Recently we had a chance to visit a very interesting place – Geniutkowo, which is a vegan asylum for animals in Poland. A fundamental difference between a shelter and an asylum is that the latter does not support animals temporarily – it gives them a calm and safe place to live permanently.
Why such places are being created? Or, a better question, why don’t we have more places like that? Many people think that we, human beings are superior. And we keep forgetting about other creatures. Why are people so picky when they choose whom to show respect?
Animals, humans – we are all living beings. We are all a part of the same universe, we are all earthlings. It appears very cruel to me that our society teaches us the division between the creatures that are entitled to live and the ones that should die.
We know from numerous researches that a plant-based diet is enough for a human being not only to survive but to thrive! If so, why do most people follow an animal-based diet?
Shelters for cats and dogs are common in our culture. What about the other animals, like pigs? They are extremely intelligent creatures. They have dreams, they are as smart as a 3-year-old kid, they are sociable (for more information about pigs check this article by PETA). That is why Geniutkowo was created. To give love and support to the animals that are seen as the worse ones. It is a huge challenge – the more you try to help, the more you witness indifference and cruelty and you realize that there are still millions of animals suffering because of people.
When you think more – isn’t it so simple – a possibility for animals to just live, without fear, or suffering?
Being at Geniutkowo we had a chance to spend some with a small herd of sheep and watch them. There was one baby, just a couple of days old. He seemed so joyful, running around, playing with the others, and going to his mummy to drink milk. It simply felt right. A mother with her baby. A baby who can grow, observe the world and not feel fear. How lucky, how simple, and how sad, that it is only the exception.
I am so grateful to Monika and Marcin, the people who created Geniutkowo and work there every day, to bring a little bit more justice to the world.
The biggest downside of such asylum is that it brings no profits. And our world is so much money-driven. Only with a support of a strong community of people such places like Geniutkowo can exist. I hope more and more people will become aware of the value of life, each life.