I launched Haven Hearts, a vegan dog treat company which donates 100% of its profits to farm animal sanctuaries, in February 2018. Essentially I choose one animal at a time and raise enough to donate a lifetime sponsorship for their feeding costs. I've already completed sponsorships for the Oregon sanctuaries Green Acres (chickens), Lighthouse (a sheep), and Out to Pasture (lab rabbits), and have started another for a turkey at Green Acres. Each bag of dog treats comes with an attached postcard showing a photo of the animal and information about their story and their rescuers, so it's also serving to educate people about animals in agriculture, and connect them directly with those they're helping. The goal is to generate a non-charitable revenue stream for animal sanctuaries, by offering vegan and non-vegan animal lovers an opportunity to contribute to a concrete act of good for animals — without asking them to make any compromises or sacrifices. And, in the process, the aim is to encourage them to expand their circle of empathy to include all animals.

The response has been incredibly positive so far. They're available in 35 retail locations in Portland, Corvallis, and Eugene (where I'm based), including 9 who volunteered to buy them at full price and sell them with no markup, so donations from each purchase can be maximized!

So far I am doing everything by hand. I have baked over a quarter million individual dog treats by hand, and while I am happy to continue this labor of love for now, it is neither scalable nor efficient. In order to build a viable business model I need to scale up, which is where you come in...