Animal sanctuaries are lifelines for creatures rescued from exploitation, yet their existence often remains overlooked. Pair that with the fact that fewer than 2 percent of Americans identify as vegan, and the urgency for education and advocacy becomes undeniable. Dr. Lisa Kemmerer, a global leader in animal ethics and founder of the educational nonprofit Tapestry of Peace, brought this message to life as a featured expert on the Better Life for Animals Podcast, hosted by Cheryl Moss.
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From Scholar to Activist: A Life Devoted to Justice
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Dr. Kemmerer holds a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard and a PhD in philosophy with a focus on animal ethics from the University of Glasgow. After two decades teaching at the
university level, she retired in 2020 to dedicate herself fully to activism through Tapestry. Her work explores how religious belief, environmental awareness, and gender oppression intersect with the treatment of animals.
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Whether kayaking solo for a month or teaching students in a ranching town in Montana, Dr. Kemmerer has lived a life of immersive learning. Her extensive travel through Asia, the Middle East, and the South Pacific, including studying at the Dalai Lama’s school and staying in remote monasteries, shaped her holistic approach to animal advocacy.
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Animal Sanctuaries and the Power of Daily Connection
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Lisa’s life in a peaceful coastal setting, where she walks with her dogs daily and rescues injured wildlife from nearby beaches, speaks to her grounding in nature. “It’s essential,” she said. “Time outdoors is reflection, peace, and happiness.” Her connection with animals extends beyond academic theory into tangible acts of care.
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Sanctuaries, she noted, are crucial reminders of the world we must create, where animals are seen as individuals with needs, personalities, and the right to peace. Her activism includes direct rescue work and local vegan initiatives, like the Hospitality Challenge, which encouraged restaurants to add clearly labeled vegan options. “In just a couple of months, our town became much more vegan-friendly,” she said.
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The AMORE Framework: A Tool for Advocacy
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Dr. Kemmerer’s latest work distills decades of research into an accessible format with the acronym AMORE, which means “love” in Italian. It represents:
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- Animals – Their suffering and the ethical imperative to protect them–
- Medical – The health implications of consuming animal products–
- Oppressions – The connection between animal exploitation and other systemic injustices–
- Religion – How faith traditions often align with vegan principles–
- Environment – The urgent need to protect ecosystems from the impacts of animal agriculture–
Designed for activists and educators alike, the AMORE model serves as a concise yet comprehensive guide for making the case for veganism in any setting.
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Religion and Veganism: An Untapped Avenue for Change
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One of Dr. Kemmerer’s most compelling arguments is that religious texts are among the most overlooked yet powerful tools for animal advocacy. In her book Animals and World Religions and forthcoming online resources, she dissects major faith traditions and highlights how core teachings often support compassion for all beings.
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In Christianity, for example, she emphasizes the Golden Rule, the call to stewardship in Genesis, and Jesus’s expansive model of love. When people claim, “Jesus ate fish,” she responds, “There’s no scripture that confirms that Jesus, as a man, regularly ate fish. And even if he did, we must look at what he would do today given the ecological destruction and suffering caused by modern fishing.”
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Similarly, she explains that Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism all contain rich teachings that support plant-based living. Whether it’s the Islamic principle of zakat (charity), the Buddhist call to Ahimsa (nonviolence), or the Jewish commandment to tend and protect creation, each tradition offers a pathway toward more ethical eating.
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Using Art, Poetry, and Mentorship to Inspire Compassion
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Beyond academic writing, Dr. Kemmerer channels her advocacy into visual art and poetry, using names, expressions, and narratives to individualize animals and awaken empathy. “I painted two pigs and named them Mary and Sarah,” she shared, “and wrote that despite being born in a stable, they were endlessly hopeful.”
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She also mentors emerging scholars and activists, knowing that real change will come when new generations carry this work forward. “Education matters,” she said. “One student can influence thousands.”
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Take Action: Listen, Learn, and Share
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This conversation with Dr. Lisa Kemmerer is a reminder that change is possible when we engage with empathy, logic, and strategy. Whether you are an educator, activist, spiritual seeker, or animal lover, her message is clear, there is no justification for harming animals when compassionate alternatives exist.
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To hear the full conversation, visit BetterLifeForAnimals.com/podcast/017-Lisa-Kemmerer. Then explore Lisa’s work at lisakemmerer.com, where you’ll find links to Tapestry of Peace and free resources on animals and world religions.
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Episode Highlights
[00:00] Introduction
[04:30] Extensive travel influenced Dr. Kemmerer’s life direction.
[08:15] Doing whatever it takes for the protection of anymals.
[10:45] The meaning behind AMORE book title and content.
[12:30] What motivated Dr. Kammerer to start Tapestry.
[15:00] The language of the Christian religion in anymal compassion.
[20:30] Did Jesus eat fish or is that a metaphor?
[27:10] Judaism and compassion to anymals.
[28:45] Muslims and eating animals.
[31:30] Buddhism and not killing.
[36:40] Jainism is absolute on no harm of anymals.
[38:15] Visual art as an expression of compassion.
[43:00] Living life with no regrets of the past.
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About Dr. Lisa Kemmerer
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Internationally known for her work in animal ethics, Dr. Lisa Kemmerer is the founder of the educational, vegan umbrella organization, Tapestry. With a Master of Theological Studies in Comparative Religions (Harvard) and a Ph.D. in philosophy (specializing in animal ethics at Glasgow University, in Scotland), Kemmerer taught for 20 years at the university level. She has written more than 100 articles/anthology chapters and 10 books, including In Search of Consistency, Animals and World Religions, Sister Species, and Eating Earth. Dr. Kemmerer retired in July of 2020 to become a full-time social justice activist with Tapestry.
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Dr. Kemmerer’s sense of wonder in nature, smallness of self, and simplicity of lifestyle were enhanced by climbing and backpacking, month-long kayak trips, a bicycle trip from Washington to Alaska, and several close brushes with an early end.
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Travel abroad also shaped her worldview. She worked as a forest fire fighter and nurse’s aide in a nursing home to buy a ticket to the South Pacific, where she hitchhiked around, listening to the views of hundreds of diverse locals. She also traveled parts of Asia, where her understanding of time, “necessities,” and community were altered by rural Burma and Bangladesh and in little villages on the high ridges of Nepal.
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Dr. Kemmerer earned her undergraduate degree in International Studies at Reed College, where she founded her first anymal activist organization and earned a competitive Watson Fellowship that took her on a two-year journey to explore the place of women and anymals in religions. She ventured to remote monasteries and temples in northern China, spent a month at the Dalai Lama’s school in north India, visited holy sites in Israel, stayed with Palestinians and visited patients at a West Bank hospital, and traveled to remote hermitages in mountain ranges of Egypt and Turkey.
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Learn more:
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About Cheryl Moss
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Cheryl Moss is the host of the Better Life for Animals podcast, where she shares uplifting stories from sanctuaries and highlights the work of vegan activists, ethical consumers, and animal welfare leaders. A passionate advocate for animal welfare, she is dedicated to ending factory farming and is working to raise $100,000 for Mercy For Animals to support underrepresented sanctuaries.
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Beyond podcasting, Cheryl is a banking professional and an accomplished children’s author. A graduate of Main Street Vegan Academy, she promotes plant-based living through her books—Gabriel, Cluck, and Pickle the Pig—which inspire young readers to embrace kindness, sustainability, and compassion for animals.
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When not advocating, she enjoys Pilates, show jumping, and spending time with her rescue dogs and grandchildren. Through her work, writing, and activism, Cheryl continues to inspire positive change for animals and the planet.
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