Gene Baur

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Gene Baur formerly Gene Bauston is an activist bestselling author and president and cofounder of Farm Sanctuary the first animal rescue organization dedicated to farmed animals He is vegan and has been at the forefront of animal rights since he began the Sanctuary in 1986 Baur grew up in Hollywood California and went to Loyola High School Los Angeles He attended Cal State Northridge where he obtained a bachelors degree in Sociology He paid for college in part by doing background work in television and movies including commercials for McDonalds and KFC about which he later expressed regret During high school and college he had various jobs including dishwasher day laborer bartender and teacher and he volunteered to help children suffering from terminal illnesses as well as abused adolescents He also participated in the efforts of human rights animal rights consumer and environmental organizations In the 1980s he began investigations into factory farms stockyards and slaughterhouses Baur felt the conditions he observed were unacceptable and these experiences helped motivate the creation of Farm Sanctuary The sanctuarys first rescued animal was a downed sheep found on a pile of dead animals behind Lancaster stockyards in 1986 Baurs investigative exposés and advocacy efforts on behalf of farm animals have earned international media coverage including ABC NBC CBS CNN the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times TIME called Baur the conscience of the food movement Baur later obtained a Masters degree in agricultural economics from Cornell University in order to better understand factory farming He has testified before local state and federal legislative bodies and appeared on various expert panels In 1996 The Peace Abbey awarded Baur with its Courage of Conscience Award other recipients of which include Rosa Parks Mother Teresa Ram Dass and Pete Seeger He played a key role in the passage of several animalprotection ordinances including a 2004 California law banning the production and sale of foie gras8 and a 2002 Florida initiative banning gestation crates After the Florida campaign the Florida Elections Commission found that Farm Sanctuary and Gene Bauston personally had willfully broken campaign finance laws Farm Sanctuary and Gene Baur consented to pay a fine of 50000 More recently he was instrumental in passing a 2006 repealed in 2008 Chicago ordinance banning the sale of foie gras and a 2006 ballot measure in Arizona banning gestation crates and veal crates Gene and Farm Sanctuary were key sponsors of a California initiative Proposition 2 to ban veal crates gestation crates and battery cages which passed on November 4 2008 when it was approved with over 63 of the vote Baur was one of several people who provided information used in the writing of the book Striking at the Roots A Practical Guide to Animal Activism 2008 by Mark Hawthorne In March 2008 Baur released a book entitled Farm Sanctuary Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food published by Simon amp Schuster It has appeared on the Los Angeles Times and Boston Globe bestseller lists and was named to Booklists Top 10 SciTech Books 2008 He appears in a documentary film called Peaceable Kingdom that was made about Farm Sanctuary and people who work or visit there especially Gene Baur and Lorri Houston his exwife Description above from the Wikipedia article Gene Baur licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia