I met Gene Baur at the Animal and Vegan Advocacy (AVA) Summit in 2024. There was an activity the night before it started, a historical tour of Washington, D.C., and some of the people who registered were waiting for the tour guide. And there he was, this absolute legend of a man, the one who pioneered farm sanctuaries in the United States, just waiting like a normal Joe. With extreme humility, this icon says to me, “Hi, I’m Gene…” and before he could finish that sentence, I threw myself at him and hugged him quite frankly harder than I have ever hugged any rock star.
I mean, this man IS a rockstar. In the late 80s, he stood in the parking lot of Grateful Dead concerts selling veggie hot dogs off a minivan to fundraise for Farm Sanctuary’s rescue, education, and advocacy work. At the time, the banner for the sanctuary read “dedicated to ending factory farming” and the setup featured educational visuals in the little hot dog stand that helped open people’s eyes to our treatment of animals.
Well, in 2026, Farm Sanctuary celebrates 40 years of hope, healing, and transformational impact for farmed animals and compassionate living. What began in 1986 as a grassroots effort has blossomed into a powerful global movement that continues to champion rescue, education, and advocacy for our non-human friends. To commemorate this extraordinary milestone, the sanctuary took over one of the busiest intersections in the world, Times Square in N.Y., with a digital billboard urging people to “be kind to animals, don’t eat them”!
The story of Farm Sanctuary began with a humble act of kindness: rescuing a discarded sheep named Hilda from a pile of dead animals at a stockyard. That rescue not only gave Hilda 11 years of love and care but also ignited the first dedicated sanctuary for farm animals in the U.S., planting seeds for an expanding network of sanctuaries worldwide. Today, hundreds of rescued residents thrive in sanctuary pastures in New York and California, and their stories continue to inspire compassion in visitors and supporters alike.
The organization’s humane education programs have reached over a quarter of a million students, shaping young minds toward a more just, kind, and sustainable future. Beyond rescue and education, Farm Sanctuary’s advocacy work has helped elevate public awareness of the impacts of animal farming and drive meaningful shifts in how we think about food, policy, and our shared world. From engaging mainstream media audiences to fostering plant-based, equitable food systems, the organization’s influence extends far beyond the sanctuary’s gates.
Here’s to 40 years of compassion, and to the many, many more ahead!
