PETA President Ingrid Newkirk and senior staff recently joined our supporters at Toronto’s historic Thornton-Smith Building for a magical event celebrating PETA’s work for animals. At this event, guests had a chance to socialize and learn more about how their support and generosity helps power all that  PETA accomplishes.

Attendees enjoyed delicious Gardein fish-free tacos and Beyond Meat “chick’n mac” sliders while sipping on the night’s signature cocktail, “The Great Escape,” – all whipped up by the magicians at gourmet Toronto catering company “The Food Dudes.”

Ingrid took guests behind the scenes of PETA’s work in Canada and around the world, and also shared stories and videos on the life-saving, rescue work in Ukraine, Turkey, and Syria, supported by PETA. PETA senior staff wowed the crowd with updates on how our scientists are making animals disappear from laboratory cages, gave an inside look at how PETA’s legal wizardry has helped take down Tiger King villains like Doc Antle, and pulled back the curtain to reveal a few of the huge captive animal rescues PETA has made possible in recent months.

The night closed with an award for TeachKind’s Canadian Teacher of the Year, Mike Farley, to acknowledge all that the educator is doing to spread compassion in the classroom. Mike has played a key part in the development of Challenging Assumptions, a PETA TeachKind curriculum that sparks compassion and empathy for all species. His virtual field trips to animal sanctuaries helps students understand how a true sanctuary differs from a roadside zoo and places like Marineland, and his lessons have led to many “aha” moments in the classroom, prompting students to see animals as themselves, not food, shoes, or test tubes with whiskers.

Each guest  went home with a fun gift bag that included a soy wax candle from Yummi, a Vego chocolate bar, mixing syrups for mocktails and cocktails from Portland Syrups, and a face cleanser from Lowen. All vegan and cruelty-free, of course!