Donor Spotlight Bernadette Sonefeld
Bernadette Sonefeld grew up in Saginaw, Michigan, with her parents and three siblings. She became an animal rights activist in the early eighties and since then has been involved with the Vegetarian Society of Colorado, serving as secretary and education outreach coordinator. She has also been active in animal welfare protests, including demonstrations against fur, rodeos, and wild horse roundups. Today Bernadette lives in Aurora, Colorado, and is still active in animal rights. Recently she chose to support Mercy For Animals through an IRA contribution. To learn more about IRA qualified charitable deduction gifts, email [email protected].
Q – How did you become involved in animal protection?
A – The inspiration came to me in the spring of 1982 on a trip from an anti-vivisection rally at UC-Davis with a friend of mine. At a gas station, we encountered a semi-truck loaded with cows on their way to slaughter. My friend went over to the cows and talked to them. She was telling them not to be afraid. It took many miles of chatting for her to convince me that the animals being used for food were not being treated well, but she eventually connected the dots for me over the rest of the trip home.
Q – What part of MFA’s work is closest to your heart?
A – Though I try to stay away from news about animal cruelty because I find it too depressing, the education and outreach work that you do is important to me. I once saw MFA at a vegetarian conference in Denver and was impressed by the presentation.
Q – What change for farmed animals would you most like to see?
A – I would like to see no animals brought into existence for the purpose of serving people. Since most humans do not know how to humanely treat animals, it would be better that there were no animals brought into existence. The only animals I would like to see are wild animals in protected habitats.