Near the coast of Valdivia (Chile), one can find the anti-speciesist Baucis Forest Refuge (Refugio Bosque Baucis), an animal sanctuary founded and maintained by a group of gender-diverse people. It houses around 40 rescued animals, among them, dogs, cats, chickens, sheep, geese, ducks, and pigs. The refuge was named after Emilia Milen “Bau” Obrecht, a trans woman murdered during a Mapuche landback struggle led by the Llaskawe lof (community) in Panguipulli in the year 2021. After her murder, the Baucis Forest Refuge today defines itself as an exercise of resistance against the agro-industrial complex, but also as a call for justice. “This refuge is also in memory of Bau,” told me her closest friends during an interview.
The Refuge’s Beginnings
For Bau’s friends, who are responsible for the daily care of Baucis Forest Refuge, the decision to start an animal sanctary was made for them years ago, even before they could realize it. They had not visualized the possibility just yet.
It all started when they began rescueing stray cats and dogs, until the day “we rescued a giant piggy that still lives here in the refuge,” said K. V.,1 a member of the organization. Emilia Bau accompanied this process in which each day the commitment and desire to give these abandoned animals—or those that are considered merely for human and productive consumption—a dignified life became stronger. Thus, each person took charge of a different task, where some cared for the sheep, others for the geese, and some for the pigs.
According to her friends, Bau’s presence was vital at that moment, as they gained knowledge from her and about their ideals together. They knew how restless she was: she wrote music, was a writer, was learning Mapuzungun, participated in panels and, since November 2020, had been active in a landback claim in Panguipulli, next to the Riñihue River.
Landowner and Corporate Transfemicide
In the early morning of February 17, 2021, while participating in the landback reclamation of the Llaskawe lof in Panguipulli, Emilia was shot in the head. She died that same night in the Valdivia Hospital.
It was later learned that the shooters were allegedly a group of “gardeners” from the Riñimapu Condominium, hired through the private security company “Security Look”. The contracting was in charge of the business conglomerate that is listed as the owner of the real estate project: the Puga Matte family, in addition to other co-owners such as Peter Hill Planella and Manuel García[1]. [2]
Later it would be revealed that those who fired the shots were an group of so-called gardeners from the Riñimapu Condominium, hired through the private security company “Security Look.” The hiring was carried out by a business conglomerate that appears as the owner of this real estate project: the Puga Matte family, as well as other co-owners such as Peter Hill Planella and Manuel García.
Bau’s eluwun (wake/funeral) was held that same afternoon and on February 18, 2021, with the presence of ancestral authorities and communities who were accompanying her loved ones through tokens of solidarity and affection. It is on this occasion that Bau’s friends received the proposal to move and live on borrowed farmland for a year, which would allow them to be together and care for the animals that accompanied them more comfortably.
There, among four people, they decided to take that opportunity and rescue other animals in memory of their sister, as they used to call her. “We decided to rescue these animals in memory of our sister and transform the suffering and all this evil into something that expressed friendship, with all that spiritual newen [strength] that people give us when showing solidarity with those who give their lives and fight for the ñuke mapu (Mother Earth) and for the animals. There was hope, in spite of what happened, there was hope to build a sanctuary,” said K. V. A month after Emilia’s death, the Baucis Forest Refuge was born with as many as 60 animals.
Learning and Healing from Rescuing Animals
When the decision was made to start the sanctuary, most of the animals were in a very poor condition of past abuse and trauma. M. L., a member of the organization, explains that “they arrived with lung and stomach parasites, most of them with phlegm, malnourished, with a lot of fear of humans, a lot of stress and pain.”
This context implied, as members of this siblinghood point out, the need to learn to know and care for the people involved in the refuge. On the other hand, it also meant it was an opportunity to heal in the midst of the pain of losing a friend and a sister under the hands of the landowner/corporate violence.
Little by little, their skills gradually came together, and along with it, the knowledge of how to pinch and shear sheep, cut nails and, above all, the needs of each animal. The first year they established working days and hours. They would divide the care of the sheep and the cows, the latter being the most arduous, which required walking up to three to six hours each day. K. V. explains, “For example, we used to say, ‘I’m going to do the cows tomorrow, because you had to go far away to look for the cows, at least three hours, and that’s if you managed to catch them. If you didn’t catch them, you had to walk five to 6 hours. That was part of our daily chore. It was the job that took the longest, so we took turns. One day it was me, tomorrow another, and the day after that another. That’s how we managed to get through that job.”
To feed the cows, they had to carry the food on foot in a backpack over their shoulders. Even when it rained, they had to go because of the cows’ malnourished state. They spent approximately six months in this dynamic.
“After that, about a year went by, and we asked for help because it was already too much. A friend of ours offered to give them a temporary home, taking advantage of the fact that they had a much bigger piece of land with a lot of grass and soil that was theirs,” they explained. From that moment on, the burden eased a little, and they continued caring for the sheep, the pig, the chickens, and kept one cow, the oldest one.
However, despite the reduced workload, the shelter team recalls the exhaustion and fatigue of those days. “We were cold, four of us were sharing one room in a freezing cold shed. There were no other sleeping options,” K. V. explains.
A year later, it was time to look for another space, which led the group to the coast of Valdivia, where they live today. They managed to find a house on Isla del Rey, which was unfinished but allowed them more flexibility.
Along with the transfer, other changes began to occur. “Another colleague joined the organization’s sanctuary, but at the same time two members left, who could no longer help because it is a lot of work and, as we did not have enough rooms, both left the sanctuary and are making another life for themselves. They always support us when we need help. They are very attentive, but they needed to make a life for themselves,” said K. L.
The work they do requires lots of attention: on the one hand, it is a constant learning process and, on the other, it is a daily chore. It responds to the needs of the moment, but it requires their 24-hour attention.
Caring for the Animals
But these are not the only difficulties and problems they’ve had to face. M. L. emphasizes how difficult it is to access veterinary health care for animals that are not dogs or cats, as well as deal with the mistreatment and lack of protection of animals who have been exposed to in the meat industry.
The hurdle they face, according to Michela Pettorali in her article “A critique of the veterinary profession from an anti-speciesist perspective,” is that veterinary medicine focuses on the organization and management of public health in terms of human welfare. That is, it seeks to safeguard human life and not that of other species.
This is well known by the sanctuary’s organizers, who explain that until now it has been extremely difficult to find a veterinary who cares about the integrity of the animals and not only about “managing them” with a perspective on the production and sanitization of livestock.
M. L. explains that, currently, they only have some contacts they trust and who are concerned about the health of chickens, pigs, cows, and sheep. “There are practically no veterinarians for pigs, for example,” emphasized M. L. This has triggered a need to distrust veterinary medicine and to look for other ways to help the diverse group of animals they have rescued, opting for natural medicine and close observation. “It is about perseverance and concern. And being always vigilant because, since animals don’t talk, you have to be very aware of what is happening to whom and how you are going to heal them […]. We still have a lot to learn,” he says.
Collaboration and a Self-sustaining Project
Already three and a half years old, Baucis Forest Refuge has gone through different dynamics and work processes. Currently, says K. V., they live in a space that gives them greater tranquility and allows them to be closer to the animals, while at the same time they are building their home to be in a better space, mentally.
Meanwhile, they continue to maintain community collaboration networks that have allowed them to self-sustain this initiave through different activities and donations. “We have a few people who make monthly donations, but there are not that many. And in addition to that, we self-sustain by organizing activities. Sometimes we do empanatones [events to raise funds by selling empanadas] or people from other territories also organize activities for us,” M. L. highlights.
In fact, they emphasize once again the impact Emilia Bau had on this collaborative network: “Actually, for us, what has become our first support network are Bau’s networks, which are still present today.” Those networks and friends of Bau, who show solidarity with the animals and with her past struggle, are what has helped them the most, from the shelter’s beginning to the present day. The number of people who come and collaborate or wish to learn about the work that is being done, continues to grow.
In this sense, for Bau’s friends who maintain the sanctuary, their daily work is another way of doing justice, where community collaboration is essential in confronting the farm industry and its damage to the land and the beings that inhabit them. “I see Bau’s justice in our defense of the territories, in the defense of the animals, the waters, in the defense of our gender diversities, how we defend each other and huddle together. [It helps to] know that we are strong, despite the fact that this society tells us all the time that we are the victims, because that hurts and victimizes us, but we are also stronger when we are together. I see Bau in all of this,” emphasizes M. L.
The Verdict in Emilia’s Case
On January 27, 2023, the criminal court of Valdivia sentenced only one of the seven people charged with Emilia’s murder.
Francisco Javier Jara Jarpa was sentenced to 16 years in prison as the perpetrator of the murder, while the rest of those involved were acquitted: Carlos Alberto López Aguayo, Cristián Antonio Cisternas Larenas, Sergio José Miguel Larenas Paz, Jorge Eduardo Rodríguez Neira, Jorge Valentín Ruiz Paz, and Cristián Mauricio Larenas Cisternas.
There was a call for the judicial authorities to make visible the fact that this was a corporate murder, but Bau’s friends and family always knew that those who were behind the hiring of the accused would not be investigated. For this reason, and alongside the trial, which lasted nearly 20 days, they organized massive marches and protests under slogans like “Judges and prosecutors are accomplices of the businessmen who are murderers of the land, water, and Bau,” which took place as far as the Valdivia, Temuco, Arica, Panguipulli, and Lican Ray territories.
In view of the verdict, her family and brothers questioned the court’s decision, insisting that actions in memory and vindication of Emilia Bau will continue to expand outside these institutional margins.
Among these actions, the Baucis Foest Refuge resists.
How to Contribute
Currently, there are several ways to help or to show solidarity with Baucis Forest Refuge. One can visit the shelter and meet the rescued animals and those who make this sanctuary possible. The organization’s team emphasizes that there is an opportunity to sponsor an animal, either financially or by giving affection and forming a bond with them.
Likewise, they invite supporters to organize memorials for Bau, from any place in the world, and with her struggle for the defense of the territories, gender diversities, and the animals. “Even though she was killed, she pushed us to do all this,” says the team.
- The people interviewed for this piece preferred to remain anonymous. ↩︎
