Compassionate Coexistence

Do you consider yourself an animal lover? Does being around animals spark a unique flame of joy in your heart? Have you sought out opportunities to see or interact with animals, or do you have special memories of visiting with animals at different kinds of venues growing up?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, here are a couple of really important follow-up questions: Can you be 100 percent sure that the promoted reality that you saw on the surface for those animals authentically mirrored the quality of their lives behind the scenes? Do you know how to discern between true animal sanctuaries and animal attractions that put profit over the animals’ welfare?

While many organizations may claim on their websites or social media that they are a “sanctuary” for animals, there’s actually no official government regulation of the term — so any organization can call themselves a sanctuary, knowing that word will paint an idealistic picture for visitors with few, if any, repercussions if they deviate outside of the public eye from those same visitors’ expectations. 

As an investigative reporter working in the animal protection field, I have investigated dozens of facilities that claim their venue is for “conservation,” that they’ve “rescued” orphaned animals, or that all interaction is on the animals’ own terms, for example. I’ve also read federal inspection reports regarding those same facilities and numerous welfare violations — some of which included denying animals proper veterinary care, allowing unsafe or unsupervised public contact with wild animals, and allowing a baby animal to be handled to death (from stress) by the public.

Just because a facility is up, running, and actively licensed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) or the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) does not guarantee that the facilities are complying with the federal government’s bare minimum welfare requirements. 

Numerous news reports have exposed how violative facilities — including those with repeat, critical deficiencies — often continue to operate for years or decades, sometimes with impunity and sometimes after being slapped with paltry fines that are woefully short of the maximums authorized by Congress.

Thankfully, finding a true animal sanctuary for the conscientious animal lover has been made loads easier through the dedicated work of the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS) — reportedly the only globally recognized organization accrediting sanctuaries and rescue centers. 

A GFAS badge of approval encompasses stringent animal welfare standards, a lengthy verification process, and site visits to personally check on animal residents, said Farmed Animal Program Director Jessica Harris.

Some of the key criteria of a true animal sanctuary, according to Harris:

*There will never be breeding for captivity.

*Members of the public will not have direct contact with wildlife.

*Any public tours will be guided and focused on education, not “entertainment.”

*Facilities will not engage with commercial trade in animals or animal parts.

*Animals generally don’t leave the sanctuary grounds except for veterinary care.

Harris — who has more than 15 years experience in the animal welfare, advocacy, and veterinary fields — sat down to chat with me more in-depth over Zoom about some of the major red flags at exploitative venues, what criteria GFAS uses to verify a true sanctuary, and how you can find and support a true sanctuary near you — for both your own happiness and that of the animals.

“I think what I would really like for people to remember is that sanctuaries are a really unique, valuable space,” she said. “There is nothing like them anywhere else in the world, because sanctuaries create a model for what our relationship with animals could look like if we aren’t exploiting them, if we are respecting them, and we are valuing them the way they ought to be valued.”

The following Q&A combines the Zoom interview and email correspondence and has been edited for length and style. You can listen to the full interview on the Compassionate Coexistence podcast here!

To learn more, you can read about GFAS’ position statements on important animal issues here or check out their “Find a Sanctuary” search tool to visit or support a legitimate sanctuary today!

A Q&A with Jessica Harris, Farmed Animal Program Director for the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS)

Can you share more about how and why GFAS started?

GFAS was founded in 2007 by a number of core animal welfare leaders from different leading animal advocacy organizations who often would be involved in rescue and animal cruelty work. They would confiscate animals from some horrific situations. But then they found themselves at a loss for where to place those rescued animals to ensure that they were going to be well cared for and not be back in a new situation where they would be exploited or put at risk. They quickly realized it was very hard to identify who [true sanctuaries] were, because there is no regulation of the term “sanctuary.” There are certainly a number of places out there that use that term because it’s a feel-good term, but they are really roadside zoos, petting zoos, or what we would call a pseudo sanctuary. They are co-opting that term but exploiting animals. So we quickly realized that there had to be some set of standards for what constitutes a real, true sanctuary. 

What are some characteristics of a true sanctuary?

The core thing that would set true sanctuaries apart is that the animals come first; they come before profit, before visitor experience, before ease for staff or visitors or anybody else. 

Other key criteria are no breeding for captivity, no direct contact with wildlife, no commercial trade in animals or animal parts, any public tours are guided and educational tours that protect resident (animal) welfare, and animals are generally not removed from the sanctuary grounds except for veterinary care.

In addition, they meet criteria around ethical acquisition, ethical fundraising practices, provide high quality animal care and species-specific needs, and do not perform invasive research on residents. In general, they adhere to a high ethical standard around animal treatment.

It’s all over the media right now about certain elephants who have been in zoos for a long time, and there’s increasing consensus that it is just not possible to provide those animals a high quality of life because of the restrictions of captivity in that setting. True sanctuaries have very expansive enclosures for species like that, and in general are set apart from other captive environments because they’re generally more expansive and accommodating of species-specific needs as a priority.

They will accommodate all different species, depending on what they need – whether that’s a pig who needs a mud wallow or accommodating a prey species who wants places to hide and doesn’t want to be on exhibit for people because that is so stressful.

What are some major red flags to help people identify exploitative venues where animals may be suffering behind the scenes? 

Anytime that venues introduce paid opportunities to interact with animals or “guaranteed interactions” — particularly with wildlife, but to some extent with other species —  these are very problematic. When it comes to wild animals, anytime you see a place offer direct contact, you can go ahead and cross that off your list. You should never see any member of the public allowed direct access to wildlife for so many reasons, with safety — for both — being one of them.

The iteration of “pay to play” for me for non-wildlife is often the petting zoo kind of model. I’ll often see baby goats at fairgrounds and the classic paper cups where you get to feed them. You have to ask yourself some questions, like, “Where is this constant stream of baby animals coming from? Why are they always available? Where is their mother? Is it safe for them to have all these people’s hands on them when they’re a little baby who is susceptible to getting sick and to being stressed? What is an appropriate diet for them? Should they really be eating however much you want to feed them?” We’re asking true sanctuaries to have individualized diet plans for residents – so that’s very different from putting in your quarter and feeding animals as much as you want. Oftentimes these animals also are in very small enclosures where there is nowhere else for them to go. 

If organizations allow public access, they have to have guided educational tours; this is not for anybody’s entertainment, this is not somewhere for people to just go for fun. It can be fun, but the prime purpose is not entertainment, it’s education, and it’s very carefully monitored. Whenever it comes to any kind of domestic species, we still shouldn’t be seeing animals who can’t retreat because the sanctuary has been set up in a way that stressed animals can’t opt out.

GFAS’ criteria does not allow any breeding in captivity. Sanctuaries of pretty much every species group are at capacity or far beyond it already. There are far more animals in need of housing and help than there is space in sanctuary work, so we don’t need to continue to breed animals for captivity.

So those are all red flags: When there is an “entertainment” factor or profit at play, you can almost always be sure that the animals’ needs and welfare will come second to what the people can get out of them monetarily. A lot of those animals end up in true sanctuaries once they have outgrown or outlived their “usefulness.” 

New GFAS’ research shows that there are at least 1,000 farmed animal sanctuaries alone worldwide: Can you share more about where these animals at true sanctuaries are coming from? 

There are just so many avenues for animals coming in, and we’ve heard all kinds of horror stories about their origins.

We talk about the root causes of sanctuary a lot, and of course there is so much variation by species. If we’re talking about wildlife, lots of them can come from zoo closures or private ownership that is inappropriate  (for example, we shouldn’t be keeping big cats and primates as pets). When we talk about equines, oftentimes it’s neglect cases in which law enforcement is involved; sometimes it’s owners who cannot care for their horse for whatever reason.

When it comes to farmed animals, it’s just animal agriculture. Sometimes animals are lucky enough to escape; falling off a transport truck or escaping a slaughterhouse ironically might be the best day of their lives if they happen to land at a sanctuary as a result. Other times it’s someone who went online and wanted a teacup pig and didn’t realize that teacup pig could be 200-300 pounds, and they are not allowed to have him or her in their neighborhood, so now, where does that piggy go? 

Can you please share more about federal licensing requirements? If conditions were really that bad for animals, wouldn’t the government shut down the facilities?

The Animal Welfare Act exists, but many people don’t understand how it plays out in terms of regulation. An interesting trend I’ve observed is where the amount of regulation corresponds with how we value a species or a group of species in our culture. In general, we see far more protections for companion animals, whom we value very highly. That’s followed up by wildlife, because people have respect and interest in protecting wild animals and are fascinated by them. We’ve got slightly less value attributed to certain other species, and I can tell you with certainty that farmed animals are absolutely unprotected. There is no federal legislation protecting farmed animals prior to their slaughter, so you’re left with this vacuum where people can do as well or as badly as they want.

The USDA is the main federal body that may license, but regulations are choppy at best, and they are checking the bare minimum of basic animal care and some policies around human safety in relation to visiting those facilities. USDA fines or violations are often on some really basic requirements facilities should be meeting. 

Often Fish and Wildlife requirements are state by state, species by species, and so you also get this very choppy coverage where there are lots of loopholes, and there are lots of ways that the animals can fall through the cracks and be unprotected. 

What goes into GFAS’ accreditation, by comparison?

There is nothing nearly as comprehensive as what we are checking! There is so much that goes into it, even beyond animal care. If sanctuaries have met our criteria, you can bet that they are the best of the best.

On average we’re looking at things on paper for sure — formal documentation, safety procedures, animal care protocols, financial documents, insurance coverage, tax documents, all kinds of things —  for an average of 48 hours of staff time to evaluate one sanctuary. Beyond that, we do in-person site visits to every sanctuary we certify. We set foot at those sanctuaries, we spend time with the sanctuary operators, we see the residents, and we see the infrastructure.

It’s very hard and time consuming to research and know who is a reputable, legitimate sanctuary. You cannot rely on social media or websites because people claim all kinds of things. The goal is that if you see a GFAS-accredited badge on someone’s website, I have done all the legwork for you. 

What responsibility do people have when it comes to avoiding these inhumane venues — and instead finding compassionate alternatives for themselves or children?

That tackles the overarching question here: Why care about any of these ideas? As a parent myself, when I decide where I’m going to take my daughter, a broad concept is that it should really be animal-centric and not human-centric. A lot of that is couched in not objectifying animals and in having a very serious sense of respect for them and for their wishes. It’s not supporting places that don’t honor that core concept, because they thrive on profits from people visiting, and we really don’t want to put our money into something we don’t agree with. 

On the GFAS website, we have our “Find a Sanctuary” tool, and you can search by somewhere you’re visiting all around the world, the type of animal that you want to visit, or for volunteer and adoption opportunities – and again, we’ve done all the legwork in vetting those organizations so that people don’t have to worry.

Any final words you’d like to share?

I think all of us in animal protection spend a lot of time being exposed to horrors, whether that’s factory farming, animals in laboratories, or animals who are pacing in tiny cages somewhere. We’ve seen all kinds of things. Sanctuaries are the antidote to all of that. That’s part of what landed me in this work: After years of being a witness to all of those horrors, I really needed a space where I could keep pushing for animals and feel that there was some light at the end of the tunnel.

If you’ve never visited a true sanctuary, I encourage you to pull up our “Find a Sanctuary” tool and go. Go visit, because there is nothing like it. They remind us of what is possible. 

If you’re not in a position to go visit one, start by following them on social media. The videos they post of these animals – some are funny, some are cute, some are devastating— but you see this redemption arc for them, and you see them overcome trauma and model resilience. They’ve taught me so much. 

If you are in a position to support true sanctuaries, please donate to them. They are always needing more support. If you’re not in a position to donate, something as simple as sharing their videos on your social media is huge. It gets them in front of more people, and we want people seeing true sanctuaries because they are doing the work well.

Editorial Note: Featured Image Accredited Piedmont Farm Animal Refuge, NC – Jess & Marigold (Courtesy of Jessica Harris)