by Alan Jacques
IT’S been an emotional few days for Limerick animal rights activist John Carmody as he bade farewell to the animal whose life he worked so tirelessly to save before he set off to his new home in the UK.
Last month ‘gay bull’ Benjy was destined for slaughter because he has shown no interest in cows and has a sexual preference for other bulls. Founder of the Animal Rights Action Network (ARAN), John Carmody, quickly stepped in to scupper plans to destroy the pedigree Charolais bull, purchased for purposes of breeding by a farmer in County Mayo.
The campaign to save Benjy was then rolled out by ARAN and TheGayUK who launched an online fundraising effort that was successfully reached. During the campaign, Simpsons co-creator Sam Simon stepped in offering to buy Benjy outright, leading to the fundraising target not only being met, but exceeded.
Hillside Animal Sanctuary based in Norwich in the UK offered to re-home the bovine for the rest of his days without fear of being served up with a side order of chips.
Mr Carmody was emotional at Benjy’s departure last weekend and hailed his story as one of animal and human rights that also shows the goodness of people and what can be achieved when working together.
“Today, I stood beside another gay man – or a bovine, for that matter. Benjy looks so different and yet we’re so alike in that I know he wants to live, he wants to eke out an existence in this world and thankfully his sexual preference was the reason he’s alive and en route to a better life,” said Mr Carmody.
“As we near Christmas, we thank the people of Ireland who stepped in to save Benjy with their kind outpouring of donations and support, our ‘one way ticket to freedom’ will be the best Christmas gift that we can give an animals this year, a gift that will last literally a lifetime,” he added.
