Jenny Brown

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”
—Margaret Mead

BIO

Jenny's path to a career as a champion for farmed animals is not what one would typically expect. She was raised in a conservative Southern Baptist family in Louisville, Kentucky, where, like most people, she never thought about the animals on her plate. Nor did she make the connection in a truly conscious way that the animals who are killed for food are as conscious, loving and intelligent as the cats and dogs we share our homes and lives with.

The roots of Jenny's activism go back to 1980, when at age ten, she was diagnosed with bone cancer, which led to two years of chemotherapy and the amputation of her right leg below the knee. Her trauma and the resilience required to cope with her illness led her to become highly empathetic with other helpless beings, beginning with a scrappy litter runt. This feline’s personality and emotional capacity planted a seed for Jenny, but it took eight years and a leaflet about all the plight of animals used and abused for medical experiments that helped her make the connection between her beloved cat and all the animals exploited and abused for fur, experimentation, entertainment and the meat on her plate. At age 18, she became a vegetarian and began advocating for animals.

Over the next decade, Jenny built a career in film and television production, while also volunteering her time in activism, including undercover video for various animal advocacy organizations. But it was an assignment in 2002 to film downed animals (animals too sick or injured to stand or walk), which changed her life forever. During that week in Texas spent traveling from stockyard to stockyard, Jenny witnessed sights and sounds that still haunt her to this day.

With this inspiration, she left her career in film and television to start a sanctuary for animals rescued from food production. In May 2004, she and her husband, Doug, purchased a house and 23 acres in the renowned town of Woodstock, NY. They then began constructing facilities to care for farmed animals rescued from abuse, abandonment, and slaughterhouse escapes. Woodstock Farm Sanctuary was born with a mission to rescue, educate and advocate for farmed animals so very soon after, they opened their doors to thousands of visitors each year for educational tours and the opportunity to meet cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, goats, sheep and more, in an environment where they are loved and treated with compassion.

Over the next decade, the pair oversaw Woodstock blossom into one of the most recognized and respected farmed animal safe havens in the country. 

In 2015, Woodstock Farm Sanctuary moved to a much larger, 150-acre farm in High Falls, New York, just 90 minutes from New York City. Today, the sanctuary continues to provide lifelong care to hundreds of animals, fostering a vital connection between people and those most often overlooked in our society, and promoting veganism.

In 2016, Jenny left WFS to focus on a national speaking tour at universities and colleges across the country. She now resides in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, with her husband, two chickens, four cats, three dogs, and an open-door policy for fosters.

Her story has been featured in The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Rolling Stone, New York Magazine, NPR’s The Diane Rehm Show, CNN and more (see Media).

Jenny’s memoir-with-a-mission, The Lucky Ones: My Passionate Fight For Farm Animals, was released in 2012 to great acclaim.