Raul Julia-Levy

Raul Julia-Levy (born 10 July 1971) is a Mexican film and television actor and producer. He grew up in a prominent family in Mexico City and started a relationship with his real father, Raul Julia in Hollywood when he was 17. In recent years, Julia-Levy's focus has been on more philanthropic pursuits for the welfare of animals.

Biography

Career

Julia-Levy pursued a career in entertainment, acting Mexican soap operas before moving to Hollywood, California. Once in Hollywood, he continued to land roles such as Quintana Driver in Double Take (2001), and as the bandit José in the TV movie Epoch (2001). He played Detective Marin in the independent, direct-to-video films Vengeance (2004) and Clash (2006), films for which he also received credit as Associate Producer.

Animal Rights Activism

Julia-Levy has dedicated his life to make a difference through ending animal abuse and is recognized for his hands-on efforts in Latin America. Over the last decade, Julia-Levy has been a part of critical law cases of animal torture.

In 2014, Julia-Levy was involved in the case of Max, a labrador who was sexually assaulted and murdered in Yucatán. He started a fierce prosecution against the criminals and offered 60,000 pesos for their capture. In 2015, Julia-Levy went on to donate $10,000 as reward for information leading to an arrest for the poisoning and murder of over 60 dogs in Hermosillo, Mexico. Another case Julia-Levy was involved in was that of the stray dog, Pablito. The dog was severely tortured by animal abusers and Julia-Levy saved him from the streets of Mexico City. He spent $30,000 to save and extend the life of Pablito, who had cancer and many broken and deteriorating bones.

One of Julia-Levy's most prominent cases took place in 2016, where he mobilized the political structure of Coahuila, Mexico to save an innocent dog's life. A pitbull named Max was accused of killing a three-year-old boy and after two months of intense public battle, the state government concluded that Max was innocent and had no involvement with the child's death. Criminologists from the FBI reported that Max was falsely accused with no rightful evidence. This led to a new legislation being based in Mexico and Max became the first dog to receive pardon from the state government of Mexico.

Along with these efforts, Julia-Levy and his ex-wife founded Paw Hills, a luxury pet hotel in Agoura Hills, California. Inside the pet hotel is the Raul Julia Foundation, which is dedicated to preserve and fight for the rights of animals in Latin America and Mexico. Since its founding, the Raul Julia Foundation has saved over 7,500 stray dogs. Future plans for the Foundation are to build an animal rehabilitation center in hopes of saving 50,000 stray and abused dogs and cats. Julia-Levy has also expanded his involvement to include the plight of Lolita, an orca whale that has been living and performing at Seaquarium in Miami, Florida.

In 2018, Julia-Levy pleaded with President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela to relocate dying and abused zoo animals to reserves around the world. Amid the nation's hunger crisis, Julia-Levy took to Twitter and the media to confront the Venezuelan president and expose the situation. He stated "I can’t imagine a place in the world where they let the animals suffer so much," and offered to air-lift the animals out and also sent 36 tons of dog food to Venezuela.