Mercy for Animals Founder Nathan Runkle Attacked
Nathan Runkle, the 24-year-old founder and executive director of Mercy for Animals who is openly gay, was brutally assaulted the morning of Saturday, December 27, in an apparent hate crime. The attack, which was reportedly unprovoked, occured at Masque, a gay night club in Dayton, Ohio.
Police are investigating, without any leads yet except that the attacker is believed to be a white male with no prior relationship with Runkle. According to Queering Animal Liberation, “Runkle was briefly hospitalized after sustaining two facial fractures, a broken nose, deviated septum, and severe facial bruising.”
Mercy for Animals is a national, animal rights nonprofit with offices in Chicago, Illinois, and Columbus, Ohio, was founded by Runkle in 1999, when he was only a teenager. The campaigns run by MFA over the past nine years have been profound, including free vegetarian starter kits, vegetarian feed-ins, undercover investigations, and an animal rights-minded writers’ group.
MFA made headlines earlier this year after releasing shocking undercover investigation footage of hens at a California egg farm crammed into filthy cages. The investigation resulted in grocery giant Trader Joe’s dropping the cruel farm as a supplier. The photo shown here is Runkle at a news conference in Sacramento, California, on May 6, 2008, talking about this investigation.
Runkle is a well-known name and face in the animal rights and vegetarian movements. He was recently named one of the world’s “25 Most Fascinating Vegetarians” by Veg News magazine.
Gay or straight, vegetarian or meat eater, there is no denying that Runkle has demonstrated incredible drive and compassion in his still young life. And for someone to attack him - or anyone - at random is a truly disgusting thing.
January 8th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
[...] Without Meat: Mercy for Animals Founder Nathan Runkle Attacked by Sally Andersen “Nathan Runkle, the 24-year-old founder and executive director of Mercy for [...]