Ten months ago, Bill and Lou—two beloved oxen at Green Mountain College’s Cerridwen Farm—were scheduled to be slaughtered and turned into hamburger meat for the school’s cafeteria. This decision, which was integral to the farm’s notion of “sustainability,” resulted in an outpouring of international criticism – including over 3 million angry emails – condemning the college for such a callous choice.
Particularly incomprehensible was the fact that GMC had refused multiple offers by animal sanctuaries (including VINE Sanctuary and Farm Sanctuary) to take the oxen off its hands at no cost to the college. To an extent, unrelenting public pressure worked: Bill was spared. But Lou, due to leg injuries, was allegedly euthanized and buried in an undisclosed location. Neither was turned into hamburger meat. Or so GMC claimed.
A recent event suggests that GMC may have lied. According to a reliable source who recently visited GMC during freshman orientation weekend, Bill was nowhere to be found. A student worker at Cerridwen farm told her that, actually, both Bill and Lou were killed and served in the college cafeteria, and now they have a new oxen team.
We encourage GMC to reveal the truth about what happened to both oxen. Specifically, we demand answers to the following 3 questions:
1) Is Bill still alive?
2) If Bill was killed, what were the circumstances of his death?
3) Was Lou euthanized and buried (as initially claimed) or slaughtered and then served in the college’s cafeteria (as many suspect)?
Persons to Contact
Paul Fonteyn (President of the College; Professor of Biology): fonteynp@greenmtn.edu
Philip Ackerman-Leist (Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Director of the Farm and Food Project): ackermanleistp@greenmtn.edu
Kenneth Mulder (GMC Farm Manager, Research Associate & Adjunct Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies): mulderk@greenmtn.edu
William Throop (Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Professor of Philosophy and Environmental Studies): throopw@greenmtn.edu
Kevin Coburn (Director of Communications): coburnk@greenmtn.edu
