Bel

I thought I had cried my last tear. But what happened to a community dog killed in Brazil has broken me. In January, a local dog known as Orelha was tortured and killed by teenagers In the resort town of Florianópolis. For fun. Gentle and affectionate, he was cared for by residents and visitors alike. He would have run up to his killers, expecting more kindness, more play. He was 10 years old. He didn't deserve this. Orelha's murder has prompted outrage across Brazil. His killers have still not be brought to justice. There are more questions here. Why did children - mostly boys, one girl - from affluent backgrounds with no hint of familial abuse have nothing better to do than to kill a dog? How did they ignore his screams for pity? What is the trend on Discord to livestream animal torture for clicks? (Orelha wasn't the only dog killed this way. And it's not just Brazil) What does it say about a society where the most innocent amongst us are brutalised for that innocence? What are the implications for us all? When this violence is unleashed? Read more here: /@higgoraraujo /justice-for-orelha-a-cruel-death-that-shamed-us-all-f78298e3c5b5 Join the Global Action for Orelha, this Saturday, at 1pm. In front of the Brazilian Embassy, 14-16 Cockspur Street, London, United Kingdom, SW1Y 5BL More details here: https://fb.me/e/bUk9K5Q5q Orelha, Orelha, my love. For you 💔 #justicefororelha #justicaparorelha

At the end of my talk at @varconference on Recentring Animals in Advocacy, someone asked how we can make sure we reflect the wants and needs of animals themselves. My reply: “Through watching and listening and getting it wrong and trying again.” It’s the way I have come to know every animal in my life. It’s the way we get to know anyone. Not through AI or social media but by being alongside. Slow down and spend some time with the animals today: seen and unseen, loved and distant, present or imagined. They're all around us.

Here’s a recipe. Take one beagle puppy with floppy ears, dewy eyes and soft paws. A big heart, a love of cuddles and play. Then pump dangerous chemicals into her. Day after day, without pain relief (because that might mess up the test results?) Rest assured she will always come back to you, looking for love. That’s who she is. A beagle: friendly, gentle, trusting (beagles are really, really forgiving. That's why they're so good in labs. Desperate to please) Then, as the tail wags get weaker or her movements slow down or she starts going into convulsions, get rid of her. Like you got rid of all the others. PS. 90 percent of drugs that pass animal tests fail in human trials. (New footage from the UK reveals that animals are still being subjected to painful experiments, often without any form of pain relief.Toxicity testing is the government-mandated exposure of animals to test substances to determine the concentration at which harm, illness or death occurs. With thanks to the whistleblowers who made this report possible, to @animalaid_uk and to @animalsinternational_org ) 👉 See the footage and read more here: https://toxicity.inc/ 👉 Sign the petition to end animal testing: https://toxicity.inc/ 👉 Join World Day For Animals in Labs, April 25th, Trafalgar Square, 11am: .uk/event/world-day-for-animals-in-laboratories/ #EndAnimalTesting #LicensedCruelty #UKLabsExposed

Meet the Speakers 🌱 Just 2 days to go until our panel Where Are We Now? Market Opportunities for Bio-based Alternatives to Fur, Leather and Wool. We’re bringing together a diverse group of voices — from material innovation and academia to design and advocacy — all working at the intersection of fashion, sustainability, and next-generation materials: • Bel Jacobs — Co-founder of Fashion Act Now and Islington Climate Centre; founder of The Empathy Project; writer and speaker on climate, animals, and new fashion • Viviane Paraschiv — COO at BioFluff; focused on scaling next-generation materials and bridging innovation with real-world adoption • Rachel Lamarche-Beauchesne — Senior Lecturer at Torrens University; researcher on sustainability and values-driven consumption; founder of Les Plantes • Marta Sieradzka — Founder of Estimon; bio-based materials specialist and lecturer at MSKPU • Marta Gos — Creative Director & Marketing Lead at Nutico™; creative strategist and fashion innovation expert • Aleksandra Tasić — Biophilic interior design, Botany Codes Looking forward to this conversation ✨ 📅 23 April 2026 🕔 17:00–18:00 CET 📍 Online 🔗 Streaming link available via our website (check our bio) #VeganFashionRepository #VeganFashion #FashionRevolution #BioMaterials #FutureOfFashion

I became an advocate for animals because I wanted to help end the exploitation of beings who had done nothing to deserve what was imposed upon them. It’s still that. Every day, I grieve and get up, grieve and get up. But in the past ten years, something else has emerged: the understanding that hurting animals hurts people. Terribly. In more visceral, systemic ways that anyone talks about. I now believe that when you underpin societies with the mechanised suffering of vulnerable beings, you see what you see now. War, starvation, exploitation, violence, the elevation of psychopaths, the torture of children, the end of nature. So if you read one thing this week, read this searing post by Michael Corthell. It rings truer by the day. “Factory farming teaches exactly this ... It teaches that massive suffering can be folded into ordinary life without disrupting social order. It teaches that beings can scream beneath the surface of a system while the culture above them keeps shopping, scrolling, congratulating itself, and discussing civility. It teaches that atrocity can be routinized. That moral shock fades. That profit can launder brutality into banality.” Link in comments.

I’m delighted that @leadingthroughstorms CIC is hosting the @empathypr0ject film’s first online screening, April 20th, between 4pm and 5.45pm. A year ago, The Empathy Project filmed 12 activists, as they charted profoundly personal journeys into animal advocacy. In 30 minutes the activists including chef @gauthierinsoho former Vice Chair of RSPCA Board Jane Tredgett, and award-winning gardener @cleve_west powerfully reframe human-animal relationships. After the screening, a gentle, interactive process will support us as participants to digest and integrate the material. We will all have our own experience of the film. Rather than an expert panel led discussion, you will be invited to sit alongside others, exploring and sense making together. The speakers talk about empathy as a catalyst for change, how outrage can open our eyes to wider systemic abuse and how (re) connecting with animals could help address climate and ecological breakdown. The wish is that everyone is supported to feel, explore and share more of their context, challenges and joys with regard to their relationship with animals, with other species and with the natural world herself. Please join us. Links in comments.

"Atrocity can be routinised. Moral shock fades. Profit can launder brutality into banality." – Michael Corthell As activists and advocates, the fact that casual cruelty and an ingrained status quo of superiority harm animals is taken for granted. What we often miss, however, is how this fits into a bigger picture: a picture of apathy, of subjugation and of violent systemic decline that hurts people too. When you underpin societies with the mechanised suffering of vulnerable beings, you see what you see now: war, starvation, exploitation, violence, the elevation of psychopaths, the torture of children, the end of nature. These are not distinct problems; they are one and the same. A shared downward spiral that spares no one but those at the very top. This is what Vegan Project founder and Vegan's Voice publisher Michael Corthell puts forward in his latest post on substack, and it's the foundation of everything The Empathy Project stands for. A better future for animals means a better world for all of us. Follow the links in our bio to read Michael's article in full and to find out more. #vegan #stopcruelty #factoryfarming #veganactivism #animalactivism

What does it mean to be empathetic? It shouldn't be a tough question, but the world we live in makes it not only difficult to answer but difficult to live by as a way of life. This #EmpathyWeek, we're asking for your help to change that. Cynicism and cruelty aren't foregone conclusions, but something that's learned. That means they can be unlearned, and it also means they can be educated against if we can reach people early enough. Children are naturally kind and innately empathic; they see animals of all kinds as their equal until the moment they're taught otherwise by a system of vested interests. What if, instead, we taught our young people to hold onto that feeling? What if we gave them room to explore it, to engage with it, and to use it? In collaboration with @genearthuk , these are the questions our latest workshop program asks. Now we need your help to turn those questions into answers for children and animals who deserve better. Follow the link in our bio to join the fundraising effort and get us closer to the goal of a kinder, more empathetic world. #animalrights #fundraiser #gofundme #animalactivism

This week, @beljacobs_com leaves us with another challenge. And it’s a big one. Reconsider our relationship with meat and dairy. Today only 2% of mammals alive are wild, while around 60% are farmed animals. A stark reflection of the scale of animal agriculture and its impact on nature. Bel isn’t asking for guilt, just awareness. Maybe it means reducing meat and dairy this week. Maybe it means simply thinking more consciously about what we consume. What’s one change you could try? #LegacyInAction #BelJacobs #Regeneration #ChallengeForChange

Empathy is the foundation for a better future. Not a niche concern, not an afterthought, not a "nice to have," but the necessary architecture of a kinder world. This #EmpathyWeek, we're continuing on our mission of making that idea mainstream. That's why, in partnership with @genearthuk , our latest series of planned workshops starts with our young people: a program focused on creating and cultivating kinship before cognitive dissonance becomes to hard to undo; before natural bonds are dissolved by societal pressures and something vital is lost forever. For that, we need your help. We're raising funds to bring that message to as many young people as possible, sooner rather than later, because any chance of a better future starts with them. Join us and follow the link in bio for all the details. Together, we can create the kind of change that really matters. #animalrights #fundraiser #animalactivism #workshop

Despite yesterday’s rain, animal advocates came together for a vigil outside the Brazilian Embassy in London, UK to remember and call for justice for Orelha, a much-loved, 10-year-old community dog in Florianópolis, Brazil. In early January, this trusting soul was tortured and killed by a group of teenagers. His death has sparked outrage and protest in Brazil with calls for more thorough investigation of the killing, for those involved to be brought to justice and stronger protections for all animals. Thank you to all those attending and speaking, to Bel Jacobs (@beljacobs_com ) for organising this event and for this powerful speech calling for justice for Orelha. #justiciapororelha #justicefororelha

"For three years I stood in classrooms, trying to start conversations about something that many adults still avoid: animal rights. Some days were genuinely uplifting. The child who lingered behind to ask, “What can I do to help?” made the long train journeys worth it. But other days were harder because I could see the disconnect: these were bright, empathetic students who couldn’t grasp why animal welfare was urgent or relevant to their own lives. And then, one day, it clicked. Everything fell into place – for me and for them. I was talking through an image of a mother pig, confined to a cage barely larger than her own body, when I turned back to the class and realised: of course this feels abstract to them. They’ve never met a pig. They’ve never watched one sprint for the sheer joy of it, or lean into a scratch behind the ears. They’ve never seen how fiercely protective a mother pig can be, or how quickly they learn. They were being asked to care about suffering without being introduced to the one who suffers. Animals are playful, stubborn, affectionate, mischievous. They form friendships. They grieve. They get cross with each other. They love. That missing piece — that we are consuming some of the gentlest, most emotionally complex beings on the planet — could change everything. It could change minds. Change lives. Sometimes, not always, I look at traditional animal advocacy and feel that same gap. Yes, we have become fluent in exposing cruelty. That's a necessary reality. But, at the same time, do we need to become just as skilled at revealing who animals are rather than just focusing on what's done to them? That’s why I’m delighted to be speaking at the Vegan and Animal Rights Conference on March 21st, where I'll explore what happens when we recentre animals in activism as sentient individuals with rich emotional lives. What changes when we place their joy alongside their suffering? What shifts when stories of their intelligence sit next to the realities they endure? How might that inspire action rooted not just in well-earned outrage, but in much-needed kinship?" – Bel Jacobs, Founder of The Empathy Project