Emily Deschanel of the Fox Hit Bones Champions Animal Causes

Emily Deschanel has always loved animals, and she is using her celebrity to raise awareness about factory farming, dog fighting, and animal rights. Deschanel stars as Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan on Fox television’s hit series Bones. A recent episode educated viewers about factory farming. Another one showed the harsh realities of dog fighting.

Emily Deschanel, actress and star of the Fox hit TV series Bones. (Photo Courtesy of Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com)

The factory farm episode featured factory farming footage secured by Farm Sanctuary, the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization, as part of a plot-line surrounding a murder that takes place at a chicken farm. The footage, which was requested by Deschanel, educated thousands of mainstream viewers about the cruel conditions animals are forced to endure on factory farms. The episode also featured a character who rescues a pig and asks her coworkers for donations so that she can sponsor her at a sanctuary.

The show was informative, moving, and entertaining. (I don’t watch a lot of television, but I do watch Bones. Thanks to  Deschanel’s continued support for animals, I am going to keep on watching.) A previous episode showed the horrors of dog fighting. Cesar Millan, renowned dog behavior expert, made a guest appearance on that show. These and other past episodes can be seen online.

An animal rights activist passionately involved with the charity Farm Sanctuary, Dechanel works to end cruelty to farm animals and promotes compassionate living through rescue, education, and advocacy. She is also involved with the Humane Society and Women for Women International. “As humans, we’re animals as well,” she says. “We may have higher intelligence, but look at what we’re doing with it—destroying the earth. Awareness is such an important aspect of animal rights.” 

Deschanel is also a vegan, and she takes a realistic view towards eating healthy and compassionately. “I’m a vegan, but you can be really unhealthy as a vegan, too. Vegan just means that you don’t use animal products, so you don’t wear leather, you don’t wear wool, and you don’t eat animal products. But you can eat French fries and stuff like that all day long.”

On the big screen, Deschanel has an upcoming cameo in Nick Cassavetes’ film My Sister’s Keeper. Recent film credits include Glory Road, Alamo, and Spider-Man 2.  Her television credits include guest appearances on Crossing Jordan, Providence, Law & Order: SVU, and the Stephen King miniseries Rose Red.

On her show Bones, Deschanel says, “It’s an incredibly intelligent show and it’s character-driven. The script was very ambitious, trying to do so many different things, and I believe it really accomplishes all of those things. It crosses genres and it’s exciting when you read something different like that.”

Readers’ Comments:

Andy Garfinkel wrote:
I like to watch “Bones” as well – and this is a good reason to keep on watching! –Andy