ABSTRACT
This chapter examines animal sanctuaries as a contemporary form of animal activism influenced by a history of feminist ethics of care that is often overshadowed by utilitarian approaches to animal activism, such as effective altruism, a philanthropic approach to activism based on the allegedly most efficient allocation of charitable donations. In particular, sanctuaries offer a counterpoint to the sacrificial logic of utilitarianism that places the greatest collective good over the interests of individuals, providing important lessons for ongoing efforts to transform the future of human–animal relations. To illustrate the differences between utilitarian and ethics of care-informed approaches to animal activism, the chapter traces some of the historical and philosophical roots of the animal sanctuary movement, spotlighting its essential role in contemporary animal activism. Animal sanctuaries, it argues, offer a fundamentally democratic model for interspecies coexistence that allows for the autonomous flourishing of everyone in the community, whereas various iterations of utilitarian praxis point toward a profoundly undemocratic future in which those with money and power can determine who can be sacrificed for the allegedly greater good.
