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Animal Farm Foundation
open-in-new
<p>Animal Farm Foundation (AFF) is a <a href="/facts/Pit_bull/k0LXCp2u">pit bull</a> and anti-BSL (anti-<a href="/facts/Breed-specific_legislation/SQdwN0Id">breed-specific legislation</a>) animal <a href="/facts/Advocacy_group/7oNDHtPI">advocacy group</a> set up by heiress Jane Berkey as a 501(c)(3) charity. It started as a horse rescue in 1985, then shifted focus to pit bull dogs when the founder adopted a pit bull and "discovered that 'pit bull' dog owners were not welcome in a lot of communities and spaces." </p><p>AFF maintains a farm of 400 acres in <a href="/facts/Dutchess_County/AjKI4fWW">Dutchess County</a> for "rescued and retired horses, cows and other farm life." It notes that dogs are their "main mission". The 2021 Guidestar report for Animal Farm Foundation describes their mission as "Securing equal treatment and opportunity for 'pit bull' dogs." </p><p>Animal Farm Foundation is controversial and highly influential: It has been described by <a href="/facts/Canadian_Broadcasting_Corporation/xBHaMb9R">Canadian Broadcasting Corporation</a>'s journalist <a href="/facts/Mark_Kelley/TbAK1PlE">Mark Kelley</a>, as having a key role in a "pit bull lobby" in the investigative news series <i><a href="/facts/The_Fifth_Estate_(TV_program)/TQw4aVmn">The Fifth Estate</a></i>: </p> <blockquote><p>There’s actually something that we’re learning ... [that there is] a pro-pit bull lobby. When I started investigating this, I thought this couldn’t be. You got animal rights groups in United States. The Animal Farm Foundation is one, <a href="/facts/Best_Friends_Animal_Society/XbW41qH0">Best Friends Animal Society</a> is another. These are multi-million dollar animal rights groups. They’ve got lawyers. They’ve got lobbyists, got market celebrities on their side: The <a href="/facts/Cesar_Millan/V6jYcPC2">dog whisperer</a>, <a href="/facts/Jennifer_Aniston/qRjtt6lk">Jennifer Aniston</a>, to <a href="/facts/Betty_White/JDUCvuQ0">Betty White</a> posing with her dog saying that this is a perfect family-friendly dog, but it’s more than a marketing effort. It’s also a political effort right now in the United States. This lobby has convinced 21 states to <a href="/facts/State_preemption/fahaFrRt">ban bans</a>, so if you were in your community in one of those 21 states it’s illegal to bring in a pit bull ban <a href="/facts/Breed_specific_legislation/SQdwN0Id">breed specific legislation</a>, so it’s a political force.</p></blockquote>