Welcome, humorous viewers, to part two of our series featuring the multi-talented, virtuous Elaine Hendrix, whose greatest passion is promoting the humane treatment of animals.

A lot of people, a lot of leaders talk about peace, and they talk about compassion, but a lot of them forget to include our furry, feathered, and finned friends.

Elaine Hendrix is a vibrant actress known around the world, with over 100 credits to her name, including the Disney films “The Parent Trap” and “Inspector Gadget 2,” as well as the comedy “Superstar,” the documentary “What the Bleep Do We Know!?” and the acclaimed CBS TV series “Joan of Arcadia.” Aside from her career, Elaine’s additional interests include meditation and the practice of yoga.

I feel that spirituality is our lives, we can’t get away from it. Even people who say, “I’m not spiritual.” Well, I believe they are. They are just spiritual in their own way. Everybody’s got their own language, but at the end of the day, I tend to believe that all roads lead to Rome, so to say.

Your 2004 movie “What the Bleep Do We Know!?”, it’s quite different – the exploring, the spiritual connection between quantum physics and consciousness. What drew you to doing this project?

I had kind of been in that world, but a little bit more through metaphysics. And so when I went in to meet with the director, they really felt like it was a perfect match, because my character really did have to believe in that world, any way of “you are what you believe,” and you can have influence over your world.

One of the biggest things I learned was just how influential our chemicals are within our bodies, that our thoughts are a chemical reaction. And so we really are a whole package, a whole being. Our chemicals talk to one another, and they’re influenced by our thoughts, which influence the chemicals, which influence our thoughts, our beliefs, our emotions, our actions. It’s all intertwined together.

What I hear from people that they watch that movie over and over and over again, because there’s just so much information. (Right.) And it’s put into as best of layman terms as they could, as well as weaving in a story to kind of help illustrate it so people could get it. So I tried to even bring it down into even more practical terms and examples from my life. At the end of the day, people want to know, “How do I make my life better?” (Right.) It was really a great honor for me to be able to talk with people. And then from that, I’ve had many other speaking engagements and continue to, which I enjoy.

Elaine dedicates most of her time and energy to protecting animals. In addition to being a vegetarian, she pursues activities such as public speaking on animal welfare and working with animal defense organizations.

My work began when I saw that undercover fur video. That changed my life, and then I started doing outreach to different organizations, and I started getting invited to a lot of different events, all across the country, for lobbying, or building habitats, or rescuing, or just showing up to speak to educate people. I’ve even guest lectured at universities, which I still do and I love doing.

And then I got on the board of an organization, and now I’m on the board of another one, Stray Rescue of St. Louis. But in between all that, I met up with Scotlund Haisley, and with him and a couple of other people, an Animal Rescue Corps was born. And I love doing it. I work more on that now than my acting career. I’m one of the staff members. I’m on the rescue team, and then also being on the board and an officer. I’m very, very intimately and intricately involved in the organization. But since I do, it is a great, great honor to do it.

Could you tell us more about Animal Rescue Corps and its mission and its accomplishments so far?

We, the Corps team, have over 40 years of experience, even though we’re a relatively new organization. Because of the experience and because of the resources that we have, we’ve had great success very quickly. Our basic work is large-scale rescues, meaning we bust puppy mills, hoarding situations, dog-fighting rings, cock-fighting rings, exotic trades, private zoos, anything in which large numbers of animals are affected, or large-sized animals are affected.

So communities that are aware of abuse, but don’t have the resources to be able to stop it, they call us in. And with the local law enforcement or even national government agencies. We’ll go in with them and bust the situation, get the animals out, get them the treatment that they need, and then get them into placement partners where they’ll either go to a sanctuary or a rescue group, to either live their lives out, or hopefully be adopted if it’s a domestic animal.

This is around the United States?

All of North America, (Oh, wow!) so Canada and Mexico, and then we also have a liaison in South Korea. So we’re set up to where we could travel all over the world. It just so happens that right now, the bulk of our rescues have been in the US, although we have cases being investigated all the time, because unfortunately there’s not a shortage of animal suffering. We can also rescue out of natural disasters, tornados, floods and whatnot. I like to say we’re sort of an A to Z turnkey solution for everything rescue.

So, let’s say there’s another rescue organization or sanctuary or shelter who needs some tweaking, or needs some information, we can go and do an assessment. We can help them with their programs. And then we can also help law enforcement with training. We train volunteers, we train law officials, we train other rescue workers – just increase knowledge, and create and increase skills, so that more animals can be helped.

Currently, the organization is maintained by six staff members, five Board of Directors, over a dozen liaisons, and hundreds of volunteers, many of whom are trained and certified. Through their caring endeavors, the fast-growing Animal Rescue Corps certainly lives up to its tagline: “Compassion in Action.” In addition to rescues, Elaine Hendrix also emphasizes the need to raise awareness.

And you’ve also hosted the “Pets 90210” show, encouraging adoption. Could you tell us more about this noble project?

I’m one of the original founding volunteers with “Pets 90210.” That is the adoption and rescue group, as far as like fostering, adopting, spay-and-neutering portion of my work. And then I have my international work with Animal Rescue Corps.

So for me, they go hand in hand, like get the message out of rescuing and how important it is to get animals out of cruelty situations, and suffering situations, and then get them into good homes, get them adopted and fostered, because so many people think, "Oh, you know, animals that come from shelters, they’re damaged, or they’re not good in some way.” And it’s like, no, ironically, the complete opposite. You go to buy one, you’re more likely to get a sick animal or a damaged animal.

Elaine herself provides a home for six cherished rescued animal companions.

So, I have a cattle dog and a Jindo, and I have two little Chihuahua mixes. This is Dinky, who’s one of them. And then I have two cats, two domestic short hairs, a black kitty and a gray tabby.

Tiloc is my cattle dog who I call “my original girl.” She came named. I rescued her from people who weren’t able to keep her anymore. I found out later that I was her third owner, her third guardian. So I thought, “She’s been through enough trauma.” Rossmore is my Jindo, and I found him on Rossmore, and he was just wandering around. Dinky, she was also off the street, and because she’s so little and such a personality, and I just, I don’t know, Dinky came to me. Blitz is the other Chihuahua who was just racing around like a little demon dog. Kimbo was another rescue.

And finally, little Goodie Cornbread, I got him while I was filming "Good Intentions," actually. And he was living on this fairgrounds that was used for flea markets.

The ever-humble Elaine Hendrix’s dedication to protecting animals from suffering is truly remarkable and has gained her much well-deserved recognition.

Among your many awards, you accepted the Guardian Award at the 2009 Animal Rights Conference. What did the awards mean to you?

Well, I think to get any award is a very special thing, because it’s acknowledging that you’ve done something in whatever field, something of note. And for me, I feel like the level of celebrity that I have, I can reach a lot of people. And to me, that’s how I can give back. That’s what I can do. I’ll do it regardless of whether I get an award or not. But I was actually truly honored to receive that award, and especially for something that so touches every cell of my being, I really appreciated that.

The Mayor of St. Louis, Missouri officially proclaimed December 4th Elaine Hendrix Day (Yes, he did) and you got the key to the city. Would you please share that story with us?

I think that is actually the greatest honor I have ever received. I have my own day. (Yeah, that’s pretty cool.) That just blew me away. I wasn’t expecting it at all. I’m on the Board of Stray Rescue St. Louis, and so I go there for a lot for events and to do some rescue work.

According to Elaine, helping animals is actually quite simple. She next outlines some steps we can all take to get involved.

Adopt. Don’t buy. That’s easy to do. Have your animal spayed or neutered. That’s really easy to do. Buy the cruelty-free product versus the product that tests on animals. That’s really easy to do. Don’t buy a fur coat; again, easy. It’s like, these are easy things. It’s not like I’m asking you to drop your day job, leave your family, and come live on the road with me to rescue animals.

No, it’s about day-to-day, very simple choices, and particularly where you’re spending your almighty dollar, because that’s what drives it all. There would be no cruelty industry if the cruelty industry weren’t profiting in some way. And that’s because they can keep their overhead really low by giving animals the minimal care, by killing them. So keep all overhead low and then drive up the cost of the product.

(Right) And they’re seeing these animals, these loving beings, as no different than like a chair or a slab of concrete that’s just objects, when in reality, they’re sentient beings with their own thoughts and feelings.

Ms. Hendrix also expressed her support for Supreme Master Television and its message of peace and compassion for all beings.

I think it’s something very special and very unique that a network can come out, show the positive, and it’s proving successful. So I think that’s a pretty incredible thing.

To close, the lovely Elaine Hendrix shared a final message for our audience around the globe.

The message that I would like to share is to remember that compassion is limitless.

I’m Elaine Hendrix. You’re watching Supreme Master Television. Be Veg, Go Green 2 Save the Planet!

Our heartfelt thanks, Elaine Hendrix, for your altruistic work on behalf of animals and for touching so many lives on screen and in your daily life. We wish you all the best in Heaven’s blessings as you continue to beautify our world through your immense talents and magnanimous heart.

For more on the vibrant Elaine Hendrix and her noble work, please visit www.elainehendrix.com.

Gracious viewers, thank you for your presence today on Vegetarian Elite. Coming up next is Between Master and Disciples, here on Supreme Master Television. May your every day radiate with the light of the Divine in the cherished company of all beings.