The Warriors for Animal Rights club hosted a meeting with speakers Kathy Halamka and Jennifer D’Angelo on farmed animal sanctuaries and community outreach during X-block at 11:00 a.m. on Wed. Dec. 14.

Halamka and D’Angelo, who attended the meeting virtually, spoke to the students about the difference between sanctuaries, farms and petting zoos in Massachusetts.

Halamka, a co-founder of Unity Farm Sanctuary, founded in 2016 in Sherborn, Massachusetts, said that while farms and petting zoos utilize the services and products of animals for monetary reasons, sanctuaries focus more on the individuality of each animal. However, like farms, animal sanctuaries only house domesticated animal breeds.

“They are not here for us, we are here for them,” Halamka said. “Animals are individuals and we shouldn’t try to profit off them.”

D’Angelo, the Director of Humane Education at Unity Farm Sanctuary, said one of the sanctuary’s main goals is to spread compassion and respect for animals through education.

Unity Farm Sanctuary has worked with other schools, reaching Kindergarten through college students, to educate on animal welfare.

“They often come to the sanctuary, which is really nice because then they get to meet the animals in real life and bond with them,” D’Angelo said.

Unity Farm Sanctuary has multiple educational programs, offering two different educational courses for students based on age and a workshop for all levels of Girl Scouts. Additionally, they also offer several other community outreach programs, such as a reading group for young children.

Apart from education programs, the sanctuary also organizes festivals – which both Halamka and D’Angelo work closely on. D’Angelo said the sanctuary also partakes in VegFest and encourages people to eat less meat by asking them to join in on campaigns such as “meatless Mondays,” which was recently introduced at the high school.

According to Halamka, sanctuaries like Unity Farm Sanctuary rely on volunteers, fundraisers and donors as they do not monetize many of their services. Though the sanctuary had to pause many of its in-person activities due to COVID-19, most of them will be brought back on-site in 2023.

Halamka said that having farmed animal sanctuaries that are open to the public is especially important.

“It helps allow people to understand their plight and get to know them one-on-one,” Halamka said.