six or seven million dogs and cats that are killed in animal shelters every year. The city of Los Angeles alone, for example, sends some two hundred tons of euthanized cats and dogs to a rendering plant every month.
Added to the blend are the euthanized catch of animal control agencies, and road kill. (Road kill is not collected daily, and in the summer, the better road kill collection crews can generally smell it before they can see it.) When this gruesome mix is ground and steam-cooked, the lighter, fatty material floating to the top gets refined for use in such products as cosmetics, lubricants, soaps, candles, and waxes. The heavier protein material is dried and pulverized into a brown powder-about a quarter of which consists of fecal material. The power is used as an additive to almost all pet food as well as to livestock feed. Farmers call it protein concentrates. In 1995, five million tons of processed slaughterhouse leftovers were sold for animal feed in the United States. I used to feed tons of the stuff to my own livestock. It never concerned me that I was feeding cattle to cattle.
Talk by Howard Lyman author of "Mad Cowboy: Plain Truth from the Cattle Rancher Who Won't Eat Meat" given January 22, 2010 at William H. Gates Hall, University of Washington, Seattle, WA as part of the conference "Crisis at the Crossroads: Animals, the Environment and the Law" sponsored by the University of Washington Student Animal Legal Defense Fund (SALDF).
Is there such a thing as Humane Meat and can we change the world as activists? Howard Lyman explains it in this video
Peaceable Kingdom
I was raised on a small farm in Montana in the 1940s, during World War ll. We were poor but I had no understanding of what that meant. We had enough to eat and a large loving family, so the world looked great to me.
Living on a farm I was surrounded by many animals. My dog was always at my side, and I'm sure he spoke our language. The cows and horses all had names, and each one was a special critter.
I learned that a cow could pick her calf out of hundreds of other calves, and she never made a mistake. Our workhorses responded to verbal commands, so there was no doubt they understood our words, but we had trouble with theirs.
It was also a time when you never questioned the need for animal products in your diet. Milk was nature's most perfect food, and this was agreed to by all, without thought or comment.
After high school I decided to attend Montana State University to learn the new modern methods of farming. I became exposed to better living through the use of chemicals. I never met a chemical I didn't like. Armed with a degree in agriculture, I went home to build a large agribusiness.
I look back today with regret at how I became part of the profit-driven industry instead of an understanding animal among other animals. It took me years to understand that we are just a part of the universe, and not the most important part of it.
My life experience has given me a better understanding of what is happening, and what a mistake it is to believe there is anything called "humane" slaughter. Animals have families and feelings, and to think that kindness before killing them is an answer is totally wrong. Humans have no need for animal products. And when we consume animal products, we're not just killing the animals. In the long run, we're killing the planet, and ourselves.
I'm sure that it will take many years before the majority of humans learn as I have that actions, and not words, are the true proof of our understanding of the term humane. Living my life as I do now, as a total vegan, gives me great joy in knowing that no animal has to die for me to live.
Music by Lisa Gerrard ~ Now We Are Free. For the preservation of wolves and all wild animals.
Animal Rights Supporters and Activists - Is There a Hierarchy?
Some time ago on a social networking site I encountered a woman who called herself an animal rights activist. She spoke in derogatory terms about "people who claim to be activists but are only supporters," and went on to say what a waste of time supporters were. I became aware that such people have a divisive affect on the animal rights movement.
Firstly, it should be recognised that activists depend on supporters and could not be activists without them. Supporters are usually the ones who provide funding and sponsorship. Many supporters are the ones who not only spread the word about animal cruelty, but also provide homes, food, medical treatment and transport for rescued animals.
Second, if animal rights activists only allow other activists as friends, they talk to the already converted, and do not reach out to new people. The movement is organic - it has to be grown. It needs new people supporting it in any way they can. This also applies to the vegan and vegetarian movements. It helps animals if we support, rather than attack each other.
Third, many people are heavily committed in terms of family and work, and lack either the time or energy for activism. However, they will readily donate to animal rights and welfare organisations, set trends against furs, promote animal-free products, and raise awareness about animal suffering and cruelty.
Fourth, the worst consequence of animal rights activists ghettoising themselves is the in-fighting - the little factions that say: "We are real activists, you are not!" "We don't want you, you are not as good as us!" "You can't play in our yard! na na na na na!" While they fight and argue amongst themselves in petty little battles, the animals are not being helped, and the credibility of the movement as a whole is badly damaged.
What do I know about it? I have a long history of animal rights and human rights activism, including animal rescue work, and the adoption of Chilean political prisoners rescued from the death sentence under the Pinochet regime. Through my work I learned just how important supporters are. In fact, you cannot do without them.
For example, in my work with Chilean refugees, I cultivated the cooperation of a number of organisations including the Transport and General Workers Union, the Trades Council, political parties such as the Labour Party, Communist Party and others, and Amnesty International. All of these organisations depended on supporters to attend meetings, rallies and protests, produce leaflets and posters, organise events and raise awareness. Likewise the Chilean Human Rights Committee, the Chilean Women’s group and others that all worked to adopt people who otherwise would have been executed. Then once the Chileans (many had children) were here they needed supporters to provide housing, social and medical welfare and language skills. Activists and supporters working together as a movement did all of this work. We didn't think about ourselves - our aims were to help others.
I found that supporters were equally important in animal rights work. Much of animal rights work cannot be talked about or it would not be possible to do it. One example I can now tell you about: I was involved in the rescue of a young German shepherd who was being very cruelly treated. Firstly, a home had to be found for him, and transport. A plan had to be made for his escape. He had to become familiarised with his rescuers. It was a joint effort involving a lot of people. Finally, the dog was snatched, (he jumped into the car eagerly!) taken a considerable distance away to his new home with loving people, given a new name and a new life, where he was never found. This wonderful success story could only happen with the committed cooperation of activists and supporters.
One of my paid jobs that I did to pay the rent was to telephone supporters of organisations such as British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (B U A V) and ask them to give a regular gift by banker’s order - money that enabled activists to continue the work against Huntingdon's animal research laboratories and rescue beagles. I also raised a lot of money for the human rights movement and emergency relief this way, donated by valuable supporters.
So those activists who consider themselves to be on the top of a hierarchy, too superior to rub shoulders with the "common supporter", are not real activists. They are inactivists who would rather sit around bitching and preening themselves than doing anything to further the cause. They should realise how valuable their supporters are. They must reach out and help people to become aware of animal cruelty and support the movement in any way they can. Supporters should be welcomed and congratulated for the valuable contribution they make. They should be made to feel that they matter, that everyone matters in ways that count, even if it just means giving up eating meat and becoming vegetarian. The next step will be to stop buying leather goods and boycotting cosmetics that have been tested on animals. Above all, we need to show humility in the knowledge that animals continue to suffer, because of us, human beings. We are all Earthlings, and we humans are the caretakers of the others.
Once someone becomes a supporter they will be a supporter for life. They will continue to raise awareness among everyone they meet, provide valuable funds and support for the movement, and many will become activists too. Supporters matter, supporters count, and the animals cannot do without them.
