[BIRDS CHIRPING]
I'm an animal person.
I appreciate the beauty of 'em.
I dunno, I was just an
animal lover when I was a kid.
Dogs and cats and snakes and lizards
and whatever I could find.
It started when my dad
went deer hunting.
And sh*t this deer.
And he said, "You know, when I
sh*t the deer?"
He says, "The deer wasn't quite dead.
And, it looked up, with its
head, and looked at me."
And he said it was almost like
saying, "Why did you sh**t me?"
He was intelligent
in a very natural way.
And he said, "I just never
could do it after that."
And then you realize we've been put
on here for something,
and the best thing we can do
is manage what we have and
the beautiful things we have.
And animals fit right
into that category.
Mustang horses are gonna become
extinct if we don't save 'em,
and, uh, so I just sort of house them.
And you can have a place
to live out their existence.
I just like seeing things,
everything live.
I like, uh, living things.
They come in and bulldoze everything.
The topsoil's gone,
the ground water table changes...
the orangutans are in dire
straights right now.
United States, when you
look at the back of any product,
about 50% of
the products contain palm oil.
And it's anywhere,
you know, from shampoos,
to lotions, to cookies.
Do you think that that female
orangutan that, uh, approached
you, do you think that she knew
that you were gonna be the one?
Alright, so we've just arrived
at the orangutan
- information center--
- Welcome to our office.
Thanks for having us,
umm, and umm, Paul,
of course,
organizing this whole adventure.
So tell me, what are you guys...
you're about to go out on
an orangutan rescue.
Used to be an orangutan habitat,
but then converted to
become palm oil plantations.
And that's why some of
the orangutans still live there,
and been isolated from
their own habitat.
And that's why we need to rescue them.
So, I was just here in 2012.
I was invited to come and document
the palm oil expansion
and the forest destruction.
And also the wildlife
trade and what was going on.
Yeah, I remember just photographing
the orangutan rescue.
He just made eye-contact
and that was it.
I just, you know,
the world needed to know
about this issue, and that was it.
I've been coming back ever since.
So,
you're rescuing the orangutan
and then now where are
you going to trans-locate them?
If they are in a good condition,
we are going to release them at
the same day, but if they're in,
like, a condition that
need medical services,
so we work together with
SOCP Quarantine Center,
and we are going to send
them to be rehabilitated
before they going to
be released one day
when they are ready.
Wow! Alright. Well, I
know you guys have to get going.
Thank you for your amazing work.
Thank you so much.
- You're welcome.
- Thank you.
Good luck.
We'll hopefully see you
in the next day or so.
We'll be catching up
with you soon. Thank you.
Community and plantation workers
sh**t the orangutans initially,
and if that doesn't work, then, sadly,
then they're calling OIC or SOCP
to extract these orangutans.
So, you can imagine there's
a lot of wild orangutans
out there with b*llet wounds.
It's incredibly sad that this
even has to take place.
Rescuing an orangutan
from where it, you know,
should be its home,
to trans-locate it to a place,
like, a lesser eco-system where
it's going to be protected.
How long
does it usually take
for the dart to take affect?
She's pregnant?
Is this gonna affect the baby?
She was sh*t by people?
Oh no.
Can you take the b*llet out?
Are you removing it?
Yeah. Yeah. Aww.
Yeah, I see.
I hope not.
For me, it's just another image,
a tool to influence issues and
influence people, and how,
you know, we interact with
the planet at times like this.
It, uh, strong imagery can really
influence people's choices
and I think that's important
right now to show 'em what's going on.
The reason, talk about why
it's going on and hopefully,
un, things can change in the future.
They will go extinct.
So, it's not enough.
So, we really need to
build these, corridors.
Secure land and build
corridors between them
so the orangutans can move.
When they first arrive,
every orangutan is given
a full medical check-up.
So, they get chest
x-rays to check for TBC,
they get blood samples taken
and tested for things like
hepatitis, herpes virus, and stuff.
They get a full check over.
When an orangutan has
been through its quarantine,
and done all its medical
checks and pronounced fit
and healthy,
then it'll be brought here.
So, usually we don't just
open the door and throw 'em in.
We put them in this shut
off case, so they can see
each other for a couple of days.
And then gradually
introduced to groups.
On the left here, is Chriswan.
He was in a cage that
was barely bigger than
his shoulder width, you know.
I think I have a picture somewhere.
He came out of it a
couple of years ago.
He could barely stand. He
barely had the use of his legs.
We actually trained him
so that we could move him around
to get his food.
So we got him climbing.
Can these people be prosecuted
for keeping a wild orangutan?
That particular case, in theory, yes.
But, there's never been a case.
By a long way, you find a lot more
illegal pet orangutans being
kept in areas where
the palm oil concession is out
actively clearing forest.
I see, Okay.
So there
is a strong connection there.
In front of you now, Allosa.
He was sh*t sixty-two
times with an air r*fle.
He's totally blind.
He's still got two pellets
in one eye and one in the other.
That's the one
I saw a picture of, yeah.
We took
the pellets out that
we could palpate through the skin,
but he's still got forty-eight
pellets inside him.
But, he's doing very well.
He's fit and strong,
but totally blind.
He'll never be a wild orangutan again.
At a place called Orangutan Haven,
we're building these nice
islands surrounded by water,
where they'll be trees and
ropes and long grass and bamboo.
And, he's one of the
candidates to go over there.
You know, after many, many years,
I still get a massive thrill,
just seeing some of the
orangutans we've released
in the forest behaving like
wild orangutans and looking down
at me and they couldn't
care less if I'm there or not.
That's the goal.
When did the tourism, um,
really start happening here?
Well, it started happening
after the turn of the century.
I always say, "If you want to
help the great apes,
the first thing that you can do
is go to the habitat countries.
Vote with your dollars,
vote with your feet."
And, because if you go there,
you tell the people,
the local people, the national
governments of those countries
that you consider
the great apes important.
Come to see orangutans.
And that's my message.
An orangutan used to be
able to go from here, you know,
a hundred miles into the
mountains, into the foothills,
and then, you know,
ten years later come back.
'Cause the males do roam.
- Now, he can't get back.
- He can't?
And the reason he can't
get back because he has to
go through a hundred
miles of palm oil.
Kind of explain to me
the Oil Find Nursery
and what you guys do here.
So, pretty much the Oil Find Nursery
is where we receive
the orangutan orphans.
We usually get 'em from
the forestry police,
or locals as well.
And, most of these orangutans
are orphans because they have
k*lled their mothers
and they've left the babies
either to be kept as pets,
or to be sold as pets.
- As pets?
- Yeah.
We care for them,
and then hopefully one day,
they'll be back in the wild.
I think it's really
important for these NGOs
to really work with the community
and the plantation owners to
really bring them up to speed
on conservation and the
value of these species.
It's a huge asset for
Indonesia and the planet.
Let's hope they realize
that before it's all gone.
The sad truth is much of
the world does not share
my belief that all sentient
beings have just as much a right
to a part of this planet,
and when you look at those animals,
and you interact with them,
you see how magnificent
and special they are.
As a child, I grew up on
the wild coast of South Africa,
where some of the most abundant
sea life you could imagine
came by my shores every year.
My connection with sharks
started when I was six.
I went to the sharks
board where they collect
all the dead sharks out of the nets.
And I remember walking
through this freezer room
piled with these magnificent
blue sharks and Mako sharks,
and something inside of my
heart said this is very wrong.
I don't believe
there's any animal on the planet
that has ever been wiped
out in such significant
numbers as sharks have.
Less than ten percent
of sharks are left.
If we don't save them
while we have big numbers,
I don't believe that they'll
be on this planet much longer.
The smell of those dead animals,
and the loss of that life
set me on a path that
I would return to later in life.
And that became a
primary mission for me.
I am a cinematographer, photographer,
but more than anything,
I am I'm a conservationist.
If we don't take a stand
and draw the line
on these animals,
nothing in the ocean's sacred.
But sharks is this
beautiful creature responsible
for maintaining the balance
and health of our oceans.
Although sharks are probably safer
than every other animal on the planet,
that doesn't get into the news at all.
We need to swim in
that ocean and feel that water
and see these animals grace our
presence and realize that these
are beautiful,
magnificent and sentient beings
that were put on this
earth long before us,
and that they play just as
an important role in the system,
but they have a right
to be here just like us.
I believe the best thing
that I can do for conservation
is to connect people,
in a very profound way,
with sharks so that they
can see their true nature
as a majestic sentient creature
that you can easily fall in love with
and therefore, be compelled
to spend the rest of your life
fighting for the conservation
of the species.
Eco-tourism is
the fastest growing segment
of the travel industry.
And what once was a world
where you went out
and hunted animals for sport,
we're not seeing a transition away
for people to go out
and they hunt with cameras
and their eyes and they leave
the animals to grow and thrive.
In South Africa, unfortunately there's
a big lack of regulations
on illegal fisheries here,
and quantification of
just how many prey species
of wild sharks have been removed,
and we do believe that's
happening at an alarming rate.
You know,
you've got a resource swimming
along the coast line that a very
poor family can feed, you know,
themselves for over a month,
let's say.
And so, for example,
in a restaurant in Cape Town,
it would be very likely
to see Shark Fin Soup on a menu.
Ethically, it's just disgusting.
Alison, take us through what
we're about to experience here.
Well, you're probably in one
of the most remarkable locations
in the world for marine life,
as you're aware.
And, what's really special
about this part that
we're walking down to now,
in terms of a harbor,
is it's one of the most
accessible locations
on the planet for seeing
Great White Sharks.
The eco-tourism, you know,
it's keeping this animal alive,
and that's why we, yeah,
we feel so strongly about it.
For your safety,
please take your seats
and remain seated
until we remove anchor.
Remember to keep one hand on the
boat and one hand to yourself.
If you need any assistance
at all, please draw attention...
What we do on every trip
is have a qualified biologist
on board to identify every
single shark that comes around.
- Which is you.
- Which today is me.
Which is you.
What a, yeah,
what an amazing opportunity.
So, umm yeah, each Great White we see,
we log down characteristics on it.
We take photographs
of the dorsal fin, and--
in order to see if we
can identify the animal.
We have an extensive
backlog back on land, umm,
with thousands and thousands of
fin photos, so we can actually
get a good gauge who's visiting
at what time of the year.
I think a lot of people
don't realize how
highly transient and
migratory Great Whites are.
White sharks
having their protective
legislation around them,
you know, there are sightings
appendix, two species
that are listed on CMS.
So, throughout their
distribution they are,
you know, they're pretty
much, um, protected,
but they problem is, we get
a lot of lack of enforcement.
Cage diving eco-tourism
was initiated in order to,
you know, non-consumptively
utilize the animal.
Umm, and it obviously
provided its, uh, it's cause.
It's showed that it's a
very viable outlet for tourism,
for education, and for monitoring.
Eco-tourism is critically important
because that is where people see, wow,
this animal is actually
a beautiful animal,
see how it moves.
It's not trying to jump on the boat.
It's not trying to do this.
It's never going to try and eat me.
A live animal is worth
a lot more than a dead animal.
Why not, uh, just enjoy looking at it?
And enjoy future
generations to look at it?
And, umm, we can all enjoy
what's on the planet
and leave something for somebody
else coming along the way.
When you're taking
the life of an animal,
you are directly affecting
the world around you
in a negative way.
And the perpetuation
of that negative affect
is a ripple effect that you
might not know how large
and vast that ripple affect really is.
We need to understand
that our future, and the future
of the natural world
are inextricably tied.
And that everything we
are doing to hurt the oceans,
hurting the nature, hurting
the forest is going to hurt us.
So, that fundamentally
comes from a connection
that all species play a critical role
in a thriving marine and
terrestrial eco-system.
These elephants are juveniles,
and so that means that, you know,
they've been through the trauma
of seeing their whole families,
their mothers, poached.
Oh my gosh.
Hi.
Every single one
of these animals is here
as a result of either human
wildlife culprits or poaching.
- Greed. Money.
- Or trophy hunting.
Whatever it may be that's left
these poor orphans on their own.
And it's you know, it's wonderful
and it's essential this is happening.
But, what's just as important,
is that we prevent it
from happening in the first place.
I'm Dan Richardson.
I'm an actor and I'm
an animal conservationist.
And, for as long as I can remember,
throughout my entire life,
love for animals,
compassion towards animals,
has been an inherent part of
who I am and what matters to me.
- Hi.
- Dan.
Pleased to meet you.
What, what drives you?
What is your... why this?
Wonderful.
You're right.
People who
are here in Kenya,
who dedicate their lives to
this, for very little reward...
they're there to protect
an animal that will
never know they're
there being protected.
They'll never know that
that person was fighting
the fight for them.
If it was a w*r-veteran coming home,
they'd be awarded a
medal for their bravery.
These are front-line
heroes doing this.
They can sense, it's energy,
so they can sense
bad intention and good intention.
Well,
I want to shake your hand.
God bless you for all of your work.
It's so important.
We're with you
and we, uh, we wanna save
- these animals as much as you.
- Thank you.
I think, you know,
elephants are an iconic species.
They represent Africa in so many ways.
The orphans,
especially, are such great
ambassadors for the cause.
I'm a pilot with
David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.
So, we've
sort of been able to identify,
to create a safe habitat
for those elephants
to be re-released into the wild.
We started sending
out teams,
which were protecting
the area so that there was
a safe habitat for the
elephants to go back to.
Of course.
There's a real importance to
protect what we do have left,
and I think raising
awareness of that is paramount.
So we are headed to
the care for wilds,
uh, rhino orphanage.
The largest rhino
orphanage in the world.
And Petronel's the founder, the owner.
She's got an incredible
team that helps her, uh,
rescue, rehab and take
in these baby rhinos that,
uh, that we're about to see.
These baby rhinos are sadly,
very valuable.
Somebody cut the fence
and they got into
the Solia Reserve...
they were gonna k*ll
some of the rhinos for their horns.
And, uh, the anti-poaching units
found the guy, and thank God
they sh*t the poacher before he
could sh**t one of these rhinos.
As we know, there's not many left.
Poaching rhino horn is the
third biggest revenue generator
of any criminal enterprise
in the world.
Goes all the way to the demand.
This ridiculous myth in the far east,
that a material the same
as hair and fingernails
can have magical healing properties.
So, wildlife crime isn't
a group of specialists,
it's the same people who
are trafficking in narcotics.
They're using the same routes.
They're using the same middle-men
and the same corrupt
customs officials.
It's now a move recently,
in the case of rhino horn,
from health to wealth.
So, where the medicinal
properties of rhino horn
were shown to be nonsense,
it's moved from that
to a status symbol.
And, that's a really, really
difficult idea to eradicate.
Rhinos. They're going
to be on the brink of extinction
if we don't have more
facilities like this.
More Petronals to,
uh, literally dedicate
their lives to saving these animals.
There's Petronal, I think.
- I think so.
- I hope that's her.
- Oh my God.
- Hi.
Hi, how are you?
You are, obviously their voice,
but you are reversing all of
the damage that has been done
to these animals as a result
of greed and money and evil.
That's it? There's
only four-thousand black rhinos?
So, this is baby Summer.
I've heard a lot about her.
I've seen a lot of videos,
and, uh... tell me.
How did you find her?
Look at the babies!
Hello.
These are the...
oh I'm holding this one? Okay.
Oh my gosh.
These are the black rhinos.
Yep. You have to.
These are ones
that are going to be released?
Okay. How many?
Are these
the white rhinos?
I see.
This is very serious.
This isn't just, like you said,
running a farm with some rhinos.
This is saving the last of a species
that the rest of the world
may not see.
The jungle land teaches
observation and awareness.
Policing
is as much a fundamental part
of the--
a holistic conservation approach
as education in an African school.
And as long as we all fight together
and we are shining
a light on these issues
and changing them, we can win.
And it's absolutely crucial we do so.
It's incredibly tragic.
I can't explain the feeling.
How meaningful is this place to you
and your colleagues,
the team that work here?
On one hand,
it's a testament
to all the work we do.
Sure, these are animals
that have been poached.
You know, populations are
growing and it's quite a--
it's a great place for us
to come and just remember.
You know, that this is what it's taken
because sometimes you forget
and it's particularly sad now
because of Sudan, you know.
He's the last male
northern white rhino
on the planet and there he is.
What he did
more powerfully
than anything else I've ever seen
was underlined the damage we've done.
He emphasized the damage
we've done as a species
to his species and others.
It's
the sixth extinction.
The whole thing,
extinction means extinction
based on human impact.
And it's happening now.
Some people
don't believe it's happening,
but we can clearly see
it happening with Sudan
and all the negative human impact
based on greed, money,
the illegal black-market
trade of this species
for something that has
no real medicinal purpose.
Animal conservation
is my purpose in life.
And without it, animals like these--
And incredibly, we're talking
about the last
two of a species in this case
that I wanna stand up and fight for.
So, it's almost impossible
to comprehend, isn't it?
We're literally looking
at the two last existing individuals
- of an entire species.
- It's shocking.
Do you think
that in-vitro fertilization
will work with possibly
the southern female white rhino?
Right here, the surrogate?
In getting the eggs out,
fertilizing the eggs, creating embryos
is one part of the problem
that has to be solved.
The next part
is gonna be re-implanting
those northern white rhino embryos
back into surrogate
southern white rhino females
because the two living northern whites
can't carry the calf,
can't get pregnant.
I think for the most part,
people need to fight
battles close to home.
So, whether it's legislation
or pressuring politicians
in their local areas
to protect, you know,
maintain the integrity
of protected areas.
I actually consider
this capital,
the state capital of California,
the epicenter of progress
in this country.
And frankly, I think it's a fulcrum
where we can put a lever
and actually start
to change global economics around...
this brutal trade
that is on the verge of extincting
some of our most iconic
species on the planet.
Trophy hunting for these iconic
endangered African species
is not only brutal,
but it is anachronistic,
some false show of masculinity
that people wanna go out there
and act tough...
...by slaughtering lions,
rhinos, giraffes.
This has to end.
This bill, the SB 1487
could actually preserve
the last remaining
iconic endangered
species on this planet.
The fight for our own humanity
is wrapped up
in the future of these species.
Even though they say,
"Well, what does this
have to do with people?
You're
not helping people here."
I say that "This is
the most powerful thing
we can do to restore
the dignity and humanity
of the human race
and not just make ourselves
exploiters and consumers,
but stewards."
We're putting our flag
down here in California today
saying
"We know where we stand."
We stand with the species
of this planet,
and that the ultimate test
of a civilization's morality
is how they treat those
who can't protect themselves.
Do you like to fight
and do you like to fight
with ethics and the law on your side?
And that's why I'm here,
I'm a nice guy,
but I don't like to be pushed around.
I don't like bullies.
We have firsthand experience
on witnessing the two last female
northern white rhinos
left on the planet.
Lions, cheetahs, elephants.
All of these species
are facing extinction.
And we support this bill 100%.
And we ask for your support
to save these animals
before they go extinct
in our lifetime, thank you so much.
They've been on this planet
for millions of years.
And in the last 120 years,
we've been wiping them out.
A dead elephant is one hunting fee
to usually a dictator.
It never gets to the people.
Trophy hunting is the worst.
It's strictly done to see
who's got the biggest elephant head
or whatever they're looking for.
I feel humans should know better.
If you ever get down to a point
where you've lost
all of your wild populations,
you only have animals left
which have been kept in zoo conditions
for long periods,
then your chances of recovering
that species are going to be
extremely small.
We have the power to reverse it
and it used to be led by governments
and I think we're
beginning to see that happen.
If we can change rules,
regulations, government laws,
the way that the fishing quotas
do this to that, then we should do it.
The SB 1487
could actually be what turns the tide
in the fight to preserve
the last remaining
iconic endangered African species.
The SB 1487 does that by prohibiting
the possession of body parts
of 11 iconic
African endangered species.
Conservation strategy
need not adopt a policy
of poaching and of k*lling
to actually achieve its ends.
How do we wanna be remembered
on this planet as people?
Those who left nothing else behind
and just were extracting this planet
and vanquishing species
and torturing animals?
The motion is to pass
to the Committee on Judiciary.
- Eduardo Garcia?
- Aye.
Garcia, aye.
- Gallagher?
- No.
- Curiel?
- Aye.
Curiel, aye.
The order that actually
heal this planet.
And I think right now is that moment.
The bill
is out eight to four.
I think, you know,
in the entertainment business,
I'm always getting makeup on my face
and I wanna make sure
that the animals
didn't suffer unnecessarily.
That, to me, is the most cruel.
Science has evolved
past bunnies in a box.
So now that we have
these human-relevant models
that are actually
closer to keeping humans safe,
more efficient,
and cheaper, we can use them.
I just wanna say how proud I am
to be a principal co-author
of SB 1249 to protect animals
from cosmetic testing.
And look, we know
that for more than 50 years,
unfortunately, animals have been used
in painful tests
to assess the safety of chemicals
used in cosmetic products.
Not only is this practice inhumane,
but unnecessary
where lab alternatives exist.
Please join me in supporting SB 1249.
Such an important
legislation for those
that do not have a voice
to speak up for themselves.
Thank you so much for being here.
Today is critically important
to save the lives
of hundreds of thousands
of animals every year
that get tortured
for vanity and fashion.
And I always strive to ask everybody
to go cruelty-free and always
look for the leaping bunny.
And if it does not say cruelty-free,
they usually test on animals.
As an actress,
every makeup chair that I sit in,
I try to make sure that
the cosmetics being used on me
were not tested on animals.
But the burden is on us.
It is on the consumer.
And it shouldn't be that way.
And it isn't that way in the EU
and many other countries.
After getting resounding
bipartisan support
in the Senate with Democrats
and Republicans coming together
to vote in favor of it,
SB 1249 now faces
an important vote
on the assembly floor.
You know, what are we doing?
It's completely archaic.
It's fiscally irresponsible.
We have the numbers on that as well.
So, it would be great if California,
as progressive as it is,
would be the first to do this.
In very privileged countries
like the United States,
we tend to be very centered on self.
All of the things that involve
cruelty and chemicals
and everything else they're
putting in your cosmetics
is bad for you.
So, if you're centered on self,
you wanna make
better decisions for your body,
your health,
the environment, the planet
that you're leaving for your children.
These are the decisions.
They still allow
testing to occur in China.
So, SB 1249 would
get rid of that exemption.
So even if you were
to test it in China,
you wouldn't be able to
sell it in California.
Which is a huge step forward.
Once they introduce
the bill, then I have to,
and my team, we have to
knock on every office,
every legislator's office,
talk to them about the bill,
tell them why it's important,
and get them to vote for it.
One of the reasons why we
asked John to come today
is because he is an entrepreneur.
And since his stardom
as a basketball player,
he's embraced a vegan lifestyle,
compassion, entrepreneur.
So, he's really a star to us
in this realm.
And we're so honored
to have him with us today.
So let me ask you,
have you heard anything
about SB 1249 yet?
The California
Cruelty Free Cosmetics Act?
Because the existing testing
is still k*lling and torturing
over 400,000 animals a year.
We've done a lot of things in the past
because we didn't know better,
but now we do.
When they ask,
they say, "Don't you wanna
go up on the hill, man,
and shake some fences
and get some people
to pay attention?"
I just think
it's a cool thing. It is.
And if I could go
and see things in sports,
it's not gonna change
anybody's life, right?
And guys will
sit around and they argue
on ESPN all day about it.
This changes not just our lives.
That means we save, like, 54,000,000
land animals a year, everybody.
And another thing,
you make sure you get that vote.
We're
rolling on that, right?
With advocates like this,
I'm very pleased to sign on
as a co-sponsor of this legislation
and looking forward
to working with the group.
Thank you.
I understand you're a vegan, right?
My brother does--
He's, like-- he had-- for a while,
he was doing, like, MMA fighting
that he was big and all that.
And he's a vegan too.
He was the one who told me that.
When I first
came in elite, my first year,
I was eating a cheeseburger and fries
and a shake before playing
against the Milwaukee Bucks,
and I'm still knocked out
and I was the slowest I ever was.
And he said, "How's that
cheeseburger treating you?"
And then
from that point on, from 1986,
I started paying
attention to what food he does.
Oprah put out a thing
with Deepak Chopra in 1993,
you should not eat
with people you don't like,
because your body, your psyche
does certain things on that food.
So, if you eat something that's dead,
something that has been m*rder*d,
something that has been
afraid to be m*rder*d,
and you get that in your
spirit, you now have that.
You ever see these biggest guys
are always jumpy?
That's that cow.
Are you an aye vote?
I'm totally
against animal testing, too.
So-- and I have been
throughout my career.
- Here we go.
- Wait a second.
And my friend started a thing
called Mixed Chicks for hair.
She's half white, half black,
and her hair was mixed.
So, she had it for hair
and she literally made it cruelty-free
before she put it out.
And if she can do that
in the thought process,
and they asked me to come be involved,
I said, "Yeah, no problem."
I'm an animal lover.
So I am an-- I can commit to that
and I'm an animal lover.
So I'm all about...
being humane and humanity
and making sure
that we do things right.
And so, I find that interesting
and would be a great way
to be able to go back
and find some data and some
pathway so that we can help
guide the committee
in making the right decision.
Can I have a picture?
So just in case
you do it wrong I can say--
I have a picture.
I'd like to start by telling you
what your yes vote means today.
Over half a million animals
will no longer be tortured
for tests that have been
scientifically proven
to be unnecessary to show safety.
You will save these animals
from being tortured
while they are alive
and then thrown into the trash
left to suffocate
while writhing in pain.
Because corporations
decided that the cost and time
to euthanize them
would negatively affect
their bottom line.
It's quite clear to me
that this will not only save
the lives of tens
of thousands of animals,
but it will also save
t*rture of so many more.
I think it's time
that we added ourselves
to the list of nations
that have gone cruelty-free.
So, I'm pleased
to be supporting
this legislation today
and would just respectfully ask
to be added as a coauthor.
Thank you
very much.
- Stone?
- Aye.
Stone, aye. Cunningham?
- Aye.
- Cunningham, aye.
Chau? Chu? Holden?
- Chara?
- Aye.
- Chara aye. Reyes?
- Aye.
- Reyes, aye. Gabriel.
- Aye.
Thank you.
That bill is out. Thank you.
Yeah, the good thing
about doing good things
is that it becomes infectious.
And I think our future
as a civilization
and as a species
is directly intertwined
with our willingness
to preserve biodiversity.
I started the International
Anti-poaching Foundation
in 2009 after traveling
around southern Africa,
seeing what was happening
with indicator species
like elephant and rhino
and what we're doing to them.
And the thing
that makes me feel the best
is being able to help
rangers to protect the animals,
being able to speak out
on behalf of animals.
Being able to be
a voice for the voiceless.
One of the programs
that we run in Zimbabwe
is called Akashinga,
which translates
into "the brave ones."
And it's an all-female
anti-poaching or conservation model.
It's the only
nature reserve in the world
to be completely managed
and protected by women.
I saw other industries progressing.
I thought, "Well,
if conservation can't have
that opportunity, maybe
we can't progress either."
Clear.
We're involved
with protecting the environment
and protecting animals,
that's what we do.
Okay, the meat industry
is the greatest negative impact
against both of those things.
One less step to being able to fight.
There's two types of conservationists.
There's vegans, and there's those
that don't like
to take their work home.
And I'm happy
to say that that's cost them
a lot of funding,
the truth isn't for sale
and it never will be.
Living at a plant-based lifestyle,
the first thing that I cut out
was dairy.
The leading cause
of environmental pollution.
And I also knew
that these cows were enslaved.
Listen, the cow
has to give birth to give milk.
So, there are some dairies
that are pumping out
hundreds of calves per day.
A lot of those calves are male.
And where do those calves go now?
Because there isn't
a monster veal industry anymore.
Those calves are going for dog food.
My name is Cuoto.
I'm the founder
and lead investigator of ARM,
Animal Recovery Mission.
We're based in Miami Beach, Florida.
What we're doing in the field,
rescuing animals,
delivering undercover footage,
exposing really
the truth of the worst cases
of animal cruelty.
It is an extremely sad,
heartbreaking job to look at animals
while you're in the field undercover
and see them
boiled alive, butchered alive,
disassembled alive, beaten to death.
And remember,
as an undercover investigator,
you're the bad guy.
So, you have to laugh
and be one of the crowd
as this is taking place.
This is a small
percentage of our gear.
You know, the drone.
Extremely important
to the investigator.
Undercover camera.
Without the undercover camera,
we would get absolutely nothing done
and absolutely no footage whatsoever.
People who are working
in slaughterhouses
and factory farm,
they have violent, violent pasts.
They have been convicted
of serious crimes in the past.
But also, we're undercover right now
in farms that
hard narcotics
are being used and dealt.
You know,
it's important for people
to understand the true reality
of what takes place
in factory farms
where you think
you're getting your meat
from a good, wholesome place.
And it's actually coming
from a place that's dirty,
inhumane, and just uncared for.
We just arrived at this
hunting preserve in Florida.
And, so, tell me
about this-- this place.
There are several locations
here in central Florida
that provide people the opportunity
to come out here and pay
to hunt several different types
of species of animals
and endangered species
that are raised here
on these properties.
And then people pay
large amounts of money
up to 20, 30 thousand dollars
to come out here and hunt.
People don't really even know
that this is even available.
And to be honest,
I didn't even know that this
- was available until recently.
- Wow!
You can feel
there's, like, some kind of--
There's a fear.
Anybody who says that they
care for their animals
and that their animals are happy,
they're not happy.
Animals that are free are happy.
Animals that are
contained and enslaved,
they're not happy.
These people, I think
that they feel like they're
not doing anything wrong
and they feel like,
this is a way for them
to profit and make money
off of k*lling animals.
There is something wrong
with people that can feel okay
with k*lling an animal
and then putting a trophy
on their wall or a rug on the floor.
Yeah, pretty much.
I mean, it just
doesn't really make sense.
So, the only saving of the animal
that takes place is by us.
The outside world is the one
who needs to come in
and save those animals.
And, you know, you say,
"Oh, I can't go in there
and do those investigations,"
which I've met plenty
of people who have said that
that they can't go in there.
"I can't believe you do that"
or, "I can't, I could
never do what you do."
But the reality is
that those individuals,
they can help and they can
help in a drastic way
just by not consuming that product.
Who's this?
- This is the one.
- Mm-hmm, the one and only.
So, this is Secretariat's--
Great great-grandson, basically.
- Oh, my gosh! Wow!
- Yeah.
- He's so beautiful.
- So here is
a really interesting story, though.
He's the whole reason why I'm started.
Basically, as a three-year-old,
he was in one of his few races.
He hadn't started much.
And as you can see on his leg,
he's got five-pin marks.
So, he got clipped by another horse,
which pretty much
shattered his, like, leg.
Like, almost broke it all.
And then they decided he had no use.
So, they took him to a slaughter farm
and that's where he was gonna become
a part of the black-market
horse meat trade.
And that's when
Cuoto first found out about
the black-market horse meat trade.
And as a redemption to freedoms,
was like, "I'm gonna expose it
and bust it and then
get back to my life."
Well, he soon found out
that illegal animal slaughter farms
is, like, the underground belly
where everything, all of the illegal
and horrible animal cruelty operations
just, you know, network out of.
So, everything from
animal fighting and--
Started
with rescuing a horse
from an illegal slaughterhouse
in Miami, Florida.
But that is really what
made me break out of my bubble.
It's what made me give up
my profitable life
monetarily to switch
and make the leap.
And I can tell you from a person
who was so profit-driven
that I'm much more
happy and accomplished
in my life now than I was then.
And that's little Cuoto.
That's one of the
first pigs at the back.
He, Cuoto, actually rescued him off
in the middle of the night
of a slaughter farm in Miami.
And he actually had an axe hole
in his-- top of his head.
Still has it.
He has a scar.
- No!
- So Cuoto took him in,
he's very cool, very quiet and calm.
When you meet farm animals
in the sanctuary setting,
you start to see how
they are all very different.
You know, like, each pig
is so different
and their likes and dislikes
and the way they behave
and interact with people.
And so, I think, you know,
it's just a misconception
that is put out there for a reason
because we couldn't possibly
eat them if we knew them.
Whoo!
Come on, cows!
Calvin!
Come on! Come here!
And Calvin with the white stripe,
his mother d*ed giving birth to him.
So, he's been here with us.
Brownie, the big one with the horns,
he's one of the few
owner relinquishments that we took.
And then we'll see
who else comes over.
We still like cats.
Here in the States,
we don't need dogs,
we don't need cats.
And we've put up this
wall in between them
and all of the other animals.
If you come out to a sanctuary
and you meet these guys
and you look them in the eyes,
you'll see that they're
not different than your dog.
They're not different than your cat.
Just like you wouldn't eat a dog,
you're not gonna eat a pig
once you make that connection.
They've come
to say it.
A lot of different farm animals
have the awareness, the intelligence,
the emotional intelligence
of a three-year-old child.
It's a critical thing
to understand this dichotomy
of ingesting the very thing
that we would care for
in any other situation.
My name is David Verburg.
I'm a 2016 Olympic gold medalist,
plant-based athlete,
and animal advocate.
Basically, the whole reason
why I became vegan was because I grew
up on a farm with probably 25
different types of animals,
from chickens
to goats, sheep, peacocks.
Somebody came up to me
and we were talking
and I had the-- I had,
you know, bottle-fed the calf.
And, like, was,
"So you must be vegan?"
And I was like "No, no."
"Well, like, why not?"
And I didn't have
a good answer at the time.
Like, I really couldn't
tell them why I wasn't vegan.
And that's when
I slowly started my transition
to a full plant-based lifestyle.
It went with steak first
and chicken and then fish.
And then kind of
just slowly, slowly, slowly
started cutting out
dairy from my diet,
and people looking at me
like "He's running
a little bit better.
He's smiling, he's happy.
His energy,
like, what is he doing?"
And then, that's when
I'm like "Oh, well, you know,
I switched
to a plant-based diet."
And that's when the questions start.
Like "Okay, well, how?
What did you do?"
And then I was like
"Oh, well, let me show you."
And that's how you kinda,
like, take them by the hand
and you kinda help in that direction.
When you want
people to make changes,
significant changes in their diet,
that's a huge thing for them,
you know what I mean?
And it's terrifying.
We do monthly vegan potlucks.
- Yeah.
- You know?
Got all kinds of
things going on, so...
When you have great alternatives
like hamburger,
I think it helps,
like, lessen that fear.
I am a junk food vegan.
I eat vegan macaroni and cheese,
and vegan cheeseburgers,
and vegan burritos, and vegan pizza.
And all of those things
that other people eat.
I'm just eating vegan versions of it.
And so, I don't care if you're
doing it for your health
or the environment or the animals.
At the end of the day,
the animals benefit
from us making that decision.
I've got
a 200-mile-an-hour billboard
promoting the vegan diet.
When you've got
7.6 billion people
on the planet
making day-to-day decisions,
you know, we need to be
making conscious ones
or we're gonna
not only destroy the planet
and our environment,
we're gonna take out humanity,
but we're gonna take out
so many amazing species with us.
And three times a day,
we all sit down for a meal
and it doesn't cost
extra money to leave meat
and dairy products off of your plate.
In fact, it will save you
money and health care
because you're gonna be healthier.
I can go to the store
right now and pick up,
a variety of different
kinds of vegan ice creams,
and vegan macaroni
and cheeses, and vegan pizzas.
So, this excuse
that it's a hard thing to do,
I just-- I don't buy it.
My motto is,
never underestimate
a vegan hippie chick
with a race car.
There's not
a lot of hippies in racing.
There's not a lot of vegans in racing.
There's not a lot of girls in racing.
So that, kind of,
summarized all of the things
that made me the oddball out
in the garage in one sentence.
Every time the track announcer talks
about the vegan food on TV during
the NASCAR broadcast, to me is a win,
because I know that's echoing on to,
you know, millions of ears.
And that is what my primary goal was.
Thank you very much
for joining us again.
I'm Nancy Skinner,
senator from the East Bay,
and I am carrying the bill SB 1138.
It requires hospitals, prisons...
...to provide
a plant-based meal option.
I think
that we should expand this
to every other state,
not just California.
And I think this is just the beginning
of much to come with leading
in this plant-based movement.
So, thank you so much for being here.
This bill would
empower individuals
to make healthier choices,
both in and out
of the hospital setting.
It would have a far-reaching effect
in terms of health care costs.
It will also
pave the way for other states
to adopt similar measures
and to potentially change
the face of health care
in the United States.
Thank you.
Going plant-based is our passion,
our love
for the people or the animals,
the beings,
the lives we're fighting for.
When you consider the impact
of a plant-based diet on the oceans,
it's almost unimaginable.
You would eliminate all
of the destructive fisheries,
the gillnets, the long lines,
the , the b*mb fishing,
all of those industries right now
that are literally
wholesale destroying
an entire ecosystem for our palates.
It would be probably
the single most important thing
we could do today to save the oceans.
We're wasting so much land and water
just in livestock production
that could be going to crops
that people could
actually eat themselves.
Just from a practical standpoint,
eating meat doesn't--
On a grand scale like this,
does not make sense.
Consume less and be conscious
of how that food
ended up on your plate
and think about that and really try
to work with the planet.
When I was very young,
physician friend of my dad's
came over and we were
eating a big pot roast,
you know, with all kinds of
carrots and things around it.
And this physician just said,
"We shouldn't be
eating all this."
My name is Janell Palacio Butler,
and these are my two children,
Zion and Genesis.
In July 2016, I was admitted
to Long Beach Memorial Hospital
to give birth to my fourth child.
Before labor, I informed the hospital
that I was vegan for ethical reasons.
My first meal after giving birth
is a white bread with iceberg lettuce,
a slice of tomato with cheese on it.
Not only did the sandwich have cheese,
but I can tell it had meat
and they had just taken the meat off.
I told them "I'm sorry."
And I was very polite.
Gave it back to them.
They sent me chicken broth next.
Told them chicken broth is not vegan.
They said, "Well, there's
no chicken in the soup."
And
at the end of this ordeal,
I was told
by the hospital administrator,
and I quote,
"We don't give vegan meals.
People who aren't vegan
just cave in and they eat
what we give them."
We're not a fringe thing.
We're not crazy.
It's-- this is just
a compassionate lifestyle.
Is all it is.
And I think when you
put it towards people that way,
you can't really argue
with doing less harm.
Item number nine SB 1138 do passes
Amended Appropriations Call
of members, please.
- Hernandez?
- Aye.
Hernandez, aye.?
- Mitchell?
- Aye.
- Morning?
- Aye.
Currently,
we have six, enough to get out
and we're gonna
place that bill on call,
we do have some half-sum members.
Yeah, I suppose
the most enlightening thing
or apparent thing for me
is the realization
of the important things
in life are not things,
they're actions and deciding that
my life is not gonna be
about me anymore
and what I can make and take
but what about what I can do.
Being able to speak out
on behalf of animals,
being able to be a voice
for the voiceless.
And knowing that we maybe can't change
the entire world as an individual,
but we can change
the world for many individuals.
Mother nature,
that feminine energy
needs to rise again.
Because it is only
that energy, I believe,
that will give us space
to let other beings
share this world with us.
And that's where we need
to turn the tide and support
an ecosystem that
not only strives for nature,
but helps protect
our livelihoods and our future.
The more people
that just spend time in nature,
I think it's a win
for themselves, spiritually,
personally, and on a global level.
It's people really need to slow down
and think about what we're doing
and how we're co-existing
with this amazing planet.
We have to place
more value on life.
And I think
that goes with all animals.
I think there's more people
that are getting interested
in the well-being of animals.
I think it's just
general intelligence.
Mankind is tough on the planet.
Changing your way
of looking at animals
as saving the planet.
[MUSIC FADES]
Why on Earth (2022)
Moderator: Maskath3