Brother Wolf, Asheville's no-kill shelter, goes vegan

ASHEVILLE – Brother Wolf Animal Rescue was honored last month for bringing its no-kill philosophy to the dinner table.

Animal Place, a California sanctuary for farm animals, recognized the nonprofit for its policy of serving only vegan food at shelter events.

Brother Wolf was named the Food for Thought Shelter of the Month.

It was the first shelter in the Southeast to be recognized by the West Coast nonprofit, which works to encourage and assist animal rescue organizations to adopt animal friendly food policies.

"It's about refocusing organizations on their core missions, which is generally operating to benefit and promote the welfare of animals," said Jonathan Hussain, campaigns manager for the agency. "In part, it is extending compassion, and in part, it is really being consistent with goals."

"These types of organizations are role models for how we should treat animals," he said. "Taking a stand as an organization that they aren't going to make farm animals suffer for the sake of companion animals is pretty powerful."

Brother Wolf cares for about 550 homeless animals, both at its 10,000-square-foot adoption center on Glendale Avenue and through a network of volunteer foster families. In addition to dogs and cats, it also frequently rescues animals such as rabbits, chickens, goats and sheep.

Staff at Brother Wolf were unaware someone had nominated the shelter for the award. It had adopted a vegan menu more than a year ago. The shelter had always been a vegetarian organization, said Denise Bitz, founder and president of Brother Wolf Animal Rescue.

Brother Wolf adopted its vegan menu after hearing about other animal rescue organizations doing the same, Bitz said.

"I personally started to learn about the horrors of the dairy and egg industry and all the suffering those animals have to endure and it became very apparent to me that we couldn't rightfully serve animal products at our events to raise money for dogs and cats," she said.

"At that time, I personally became a vegan, too. It was all very eye-opening."

The animals at the shelter will continue to eat pet food made from meat products.

Vegan dog food is too expensive and cats need meat to survive, Bitz said.