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Crowdfunding Campaign Launched to Turn Dairy Farm into Animal Sanctuary and Retire 29 Dairy Cows in Colombia

Funds needed to retire the cows and support the transition of the dairy farmers into generating alternative sources of income away from animal farming

LA CALERA, CUNDINAMARCA, COLOMBIA, June 17, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- A crowdfunding campaign has just been launched on a Colombian fundraising platform at https://vaki.co/en/vaki/santuarioanimalnamigni to raise USD$26,000 to retire 29 cows and 3 male calves from an important dairy farm located in La Calera, 30 minutes away from Bogotá. The project also aims to convert the farm into an animal sanctuary and help the family of dairy farmers who has taken this step to transition towards eco-friendly economic activities that don't involve any form of animal exploitation.

'For the first time in Colombia and Latin America, an important dairy farm that until now was producing more than 300 liters of milk a day and selling its produced milk to the largest dairy company in the country will become an animal sanctuary,' said Miguel Aparicio, Co-Founder of the Santuario Animal Namigini (Namigni Animal Sanctuary), the organization helping the farmers to make this transition.

Natalia Gutiérrez Rivera, the dairy farmer who owns this dairy farm, decided to work hand in hand with the Colombian farm sanctuary to find an economically viable way to end the dairy activity on her farm. This project aims to raise COP $ 95,000,000 (around USD $26,000) to retire the 29 dairy cows on the farm and other animals from the dairy industry. With over 70 acres of lush native forest and a stream of pure water flowing through the mountains, as well as with large pasture-rich prairies for the animals, the farm will become an animal sanctuary and will host alternative eco-friendly income-producing activities that will allow this family of dairy farmers to start creating a 100% animal-friendly source of income.

In December 2020, the farmers surrendered 2 older dairy cows, a 10-year dairy goat, and a donkey to the sanctuary, allowing them to immediately retire instead of the typical scenario in which they would be sent to a slaughterhouse for no longer being productive. The farm also committed to surrendering to the sanctuary every calf born from its cows to keep them from being slaughtered—the tragic destination of all male calves in the dairy industry. The sanctuary relocated its 200 animals to the farm and started working with this family to develop a smooth transition of the project.

Being located at the heart of the dairy industry in the region of Bogotá, the Santuario Animal Namigni runs a continuous rescue operation of male calves, discarded bulls, and old cows that the dairy farms in the region would send for slaughter. 'We're home to 60 calves, bulls and cows, and, with this transition, as we take in this herd of 32 bovines from the dairy that now ceases its operations, we'll have nearly 100 cows at the sanctuary,' Miguel Aparicio said. This will make the Santuario Animal Namigni become the largest cow sanctuary in Colombia and Latin America and one of the largest cow sanctuaries in the world.

'Of course we can only do this if people help us because we need to deliver USD$26,000 to this family of dairy farmers so that we can formally have the animals surrendered to us and so that their change of economic activity is made sustainable,' Mr. Aparicio observed. The sanctuary intends to work with farmers to support sustainable transitions that are good for animals and for those who decide to no longer exploit them. 'When it comes to giving animals the respect they deserve, veganism is the answer, of course, but we need to find pragmatic solutions to help animals in animal exploitation farms and the actual farmers. This only works if it's a win-win and sets an example of how such important change is possible and backed by the animal rights community,' the sanctuary representative further stated.

After 25 years of dairy production, the farm stopped its activity today and the herd of 32 bovines has already been integrated with the larger herd of the sanctuary's cows. The successful completion of this project depends on the success of the crowdfunding campaign at https://vaki.co/en/vaki/santuarioanimalnamigni.

Miguel Aparicio
Santuario Animal Namigni
+57 321 9266207
santuarioanimalnamigni@gmail.com
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