Joaquin Phoenix has been filmed rescuing a cow and her week-old calf from a Los Angeles slaughterhouse just hours after he delivered a rousing speech that slammed the dairy industry.
It took Joaquin Phoenix just a day after his Oscar-best actor speech to show the world he practices what he preaches.
An 8-minute video filmed by Los Angeles Animal Save, shows the Hollywood star’s meeting with a slaughterhouse boss in a tour arranged by the animal advocacy group.
The 45-year old actor accompanied by animal rights activists, LA Animal Save Founder Amy Jean Davis, his fiancée Rooney Mara, Earthlings Director Shaun Monson, and Farm Sanctuary president Gene Baur, visited Manning Beef, a Southern California slaughterhouse.
While Phoenix and the CEO of the Pico Rivera slaughterhouse, Anthony di Maria debated on the welfare practices adopted by the animal industry, the slaughterhouse boss assured the vegan actor that he never separated newborns from their mothers.
In fact, he said that a mother cow had just delivered a calf a week ago and they were living together on the grounds.
The CEO also magnanimously agreed to allow Phoenix to move the mother and baby to the sanctuary, an act which the team insists was not a planned part of the tour.
The Joker star is then seen leaving the premises cradling the calf, who he named Indigo while he named the mother Liberty. The pair is loaded onto the Farm Sanctuary truck to be taken away from the slaughterhouse.
L.A. Animal Save has already rescued four pairs of mother and calves from Manning Beef that are now living peacefully at the Farm Sanctuary.
Happy with the rescue, Phoenix said in a statement released with the video: “I never thought I’d find friendship in a slaughterhouse, but meeting Anthony and opening my heart to his, I realize we might have more in common than we do differences.
“Without his act of kindness, Liberty and her baby calf, Indigo, would have met a terrible demise.”
He continued saying: “Although we will continue to fight for the liberation of all animals who suffer in these oppressive systems, we must take pause to acknowledge and celebrate the victories, and the people who helped achieve them.”
“My hope is, as we watch baby Indigo grow up with her mom Liberty at Farm Sanctuary, that we’ll always remember that friendships can emerge in the most unexpected places; and no matter our differences, kindness and compassion should rule everything around us,” he concluded.
The actor’s impromptu rescue act resonates with the concluding part of his Oscar speech in which he said: “Human beings at our best are so creative and inventive, and we can create, develop and implement systems of change that are beneficial to all sentient beings and the environment.”
Surely the actor’s late brother would be pleased to see Phoenix act on the lines penned by the lyricist: “Run to the rescue with love and peace will follow.”
Share this heartwarming video to celebrate the happiness of Liberty and Indigo as they begin their new lives at the sanctuary.
Lifestyle
Vegan culture, food, beauty & more
Gordon Ramsay Ditches Vegan Hate and Backs Flora’s Plant-Based Butter in New ‘Skip the Cow’ Campaign
- Totally Vegan Buzz Team
- 28th January 2025
Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, once infamous for his digs at vegans, has taken a sharp turn in the kitchen. Ramsay has teamed up with Flora, the famous UK-based spread brand, as its global ambassador, marking a bold new chapter in Flora’s “Skip the Cow” campaign. Flora, established in 1964, has long been a household name …
The Top 10 Vegan-Friendly Places in Latin America
- Totally Vegan Buzz Team
- 27th January 2025
Latin America is experiencing an extraordinary rise in plant-based dining options. A new study, spearheaded by Veganuary in partnership with the food discovery platform HappyCow, reveals that Latin America now boasts over 10,000 vegan, vegetarian, and vegan-friendly restaurants—an impressive 21.6% jump compared to last year. Brazil takes the crown as the number one country, with …
Continue reading “The Top 10 Vegan-Friendly Places in Latin America”
VEGAN MEMES
NEED A LAUGH?
QUIZZES
All the quizzes you love to binge!
QUIZ: If you score 11/12 on this quiz, you’re a verified vegan food expert
- Marlon Farrugia
- 10th January 2020
How much vegan knowledge do you have stored away? Do you have to Google your way through a shopping trip, or do you have all the bad E-numbers memorised? Find out now with this quiz. [wpViralQuiz id=27203]
QUIZ: What is your perfect Vegan Halloween Costume?
- Marlon Farrugia
- 13th October 2019
Spook Season approaches. There will be ghosts, goblins, ghouls, and glucose. You need a costume, and you want to it to show off your personality, which means VEGAN. But what to choose? Take our quiz to find out your perfect outfit. [wpViralQuiz id=33494]
QUIZ: What kind of vegetable are you?
- Marlon Farrugia
- 26th September 2019
“If you were a vegetable, what kind would you be?” A question that has tormented humanity throughout the ages – until now. [wpViralQuiz id=31281] Read: QUIZ: If you score 19/20 on THIS quiz, you’re a Vegan God