Andrew Skowron has been an animal rights activist for over 20 years, and for many years he's been documenting the reality of animals in factory farms. The places he visits and the images he sees on a daily basis are unbearable for most people, but Andrew keeps coming back and fighting even harder for the world to see the animals for who they truly are - friends, not food.
For the new decade, Andrew wrote a letter to everybody who loves animals and wants to see them free and happy.
"Hi, my name is Andrew.
I've been working as a farm animal photographer for many years. Today, I want to ask you a favor for the new decade.
Every year, I visit numerous factory farms. Very often people don't want to look at my photos, not because they are bad, but because they show the reality our society doesn't want to see. We don't want to see the pain, the neglect, the suffering. We don't want to acknowledge the terrible crime we, as humans, committed towards the animals. And I get it, trust me. I know how difficult it is to see another living creature hurt. I've been to more factory farms than I can count, and the things I've seen will haunt me forever.
Calves crying for their mothers, as they are taken away from them right after birth. Exhausted, exploited laying hens, practically featherless, barely breathing. Broiler chickens too heavy to lift their own bodies, unable to get to water or food. Minks and foxes going crazy in tiny cages of fur farms, with injuries to their paws and bodies. Quails kept in cages so small and dirty, they couldn't even dream of spreading their wings. Piglets having their tails cut off, teeth clipped, castrated with no anesthesia, screaming for help. Sows kept in farrowing crates, where they can't even turn around. Geese transported to slaughter in 40-degree heat.
I've been to hell and I keep coming back. I get it - it's difficult to watch. But we cannot turn a blind eye on the way animals are treated on factory farms anymore. We cannot pretend they are not there, just because we can't hear their screams from our apartments. It's time to wake up. It's time to make an uprising.
This next decade, I am asking you to be more open-minded. To do your research. I am asking you not to skip that slaughterhouse video. I am asking you to live according to your values - if you really love animals, help them. Don't eat them. Support animal rights activists, fight for the better world with us. Open your mind, eyes, and heart. The nightmare we created for the animals is real and difficult to accept, but if we unite and act now, as a community - we will win this fight and make this world a better place for the animals. And for ourselves.
I believe in you. I believe your heart is stronger than your taste buds. I believe you don't want animals to suffer. I believe we're in this together.
Let's make this new decade a new era."
Andrew
More info: andrewskowron.org | Instagram | Facebook
#1 A Pig Transported To Slaughter
Image credits: andrewskowron
#2 A Sleeping Chinchilla On A Fur Farm
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#3 Pigs Consoling Each Other, Pig Farm
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#4 A Meeting With A Bull, Dairy Farm
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#5 Sleeping Piglets On A Pig Farm
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#6 A Fox Making An Eye Contact During An Intervention On A Fur Farm
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#7 Broiler Chicken, Unable To Move
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#8 Motherhood In Factory Farms, Pig Farm
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#9 A Pig Interacting With The Activists
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#10 A Piglet Screaming In Pain, Pig Farm
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#11 A Lamb Drinking Milk From Its Mother
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#12 Ducklings On A Duck Farm, Ukraine
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#13 Determining The Sex Of The Chickens
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#14 A Pig Breathing Fresh Air For The First Time
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#15 A Piglet Having Its Tail Cut Off Without Anesthesia
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#16 A Crying Cow On The Way To Slaughterhouse
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#17 Terrified Fox, Waiting To Be Rescued, Fur Farm
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#18 Dirty And Exhausted Pig On A Pig Farm In Poland
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#19 Pigs Going To Slaughter In An Overcrowded Truck
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#20 A Curious Fox On A Fur Farm, Looking At Activists
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#21 A Terrified Raccoon Dog, Fur Farm In Poland
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#22 Pigs Going To Slaughter, Trying To Breathe Fresh Air For The First Time
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#23 A Scared Piglet Looking At The Photographer
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#24 Minks Living In Dirt, Fur Farm
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#25 Sad And Lonely, Pig Farm
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#26 A Chicken Transported To Slaughter
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#27 Exhausted Broiler Chicken
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#28 A Dirty, Scared Pig, Pig Factory Farm
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#29 Pig Screaming In Pain
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#30 An Activist Holding A One-Day-Old Broiler Chicken
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#31 A Calf On A Dairy Farm, Kept In An Igloo Booth
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#32 One-Day-Old Broiler Chickens
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#33 A Raccoon Dog, Fur Farm In Poland
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#34 Calves In Igloo Booths, Dairy Farm
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#35 Broiler Chickens, Interacting With Each Other
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#36 Hatched Chicks Waiting To Be Transported, Hatchery
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#37 The Beginning Of New Life, Hatchery
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#38 Chinchilla Fur Farm, Ukraine
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#39 A Sick Quail On A Ukrainian Quail Farm
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#40 A Fish Caught In The Net
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#41 Curious Pigs On A Pig Farm In Poland
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#42 Mink Farm In Poland
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#43 A Terrified Piglet Before Castration, Pig Farm
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#44 Broiler Chicken With An Injured Beak, Ukraine
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#45 Fox Fur Farm In Poland
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#46 Horrific Conditions On A Quail Farm
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#47 Pig Interacting With Activists, Pig Farm
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#48 Piglets Cuddling With Mom, Pig Farm
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#49 Piglets Hugging And Playing, Pig Farm
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#50 Silent Victims, Laying Hen Farm
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#51 Laboratory Rabbit
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#52 Awful Conditions Sows Must Live In Factory Farms
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#53 Calves Separated From Their Mothers And Each Other, Dairy Farm
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#54 Piglets Keeping Each Other Warm, Pig Farm
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#55 Laying Hens In Cage System
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#56 A Curious Mink On A Fur Farm, Poland
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#57 Baby Chinchillas Hugging, Fur Farm
Image credits: andrewskowron
#58 Chickens Going To Slaughter In Broken Containers
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#59 Foxes Interacting With Activists, Fur Farm
Image credits: andrewskowron
#60 Laying Hens In Cage System
Image credits: andrewskowron
#61 Longing For Freedom, Geese Farm
Image credits: andrewskowron
#62 Terrified Piglet, Right Before Tail Docking
Image credits: andrewskowron
#63 The First Day Of Broiler Chickens In Poultry House
Image credits: andrewskowron
by Marta via Bored Panda - Source
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