Happy Rolph’s: The Potemkin City Limits

July 23rd, 2010

Francis didn’t give a fuck about the rollbacks, the overproduction, the reduced demand. He never gave much thought to disputed contracts. In his short life he’d only ever known panic, fear, pain, darkness and pandemonium (in the hell that was his home). Fourth quarter earning expectations expedited his demise. The panic grew as the humans stalked among them. When the screaming began, Francis shut his eyes and felt the hand of inhumanity brush over him. But his would-be killer’s back turned for a moment and a blinding ray of light spread across the floor. In a crimson pool he saw his own reflection as he bolted for the door. Not just some fractured fairy-tale although I wish that that were true. This is a fable far too real. Yet we somehow still cling to the story lines that bridge the chasm between cognition and belief. Any old implausible denial that might offer some relief from the dissonance that Francis left screaming in his wake as deep into the heart of the city’s park lands he made good his escape. And where for 5 months he ran free and replayed his only fond memory-just a warm and distant dream of his mother’s loving eyes upon him. Francis made it farther than she did-a quarter mile just short of the city limits they finally captured him. There’s a statue that the abattoir erected to remind us all of their contributions. To me it marks Potemkin City Limits, this Francis cast in bronze. Not just some fractured fairy-tale, although I wish that that were true. This is a fable far too real, yet we somehow still cling to… – Propagandhi – “Potemkin City Limits”

As the weeks have rolled on since the incident at Happy Rolph’s Petting Zoo interest has waned and eventually completely dropped off. The crowd who enjoys lavishing us all with their momentary outrage, have moved on to a more recent so-called “prank” at a local high school which ended in the euthanization of one of the baby sheep involved. The largest local print media source, The St. Catharines Standard, known for slinging mud at animal rights activists and sucking every single false sentiment dry, were nice enough to write another puff piece about the animal-loving-farming who was so grief stricken by the death of his animal he cried all the way to the butcher shop.

Some interesting details have surfaced over the behind the scenes workings at Happy Rolphs, with the most important being that of Mr. Vanderzanden, the farmer who leases his animals to the city for the petting zoo,and his hard faught self-regulatory position with the Town of West Lincoln and The Lincoln County Humane Society. The linked article carries a telling quote for urbanites who haven’t been normalized into the tradition of seeing creulty or abuse and turning a blind eye, “Urbanites go by and they see something that they don’t think should be that way and they don’t know how it works. Next thing you know, they call the humane society and the humane society comes and makes reports.” (Also of note is that no one currently on staff at Happy Rolph’s has any background in animal care, however, rest assured, they are from the “Farming Community.”) Of course this would never be reported in any of the puff pieces by the St. Catharines Standard and its reporter, I use that term loosely, Peter Downs. Also of note is the Welland Tribune article written by Downs, which mirrors the Standard article, but includes more information on Mr. Vanderzanden’s “hobby” farm which includes of all things, deer breeding and a zebra. (Keep Reading)

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Happy Rolph’s: “Memorial Day”

June 21st, 2010

The Five Last Words

Do not enchant this human breed
where they pillage holiness,
or cover their ruin
like spring, false spring.

The animal kin they destroy
sing loud their own human flesh,
yet they would have it so.
Their hearts have truly perished.

And father, forget them,
for they know what they do.
They have killed and are killing
the mother of gods in you.

- James Strecker

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Happy Rolph’s: “The News That Doesn’t Fit”

June 17th, 2010

Since the last update on the Happy Rolph’s cruelty case much has changed.

First, The City of St. Catharines, most notably Mayor McMullan and Councillor Peter Secord have both responded to letters urging for the City to move towards Sanctuary status and the City of St. Catharines, led by councillor Peter Secord, have initiated a staff report on Happy Rolph’s, which will include “information regarding accreditation.”

Second, a news story last week broke information that the City of St. Catharines has sat on money left in a will for the “care and maintenance” for the animals at Happy Rolph’s. Resident Barbara Hallet, had left $225,000 to the petting zoo in 2005 and it has since been collecting interest. The enormous gift not only suggest the economic viability of the moving the petting zoo towards Sanctuary status, but it begs the question why the move was not made sooner?

Lastly, the region’s largest newspaper, the St. Catharines Standard, has taken the disheartening stance of deriding the animal rights community in Niagara instead of supporting an initiative to move the petting zoo towards Sanctuary status. Reporter Peter Downs, who has covered the story for the paper, has talked to at least two members of the local animal rights community (myself included), but has still refused to offer these views in any of his coverage of the case. Being ignored by the local media is nothing new, however, Downs recent article which takes a shot at the animal rights community, without printing our voice at all, is particularly troublesome.

In the article Downs gives voice to the Smithville farm who “leases” the animals at the petting zoo to the City each season. Without any mention of the Sanctuary initiative, which IS the response of the animal rights community in Niagara, Downs presents a story of a victimized farmer up against opportunistic animal rights activists.

Keying on the issue of whether the animals met slaughter, which is ONE of the many reasons why animal rights activists are calling for Sanctuary status, Downs printed contradictions that astounded me so much I had to read them numerous times.

Like thousands across the peninsula, Vanderzanden was sickened by a vicious attack by intruders at the popular St. Catharines park recently that left four of the animals dead and several others injured.

As the community raged about the case of animal cruelty, Vanderzanden kept quiet, declining interview requests from the media.

But when animal rights activists began using the attacks as a springboard to support their case against livestock farming, Vander zanden decided he finally had to speak up to defend the care his animals receive.

“It’s just too bad they’ve used this to climb up on their soap box and say, ‘Well, they’re all going to die anyways.’ In this case, they’re wrong,” he said Wednesday, as an assortment of animals ambled through a nearby field on his family farm.

The article goes on to concede, that Vanderzanden is a turkey farmer and,

Vanderzanden acknowledged that he trades and sells some of the animals with other hobby farmers and that some of them do eventually wind up being sold for food.

Disregard for presenting the response from the animal rights community? Check. Refusal to inject an opinion from someone within the animal rights community? Check. Completely contradictory claims that animal rights activists are “wrong” about animals going to slaughter, with the concession that animals in fact go to slaughter? Check. Journalistic standards? Not so much.

Relegated to the Letter to the Editor section, animal rights activists in this area have, and will continue, to push this City to recognize the inherent worth of all animal species, including those animals left at Happy Rolph’s, upon whose lives we can have a massive difference. The insinuation of animal rights activists as “opportunists” is absurd considering the tireless work we have done, and will continue to do, before and after this event (free of economic gain!). That such a slant could even be sniffed at when local “entrepreneurs” come out of the woodwork and get front page treatment, or when local animal exploiters scramble to put their best foot forward in response to this case, is quite frankly sickening. One also has to wonder what kind of “opportunism” is involved when a local media outlet who refuses to cover animal rights demonstrations, petitions, events, etc. suddenly tries to soak all that they can out of an animal cruelty case.

The reporting points to the Catch 22 that the animal rights community now finds itself in the Niagara Region. The response and coverage to this cruelty case all point to the absolutely dire need of an educational outlet in this community wherein the community can engage with animals in an environment that not only provides the human gratification of “petting” an animal, but which also respects the lives and worth of those animals. However, the serious deficiency in our attitudes towards animals are proving to be a massive stumbling block.

I, for one, will only use this coverage and the response of those who have been critical of moving towards Sanctuary status, as a motivator to fight that much harder for the animals left at Happy Rolph’s and for the billions of animals who are still blindly and needlessly exploited. The “opportunists” will come and go, but the animal rights community is in this for the long haul.

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Happy Rolph’s: A Study in Cognitive Dissonance.

June 7th, 2010

Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously.

Recent developments in the wake of the cruelty case at Happy Rolph’s Petting Zoo in St. Catharines, Ontario have magnified the absurd boundary that human beings have created between the killings that we sanction and the killings that we abhor.

Petland, a pet supply chain notorious for its link to puppy mills, reacted swiftly to the event; joining forces with other notable animal exploiters in the Niagara Region, (Marineland, Greg Frewin, etc) by arranging a BBQ wherein supporters could rally around the ritualized and sanctioned act of eating animal flesh. The connection between the four dead animals at the Petting Zoo, and the flesh of the animals who they were consuming, was lost on the organizers and many supporters as any attempt to question to the logic of the event was deleted and no response was ever returned from the organizers (out of sight, out of mind). The fundraiser served not only to legitimize accepted violence against animals, but also to legitimize the businesses in this region who do so and profit it from it. Two birds, one stone. Funds raised are to be directed towards security (not sanctuary), which brings to mind the other glaring inconsistency of cameras for animals who will be sent back to farm at the end of each season (and no it’s not Old MacDonald’s Farm!). The extreme opposition to the mere suggestion of sanctuary, and the general positive feeling among those who supported the BBQ, are a very eery indication that most who espouse outrage are less concerned with the animals themselves and more concerned with the guilt they harbour. What ultimately happens to the animals is unimportant, what matters is reinforcing the boundary between what we kill and what we don’t, or conversely, what we love and what eat, wear, etc.

A further incident later this weekend again tested this boundary. Police were alerted about a sheep’s head that had been found stuffed in a garbage bag beside a dumpster in a plaza parking lot. News spread like wildfire as initially it was rumored to be a goat in the garbage bag; a connection to the goat who had been missing from Happy Rolph’s. Outrage over this, and a previous kijiji posting of a baby goat, enraged those who frequent the facebook groups that have seen membership swell in the past week. In a rather anti climatic turn, police finally divulged that what they had found was a sheep, not a goat, and that they believed it to be the remains of sheep who had been cooked and “disposed of improperly.” The boundary between what we kill and what we don’t kill was again exposed and immediately a hush fell over these groups as again people wished to put this information out of mind. What if the sheep had actually been from Happy Rolph’s? Would this have left sheep kabobs off the menu at Petland?

I have had someone’s opinion I respect tell me that its best to use kid gloves in a situation like this. Positive outpouring, from BBQ organizers to members of the public is “something” and it’s important to use “baby steps.” I respect these sentiments, but at the same time, if we as a community cannot get past the stage of momentarily purging our emotion in order to reinforce our domination of animals, then we are doing absolutely nothing for any one other than ourselves. That means nothing for the animals killed this week, nothing for the animals left at Happy Rolph’s and nothing for the billions of other animals who will needlessly be slaughtered each year. It is a harsh reality, but it is staring us directly in the face every single time we express outrage over animal cruelty and then reach for a hot dog. I wish there was a nicer way to put it, but like all boundaries we have erected to dominate others, gender, sex, race, religion, etc, the first step is acknowledging the boundary and then doing every single thing within your power to demolish it.

For those who wish to move forward from this act and create a community that protects, cares and promotes respect for ALL animal life, I urge you to please contact St. Catharines City Council, your local media, and anyone who will listen and pressure this community to turn Happy Rolph’s into an actual accredited Sanctuary. Without a commitment to LIFELONG care, 24 hour supervision and security, and a host of other important standards, we will have failed ourselves, the animals left on that farm, and all the other animals who we share this plant with.

- Dylan Powell


“One day the absurdity of the almost universal human belief in the slavery of other animals will be palpable. We shall then have discovered our souls and become worthier of sharing this planet with them.” – Martin Luther King Jr.


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Happy Rolph’s: The Dignity the Animals Deserve.

June 3rd, 2010

The response to what happened at Happy Rolph’s earlier this week has been massive and largely unfocused; with many people most interested in simply purging their emotions in comments about how despicable the attackers are, or how they should be treated with the same violence. Attempts to support Happy Rolph’s have already begun, with security cameras being given priority and events like BBQ’s being proposed to raise the funds. The vehement opposition I have received for proposing the idea of making Happy Rolph’s an accredited Sanctuary was definitely not something I envisioned. The idea that something needs to be done is widespread, but acknowledging that something was fundamentally wrong with Happy Rolph’s in the first place seems a step that the masses aren’t ready to take. The irony being that these misconceptions are the exact reasons why the Niagara Region needs a Sanctuary for Farm Animals.

To think that a BBQ fundraiser consisting of animal flesh is the answer makes little sense. The cynic asks, why not just cut out the middle man and fry up some of the animals left on the farm? If we are going to take a serious stance against animal cruelty and take the first step in providing the animals at Happy Rolph’s with the dignity and respect they deserve, then we need to give these animals a Sanctuary where they can live out their lives in peace.

We have started an online petition, as well as a fan page for the initiative and will be collecting signatures in the Niagara Region and we hope that everyone who feels outraged by this latest act of animal cruelty will support this positive step (REGARDLESS OF YOUR OWN PERSONAL DIETARY HABITS)

It has been suggested to me by some who oppose this initiative that what we are asking for is too much. I would suggest to those people that with the amount of money budgeted to this Petting Zoo each year, along with a $10 donation by individuals who have joined numerous groups on the internet to vent their outrage, we would have more than enough money for an operating budget. This goes without mentioning the mass amount of people who have already expressed interest in volunteering at the proposed Sanctuary.

Even if those who committed this crime are found, what justice will there be for the rest of the animals at this Petting Zoo? As a community what will we do to create positive environments wherein our children can learn to respect ALL animal species? Will we allow for these problems to continue to exist, merely venting outrage, or will we start to educate ourselves about what is right for these animals and respect their inherent worth? These animals don’t merely want cameras, they want to live!

On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, “Is it safe?” Expediency asks the question, “Is it politic?” And Vanity comes along and asks the question, “Is it popular?” But Conscience asks the question “Is it right?” And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right. – Martin Luther King Jr.


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Happy Rolph’s: Will We Finally Learn the Importance of Education?

June 2nd, 2010

Last week people from around the world reacted with outrage and disgust at an undercover video which detailed sadistic abuse of animals at a family farm in Plain City, OH. The Farm owner Gary Conklin, swiftly fired farm worker Billy Joe Gregg Jr, offering him up to the media as a sacrifice for what happens on farms across the globe on a daily basis. At Billy Joe Gregg Jr’s hearing he asked that he be released for numerous financial reasons, but also because he wanted to look after his animals. The irony of those words exposed the grand lie that permeates our societies relationship with animals; how can we love one and not another?

For those who live in the Niagara Region, this morning brought with it news of another horrific case of animal cruelty. Police believe that two suspects broke into a local petting zoo, Happy Rolph’s, and left a wake of carnage: four dead animals, one rabbit decapitated with its head mounted on a stake, numerous other animals shot at with BB and Pellet Guns and also a missing baby goat. Animal cruelty cases are definitely nothing new to the Niagara Region, anyone remember Bailey the Maine Coon Cat? Or even more recently the neglect and misuse of animals by the T.E.A.R.S organization? There is a void in this region that needs to be filled when it comes to proper education. Notably, when I say education, I do NOT mean entertainment. Happy Rolph’s Petting Zoo, which operates in conjunction but separate from the Bird Sanctuary, is in and of itself NOT an educational tool for children on how to properly respect animals. Farmed animals from this petting zoo are not provided a forever home, and the fate they will eventually meet after each season is not much different then the one the four small animals at this petting zoo met last night.

These “incidents” will continue as long as we refuse to educate ourselves and most notably our children, on how to treat all animals with respect and dignity. This Region in particular offers no such outlet. In one day a child can be whisked to see Orca’s at Marineland, a captive animal reduced to live in a bath tub so that John Holer can stuff his pockets and at night they can accompany their parents to a rock concert at Zooz, a business that is either blatantly ignorant to the hearing capabilities of other animal species or who just simply do not care. If this Region, its people and its City Council, want to do something serious to combat horrific scenes like this, please, fund an actual accredited Sanctuary for farmed animals. If we continue to miss the opportunity to provide an outlet where the public can be educated about the inherent self worth of all animal species, then we are doing nothing but holding our breath until the next Billy Joe Gregg Jr. comes along, or the next Happy Roplh’s, or the next Bailey, or the next T.E.A.R.S, etc.

For those who wish to see the City of St. Catharines fund a Sanctuary for Farmed Animals, please contact me directly. I will be collecting signatures for this in the coming weeks. theveganpoliceradio@gmail.com

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