About two years ago I traveled to DeGraff, Ohio to attend a local "livestock" auction. The scenes I witnessed there will forever haunt me. Baby animals were separated from their mothers on a whim. Injured animals were prodded along into the action ring to be sold by the pound to the highest bidder. The small, dark containment centers held frightened families who awaited their permanent separation. The dust was unbearable. The loud sound of the auctioneer's microphone stung as he quickly rambled off prices. The horrible stench was nauseating. And, perhaps most disturbing of all, the frightened wide eyes of the animals gazed back at me. 

The horrific spectacle is reminiscent of the auctioning of slaves that took place in our recent past. The innocent, frightened, voiceless, and unprotected are sold to the strong, the powerful, and the greedy. It was, in its most pure form, the oppression of the weak perpetrated by the strong. 

While confined in the Birmingham city jail on April 16, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in a letter, "We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." The oppressed, whether due to age, sex, religion, sexual orientation, or species, must demand freedom from the oppressor. The struggle put forth by every animal that enters a slaughterhouse is evidence that animals individually protest such oppression. Unfortunately, animals cannot organize a movement to demand their rights. They cannot change the law or speak out on their behalf. However, we can, and we must, demand their rights and freedoms. 

Leo, the handsome two week-old Jersey calf on the cover of this issue of Outrage, was rescued from a livestock auction. Fortunately, he will never have to wage his own individual form of protest against the sharp, cold knife at the slaughterhouse. Everyday millions of voiceless and defenseless animals, just like Leo, rely on you and me to demand an end to their oppression. 

The animals deserve nothing less than to have a voice. We are, and must be, their voice!

For the Animals, 

Nathan Runkle
MFA Director