In one of the most highly anticipated animal events of 2015, thousands of people traveled to High Falls, New York on September 5th to celebrate the grand re-opening of the Woodstock Farm Sanctuary in its new location. Situated on 150 lush green acres, the new sanctuary will serve not only as a refuge for rescued farm animals but also as a living classroom for visitors and a venue for cruelty-free events, such as summer camps and celebrations.

Jenny Brown and Doug Abel, the founders of Woodstock Farm Sanctuary, opened the original location in upstate New York on 26 acres, but they – and the animals they rescue who serve as ambassadors to all victims of animal agriculture – have outgrown the space. The new sanctuary is six times the size and far more expensive to own and operate. Please support Woodstock Farm Sanctuary by making a contribution or becoming a member.

Woodstock Farm Sanctuary Grand Re-Opening

For the first time ever, a major international film festival has launched a category dedicated to animal rights. In October, 2015, the Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) will feature “Compassion, Justice & Animal Rights,” a program that, according to organizers, provides a platform for filmmakers “to share meaningful information, stories of inspiration and tools for creating a safe and humane world for animals.”

Hamptons International Film Festival (October 8 – 12, 2015)

“The high quality films chosen by organizers will not only encourage discussion about how we view and treat animals, but will also help viewers make more compassionate choices in their day-to-day lives,” said Zelda Penzel, a longtime festival supporter who worked with organizers to create the category. “I strongly believe that these films have the potential to change hearts and minds.”

The Hamptons International Film Festival dedicates an entire category to animal rights films

The description of the program on the festival’s website is, in and of itself, a tool to educate mainstream audiences about the plight of animals: “In the 21st century, billions of animals continue to be exploited for our food, clothing, labor, research and entertainment. They are denied their basic right to life and fundamental protections against violence and cruelty.”

While 2015 is the first year that the festival has dedicated an entire category to animal rights, organizers have included animal rights films in recent years, including Virunga and Emptying the Skies, documentaries about the plight of mountain gorillas and songbirds. It was the large turn out and the engaging Q&A sessions at these screenings that convinced festival organizers to shine a brighter spotlight on animal rights.

The 2015 festival will feature three narrative or documentary films about animal rights, including The Champions, which follows the story of the pit bulls rescued from NFL quarterback Michael Vick’s dog fighting ring. The Champions has its world premiere at the festival.

Virunga won the Zelda Penzel Giving Voice to the Voiceless Award at the 2014 HIFF

For her part, Ms. Penzel, who endows the festival with an award for an animal rights film each year, is not surprised that the films about the plight of animals have been so well received. After all, she says, “Animal rights is the social justice movement of our time.”

Alec Baldwin, the newly appointed Chairman of the Board of HIFF and a longtime spokesman for animal rights issues, has indicated that he plans to lend his support to the category.

Emmy award winning filmmaker Allison Argo has released the trailer to her highly anticipated documentary. THE LAST PIG, the story of a farmer in upstate New York who struggles to align his livelihood with his principles, chronicles Bob Comis’ final year raising pigs for slaughter, intimately documenting his personal journey from killer to advocate. Watch the extraordinary trailer:

Unlike Howard Lyman, an animal rights activist who once farmed animals on an industrial scale, Mr. Comis became a “humane” pig farmer to offer an alternative to factory farming. According to Argo, he “labored to provide a near-idyllic life for his pigs, digging mud wallows in the summer heat; planting fields of corn where they can feed freely; and providing pigs with acres to roam with their herds.” But after ten years of farming pigs, Mr. Comis reached a tipping point. How could he continue to slaughter the very pigs who follow him around like his beloved dog and who show signs of stress when their friends vanish?

“I’ve come to understand that their eyes are never vacant. There’s always somebody looking back at you.”

In the film, we see Comis embrace the feelings that he worked for years to suppress — that pigs are sentient beings who want to live and that slaughter cannot be reconciled with “humane” farming: “I don’t want to have the power to decide who lives or dies anymore.”

Bob Comis at his farm in upstate New York

The film delivers subtle, but unmistakable messages about animal rights. Among them is our arbitrary cultural bias – regarding dogs as companions and equally intelligent pigs as commodities. Comis’ dog Monk, who follows him around the farm, serves a constant reminder of this bias, especially when he sits in the front of the truck while the slaughter-bound pigs languish in the back.

“This communion is a lie. I am not their herd mate. I am a pig farmer.”

Comis’ decision to transition from a pig to a veganic, vegetable farmer did not come easy because of the risk to his financial security: “I have to give up my job, my livelihood, in order to live in line with my ethics. It’s a colossal effort. It’s a terrifying effort. It’s overwhelming. But I’m committed to doing it.”

THE LAST PIG will be released in spring of 2016. Thus far, filmmaker Allison Argo and cinematographer Joe Brunette have funded production from their own pockets, but they need support with finishing funds. Please contribute, if you can. Follow the progress on Facebook.

In the past couple of days, millions of people on social media, who don’t normally address animal cruelty, have expressed sorrow and outrage about the murder of Cecil, the beloved lion in Zimbabwe. While we have people’s attention, how can we tap into these powerful emotions to awaken them to the plight of other animals who are equally deserving of a life free from harm? How can we help people connect the dots between Cecil, who endured 40 hours of agony, and the billions of farm animals whose entire lives are consumed by suffering?

Please use this rare moment in time when the world is paying attention to ensure that Cecil did not die in vain and that his murder is wake-up call to the millions of people who have not made the connection between the animals we love – like lions, whales and dogs – and the animals we consume. They are all the same.

One easy way to help people make the connection is to share these images on Facebook and convey your thoughts about why farm animals deserve to live in peace just as much as Cecil.

The treatment of animals is a great disconnect in the world today. We oppose animal cruelty in theory, but we support it in practice. We know that our daily choices contribute to animal abuse, but we find ways to rationalize them in order to maintain our behavior. We turn a blind eye to cruelty because bearing witness would force us to take action. In short, the human desire to maintain the status quo is more powerful than the desire to do what is right — treat animals humanely.

Wayne Hsiung shines a light on cruelty of “humanely raised” hens in a factory farm

But there is hope. Every individual who has adopted a cruelty-free lifestyle was, at one point, a part of the complicit majority. But someone or something before us – a friend, a protest, a documentary – helped us to see the light.

On Saturday, July 25th, activists around the world will, in an effort to awaken the masses, symbolically shine a spotlight on animal cruelty and the path to liberation. Wearing blue shirts and holding candles, activists in 130 countries will take photographs in front of a places that represent violence toward animals and post them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. According to the organizers, a large coalition of animal rights groups, participants will “stand in solidarity with a promise to the animals that we will continue to expose the violence against them and light a path towards a better world.”

Ellen Ericksen of San Diego works to help consumers see the light

The path to animal liberation is dark and long, but it has been paved. On Saturday, let us all shine the light on the path and encourage people around the world to join us on the journey.

Please join the Facebook event #LIGHTTHEPATH and join activists around the world in being a voice for the animals.