Three horses named Arrow, Pina and Terry are enjoying their peaceful retirement on a farm in Germany where animals can grow old without fear of slaughter.
The horses have just been moved to the historic farm, founded in 1725 and now managed by the 10th generation of farmers – vegans Philipp and Verena Kienle, in southern Germany.
The horses are now getting to know their new neighbor Rudi, a pot-bellied pig who also enjoys freedom on the property in the village of Sigmaringen.
“The animals don’t need mercy, they just have to live,” he says, explaining why he named the farm ‘Lebenshof’, which means ‘life farm’, instead of, for example, ‘mercy farm’. The full name of his farm is ‘Lebenshof’. Farmony.”
Among the other residents are several cows from a dairy farm that has closed, said Philipp Kienle, who works full-time at a nearby metal foundry.
Farmers in the sector are having a hard time financially, says Kienle, a former cattle farmer himself.
‘Dairy farming became increasingly unprofitable due to the high livestock farming standards that farmers have to meet. Quality standards continued to rise, plus rising energy costs. At some point it just wasn’t profitable. I decided: I won’t do it’ If we don’t want to do this on a voluntary basis, we will stop dairy farming.”
Farmers across Europe are facing increasing challenges as consumers seek assurance about animal welfare and demand higher standards of animal care.
Additionally, the market for their products is challenging as consumers have a growing preference for dairy alternatives, with many moving away from diets high in meat and dairy products.
These trends, combined with regulatory pressures, are driving down farm incomes and have led to violent protests in many countries, including Germany and the Netherlands, as farmers seek support from governments and a reduction in what they see as burdensome bureaucracy.
The European Commission has tried to appease farmers by partially relaxing some requirements and has offered to clarify laws on natural disasters such as floods and droughts to make it easier for farmers to access financing.
Overall, Kienle believes the system is deeply flawed. In current agricultural practices, animals are treated more like products or machines that have to perform. If they can no longer do that, they are simply thrown away, he explains.
“First they give you plenty of milk, then they go to the slaughterhouse and they are slaughtered,” says Verena Kienle. She convinced her husband not to give away all their cows, but to take in other animals and continue the farm as an animal-free operation, resulting in the pastures.
They were helped by a non-profit organization TransFARMation Germany, which supports farms that want to try animal-free agriculture.
The couple also launched a fundraiser for their farm on their website.
Verena Kienle wrote: “It is our wish to see our livestock happy and to show as many people as possible how valuable an animal’s life is and that so-called farm animals have the same soul as pets. We want our farm to be an example and let both within our sector and to consumers, animal food is always associated with suffering.”
They plan to use donations to fund minor renovations and purchase things like accessible toilets, a peeling machine and a pigeon coop.
They are not looking for huge sums of money for their two-hectare farm, which together with 40 hectares of meadows and fields support their mission.
The Kienles also have a new idea to boost revenue: partnering with a Berlin company to host small rental houses for vacationers on part of their land.
They hope this venture will attract more visitors to their shelter for retired animals – and perhaps even inspire a broader trend.
