Regan campaigned for animal rights for over 40 years. Her activism began in 1979, when she was 24. Her first protest was against seal culling outside a government building in Winnipeg. Six years later she read Animal Liberation: A New Ethics for Our Treatment of Animals and became a vegan. Regan was also an advocate for Black Lives Matter and indigenous rights. Filmed while protesting against a zoo, Russell declared that "People say we’re breaking the law by storming. How do you think women got the right ? How do you think slavery was abolished? People stood up and broke the laws — because they’re stupid laws."
Death
On June 19, 2020, Russell attended a protest outside of Fearmans Pork with Toronto Pig Save. According to her husband, "There was an arrangement that the drivers would stop and allow for two minutes for the watering of pigs and recognition, and then the drivers would proceed." At 10.20 am, Russell was struck by a lorry, despite reports that she attempted to jump out of its path. According to her friend Tita Zed, she was always careful around the vehicles; "I do remember that Regan was hyper-vigilant about the cars and trucks around us, and she grabbed my arm more than once." Regan's husband stated, "Whatever it cost, she would pay... Sometimes it's money. Sometimes, it's this." After an investigation, the driver was cited with the Highway Traffic Act offence of careless driving causing death, which is not a criminal offense because the act was not intentional. In Montreal, Joaquin Phoenix attended a memorial demonstration where he was quoted, "While her tragic death has brought upon deep sorrow in the Animal Save community, we will honour her memory by vigorously confronting the cruelties she fought so hard to prevent by marching with Black Lives, protecting Indigenous rights, fighting for LGBTQ equality, and living a compassionate vegan life." The slaughterhouse was asked to release the pigs in the truck which killed Regan to a sanctuary. The request was refused. PETA persuaded an Iowa farmer to give them two pigs that would otherwise be sold for slaughter; PETA named the pigs Regan and Russell, and sent them to an animal sanctuary.. In London, protestors locked and glued themselves to the road outside of the Canadian embassy during a week of action in memory of Regan In Naples, a 'sit-in' was held outside of an abattoir in Russell's memory.
