(CNN) Joaquin Phoenix talked the talk all awards season long. Now, he's walking the walk -- and he's bringing a baby calf with him.

The recent Oscar winner and champion of animal rights accompanied Los Angeles Animal Save, a nonprofit that holds peaceful vigils at local slaughterhouses, to rescue a calf and its mother from certain death.

It all went down two days after his Academy Award win, where he called on his fellow humans to quit drinking cow's milk in his acceptance speech.

On this, his fifth outing with the group, Phoenix targeted a cow named Liberty, who'd given birth in her holding area to a calf called Indigo.

Phoenix said he met the owner of the beef packer and "opened his heart" to him. The owner ultimately agreed to let the actor and the rescue team leave with both Liberty and Indigo in tow. "I never thought I'd find friendship in a slaughterhouse," the star said in a statement.

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