Story posted Wednesday, January 27, 2010
'It's Never OK To Allow Cruelty'
Wagner Farm Rescue Fund (WFRF) and Have A Heart Farm (HAHF) Founder and President Debby Rubenstein notes:
Last year, I was dismayed to have to report that an animal welfare and rights colleague of mine had been injured in an anti-gay hate crime attack. Due to the irrational prejudices that inflict and rot the hearts and minds of those that hold these prejudices, this attack was not an isolated incident but was instead reflective of what is often experienced in the form of discrimination and violence that is incited by bigotry induced hatred and paranoia. These situations are also reflective of the many other kinds of prejudices that exist in issues of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, and any other type of bigotry, including
prejudices against those involved in animal rights.
While these are known to be ongoing, I did not expect to be reporting a similar situation again so soon with yet another of my animal and welfare rights colleagues. While this most recent attack, as with the other that I reported, was not in conjunction with animal rights, it gives thought as to how the outcome may have been even more adversely affected if that factor had been part of the equation as well.
On the early morning of Jan. 9, Chicago resident and animal welfare and rights advocate Daniel Hauff was attacked on a CTA train while attempting to be a Good Samaritan and intervene in a fight that had broken out on the train.
I have had the privilege and pleasure of knowing and working with Mr. Hauff for a number of years now in animal welfare and rights advocacy, and I look forward to many more years ahead of association with him.
Mr. Hauff's intent was that his intervention would disrupt some of the tension and that the fighting parties would back down. Instead, Mr. Hauff was verbally and physically assaulted himself by the parties involved, including being called a "stupid faggot". He was punched and kicked, which resulted in profuse nose bleed, suffered a deviated septum, swelling, cuts, and bruises on many areas of his torso such as his chest, back, left knee and arm, the right side of his body, and his head. As Mr. Hauff was bleeding profusely while still being beaten, he has stated that the only way he was able to stop further attack was by telling the men that he is HIV positive, which he has stated is untrue but what he had to tell them in an attempt to stop them from further beating him.
When learning of this attack, I contacted Mr. Hauff to extend best wishes and moral support. I subsequently also asked him some follow-up questions for this column, as his intent in going public about
this attack has been to inform and educate the public about how hate, even if it is not necessarily defined as a "hate crime", must be brought to public attention in order to eradicate any tolerance for such bigotry. As the gist of the information about the attack has already been publicized, the following was posed to and answered by Mr. Hauff:
DR: What is the most profound impact this attack has had on you?
DH: This attack has strengthened my resolve to always stand up for others and to work harder on issues that face the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community.
DR: What do you wish to convey the most to the public?
DH: It's never OK to allow cruelty, whether to human or non-human animals, and it is up each of us as individuals to be and live the change we need.
DR: You noted the correlation between people hurting animals and then hurting people, as well as noting your MFA (Mercy for Animals) work. Please expound some on how the violent behavior by factory farm workers against animals uncovered by MFA impacts how these workers most likely also act toward others outside their jobs.
DH: Factory farms and slaughterhouses create and encourage a culture of cruelty, where animals are nothing more than disposable objects to be used and discarded once their profitability decreases. Every undercover investigation conducted reveals egregious acts of neglect and abuse, mutilations, intensive confinement and horrific, violent killing. Animal agribusiness treats animals as commodities, no different than steel or wood, and cuts costs in welfare without harming the final product. As a civilized society it is our moral obligation to protect animals from abuse, and a compassionate, vegetarian diet free of the cruelty of meat, dairy and eggs is one of the most powerful ways that every one of us can remove our own participation in cruelty. Every time we sit down to eat, we either choose to pay someone to slit the throats of spent egg-laying hens or drag the newborn calves away from dairy cows to be killed for veal, or we don't - it's really that simple.
Also, while any slurs are inappropriate, it has to be questioned why the perpetrators even began calling out slurs in regard to sexual orientation to a man who was alone and just another passenger on the train.
Perhaps in the minds of people who incite violence, catalysts for inciting such slurs and violence include
interaction with any man who steps in to break up a fight rather than participate in or ignore one.
In conclusion, and beyond the formal statements and writing, I personally add that Hauff has been of immeasurable assistance and a source of support when it has come to the WFRF and HAHF animals.
Whenever there has been an issue of animal placement that I have called upon him for assistance with, Daniel has always responded and come through to the best of his ability, even when it has taken hours of his time. Despite his busy schedule, Daniel always returns emails and phone calls, and has never left an animal go without some form of assistance.
His statement about society living and being the change we need is a creed that he exemplifies himself by the way that he respects and helps others, and this I know firsthand.
I also know that our world, despite the challenges that we face, is a far better place for having people of integrity like Daniel Hauff in it.
Farm Rescue Fund and its sister organization, Have A Heart Farm, welcome support from individuals, corporations, and foundations to maintain their ongoing efforts to promote humane treatment, good living conditions, finest available medical care, transportation, sanctuary establishment and maintenance, and lifetime care for both former and current Wagner Farm animals and other animals in need.
Both organizations are 501 c (3) non-profit corporations.
Donations to either organization may be made to:
P.O. Box 2815
Glenview, IL 60025
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