- Gene Baur
Gene Baur (formerly Gene Bauston) is an activist, best-selling author, and president and co-founder of
Farm Sanctuary , the first animal rescue organization dedicated to farmed animals. He has been at the forefront ofanimal rights since he began the Sanctuary in 1986. [http://www.farmsanctuary.org/about/index.htm Farm Sanctuary: About Us.] ] Baur grew up inHollywood , California. He attendedCal State Northridge where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Sociology. He paid for college in part by doing background work in television and movies, including commercials forMcDonalds andKFC , about which he later expressed regret. During high school and college, he had various jobs, including dishwasher, day laborer, bartender, and teacher, and he volunteered to help children suffering from terminal illnesses as well as abused adolescents. He also participated in the efforts of human rights, animal rights, consumer and environmental organizations. In the 1980s he began investigations intofactory farm s,stockyard s, andslaughterhouse s. Baur felt the conditions he observed were unacceptable, and these experiences helped motivate the creation ofFarm Sanctuary . The sanctuary's first rescued animal was a downed sheep found on a pile of dead animals behind Lancaster stockyards in 1986. Baur's investigative exposés and advocacy efforts on behalf of farm animals have earned international media coverage, including ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, the "Los Angeles Times", and the "New York Times". [McNeil, Donald. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9C03E3DB1631F931A35752C0A9629C8B63&n=Top%2fNews%2fScience%2fTopics%2fLivestock Where the Cows Come Home] . New York Times: January 2, 2004.]Baur later obtained a Master's degree in agricultural economics from
Cornell University , in order to better understandfactory farming . He has testified before local, state and federal legislative bodies, and appeared on various expert panels.He played a key role in the passage of several animal-protection ordinances, including a 2004 California law banning the production and sale of
foie gras , [Milionis, Allison. [http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=1559&IssueNum=85 Protests target Wolfgang Puck’s Spago in effort to reform farm animal conditions] . LA City Beat: January 20, 2005.] and a 2002 Florida initiative banninggestation crates . [ Jones, Susan. [http://www.cnsnews.com/Business/archive/200211/BUS20021107a.html Pregnant Pigs in Florida Are Just the Start, Group Says] CNSNews: November 07, 2002] After the Florida campaign the Florida Elections Commission found that Farm Sanctuary, and Gene Bauston personally, had willfully broken campaign finance laws. Farm Sanctuary and Gene Baur consented to pay a fine of $50,000. [ [http://www.fec.state.fl.us/Final%20Orders/2002/209.pdf Florida Elections Commission, Case number FEC 02-093.] ] [ [http://www.activistcash.com/organization_blackeye.cfm?oid=115 ActivistCash summary] ] More recently, he was instrumental in passing a 2006 (repealed in 2008) Chicago ordinance banning the sale offoie gras [Paulson, Amanda. [http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1213/p01s04-ussc.html A ban on foie gras? Could this really be Chicago?] CS Monitor: December 13, 2005] and a 2006 ballot measure in Arizona banninggestation crates andveal crates. [ [http://www.yesonproposition204.com/ Arizonans for Humane Farms website] .] Gene and Farm Sanctuary are currently involved in an initiative (Proposition 2) to ban veal crates, gestation crates and battery cages, which will appear on the ballot in California [ [http://www.humanecalifornia.org/ Californians for Humane Farms website] ] in November, 2008.In March 2008. Baur released a book entitled "Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food" published by
Simon & Schuster . It has appeared on theLos Angeles Times andBoston Globe bestseller lists.References
External links
* [http://www.genebaur.org Personal home page of Gene Baur]
* [http://www.farmsanctuary.org Farm Sanctuary home page]
* [http://www.archive.org/details/sglGreatSpeechesandInterviews_FarmSanctuary Gene Baur talks about his book "Farm Sanctuary" in mp3] recorded July 25, 2008 in Sacramento, Ca
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