Joaquin Phoenix Joins Pig Vigil To Honor Activist Killed At Peaceful Protest
The Oscar-winning actor attended a pig vigil alongside the friends and family of late activist Regan Russell, who was killed whilst peacefully protesting at the same slaughterhouse earlier this year.
Phoenix at the vigil outside Fearmans slaughterhouse, Toronto. Credit: Toronto Pig Save.
Actor Joaquin Phoenix has attended a pig vigil at a slaughterhouse in Toronto, where he paid his respects to the late activist Regan Russell, who was killed at the same slaughterhouse during a peaceful protest earlier this year.
Joined by local Toronto activists, including Russell's husband Mark Powell, Phoenix beared witness to the pigs arriving for their slaughter at Fearmans slaughterhouse in Burlington.
As part of the worldwide Animal Save Movement, vigils like this one are regularly held outside slaughterhouses to bear witness to the animals’ suffering, and provide the animals some comfort in their final moments.
Regan Russell was a regular attendee of Toronto Pig Save in Canada. On June 19, Russell came to give water to the pigs who had endured up to 36 hours without any food or water en route to the slaughterhouse. Tragically, during the vigil, Russell was struck and killed by the truck.
Joaquin Phoenix, who regularly attends Animal Save vigils, paid tribute to Regan by explaining that,
“Regan Russell spent the final moments of her life providing comfort to pigs who had never experienced the touch of a kind hand. While her tragic death has brought upon deep sorrow in the Animal Save community, we will honour her memory by vigorously confronting the cruelties she fought so hard to prevent by marching with Black Lives, protecting Indigenous rights, fighting for LGBTQ equality, and living a compassionate vegan life.”
This tribute by activist Phoenix is his latest action in support of animal rights and the vegan community. At this year’s Oscars award ceremony, he used his Best Actor acceptance speech as a chance to highlight the cruelty in the dairy industry. And more recently, he wrote the foreword to Hidden, a book that collects the work of over thirty award-winning photojournalists working to document animal suffering around the world.
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The footage was reportedly recorded at Marshall BioResources in North Rose, New York, where up to 22,000 dogs - mostly beagles - are being bred for animal experimentation.