The Vegan Report What If the World’s Religions Stood Up for Animals? With Joyce D'Silva | Ep. 110
Mar 10, 2026
Joyce D'Silva, a lifelong vegan and veteran animal welfare leader, shares her decades of work linking faith and animal care. She discusses how religious teachings contrast with practices, strategies for engaging clergy and conservative leaders, building interfaith coalitions, outreach to nonreligious activists, and spiritual tools to sustain activism.
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Religious Teachings Rarely Translate To Better Animal Care
- Major world religions contain strong teachings to care for animals, but real-world practices often contradict those teachings.
- Joyce D'Silva found Buddhist-majority Thailand tolerates cockfighting and industrial broiler production, revealing a faith-practice gap.
Give Religious Leaders Concrete Resources And Start Conversations
- Give religious leaders access to accurate resources and invite dialogue to win their support for animal welfare.
- Joyce recommends distributing her book and politely approaching clergy who often lack formal training on animal ethics.
Mobilize Faith Communities Alongside Political Lobbying
- Don't ignore faith communities; religious leaders can have more influence than MPs and reach congregations weekly.
- Joyce urges activists to map local faith figures and request meetings even if the activist isn't a believer.
