Nine innocent lambs are slated to die at Antioch College in Ohio as part of the college’s ill-conceived farming program — unless a donor forks over $1 million, which the school says they’ll use to purchase more animals for slaughter, anyway.
The private liberal arts college acquired the “living laboratory” of lambs last spring and intends to serve them to students as food.
The lambs attracted the attention of animal rights activist Dr. David Nibert, who is outraged that the college is treating sentient beings as disposable. Nibert is a professor at nearby Wittenburg College, and lives across the street from Antioch.
“I am both disappointed and appalled that Antioch College, once one of the most progressive and forward-thinking colleges in the country, is now objectifying animals, raising and killing them, and teaching the students the practice is noble and sustainable,” Nibert told Lady Freethinker.
From the beginning, Antioch rejected requests for meetings with animal rights advocates and offers from those willing to purchase the lambs’ freedom, according to Nibert.
“The college sidesteps the discussion on their plan to actually kill the lambs by statements about the purported sustainable nature of their program,” Nibert said. “They have not responded to critiques about the environmental harm related to raising animals in pasture. And the college has not addressed any of the ethical issues involved in their use of the lambs.”
Antioch recently banned Nibert and other activists, including his Committee to Save the Antioch Lambs group, from even stepping foot on campus.
A mother named Barbara Pearl, whose son Jason Seth Houten became a vegan at Antioch before perishing in a tragic accident, asked the school to release the lambs in her son’s honor. However, the college allegedly refused, naming a price of $1 million to spare their lives. But even if she paid that exorbitant price, they reportedly would only to use the money to buy more animals and butcher them for food.
We must speak out to save the lambs’ lives.
Please respectfully contact Antioch College President Tom Manley at 937-319-6164 or [email protected], requesting the release of the lambs. Please remain polite — previous threatening emails have only caused the school is to double down on their stance and denounce all of those fighting to save the lambs.
Nibert has also created a petition calling on Antioch to release the lambs to one of the several sanctuaries who are offering to provide them with safe forever homes, including Farm Sanctuary.
Click here to sign the petition, which has garnered over 79,000 signatures so far.
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your cruel heartless murderers!
Not one lamb shall be slaughtered !
This is a sham. EVERY college serves meat. But the problem here is trying to challenge the system?
Did you ask David Nibert about the vast amounts of factory farmed meat served at the school where he works? There is no comparison between the ethical and humane practice of small farming and industrial meat processing.
Please stop these lambs from being killed so cruel please save them.
How horrible is this …going on at campuses?
Any and all so called schools that promote murdering of innocent animals for education deserve to be shut down and those teachers that do such acts against animals need to endure what they do to the animals !
it is not : possible !
The abuse is world wide. It has to stop. These animals can’t talk. We need to talk for them. Punish the abusers just like they abused the animals. Enough is enough, Maybe it will slow down or stop if the abuser is abused.
Sorry, but I’m really tired of too much crime against too many innocent species. Lips r sealed and brains tiered…
Why do they want to kill those lambs anyway??
Seems awfully cruel to me.
This is not ethical
Please – these animals deserve life, please please don’t kill them.
Animal abusers deserve their own special place in he’ll. Karma rules.
This college is NOT the progressive and open-minded place they pretend to be. Far from it. The stubborn, cold-hearted president, Manley is deliberately taking a hard stand on this issue just to be mean. There is no reason this college couldn’t compromise on some of its efforts, like this one. There are plenty of vegan students there who are being bullied over this issue. Worse, the college is creating a disturbing level of insensitivity and callousness in its students as evidenced by the nasty and rude responses of many of them. Even more ugly, the shakedown of a million dollar “ransom” for the lambs speaks volumes about how low this college has sunk in considering the slaughter of these sentient animals nothing but a joke.
Antioch, you should be ashamed.
You are wrong. I go to Antioch. The only bullying is coming from you people who don’t know what we’re about. We have a thing called shared governance. You might be familiar with democracy. We get to decide what to eat, not the president. Some chose to eat only vegan. In fact, our dining hall serves way more vegetarian and vegan food than meat anyway!! And the little meat that is served here isn’t raised in a disgusting CAFO like it is at Wittenberg University.
No vegan students are being bullied at Antioch. Not one. Read the article in the Yellow Springs news today and you’ll see vegan student quoted who opposes YOU bullies who can’t see the big picture and oppose the right of individuals to learn and make their own choices.
What kind of disgusting and downright evil so-called school is this Antioch College? These vicious and barbaric bastards are putting a price of $1 million to save the lives of these little lambs only to use that money to buy more innocent animals to slaughter. I think the legal term for requesting money in that manner is called “blackmail”. And what kind of student would participate in such cruelty but one who is psychologically inferior. I am a semi-liberal progressive and a vegan who will NEVER support places like Antioch College and I only pray for their demise. Places like that should be wiped off the face of this earth. Release those lambs, devils, to a sanctuary and repent of your sins while there’s still time for your souls to be saved.
It’s time for animals to have rights and laws protecting them.
Please don’t KILL these lambs!! Its disgusting to feed them to the students.
Please rethink your plans. There are other ways. Have you considered visiting homesteads or farms to study sustainability? That would be far more educational than just buying animals for slaughter and students could learn so much more than just the killing part.
This IS a homestead farm on campus! This protest is so misguided.
INCREDIBLY BARBARIC AND TOTALLY UNNECESSARY!!THIS MUST BE STOPPED!!!!
If I could open the link I would certainly sign this petition.
Disgusting
People that torture any animal should go to prison !!!!
THIS public attention is negative. Please reconsider your decision. Lambs are so innocent and sweet. A sanctuary has offered to give them forever home. THE meal is only for one day.
Your school is being watched by animals lovers; we are only their voice. Let the animals go to a sanctuary. I imagine your students would love that, instead of the killing for a meal. The lambs love life, too. They are precious. Please reconsider.
This is very sad. The only lession the students will learn from this exercise is that, despite many advances in our understading of other animal species, their lives still don’t matter, to the extent where we can so casually and brutally kill them for entertainment and so called education, even when other food sources are abundant and we have a choice.
As a VERY Caring persona both to People and Animals, I’m walking you to Please SPARE the LIVES OF THE LAMBS help at tour College after you release them. I Really Think that MOST if not ALL WILL REJECT THEM AS “FOOD”, EVEN THE NON VEGAN ONES. THAT would CREATE A CLIMATE OF DISTRUST, ANGER and EXTREME ANXIETY AMONG ALL YOUR STUDENTS. SUCH A CHAOTIC SITUATION IS TOTALLY UNFAVORABLE TO LEARNING AND PREPARING EAGER TO LEARN STUDENTS FOR THEIR FUTURE.
There is nothing new to be learned from slaughtering the lambs. Please stop and stop any similar and future in devours related to SLAUGHTER!!
I grew up not far from Yellow Springs where Antioch College is located. They have always had a reputation of being Very progressive and liberal. I also know that they have substantial financial difficulties. Antioch College lost their accreditation a number of years ago when they shut down and reorganized. Putting a $1,000,000 ransom on the lambs that they have in their program is crass and is a stain on their former outstanding reputation.
JERK COLLEGE!
ANTIOCH COLLEGE YOU HAVE TO BE THE MOST DISGUSTING AND HORRIFIC SO CALLED SCHOOL. RELEASE THESE POOR INNOCENT CREATIONS BY GOD.
This is disgusting….
These animals are basically being held hostage!!
What a horrible school!!
Ajude os indefesos animais!!!.
Animals should be safe & protected, cruelty needs to STOP!