American actor and producer Joaquin Phoenix after mentioning the plight of mother cows and their babies in his Best Actor speech at the 92nd Academy Awards, helped liberate a cow and her newborn calf from a slaughterhouse in Los Angeles and brought them to Farm Sanctuary in Acton, California.
In a YouTube video obtained by Farm Sanctuary, an American animal protection organisation, featured the actor meeting the cow and her baby for the first time.
Phoenix, who was seen carrying the calf away from the holding area where she was born and onto a trailer with her mom, named the mama cow, Liberty, and the baby, Indigo.
According to People magazine, a Farm Sanctuary staff member explained that animals brought from slaughterhouses are checked for diseases before being joined with the other animals living in the sanctuary.
Joaquin in the description of the video mentioned that “I never thought I’d find friendship in a slaughterhouse, but meeting Anthony and opening my heart to his, I realise 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.”
Phoenix, an advocate for animal rights added that “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 added.
Joaquin, who won Best Actor for his role in movie ‘Joker’, during his Oscars speech, encouraged veganism saying, “We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and when she gives birth we steal her baby even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable and then we take her milk that’s intended for her calf and we put in our coffee and our cereal.” (ANI)
