Winter Charity Poll! (Patreon)

Hello Beastlings! Thank you so much for making our charity donations so effective so far. For any new Beastlings, here's what we have accomplished (sorry, this will be long!):

We are the sole sponsors of an adorable pig named Princess Pomegranate (aka Pompom) who was rescued from laboratory testing and is now living a peaceful and happy life at Rancho Relaxo. I drove there and met her in person and although she still had burns all over her body from the chemical testing she was subject to, she had a bubbly and hilarious personality. She nuzzled my legs like a cat would, perked up from her nap to come meet me like a dog would... and this is all upon my first meeting with her! 

So, thanks to your dedication and compassion, Pompom can now live free for her entire natural life. That is a privilege almost NO animals get to enjoy. 70 BILLION land animals are killed every year (that's not a typo, and that's not even including animals killed in the ocean and waterways!!). So although it may not seem like much to think we only saved one life, WE SAVED ONE LIFE. Huge respect to Rancho Relaxo for their amazing rescue work as well.

A baby turkey was also "adopted" by an awesome Beastling; this baby is named Peapod and she is living free and happy with her MOM! Again - this is not something many turkeys get to experience, especially given the fact that big holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas traditionally centre around killing turkeys. I met some turkeys for the first time this year and it really surprised me how dog-like they are. They walk up to greet you as you approach, they have "clicks" within their families, the male turkey watches over the females like a security guard; they are curious and affectionate and will jump right on your lap to snuggle. I did not know they had such lovely personalities before! 

I also donated to Charlie's Acres Sanctuary in California. I didn't even plan on this but when our poll chose animal rights as the season's cause, I tried to meet as many rescuers as I could. Charlie's Acres is designed to be able to educate youth so that they can learn about the complex personalities these animals have and see them as more than commodities. Plus, it's fun to meet cute animals and this way there is not only the rescue aspect to be proud of, but changing how we see farmed animals in society could have an amazingly powerful ripple effect as well (it already has!).

I know many of you have also become direct patrons of Rancho Relaxo, which is amazing! Thank you!
They have actually named 3 other residents in honour of Doyle and I now (2 chickens and a barn cat) 🐣🐣🐱💙

SO!

Let's take a look at which charitable cause we would like to support this time! Cast your vote! 

A few notes:

• I have been really fascinated with orangutans for a while. I wrote a piece on the effects of palm oil consumption for the magazine UNBUILT and I interviewed some orangutan rescues in Indonesia when researching for this article. They are beautiful, intelligent, and desperately need our help. Their population size acts like a barometer for the overall health of the forests they live in because they are so closely intertwined with their habitats. Of course we also had lots of horrible fires in South America and Australia this year - something that affects hundreds of animal species. 

• Suicide prevention is also something close to my heart and a very tough thing to wrap my head around. I think many of us have lost people we love this way and we always think "what if"? 

• Cancer research: I have lost many family members to cancer, as we all have. I desperately don't want to lose any more.

• Anti-Poaching Initiatives: there are people putting their lives at risk every day to directly prevent the killing of protected animals. It is not easy work but they are sometimes the only line of defense against poachers.

Sorry for being verbose! If you got this far, I'm impressed 🤣!

 Happy 2020 everyone!
~AWG