One glance at Ryan Gosling shows the guy is clearly handsome on the outside. Now we have further proof his beauty is more than skin-deep: Ryan teamed up with Canada’s Farm Sanctuary and Humane Society International to advocate for better living conditions for breeding pigs.
“Pigs in tiny crates suffer beyond anything most of us can easily imagine,” Ryan wrote in an opinion column to Canada’s The Globe and Mail. “They are unable even to turn around for weeks at a time, so that their muscles and bones deteriorate. And these extremely social and intelligent animals lose their minds from being denied any social or psychological stimulation at all.”
Noting that pigs outperform chimpanzees on cognitive tests, Ryan encourages his fellow citizens to speak out against the pork industry’s practice of relegating mother pigs cages that render them immobile.
“Currently, mother pigs are kept in these cages called ‘gestation crates’ for four months while pregnant, moved to another cage to give birth, reimpregnated and put back into a gestation crate for the cycle to repeat. It adds up to years of immobilization and millions of smart, inquisitive animals relegated to iron maidens.”
Citing his relationship with his beloved dog, George, Ryan encourages fellow pet owners to think of pigs in the same way. He adds he would never dream of confining George to a crate for weeks at a time — and that same compassion should apply to all animals.
The Notebook star previously wrote to the United States Department of Agriculture to encourage the elimination of foam-based chicken exterminations.
“This method causes birds intense and prolonged suffering before they suffocate to death,” Ryan wrote in his 2011 letter. “If dogs and cats were killed in this way, the person committing these acts would be charged with cruelty to animals.”
Prior to that, Ryan teamed up with PETA to encourage McDonald’s and KFC restaurants to adopt animal welfare reforms.
In other words, we dare you to show us a guy closer to perfection than Ryan Gosling.
