September 2019

Celebrating 20 Years of Mercy

United States

Some of Hollywood’s most notable animal advocates walked the blue carpet at this year’s annual gala, including Joaquin Phoenix, Kevin Smith, Rob Zombie, Charo, Daniella Monet, Moby, and Diane Warren, as well as Paul Wesley, Joseph Morgan, Persia White, Cassandra Peterson, Davey Havok, Sarah Jeffery, Matt Lauria, and Redfoo.

Kat Graham of The Vampire Diaries hosted the program. Kat Von D received the Hope Award for her remarkable activism. The Legacy Award went to the late Rena Roseman. Rena’s husband, Elliot, accepted the award with a touching speech about his wife’s love for animals and enduring legacy. American Idol star Catie Turner gave a beautiful performance, and attendees rounded out the evening by raising more funds than any prior event.

Seeing Behind the Fires

Brazil

Close to 50 volunteers marched in a demonstration on Paulista Avenue in São Paulo wearing paper gas masks, holding signs, and pushing a 10-foot-long barbecue grill. A burning rainforest smoked under the grill’s bars, and on top of the grill sat a massive “steak.”

Activists held signs that said, Ninguém vê #PortrásDoFogo (No one sees #BehindTheFire).

The demonstration was part of a campaign launched online in Brazil, Mexico, and the United States ahead of the United Nations’ Climate Action Summit. In the United States, we are urging members of Congress to cosponsor the Act for the Amazon Act. In Mexico, we are calling on businesses to shift toward plant-based products.

Mercy For Animals also piloted a drone above the Amazon to show how humans are destroying one of the planet’s most vital ecosystems to clear land for raising cattle and growing soybeans to feed farmed animals.

Several Brazilian celebrities joined the campaign by calling on their followers to eat less meat to save the rainforest.