Sometimes, a new animal rights advocate can come from what seems to be the most unlikely of places. When someone who has built their livelihood on farming animals sees the light and decides to treat their animals with mercy, this is such an occasion. Last week, animal lovers had reason to celebrate when three goat farmers decided to open an animal sanctuary and start producing vegan cheese.

And now Allison Argo, an Emmy-award winning filmmaker, has just directed The Last Pig, a stunning new documentary that chronicles the journey of Bob Comis, a pig farmer in upstate New York who struggles to align his livelihood with his principles.

In the trailer above, Comis says of the 250 pigs on his farm: “I love being around them … I feel an obligation to give them the best life I can. After ten years of looking into thousands of pigs’ eyes, I’ve come to understand that they’re never vacant. There’s always somebody looking back at you.”

Haunted by the “ghosts” of the pigs he has sent to slaughter in the past, Comis eventually makes the momentous decision to stop rearing animals as food, and to instead become a vegetable farmer. “I don’t want to have power to decide who lives or dies,” he explains. “I have to give up my job, my livelihood, in order to live in line with my ethics. It’s a colossal effort. It’s a terrifying effort. It’s overwhelming. But I’m committed to doing it.”

“The Last Pig” is due to be released in spring 2016, while a Kickstarter fund to help with its distribution costs will begin in September. You can follow the film’s progress on Facebook, or check out their website for more information.