For the Love of Animals: Australia’s Honorable Mark Pearson (vegetarian), Part 1 of 3

The Honorable Mark Pearson is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council, representing the Animal Justice Party and a Shining World Leadership Award for Compassion laureate. On today’s show, Mr. Pearson shares the fascinating story of how he first became involved with animal rights. "And that was when I was 22. And then before I was going on holiday, I thought, 'I'll take a couple of books.' So, I was at Angus and Robinson bookshop here and there was one book called 'Save the Animals!' with Ingrid Newkirk, the author. And I thought, 'I'll go and have another look at one about animals.' And the other one I found was “Betrayal of Trust,” which is about animal research experimentation. So, I went away on a holiday in Queensland, read these books, and was haunted. I thought, 'My God, I can't believe this is true. Is it true?'" Mr. Pearson then decided to conduct some personal research to discover first-hand how animals were being treated in the livestock industry. He began his quest immediately. "So, all of the protocols were met. But it was a place of violence. And it was violence being enacted upon animals, and their lives being taken before they could live the life that they obviously would have rather chosen to live. And even though everything was being done according to proper regulation, there was fear in their eyes. You can smell, I could smell the blood." After Mark discovered the immense suffering that farm animals endure, he felt he had to do something to protect them. He then devoted the next 22 years of his life to being the Executive Director of Animal Liberation, and in 2015 became the first member of the Animal Justice Party to be elected to the New South Wales Parliament. "So, animals come into our health and wellbeing. Animals come into our education. If we can nurture within a child compassion for an animal, that person, that child will become a wonderful citizen in our society, bringing peace, justice, harmony. Our principle, our foundation is compassion." The Honorable Mark Pearson, thank you for your diligent efforts to protect our precious animal co-inhabitants. May you be blessed abundantly for your kindness and compassion.