Joaquin Phoenix has negotiated the rescue of a cow and her week old calf from a slaughterhouse. On February the 9th Joaquin Phoenix gave his now famous Oscar speech highlighting the horrors of the dairy industry. This was a polarizing speech from which he got both praise and criticism. The very next day on February the 10th Joaquin once again backed his words with actions. He went with a camera crew and rescued a cow and its new born calf from a slaughterhouse in Pico Rivera California. Among the group he visited the slaughterhouse with was his fiancée and fellow activist Rooney Mara, both his and Mara’s mothers, Earthlings director Shaun Monson, Los Angeles Animal Save Founder Amy Jean Davis, and Farm Sanctuary President and Gene Baur. The Animals he saved Went to the Farm Sanctuary to live out the rest of their natural lives.



The cows – named Liberty and Indigo – will now live out the rest of their natural lives alongside other rescued animals at the Acton branch of Farm Sanctuary.

Documentary

The Whole event was documented in a short film by Earthlings director Shaun Monson. The short film begins with Joaquin’s speech at the Oscars the day before. In his speech he said, “We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and steal her baby, even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable. Then we take her milk that’s intended for her calf, and we put it in our coffee and our cereal.”

The film then cuts to the next day in which an unplanned opportunity came up ‘that mirrored his speech’ presented itself. In the film Phoenix has a lengthy conversation with the slaughterhouse owner. The owner requests that Phoenix use the euphemism “harvested” to describe the slaughter process, which the actor refuses to do. Joaquin says that the cows at the facility are purchased to be murdered. This short film has a happy ending in which the two rescued animals see their new home and are visibly happy and excited.

Phoenix said, ”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.”

Visit our home page for more Vegan News