NHL star Georges Laraque of the Montreal Canadiens is considered one of the toughest and most fearsome players in the league...and the six foot three forward is now a vegetarian and animal lover.

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After Georges watched Earthlings, he gave up meat and started giving his time to animal charities. Here are his thoughts and photos from a Montreal fur protest outside North American Fur and Fashion Exposition:
 

 

"About 50 protesters and I stood proud and firm in the defense of animals. I want to personally thank everyone who gave me the chance to be part of this event and I will make it my mission for the rest of my life to do everything I can to protect animals."

And at the bottom here he talks about how Earthlings affected him:

This footage has changed my life and I will be more appreciative towards animals and do everything I can to educate people on this matter.

Georges wrote to us and said “I have decided to make it my mission to take a stand for animal rights, since they can't do it for themselves.”

What we love about Georges: he proves that a “manly man” doesn't need to kill animals, and doesn't need meat to be strong. He's also not afraid to go against Canada's ugly tradition of exploiting animals for their skins.

Thank you for making the world better, Georges, and thanks also to our friends at ecorazzi and the Montreal Gazette for their kind words about Earthlings.