KINGSTON, ONTARIO – As a snow squall hit Kingston on Friday December 15, about two dozen people marched from Collins Bay Institution to the office of MP Mark Gerretsen to deliver a petition calling for sanctuary for the Pen Herd cows.
Launched last year at Kingston VegFest, the "Save the Herd" petition was closed on December 13 with a total of 12,928 signatures. Over 4,000 signatures were received in the final 24 hours, as the petition had begun to go viral.
Throughout the march, passersby waved and honked their support.
Representatives of MP Gerretsen formally received the petition as the lobby filled to capacity with a crowd still wielding their signs.
The Save the Herd petition was started by Neufeld and his mother Franceen, who later co-founded Evolve Our Prison Farms. They have submitted a proposal to the federal government for innovative plant-based prison agriculture and sanctuary for any animals brought onto prison farms for rehabilitative programming.