Meet Meadow, the newest family member of the Wishing Well farm animal sanctuary, located in a bucolic setting outside Bradford, Ontario.
Meadow’s freedom from the dinner table was won through a remarkably reasonable exchange between animal rights activists and Newmarket Meat Packers. The activists appealed to workers of the plant to find alternate employment, and a representative of the plant countered that it employs approximately 50 people and asked the activists to “respect the fact that we are providing a service for people with wants.”
Though they have irreconcilable differences with the animal rights activists, on Thursday (April 2) Newmarket Meat Packers offered mercy to the lamb, “In light of it being Easter and with everyone in good spirits.”
“He’s unbelievably calm. In fact, as soon as he was in the back of our truck, he nibbled on a bit of food,” says Brenda Bronfman of Wishing Well. “And now he’s sitting here and he knows he’s in a safe place but doesn’t know how unbelievably lucky he is.”
Meadow will stay in quarantine in a sunroom that meets an enclosed garden area. After ten days the lamb will be introduced to nine other rescue sheep: Maitri, Poppy, Smudge, Freckles, Tiff, Mitou, Butter, Jam, and Jewel, “the black sheep of the family, literally.” The sheep are part of an extended rescue family that includes cows, donkeys, pigs, ducks, chickens, a rabbit, horses, and goats.
In the world of animal rights, the tale of Meadow has a rare and happy ending. As other people enjoy eating their mutton, chumps, loin, and rack of lamb, possibly with mint jelly, this holiday weekend, fervent vegans will be making pilgrimages to a pastoral farm sanctuary to adore the mystic lamb. It will look something like this panel from Van Eyck’s 1432 Ghent Altarpiece.
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