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Film director Kevin Smith presented an award at Mercy For Animals‘ gala earlier this month in downtown Los Angeles.
The event, which raised $2.1 million for the charity, was attended by many notable animal advocates including Joaquin Phoenix and Daniella Monet among others.
Hidden hero award
Kevin Smith – along with his actor daughter Harley Quinn Smith – presented the Hidden Hero Award to Lindsay Oliver, a former undercover investigator and Mercy For Animals’ current vice president of investigations.
“One of the hardest parts about this job is not being able to rescue animals all day long,” Oliver said while accepting the award.
Plant-based to vegan
Smith initially went plant-based for health reasons in 2018, after suffering a major heart attack. It was his daughter – an ethical vegan – who inspired him to take a more compassionate outlook.
This new outlook was apparent in a video the pair appeared in for the vegan Farm Sanctuary, where Smith said: “I’ve been a vegan for over six months and there’s nothing I miss.
“You’re always told it’s OK to eat animals, and that we’re supposed to eat animals. And that’s just something you’re fed. And for a long time, that’s what my generation believed…You have my solemn word ladies. I will never eat another turkey. And I will go out of my way to see that others might not as well.”
