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MEDIA RELEASE: Grieving Mother Hits Back at Antioch College to Save Nine Lambs Slated for Halal Horror Slaughter

MEDIA RELEASE: Grieving Mother Hits Back at Antioch College to Save Nine Lambs Slated for Halal Horror Slaughter

View commercial: bit.ly/WATCH-60-Second-AntiochLambCommercial

Download commercial and images, free for unlimited use: bit.ly/AntiochLambCommercial


Yellow Springs, OH (October 31, 2019) — The mother of a former Antioch College alum has teamed up with In Defense of Animals to broadcast a new 60-second television commercial on ABC and Fox through November, urging Antioch College in Ohio to release nine lambs to sanctuary. The new commercial follows the College’s latest threat to send the lambs to an off-site halal slaughterhouse. The TV-plea to spare the lambs was produced in honor of Jason Seth Houten, an Antioch College alum who cared deeply for animals and was killed in a car crash at the age of 23. The school is currently using the lambs to control grass in a solar panel field and plans to serve them to students at its cafeteria this fall.

“I have never found a way to honor my son's memory,” said Barbara Pearl, Houten’s mother told The Daily Beast. “When a mother loses a child, it’s catastrophic. The grief is unbearable. When you lose your child, you lose your future as you never imagined. I asked Antioch College to spare the lives of these innocent beings as a way to honor my son Jason's life.”

Despite multiple sanctuaries offering to take in and care for the lambs free of charge, and a petition to “Save the Antioch Lambs” which has amassed over 85,000 signatures, Antioch College has so far refused. The College mockingly responded to Pearl’s plea to spare their lives in honor of her son by demanding a $1 million ransom for the lambs, which it said would be used to fund more animal killing.

The new 60-second commercial features a picture of former student, Houten. It also features four seconds of footage filmed at a USDA-inspected halal slaughterhouse, since Antioch College recently told YS News that the nine lambs would be killed in such a facility. 

Antioch College has acted disgracefully to the mother of a former student and has an opportunity to restore its reputation by releasing the lambs to sanctuary,” said Marilyn Kroplick, M.D., President of In Defense of Animals.

Matthew Hamity, Campaigns Director at In Defense of Animals said, “It is patently clear that Antioch College requires an education—our new commercial shows that slaughterhouses guarantee a terrifying and brutal death for lambs, even if they are USDA and halal-certified. Killing animals is the opposite of humane treatment. We urge Antioch College to spare the lambs.”

The television commercial will run for one week from November 1st to 7th. View the commercial here.

Contacts:

Fleur Dawes, fleur@idausa.org, (415) 879-6879

Barbara Pearl, pearlhope2018@gmail.com, (215) 840-1190


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In Defense of Animals is an international animal protection organization with over 250,000 supporters and a 30-year history of fighting for animals, people and the environment through education, campaigns and hands-on rescue facilities in India, South Korea, and rural Mississippi. www.idausa.org

IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS • 3010 KERNER BLVD. • SAN RAFAEL, CA 94901 • 415-448-0048

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