Phoebe Collver-Freeland has been an incredible advocate for animals since she was 11 years old. When we first met Phoebe, when she attended YEA Camp for the first time in 2013, she was very quiet, but every day of camp she wore a t-shirt that had a powerful message about compassion for animals.

Throughout the week, we saw her open up more, and in the years since then, as well as when she attended YEA Camp again in 2015, we have been blown away by the amount of activism she has done. In fact, PETA2 named her the “Coolest Vegan Alive“(!!) when she was just 16! She also recently was given a grant by The Pollination Project to expand her microsanctuary!

Phoebe agreed to let us interview her to learn more about her activism efforts.

1. Tell us about the activism you’ve been doing.

I have a microsanctuary, called Phoebe’s Friends Microsanctuary, which is a small sanctuary for rescued farmed animals. I currently care for three pigs who were rescued from a laboratory, two goats whose guardians were unable to care for them, and chickens who were raised by a cockfighting breeder and saved from slaughter. We host groups of children and teach them compassion for all animals. I also do outreach, art activism, and volunteer work with various organizations, such as serving on peta2‘s Youth Advisory Board for three years.

2. How did you get involved with activism and what you’re currently working on?

I first got involved with activism when I got a PETA Kids book when I was 11. Early on I mostly wrote letters to companies who exploit animals and talked to my friends about going vegan. My family had already been caring for goats and chickens when we found out about the Microsanctuary Movement in 2015. We began identifying as a microsanctuary, and since then we have been rescuing more animals and educating children about them.

 

4. What advice do you have for new activists just getting involved?