Welcome back to another episode of the Plant Based News podcast. Today I have the pleasure of being joined by a truly remarkable guest – animal rights advocate, author, and President of Mercy for Animals, Leah Garcés. Leah is a visionary leader and a passionate advocate with nearly 20 years of leadership experience in the animal protection movement, and she has achieved great strides for the movement in that time.

Currently based in Atlanta, Georgia, Leah Garcés is half Colombian and half American and has also lived in Spain, the US and the UK. In her impressive career, she spent 7 years at the World Society for the Protection of Animals, where she oversaw international campaigns in 14 countries and managed a multi-million dollar budget. This led her to launch the US chapter of Compassion in World Farming, where she spent 8 years further amplifying her efforts to reduce the suffering of animals on a massive scale.

Find out more about Mercy For Animals here - https://mercyforanimals.org/

The PBN Podcast is hosted and produced by Robbie Lockie, edited by Phil Marriott and researched and scripted by Antonia Georgieva.

00:00:00 An introduction to Leah Garcés

00:04:05 An update on the Mercy For Animals organisation

00:05:55 Horrific Egg-Farm footage of chickens trapped in feces [clip]

00:07:00 The challenges that Mercy For Animals faces

00:11:40 Measuring the impact of the work that Leah and her team are doing

00:13:55 ‘Shining A Light on Bright’ by Leah Garcés - performed by Michelle Lauria [clip]

00:15:00 Deciding on where the campaign energy goes

00:22:05 The life of chickens on factory farms [clip]

00:24:00 Why are politicians blind to the destruction caused by animal agriculture?

00:34:20 The human cost of factory farming

00:35:00 Leah’s forthcoming book Transfarmation

00:38:42 The progress of the Transfarmation project

00:42:20 Inspiring young people

00:47:20 How people can involved with the movement