For Those Without a Voice

On animals, compassion, and shared existence

Long before De La Vega had a name, before recipes, before ovens and menus, there was something quieter already living inside me.

A tenderness toward animals.

As a child, I noticed them instinctively—the ones on the side of the road, the ones waiting near food stalls, the ones watching humans with cautious eyes. I didn’t have the language for it then, but I understood one thing very clearly: they feel. They remember. They suffer quietly.

That awareness never left me.

As life moved forward and De La Vega slowly took form, that early sensitivity became part of its foundation. Not as a marketing decision. Not as a campaign. But as a responsibility.

Respecting sentient beings

At De La Vega, we believe food is never just food. It is an act of relationship—with the land, with people, and with all sentient beings who share space with us.

Animals are not a background to human life.
They are participants in it.

To respect sentient beings means acknowledging that suffering is not less meaningful simply because it cannot be spoken in words. Stray dogs and cats live in constant uncertainty—heat, hunger, fear, illness—often invisible unless you choose to look.

We choose to look.

A quiet commitment

From the beginning, we made a promise: 10% of our profits—sometimes more—will go toward helping stray dogs and cats. Not as a fixed formula, but as a living practice. When we can do more, we do more. When there is urgency, we respond.

Sometimes that means food.
Sometimes medical help.
Sometimes support for local rescuers.
Sometimes simply being present.

There is no hierarchy of worth in compassion.

Why this belongs to De La Vega

De La Vega was never meant to be loud. It is not about excess or spectacle. It is about intentional care—about choosing gentler ways of existing in a world that often forgets softness.

If we speak of nourishment, it must extend beyond ourselves.
If we speak of ethics, it must include those who cannot advocate for themselves.

Helping stray animals is not separate from our philosophy—it is an extension of it.

The same patience we bring to slow baking,
the same restraint we practice in reducing sugar,
the same attention we give to balance and well-being—
we offer it outward.

What this has taught us

Animals have taught us something humans often forget:
to trust without certainty,
to love without guarantees,
to endure without resentment.

They remind us that kindness does not need recognition to be real.

Every time someone supports De La Vega—by choosing our food, by sharing our story—they are also participating in this quiet circle of care. A portion of what is created returns to those who wait silently at the edges of our cities.

This is not charity.
It is coexistence.

We do not help because we are above them.
We help because we are alongside them.

This is De La Vega.
Food made with awareness.
Business built with conscience.
And love that does not stop at the human boundary.

Much Love,

Laura

---

---