The Daily Show

Electric Monk

(13,869 posts) Thu Apr 30, 2015, 10:04 PM Apr 2015

Jon Stewart and his wife bought a farm, plan to create an animal sanctuary

Living the Farm Sanctuary life is something Jon and his wife Tracey have been doing a lot of lately. Tracey discovered Farm Sanctuary after happening upon a copy of Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food in a rental house where she was staying. Baur’s 2008 account of the conception and evolution of Farm Sanctuary inspired Tracey to reach out to the organization. At first it was in search of moving animal rescue stories to share in her upcoming book Do Unto Animals, and with readers of her magazine, Moomah (the current issue of which is entirely devoted to veganism), but as her devotion to farm animals grew, she found herself attending the group’s annual Farm Animal Care Conference at their New York Shelter, and bringing her children to meet the animals at their Southern California Shelter. Meanwhile, Jon devoted an 8-minute comedy segment on “The Daily Show” to the absurdity of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s refusal to sign a bill that would end the lifelong confinement of pigs in crates so small they can’t even turn around.

The Stewarts’ efforts to spread compassion for farm animals don’t stop there. The couple recently bought a farm in New Jersey with the intention of providing a home for farm animals rescued from cruelty, and in November, Tracey purchased Adopt a Farm Animal sponsorships for all of their Thanksgiving guests. Even their children are living the Farm Sanctuary life, with Tracey noting that “promises of animal shelter visits in exchange for completed homework are the norm in the Stewart household.”

According to Tracey, “the joy of interacting with animals as friends instead of using them for human consumption is life-changing. A trip to Farm Sanctuary should be on everyone’s to-do list, but you can also bring a little bit of sanctuary home when you sponsor an animal through the Adopt a Farm Animal Program.” Or pick up a copy of Baur’s new book.

For all of these reasons and more, Farm Sanctuary has named two rescued sheep Jon and Tracey (who recently had a baby boy named Hazelton!) in honor of the compassionate couple, and will be honoring their human counterparts at their Gala on October 24 in New York City.