On Sunday, Academy Award nominee Joaquin Phoenix won Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role at the 26th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards for his performance in Joker. However , while many might choose to party after winning such an honor, Phoenix chose a different activity. Phoenix chose to attend a vigil with L.A. Animal Save outside a meat processing plant, joining other animal rights activists in offering comfort to pigs set for slaughter. Phoenix told vlogger Jane Velez-Mitchell,
“Most people don’t really know of the torture and murder in the meat and dairy industry. I’ve seen it for what it is, so I have to be here,”
“We have moral obligations to talk about it and expose it for what it really is. We are so indoctrinated with these happy images of animals on farms, on the covers of meat containers, at restaurants, and it’s a lie. I think people need to know the truth and we have an obligation to do that.”
According to L.A. Animal Save founder Amy Jean Davis, Phoenix regularly attends the groups vigils both on a local level and worldwide other of The Animal Save Movement’s over 700 groups.
“Joaquin’s regular attendance at our vigils in L.A. has inspired activists both locally and globally,” “We are so grateful for his voice. All over the world, activists are bearing witness to animals bound for slaughter and waking up the world to their plight.”
