Sample of COK’s Letter
to Humane Organizations

September 2002

Dear Friend,

I hope this package finds you well. I’m writing to you because I share your passion for helping the most defenseless and vulnerable among us—animals. As you know, animals in our society are treated as if they have no interests and are objects to be discarded at whim. The suffering caused by this callous disregard is no doubt why you choose to devote so much time and energy to helping those who can’t help themselves.

While providing care for dogs, cats, and other companion animals is a crucial way to help make the world a more compassionate place, there is another step we can take to alleviate tremendous animal suffering: becoming vegetarian.

In the United States alone, nearly 10 billion animals (excluding aquatic animals) are slaughtered for human consumption every year—more than 1 million animals every hour. Most are kept on “factory farms,” where the goal is to raise the greatest number of animals in the least amount of time and space possible. Instead of being treated as the living, feeling beings they are, farmed animals are viewed as mere commodities whose sole purpose in life is to produce meat, milk, or eggs for humans.

While most of us can relate more easily to dogs and cats than farmed animals, that doesn’t mean the animals we eat don’t feel pain just as dogs, cats, or even humans do. In fact, farmed animals have very acute pain sensors as well as individual personalities and preferences, much like dogs and cats, and the abuse they are forced to endure would be illegal in all 50 states if inflicted on dogs and cats. All animals, whether loved by humans or not, care about their lives just as much as I care about mine and you care about yours.

Because I know how much you abhor animal cruelty in all its facets, I’m asking you to join the 20 humane organizations already endorsing Campaign Humane and return the enclosed meat-free pledge form. By endorsing, you’ll be taking a stand against animal cruelty by refusing to allow your organization to promote it through support of factory farms and slaughterhouses.

Campaign Humane Endorsers:

Adopt a Homeless Animal • Alley Cat Allies • Alley Cat Rescue • Animal Allies • Companion Animal Rescue & Education • Friends of Rabbits • Heaven’s Gate Animal Rescue • Humane Society of Baltimore [Md.] County • MetroPets Online • Metropolitan Guinea Pig Rescue • Mini-Pigs, Inc. • The National Humane Education Society • Pets Alive • Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary • Rescue Me, an Avian Sanctuary • Rikki’s Refuge • The Shiloh Project • SPCA of Northern Virginia • Tails of Hope Sanctuary • Washington [D.C.] Humane Society

When we receive your pledge, we’ll be sure to add your organization with contact information on our website as a supporting organization. To advertise your support of Campaign Humane, I’ve also enclosed a free poster to display in your lobby or office.

In advance, I sincerely thank you for your support of Campaign Humane. Together, we can demonstrate that the humane movement is consistent in our compassion for all animals, especially those most abused.

For the voiceless,

Miyun Park, President

Campaign Humane is a special project of Compassion Over Killing, a nonprofit organization.