Adam Peditto
“I deeply admire women who have done investigations, who take pictures of the most terrible situations and who transform it into struggle and activism to change the lives of the animals.”
Dulce Ramírez, photographer and founder of the Mexico chapter of Igualdad Animal (Animal Equality), has spent years documenting the horrific conditions and intense suffering of animals in industrial farms. Although photographing the injustice on industrial farms is challenging and, at times, emotionally taxing, the footage she collects on these farms is essential for public-facing campaigns that put an end to the injustice she witnesses. With Ramírez's footage, Igualdad Animal can bring the abuses that animals face behind closed doors to light, and move individuals all over the country to take action #ForTheAnimals.
If you're moved to act by Dulce Ramírez's work, follow Igualdad Animal México to support their latest campaigns, and check out We Animals Media for more impactful photography by undercover investigators all over the globe!
Transcript (English)
Dulce Ramírez: The investigations that portray injustices open a door with infinite possibilities to change the world.
When I was little, I was fortunate that my mother never took us by the hand to go to a circus or a zoo. I grew up with the idea that confinement was unfair. But it was when I got to know the emotional world and the needs of a kitten that I was able to question my relationship with those animals. I recognized myself as being concerned about their well-being, or distressed by the thought of them getting sick or suffering, and I began to understand that we had animals under a cyclic and normalized cycle of use and exploitation.
I grew up in a town where baby lambs are killed to make barbecue, and one day in front of one of these food stalls, I thought that it could be my child and my kitten could be the one we would be killing to eat later, and everything changed for me. I made a promise to myself that not only at an individual level would I seek to break that yoke, but I would dedicate my life to help others break it too.
I wanted to be useful to animals and channel my anger.
I started by documenting animals in circuses and zoos. In 2012, we bought our first camera thanks to the vegan food sales we organized at that time. We documented over 20 circuses, which helped us ban circuses in different cities and throughout Mexico.
It was only a matter of time before we started documenting inside farms and slaughterhouses, and it was thanks to the guidance of Animal Equality that I was able to conduct investigations in farms and slaughterhouses in my country.
Mexico is a country where social struggle is widespread, and conducting investigations and bringing them to light has complex implications. Revealing the injustices animals experience in a society fractured by poverty, inequality, and corruption is not easy, and we must understand our social, political, and cultural context to achieve a positive outcome.
I strive not to feel anything; for me, it all comes later, like a sudden rush. Coming home exhausted in the early hours, with images of blood, decay, and death, reviewing the material. It is at that moment when I feel, remember, and then I have to regroup and channel my emotions to continue. The devastation I feel is overcome by knowing and seeing that what we are capturing will be amplified and reach millions of people who can make decisions that benefit animals. Eduardo Galeano's words come to mind when he said that the first condition to change reality is to "know" it. And that's what I feel, that if we want to change the terrible reality animals face, we must show it to the world. Thinking about this while holding a camera helps.
Transcript (Español)
Dulce Ramírez: Las investigaciones que retratan las injusticias abren una puerta con infinitas posibilidades para cambiar el mundo.
Desde pequeña, tuve la fortuna de que mi madre nunca nos tomó de la mano para llevarnos a un circo o un zoológico. Crecí siempre con la idea de que era injusto el encierro, pero fue cuando conocía el mundo emocional y las necesidades de una gatita que pude cuestionar mi relación con esos animales. Me reconocí preocupada por su bienestar, me angustiaba que enfermara o que sufriera, y empecé a entender que teníamos a los animales bajo un tubo cíclico y normalizado de uso y explotación.
Yo crecí en un pueblo donde se matan borregos bebés para hacer barbacoa, y un día frente a uno de estos puestos de comida pensé que podría ser mi niño y mi gatita podría ser ella, la que estaríamos matando para después comerlo, y entonces todo cambió para mí. Me hice la promesa de que no solo a nivel individual buscaría romper ese yugo, sino que dedicaría mi vida para que otros lo rompieran también.
Quería ser útil para los animales y organizar mi rabia.
Empecé haciendo documentación de los animales en circos y zoológicos. En el 2012, compramos nuestro primer cámara gracias a las ventas solidarias de comida vegana que hacíamos en ese entonces. Documentamos más de 20 circos, que nos ayudaron a prohibir los circos en distintas ciudades y en todo México.
Era cuestión de tiempo empezar a documentar dentro de granjas y mataderos, y fue gracias a la guía de Igualdad Animal que pude hacer investigaciones en granjas y mataderos de mi país.
México es un país donde la lucha social es extendida, y hacer investigaciones y sacarlas a la luz tiene implicaciones complejas. Revelar las injusticias que viven los animales cuando una sociedad está fracturada por la pobreza, la desigualdad y la corrupción no es fácil, y debemos entender nuestro contexto social, político y cultural para lograr un resultado positivo.
Me esfuerzo por no sentir nada, para mí todo llega después, como de golpe. Llegar a casa de madrugada, agotada, con imágenes de sangre, podredumbre y muerte, revisando el material. Es ahí cuando siento, recuerdo, y entonces hay que reponerse y canalizar las emociones para continuar. La devastación que se siente se supera al saber y ver que lo que estamos grabando se potenciará y llegará a millones de personas, que podrán tomar decisiones que favorezcan a los animales. Me viene a la mente Eduardo Galeano cuando decía que la primera condición para cambiar la realidad consiste en "conocerla". Y eso siento, que si queremos cambiar la terrible realidad que viven los animales, debemos mostrarlo al mundo. Pensar en esto mientras sostiene una cámara ayuda.
