HOST: Hallo, caring viewers, and welcome to today’s Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants featuring kind-hearted vegan Chris DeRose from California, USA, a voice for and friend of animals.

Mr. DeRose is a Hollywood actor who has appeared in popular US TV series such as Cagney and Lacey, CHiPs, The Rockford Files, Baretta and General Hospital and has also served as an on-camera reporter for the US television news magazines Hard Copy and Inside Edition.

Chris DeRose (m):I see no difference between the mental anguish and suffering of a young kid than the suffering of an animal. Whether it be emotional, psychological, or physical pain, animals feel the same thing we do.
They have their place in this Earth and we should respect them.

HOST: Throughout his life Chris DeRose has been committed to defending our animal friends, and in １９８４ founded the Last Chance For Animals, a Los Angeles, USA-based group, which uses peaceful means to end the abuse and mistreatment of animals in entertainment, clothing, the food industry and in so-called scientific research.

The organization’s methods are inspired by the philosophy of great humanitarians such as Mahatma Gandhi, Father of India, and legendary US civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

He has written a book called 『In Your Face: From Actor to Animal Activist』 where he recounts his experiences protecting animals. In ２００８, he and Cesar Millan, a world-renowned dog behavior specialist from the United States, teamed up to do an undercover investigation on a very large puppy mill, or mass dog breeding facility, in Southern California the results of which led the Los Angeles County government to create a task force to work on closing down these types of operations which treat the canine residents very cruelly.

In １９９７, Mr. DeRose received the Courage of Conscience Award from the Peace Abbey of Massachusetts, USA for his work exposing animal exploitation. For his years of selfless work in the area of animal rights, Supreme Master Ching Hai recently honored Mr. DeRose with the Shining World Compassion Award.

He now describes how he became involved in the cause of animal rights.

For more details on Last Chance for Animals, please visit www.LCAnimal.org