As many Ecorazzi readers know, besides animal production being hell for Planet Earth, it’s also not too grand for the animals. That’s why a slew of well-known stars donated their John Hancock to help reduce the cruelty.

Stars like Kim Basinger, Alicia Silverstone, Bill Maher, Bob Barker, Emily Deschanel, Fred Willard, Ginnifer Goodwin, James Cromwell, Kristen Bell, Mariel Hemingway and Valerie Harper all asked Governor Schwarzenegger to sign a bill that would end the cruel practice of amputating dairy cows’ tails.

The letter was written by our friends at Farm Sanctuary and sent to the Governor just two days ago.

Although both chambers of California legislature passed the bill to end tail docking in the dairy industry, it won’t become a law unless the governor sigs it.

Farm Sanctuary’s president and co-founder Gene Baur said: “With last November’s landslide passage of Prop 2, banning the three cruelest farm animal confinement systems in the state, Californians made it clear they will no longer tolerate cruel and unnecessary practices on factory farms. By putting an end to tail docking, Governor Schwarzenegger has the opportunity to continue this wave of compassion and send a humane message to the rest of the country.”

We agree and hope that the Governator makes the right choice!

On Friday’s episode of Real Time, Bill chatted with author Michael Pollan about our extremely effed up food industry.

From dairy to tuna, Bill and Michael dissected the foods that were not only hurting our bodies, but our planet as well.

During the interview, Pollan said:

“What happens on your plate represents your most important engagement with the natural world and the biggest impact you have on climate change. Meat-eating in particular represents a tremendous amount of greenhouse gases.”

DUH!!!

Check out the clip below and get your learn on!

To keep with the organization’s water stewardship mission, there was absolutely no bottled water allowed at the event, and every dish featured either something local, something organic or something sustainable. Chef David Garcelon, known for his sustainable cooking, said, “We’ve been able to please celebrities with what we have on the menu. They’re focusing on eating healthy, eating organic.”

The RBC donated $200,000 to Lake Ontario Waterkeeper at the event.

Animal Acres is one of the leading farm sanctuaries in the country and will host a gala this Saturday on their sprawling property just 40 minutes from Hollywood. The event boasts delicious vegan food, great speakers, an award ceremony and of course plenty of famous faces.  In fact, Animal Acres has a slew of celebrity supporters, including such well known names as Daryl Hannah, Casey Affleck, Thora Birch, Ellen DeGeneres, James Cromwell, Bill Maher and Alicia Silverstone.

All proceeds from the Gala will benefit the Animal Acres Emergency Rescue Fund to raise funding to build a 14-stall Rescue Center barn to significantly increase the sanctuary’s rescue and rehabilitation efforts for suffering farmed animals.

While the Gala appears sold-out, there are plenty of other exciting farm events that happen all year round! For more information on why I have a sanctuary crush on Animal Acres, visit animalacres.org!

E: Tell us about The Hollywood Office of the Human Society of the United States.
HSUS: We originally started as the ArkTrust and merged with HSUS in 2002. We are devoted to raising public awareness of animal issues by encouraging and honoring the major news and entertainment media. We believe that media is an extremely influential forum to inform, provoke and compel individuals to think differently about a whole range of social issues and educate about animal cruelty.

E: Tell us about the Genesis Awards.
HSUS: Animal advocate and actress Gretchen Wyler started the Genesis Awards in 1986. She came up with the idea because she strongly believed in rewarding members of the media who spotlight animal issues, thus increasing public awareness and compassion toward animals. The first event took place as a luncheon at the Bel Age Hotel drawing only 140 attendees and quickly grew into a large gala at the Beverly Hills Hilton with over 800 people. Wyler wanted to really honor the animal activism that really started the trend of animal activism in the 60s from starlets of that time period including Doris Day and Brigitte Bardot. In fact, there are now two awards – the Doris Day Music Award and the Brigitte Bardot International Award that are both highlighted during the gala.

E: What role do the celebrities play in the Genesis Awards?
HSUS: The actual awards are given to members of major media who include animal issues and raise public understanding of animal issues. The celebrities actually present the awards, however we just announced a new award in honor of Gretchen Wyler which was created specifically to a celebrity. Paul McCartney received the first award in honor for the work he has done for raising awareness against the slaughter of seals in Canada and his full body of work in animal rights over the past forty years.

E: Not to name drop, BUT, who are some of your regulars that take part in the Genesis Awards?
HSUS: We are so fortunate to have a number of celebrities who continue to support the work we do and help to raise awareness around specific issues at infinite levels. Some of our friends include: Bill Maher, Wendy Malick, James Cromwell, Alicia Silverstone, Sean Astin, Amy Smart, Emily and Zooey Deschanel, Daryl Hannah and many more.

E: Tell us about the Animal Content in Entertainment Program (ACE).
HSUS: The goal of this program is to work with filmmakers, producers and distributors to develop and support the inclusion of animal topics in feature films, television programming and documentaries. This is where media truly has the power to change minds and influence behavior. We work with them at a creative level to assure that they accurately portray animal issues in principal or secondary dramatic or comedic story lines. We also offer a grant program called SilverDocs in partnership with AFI/Discovery Channel Film Festival, which we hope will encourage animal issues as a rich and growing source of narrative and factual material.

E: Any upcoming storylines we should be aware of?
HSUS: Morgan Spurlock of 30 days did an episode where he paired an animal activist with a non-animal activist and Emily Deschanel recently featured animal cruelty in an episode of Bones.

E: What are some recent campaigns you have taken part in?
HSUS: We recently launched Puppy Mill Awareness Week with support from Jennifer Love Hewitt, Nathan Lane, Patricia Arquette, and Molly Shannon. Our goal is to help educate people that there are different ways to find pets other than puppy mills which is actually where many of the puppies in pet stores come from.

Another big event is when Wolfgang Puck recently announcing his commitment to come up with mandates that would end animal cruelty including no caged crates for veal, no battery caged chickens, and amazingly NO FOIE GRAS. This will make a huge impact.

Russell Simmons also recently came out with an anti-dog fighting PSA.

All of these campaigns are raising awareness and helping people to make the anti-animal cruelty choice.

E: What do you feel are some of the most influential entertainment pieces that have helped to raise animal awareness?
HSUS: Bee Movie is an amazing recent example which really highlights factory farming but in a very light hearted way. Babe of course helped to put a face on pork for children and adults. Charlotte’s Web, Finding Nemo, Free Willy, and many documentaries narrated by celebrities like the PBS Nature Series have been very influential.

E: What are some ways that people can stay up to date on new shows or get involved?
HSUS: We have a “One To Watch” section of our website where people can sign–up and receive updates. And of course you will find multiple ways to get involved through donations, getting involved in campaigns, and writing letters to legislators through the Humane Society Website.

E: Lastly, we couldn’t help but notice that when Bob Barker (famed animal advocate) retired from The Price Is Right, that Drew Carey continued to pass along his message of “keep your animals spayed and neutered,” did you have any influence on that?
HSUS: (laughter) No we did not, but what a great tribute to Bob Barker and proof that the mass media have the power to spotlight animal issues to vast audiences—literally at the speed of light.