The Agenda with Steve Paikin (Audio) - Slaughter to Sanctuary: A Cattle Rancher's Change of Heart

Episode Date: May 23, 2024

Mike Lanigan, a third generation cattle farmer, turned his life upside down in 2016 when he halted the production and selling of beef on his farm and decided to befriend his cattle instead. With the help of Edith Barabash, Farmhouse Garden Animal Home was born. Located in Uxbridge, Ontario, Mike and Edith spend their days raising cattle and saving animals who need a home. With the help of many volunteers, this animal sanctuary educates the public about the benefits of preserving animal life and choosing compassion over profit.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From epic camping trips to scenic local hikes, spending time outdoors is a great way to create lasting memories to share with friends and family. This summer, TVO is celebrating the natural wonders that inspire unforgettable adventures with great documentaries, articles, and learning resources about beloved parks in Ontario and beyond. Visit tvo.me slash Ontario summer stories for all this and more. And be sure to tell us your stories for a chance to win great prizes. Help TVO create a better world through the power of learning. Visit TVO.org and make a tax-deductible donation today. I thought of all the good farmers in my life that showed so much love to their to their beasts and I just had this little idea that I thought well I wonder if I didn't have to kill my cows Mike

thank you so much for welcoming us to your farm today oh always a pleasure tell us how did you come to own an animal sanctuary? Well, it's a long story. I'll kind of keep it a little short for you. I didn't plan on it. It was a complete fluky thing that happened, and this was my farm. It was my dad's farm. I moved here when I was a little boy in the early 60s, and he was a beef farmer. And he used to herd cows down Yonge Street before he moved here. And I marketed my cattle at my farmer's market. I'd sell it in packages. And I had no plan on making a sanctuary. I had one spring, I had a little calf born that was months premature. And it was a wee little thing.

And I'm trying to keep this calf alive with its mama down under an apple tree down by the pond. And I worked all day on this calf. And the whole day, you're trying to keep yourself going, and you're thinking about the stories about old farmers and how much love they give their little calves. And then I thought, we've given them so much love. And then after two years, we knock them on the head and put them in little packages.

And I just, to keep the story short, is I just thought it was kind of hypocritical to do that. And I just happened to have a girl that worked for me since she was like 14. So I actually worked for Mike for many years, even before we became a sanctuary. I was a cashier at his farmer's market and I was an intern here at the farm as well for two summers because I just wanted to learn how to farm and and you know grow sustainable food. That was something that always interests me. So I worked here and then I really connected with the animals when I was here. I would spend a lot of time out in the field just feeding the cows when he wasn't looking, and like instead of picking vegetables.

So yeah, I just, I loved this place. It was a part of my life for so long. I had taken her with me to the butcher shop, and she had stopped eating meat products after that. I didn't take her in the kill area, just all the animals lined up waiting to go. And she became vegan. And when I was at the farmer's market that week and I said, Edie, I says, hey, if I didn't want to kill my cows, do you think we could somehow get donations or something to buy their feed? When Mike had his change of heart and decided that he didn't want to send the animals to slaughter,

he came to me and asked if I would be willing to help him kind of make that transition because he's the farmer, he's not the most tech savvy. So I thought, you know, why not? I came here to the farm and I videotaped him talking about his idea and what he wants to do and that's how it all started. You're a third generation cattle farmer from my understanding. Yeah, yeah. My dad, his farm was on Yonge Street, but my grandfather died before I knew him, so I don't have any knowledge of that, but I know my dad talked about herding cows down Yonge Street, and he sold his land on Yonge Street, which, you know, we often talked about. I wish he hadn't, but usually farmers often get taxed out,

so when your taxes get too high, you can't make enough money, you move farther from the city where the tax rate goes lower. But yeah, we moved here. My dad always had cows and we actually used to process our cows right here. In the old days, we didn't pay a butcher to do it. We did it here and we did it in the fall. We would do hogs and chickens and we did it all here. As a child, did you understand what the purpose of

the farm was? Did you see the cows hanging up? Well yeah it was to be quite blunt it was an exciting time we didn't think anything. I remember as a little kid there's a big gut pile was right out there in the hay and we'd poke at it with a stick to see if it would pop like you know that's ruthless stuff but as a kid you this isn't something you thought about. And my mom would grind the meat, and my dad would cut it up, and neighbors would come and help, and then we'd go help the neighbors. It wasn't something we ever thought about.

It wasn't until you get a little older and a little bit more experienced and sensitive, you start getting these funny ideas. Well, how has your new view on animals altered your personal life? Well, it's changed it a lot because I used to be a hunter, you know, and I can't go hunting now. I had a deer license and I couldn't do it. I went out and I just couldn't, it just didn't seem right. I mean, we changed things here. I promised them I won't shoot the pigeons out of my barn even when they poop on the interviewer. And it didn't happen easily, it wasn't something I planned. I didn't talk to the family and have a family meeting. I didn't have a lot of support. Tell us a little bit more about your friends and

family's reaction. Well, I mean it's something I don't want to dwell on support. Tell us a little bit more about your friends and family's reaction. Well, I mean, it's something I don't want to dwell on too much, but my sons were so mad, I think when they walked near me, they spit it. I had neighbours I met at an equipment auction, and they just looked at me and they made a snort of derision and stomped away without even saying good morning. And that breaks my heart. I mean, these people, my neighbours, I've been here my whole life and I'm getting old and I know everybody and it hurts your feelings and you know

I'm everyone's settled down now I've got a my one son now is is is happily volunteered to keep it going after my demise and he helps me when I have to take a week off or something. And it's marvelous. The neighbors, they just took a bit of education. I mean, I think it's an interesting place where we can educate people on both sides. I mean, there's, you know, I have a lot of people from hardcore animal rights activists that come here from all over the world. And, you know, it's hard to lean over the gate and talk about the issues of taking care of beef cattle or being a farmer in this day and age and the difficulties that farmers have to pay the bills. The animals are paid for by

donations so they've actually been able to pay for all of the bills to feed the beasts and care for them with vet bills. And it's all volunteer. There's nobody making a nickel. We have a great base of volunteers that do all the dirty work and they do promoting and putting on an event like today. And it's astonishing to see everyone come together to do this little thing. Constantly having to fundraise and put on events, it's a lot of work.

It's extremely rewarding. We love it. But it's definitely the most time consuming and challenging in that sense. But also another thing that I find really hard is that because we are an animal rescue, a lot of people come to us with stories of animals that are in need.

So there's an emotional toll as well, because there's a lot of animals who are neglected or don't have a home. And people will come to us and ask us to take them in. And we can't take everybody in, right? We have finite resources. We tried to figure out the best way to help people, but it's difficult because there's just

so many animals that need help. Can you explain to us why this entire community is gathered here today? Well, it's to let the cows out. So this is something that every farm family enjoys every year. You always go to the house the night before and you say, oh, you know, we're going to put the cows on pasture today. And it's just a farm family tradition that most people don't even know about. It's where you open the gates and the cows can leave the barnyard and go off to the fresh green grass for the first time of the year.

And they express joy like a cow does. They buck and they stomp and they jump around and they sump each other. And then sometimes they just run out and start to eat. Move on! Sometimes they just run out and start to eat. Move on! So I actually moved them into a little on the laneway where the people are going to walk today just to take the grass down. Oh yeah, and they just performed. And it just brings joy. We get hundreds of people coming out and we have a few things going on.

We've got, obviously people can come and meet the animals, interact with them, they can feed them. So we have vegetables that are donated from Fennings Organics. They give us a bunch of leafy greens, carrots, potatoes, and we make little vegetable boxes, and people can purchase those and feed them to the animals. And 100% of the proceeds is donated back to their care. We also have food being sold. So we have Planted in Hamilton, a restaurant here. We have a bake sale, and yeah, just lots of opportunities for people to interact with the animals. Tell us more about feeding the animals. Do any kids get scared? How does that work?

Kids definitely get scared. We have the odd brave kid that comes and just puts their hand right in the cow's mouth, but the thing with cows is that the way they eat, they have these long tongues that kind of like wrap around the food. So yeah, it's always an experience to give them food and see their tongue kind of come out and like wrap around your hand. It's really hilarious. And people coming from the city have never fed a cow

or have never even seen a cow that's this big before, right? Because our cows are probably older than any other cows that you'd come across in another farm. So it's it's a fun experience especially for little ones you have like a tiny little kid and a giant cow and yeah it's fun. They're just animals. I've never fed a cow before. They don't want the greens. They're just like humans. Good job. Here, do you want this one? So is this your first visit on the farm today? It's our second time here. And what brings you back? Well, we wanted to celebrate Mother's Day and we just had a really nice time last year and we like to support what's going on here. So we made the trip, and we're here.

What does that support look like to you? What's so special about this place? For me, we just want to show him respect to animals and for him to have the contact with seeing animals as well and petting them. So it's very important for us to introduce him at such a young age. We came here last year when I was pregnant with him.

So to come full circle and be here with him again was wonderful. And the way that we choose to live, we choose not to eat any animals or any cows. So I think it's awesome to bring him here from an early age to see them in person and to have a healthy bond with the cows and animals. What brings you here today?

The joy of this place. And what are you expecting? Well, what was a surprise last year was seeing us feeding these beasts with their big tongues and then coming out here and they released the cows into the green pasture that they haven't had all winter. And they were skipping and just squealing with joy. Is there a particular cow that you've connected with the most? I really love Gord.

Gord is the youngest one. And he was born after all of the other cows had been neutered and he was just like a surprise. One day we woke up in the morning and Gord was there but he just because he was raised around people he is so like he's so social he comes up to us he loves to be pet so you can kind of you could tell that he's used to people and he kind of acts like a big puppy basically. How do people get involved in the farm? We would love to be able to expand, have more funds to build more infrastructure.

We're actually in the process of building a cow hospital. So we're fundraising now for that because as these cows get older, they're going to need a lot more care. And so we want a place on site where we could take care of them, make sure all of their needs are met. But the other way that we kind of make our impact bigger than just this little farm is through our humane education program. A big part of what we do is also education, especially for children. And it's really important for us to kind of

instill compassion for animals into the next generation. Hello. Yeah, we can rescue a few animals. But also if we teach kids to be kind to animals animals and we create a world where animal rescue isn't necessarily needed, then our impact is much bigger than just this place. What is your ultimate wish for the farm? Oh, I want it to continue till everything is gone. You know, they can't bury me on the farm anymore, but I will be just down the road.

I want it to flourish. I want my family to live here for generations further, you know, and that would bring me great joy. Well, Mike, thank you so much for bringing us to your farm today. It's an absolute pleasure. I love TVO, and I'm glad you're here today. Thank you.

We'll go dance with the cows in a little while. We will. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you.