Imprisoned Activists

Two days ago, I did something I’d never done before: I wrote a letter to someone in prison. Walter Edmund Bond has been charged with arson following a fire at a sheepskin factory in Denver, Colorado. I checked out the website www.arprisoners.org, and wrote down Walter’s contact information. I wasn’t sure what to write, so I thought I’d just talk about myself. Anyone who knows me knows that I love to talk about myself! Here is the letter I wrote:


Dear Walter,

Someone posted a story about you on Facebook and I thought I’d write you a letter. I’m a vegan because I believe I should treat others as I’d like to be treated. If I were in prison I know I’d want people to write to me, so I’m writing to you. I’m going to paste a copy of this letter into my blog, in hopes that I can inspire others to write to incarcerated animal rights activists too.

I love the VEGAN tattoo you have on your neck. I have GO VEGAN tattooed on my left shoulder and ANIMAL LIBERATION tattooed on my right shoulder. I admire the fact that you got your tattoo in a place where it can always be seen. I also painted the words GO VEGAN on the hood on my car and I put the words ANIMAL LIBERATION on the sides of my car with vinyl letters. I love promoting veganism wherever I go. One time, after leafleting on the street, I walked back to my car and someone had placed a package of steakettes on my windshield! Well, at least I got someone to think about veganism!

I read a blog you wrote about the time when you worked in the animal agribusiness industry. I too once worked at a sad, messy job. I worked as part of a two-person night cleanup crew at a meat plant. The animals had already been turned into slabs of carcasses (like in the Rocky movies) by the time they reached our plant, and the workers just had to cut the slabs up into steaks and such. It was still smelly and dirty, though. Sadly enough, I didn’t end up becoming a vegan until seven years later. I don’t know what took me so long! I didn’t become a vegan until I was twenty-seven and I read the book Old MacDonald’s Factory Farm. I’m now forty, so I’ve been a vegan for thirteen years. I love everything about veganism!

I do a variety of different activism. I leaflet for Vegan Outreach, I’m a public speaker, I write blogs, and I create videos for YouTube. I recently put a video on YouTube that I called “Cutest Video Ever”. It’s only twelve seconds long, but it speaks volumes. I recorded the footage during my trip to Farm Sanctuary. It’s a video of my friend Catherine petting a sheep named Grace. Grace scratches Catherine’s leg to get her attention and then when Catherine starts petting Grace, Grace’s tail wags like you’ve never seen a tail wag before. It’s up to over 7,000 views so far. Some people have said, “Look, her tail is wagging just like a dog’s tail!” Indeed.

Take care, Walter. Many people admire your dedication. Thanks for everything you do to help animals!

Sincerely,

John Sakars


After I finished writing, I discovered that three of the six ink cartridges in my printer were out of ink. I went to the store and spent $60.07 on the ink I needed! (If the people who sell printer ink ever end up in prison for ripping people off, I’m not writing them any letters!)

I printed the letter and mailed it to the prison in Colorado where Walter is being held. Now, here I am sharing the letter with you, in hopes that you may decide to write to an incarcerated animal rights activist too.

It only took me about fifteen minutes to write the letter. Not including the robbery that took place at the ink store (the markup on ink is criminal!), it took me a minute more to mail the letter. That’s sixteen minutes in total. I spend a lot longer than that on Facebook every day!

Now, I realize that animal rights activists are busy people. In fact, there aren’t enough hours in the day for us to do everything that needs to be done. So, we have to choose our battles. Some people like to focus on leafleting. Some people like to organize events like vegan bake sales and tabling. In fact, anything you can do to promote veganism is a good thing. However, if you can find the time, I think it’s also important to acknowledge the individuals who sacrificed their freedom in order to help animals.

I personally don’t plan on doing anything illegal in order to help animals. (Of course, I wouldn’t be stupid enough to tell you if I did have plans on doing anything illegal!) However, I do understand how some activists have felt compelled to do whatever it takes in order to help animals, regardless of whether or not those actions were legal.

I don’t know if Walter actually set fire to a sheepskin factory in Denver, Colorado. However, I do know what it’s like to pet a sheep. I know what it’s like to see a sheep named Grace wag her tail just like a dog. I know how upset I would be if someone brought Grace to a sheepskin factory. Would I be upset enough to want to burn down a sheepskin factory? I don’t know.

For Walter’s sake, I hope he is found innocent. However, even if he did set fire to a sheepskin factory, I’m not about to start calling him a criminal.

Have you ever met a sheep? Do you have any idea how peaceful and loving they are? Have you ever seen sheep wag their tales just like dogs? I’ll bet if you spent time with Grace, or any other sheep, your perception of a sheepskin factory would change. I bet that sheepskin factories would become uglier and uglier in your mind, every second.

I’m not about to go set any fires. I don’t want any of my friends setting fires, either. I don’t want any vegan superheroes sent to prison. I also realize that setting fires could result in someone getting killed. At the same time, I can definitely see how an activist could feel compelled to set a fire. Having met some sheep, I can see how a sheep factory could become so ugly in your mind, you would feel an overwhelming desire to see that factory destroyed.

We live in an insane world. There are billions of animals all around the globe having horrible things done to them right now. It’s understandable that some activists are going to decide to break some laws during the vegan revolution. I stand by the activists who are leafleting, demonstrating, having vegan bake sales, etc. At the same time, I also stand by the activists who have been willing to sacrifice their freedom as they sought to help animals. I hope with every ounce of my being that no activists hurt anyone during any illegal activities. However, even if someone does accidentally hurt a human being, I’m not going to start judging that activist.

We live in a world that is entirely too judgemental. Perhaps some people think Walter was just some guy who enjoyed starting fires. Perhaps they look at Walter’s tattoos and think he’s crazy.

Perhaps those same judgemental people think sheep are stupid animals.