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Podcast host and actor Evanna Lynch – of Harry Potter fame – took to the stage at London’s Official Animal Rights March yesterday to argue that empathy for humans is ‘vital in our quest for animal liberation’.
March
The Official Animal Rights March led an estimated 10,000 activists roughly five kilometres through the streets of Central London yesterday – in an event aimed at raising awareness of the plight of animals.
At the march’s ending point, attendees young and old gathered to hear impassioned speeches from established animal advocates, including Ed Winters, better known as Earthling Ed, and Evanna Lynch – the Irish actor who rose to fame in her role as Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter.
‘Empathy’
During Lynch’s speech, she discussed the ‘difficult to face’ realities of animal agriculture, and offered her suggestions for forward momentum within the vegan movement – highlighting compassion for both humans and animals as something to strive toward.
In reference to animals, she said: “Now it’s time to practice extending our circle of empathy, further than before, because it is the quality most needed in this world.”
Through anecdotal evidence, Lynch presented a case for building bridges – not walls – between vegans and nonvegans, as the route to maximum impact.
She said: “I’d also like to touch on extending that empathy to our fellow humans which, alongside our outrage for animals oppressed by humanity, is a tricky balance to strike – but it’s vital in our quest for animal liberation.”
