Vigils & Events
Bearing Witness
One of the key ways of encouraging people to fully identify with the plight of pigs and other enslaved animals is to bear witness of their suffering. Tolstoy recognized the importance of bearing witness and intervening:
“When the suffering of another creature causes you to feel pain, do not submit to the initial desire to flee from the suffering one, but on the contrary, come closer, as close as you can to him [/her] who suffers, and try to help her.” – Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom
We feel it is everyone’s responsibility and duty to bear witness to the suffering of animals and to intervene to create a respectful, nonviolent vegan society. As painful as it may seem to initiate a campaign to bear witness, it is actually empowering when done as a group. The paradox of painful yet meaningful and empowering aspects of bearing witness was captured perfectly by Vivikananda in the nineteenth century:
“But my heart has grown much, much larger, and I have learnt to feel [the suffering of others].”
By collectively bearing witness and intervening on a large scale, the horror that we feel regarding the “animal emergency” involving billions of farmed animals and threats to wild species will be reversed as we move towards a critical mass which will enable us to turn the tide and create one big sanctuary on the entire Earth.
Weekly Vigils
Toronto Pig Save vigils are held at Fearmans “Pork” Inc. pig slaughterhouse at 821 Appleby Line in Burlington.
Toronto Cow Save vigils are held at “St. Helen’s” cow slaughterhouse at 1 Glen Scarlett Road in Toronto.
Toronto Chicken Save vigils, are held at Maple Leaf “Poultry” at 100 Ethel Avenue in Toronto.
We hold three vigils a week throughout the year. We encourage everyone to bring a camera and share the footage you take with your friends and family. Please check our event calendar for upcoming vigils.
We also hold all day vigils for 12 or 24 hours of vigil based activism. We often stop the transport trucks, with the assistance of the police, so we can safely bear witness as a community. All day vigils are more than bearing witness and include speeches from special guests like vegan celebrities, free vegan food, photography and workshops to empower activists, and vegan outreach.
Please sign up to our weekly newsletter to receive a schedule for our vigils and other events.
Our Safety Report and our Animal observation sheet details any possible violations of safety and animal cruelty laws and codes.
Download Animal and Safety Reports.
See Kaitlyn Mitchell and Natalie Smith’s overview of legislation and codes related to addressing animal cruelty in transport, unloading, and slaughterhouses.