What happens when compassion becomes more than a feeling and turns into a lifetime of action?
In this episode of Plant Based Eating for Health, Kathleen Gage talks with Ella Magers, a vegan of more than 30 years, holistic fitness coach, animal rights advocate, speaker, and co-founder of the March to Abolish Animal Testing. Their conversation moves from personal health and strength training to sanctuary life, the rescue of thousands of beagles, and the practical ways ordinary people can help end animal exploitation.
Ella’s vegan journey began when she was seven years old. After learning about Daniel Boone at school, she questioned why someone who killed animals was considered a hero. Her mother explained that people no longer had to hunt because meat could be purchased at the grocery store. At that moment, Ella connected the food on her plate with the living animal it had once been and decided she would never eat meat again.
By age 15, Ella was fully vegan and actively campaigning for animals. Although she was fortunate to have a supportive family, she understands that many young people face resistance, criticism, and even bullying when they question familiar food traditions. Her story shows how one child’s conviction can influence an entire family. Over time, her father, sister, and eventually her mother embraced plant-based eating as well.
Strength Without Comparison
Athletics and movement have been part of Ella’s life since childhood. She began swimming and gymnastics at five years old and later participated in volleyball, dance, taekwondo, yoga, and other forms of training. Nearly all the strength and muscle she developed were built without meat.
Rather than asking people to compare their bodies or abilities with hers, Ella encourages them to work from their own starting point. A person who has been sedentary does not need an extreme program. Ten minutes of consistent walking can be the beginning. Once that habit is established, strength training, mobility work, and additional movement can be added gradually.
Ella explains that a well-balanced fitness routine should do more than change how someone looks. It should help that person remain mobile, capable, energized, and independent throughout life. She favors functional exercises, calisthenics, primal movements, and full-body exercises that engage the core instead of relying only on crunches or isolated abdominal work.
The core, she points out, includes far more than the abdominal muscles. It extends through the trunk and supports the shoulders, hips, and lower back. Because so many people spend hours leaning over phones and computers, it is especially important to strengthen the back of the body, improve mobility, and avoid creating muscular imbalances.
For women, strength training becomes increasingly important with age. Cardio may receive most of the attention when weight loss is the goal, but building and maintaining muscle supports everyday function, healthy aging, and the ability to perform ordinary tasks with confidence.
The Reality of Sanctuary Care
The conversation then turns to Ella’s work with Hogs and Kisses Farm Sanctuary. The sanctuary began when Ella’s close friend moved from Miami to Virginia and decided to create a micro sanctuary. Ella joined the founding board, and together they began learning what it takes to provide rescued farmed animals with lifelong care.
Their first residents were three sister pigs rescued from a small production farm. Ella remembers being stunned by their size because pigs raised for food are usually killed while they are still young. When allowed to live, many grow to several hundred pounds and develop joint, foot, and other health problems resulting from the way they have been selectively bred.
Sanctuary work is deeply rewarding, but it is also expensive and demanding. Food, shelter, space, veterinary treatment, volunteers, maintenance, and emergency care all require dependable funding. Hogs and Kisses raises support through Giving Tuesday, birthday fundraisers, matching gifts, monthly donations, barn-warming celebrations, and creative community events such as a vegan burger competition.
Ella emphasizes that donor relationships matter. When supporters understand where their money is going, see the difference it makes, and feel genuinely appreciated, they are more likely to continue helping. Even a small sanctuary can have an enormous educational impact because every rescued animal becomes an ambassador with an individual personality and story.
Jane and the Beagles Bred for Laboratories
One of the most moving parts of the episode is Ella’s introduction to Jane, the beagle she adopted following an open rescue effort at Ridglan Farms. Jane spent the first year and a half of her life confined to a small wire cage. She had never walked on grass, slept in a bed, taken a normal walk, or experienced life outside the facility.
Beagles are commonly bred for laboratory research partly because of their gentle and forgiving nature. Their sweetness, trust, and reluctance to fight back make them especially vulnerable to an industry that treats living beings as testing tools.
Animal advocates had worked for years to document conditions and press for the facility’s closure. During one open rescue, authorities used rubber bullets and tear gas against participants. The violent response drew widespread attention rather than silencing the campaign. Ridglan Farms ultimately closed, more than 2,000 beagles were released, and Jane was among them.
Ella did not arrive intending to adopt a dog. But when Jane was placed in her arms, she relaxed, fell asleep, and began snoring. Ella knew immediately that Jane was home.
The rescue also helped people make a broader connection. Many participants initially became involved because they loved dogs, not because they identified as animal activists or vegans. After witnessing what these beagles endured, some expanded their concern to include animals used for food and made the decision to become vegan.
A Historic March to Abolish Animal Testing
Ella also shares how she became a co-founder of the March to Abolish Animal Testing. The idea began with animal rights activist Gretchen Primack, who envisioned a march from Albany, New York, to Marshall BioResources, one of the country’s largest breeders of animals for research.
The planned 207-mile march was designed to combine public rallies, daily coverage, education, legislative action, and opportunities for people across the country to participate. While dogs and cats can help the public understand the issue, the larger mission includes every animal used in experimentation, including pigs, ferrets, birds, fish, and others.
Ella stresses that scientific alternatives and newer technologies can replace many animal tests. Ending animal experimentation requires more than changing individual purchasing habits. It also requires challenging public funding, supporting legislation, educating communities, and building enough momentum to change the system itself.
Turning Compassion Into Action
Not everyone can participate in a long march or an open rescue, but everyone can do something. People can choose vegan and cruelty-free products, volunteer at a sanctuary, donate, support effective legislation, attend events, share trustworthy information, or help animal advocacy organizations reach a wider audience.
Ella also speaks honestly about compassion fatigue. Constant exposure to suffering can overwhelm the very people working hardest to create change. Rest, movement, meditation, emotional care, and time away are not signs that an advocate has stopped caring. They are part of remaining effective for the long term.
The episode closes with a message that makes activism feel accessible. The people who create change are not always professional advocates. Often, they are ordinary people who care enough to take one meaningful action. Compassion matters, but change happens when that compassion is put to work.
In This Episode You Will Discover
- The childhood realization that led Ella to stop eating meat at seven years old
- How a young vegan’s example gradually influenced her entire family
- Why fitness should support longevity, mobility, balance, and independence
- How functional and primal movements engage the entire core
- Why strength training is particularly important for women as they age
- What it really costs to provide lifelong care at a farmed animal sanctuary
- How creative events, monthly giving, matching gifts, and donor care fund sanctuary work
- What Jane endured before her rescue from a laboratory breeding facility
- How the Ridglan Farms campaign helped release more than 2,000 beagles
- Why some dog lovers became vegan after witnessing the rescue firsthand
- The purpose behind the 207-mile March to Abolish Animal Testing
- How cruelty-free shopping, volunteering, donating, and legislative action make a difference
- Why advocates must recognize compassion fatigue and care for themselves
- How to turn concern for animals into practical, meaningful action
Resources Mentioned
Ella Magers: https://www.ellamagers.com/
March to Abolish Animal Testing: https://marchforanimals.org/
Hogs and Kisses Farm Sanctuary: https://hogsandkisses.org/
About Ella Magers
An animal lover since birth and plant-based athlete since the age of seven, Ella Magers is on a mission to transform the health and wellness industry from the inside out.
As the founder of Sexy Fit Vegan©, she has built an engaged audience that stretches across the globe. Her work as a speaker, author, podcast host and coach gives people the tools they need to heal and empower themselves in a world that challenges them at every turn.
Ella’s desire to revolutionize our mindsets around eating, weight, and fitness is wholehearted and flows from a deeply personal place.
After healing from her own struggles with disordered eating and a distorted body image, Ella began helping people align their actions with their values, develop a healthy relationship with food and their bodies, and create a joyful and meaningful life. She earned her Master’s Degree in social work, and developed a powerful curriculum resulting in extraordinary transformations for her clients.
Ella has helped hundreds of clients embrace movement, eat mindfully and intuitively, and live with purpose and intention.
About Kathleen Gage
Kathleen Gage is a multifaceted professional, renowned as the founder of Vegan Visibility. With certifications in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and Plant-Based Nutrition from eCornell University, she’s a seasoned business consultant, keynote speaker, and marketing strategist.
Kathleen’s impact extends to hosting the Vegan Visibility Virtual Summit, a niche event supporting vegan and plant-based entrepreneurs with top-tier training from industry experts. Since establishing her business in 1994, she’s navigated economic challenges across various sectors, including high-tech, healthcare, and publishing.
Her influential voice resonates through popular podcasts like “Vegan Visibility” and “Plant Based Eating for Health,” where she advocates for a sustainable, compassionate world and provides guidance to thousands globally. Moreover, as an award-winning speaker and past president of Utah’s National Speakers Association chapter, Kathleen excels in crafting effective marketing strategies.
Beyond her professional endeavors, Kathleen resides in Central Oregon, where she champions animal rescue and enjoys outdoor activities. Her commitment to creating a more compassionate and sustainable world shines through in both her personal and professional pursuits. Kathleen recently joined the Board of Directors for Blue Barn Farm and Sanctuary in Creswell, Oregon.