Chris Palmieri (vegan): Puppeteer and Activist

Chris Palmieri is a puppeteer, actor, and entertainer based in New York City, USA. His most recognizable role is that of Snug the puppy in the popular US kids’ TV series “Snug's House.” Some of you may also recognize Chris’ voice and puppetry work as Tigger in the musical stage adaptation of Disney's Winnie the Pooh. One of Chris’ most recent works is the black light puppet musical “Dinosaur Daredevil: Archaeopteryx Cleared for Takeoff,” for which he not only built over 30 puppets but also acted as director.

Welcome back to our show featuring Chris Palmieri, who is not only a professional puppeteer but also a vegan and animal-people rights activist. "So I have always loved animals. I never wanted to really see or talk or think about what was going on with animals behind the scenes. And then I was working with someone who had been vegan for many years, and we started talking a little bit over time about his beliefs and his reasons, and some of the things that resonated with him. And eventually, he sent me a video that kind of just talked about the ethics of veganism and animal rights and also the environmental aspects and the health aspects. But what really, really pushed me was the video of what goes on on farms. I had never seen that. I never wanted to see that, but it was there and it was real. And I was a vegan that day when I watched that video.

I started going to protests and demonstrations and community events and things like that. And I've come to really regard and empathize with animals more deeply and humans as well. I believe my empathy has grown quite a bit just by having that practice of really trying to care about and think about what it's like to be someone else. And I think that empathy is something that you can practice and grow and I'm really, really happy that that's a thing.

I dream of a world built on kindness and compassion and science. I want to understand the way the world works. And I want us to use that information to make this world the best place it can be for the largest number of sentient beings as possible. Be a Hero = Be Vegan = Save the World."