This instalment of Animal Voices presents two interviews you won't want to miss. First, Ashley Maier tells us how her work with victims of gendered violence led her to realize that a mindset of entitlement underlies most injustices: “Me and those like me are better and more important than others.  Our feelings, wants, needs, desires, and very lives are worth more than ‘theirs.'” A book, a blog, a movement, Connect the Dots aims to break open the cultural norms that protect and foster this mindset and help people see the indisputable links between human, animal, and environmental well-being. Watch for funds and a conference run by this exciting project in the near future.

In our second interview, Jason Lutterman tells us about the No-Otter Zone, an area of ocean off California where the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service scoops up and removes any sea otters who stray inside the boundaries. This strange tale begins with a well-meaning but failed attempt to relocate sea otters in 1987 and continues to the present day, where fishermen (fearing the otters' voracious appetite for shellfish) are lobbying hard to keep the No-Otter Zone. Jason explains why Friends of the Sea Otter believe the zone should be abolished — and also gives us a delightful glimpse of the otters' day-to-day lives.

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Marisa Miller Wolfson discusses the inspiration for and making of Vegucated, a first-of-its-kind documentary that follows a trio of carnivorous New Yorkers through the process of becoming vegan. Wolfson, a longtime vegan and veteran food activist, describes the incredible seven-year process of making the film, during which she discovered how very complex and costly documentary film-making can be, and how the most compelling and powerful screen moments can occur when you least expect them. Wolfson also discusses what making and distributing this film taught her about how to effectively deliver pro-vegan messages to non-vegans, and about the importance of social support for those trying to adopt or maintain a vegan lifestyle. Finally, Wolfson invites listeners to visit www.getvegucated.com, where they can find out how to organize screenings of the film in their own communities.

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The second of two shows devoted to the 11th Annual North American Conference for Critical Animal Studies, this show features live recordings of three presentations. In “The Radical Debate: A Straw Man in the Movement?”, Carol Glasser relates how she analyzed decades of news articles and Peter Young's catalog of direct actions, hoping to settle the question of whether radical direct action helps or hurts the animal rights cause. In “Consequences of Exploitation on Chimpanzees”, Stacy Lopresti-Goodman and Ashlynn Dube tell the story of a chimpanzee named Seve, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after years of medical experiments, and his improvement at Save The Chimps sanctuary in Florida. In “Communities of Color and Access to Food”, Lauren Ornelas describes a survey of food stores in Silicon Valley conducted by the Food Empowerment Project. She tells us about the huge disparity between low-income and high-income areas in access to fruit, vegetables, and other vegan staples — and why that disparity doesn't show in the government's own statistics.

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Photo by irdinoooo The first of two shows devoted to the 11th Annual North American Conference for Critical Animal Studies, this show features live recordings of three presentations. In “This Little Piggy Went to Market: Animal Life and Death in Pork Industry Rhetoric”, Jan Dutkiewicz describes how the pork industry (... More)

Photo by irdinoooo

The first of two shows devoted to the 11th Annual North American Conference for Critical Animal Studies, this show features live recordings of three presentations. In “This Little Piggy Went to Market: Animal Life and Death in Pork Industry Rhetoric”, Jan Dutkiewicz describes how the pork industry uses rhetoric to objectify pigs and deny responsibility for the cruelties to which they are subjected. In “Postdemocracy and Animal Activism: A Theoretical Framework”, Sandy Dukowski describes how the pressures of the capitalist system worked to dilute the messages of the gay rights/AIDS activism movement, and challenges animal rights activists to recognize and resist those pressures. In “Factory Farming, Environment and Capitalism”, Tayler Staneff provides an overview of the inhumane and unsustainable nature of industrialized animal agriculture, and its roots in the capitalist system.

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Diana Goodrich tells us about her journey from starting out as a psychology student studying human-chimpanzee communication to her current role as Director of Outreach for Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. She introduces us to the seven residents of the sanctuary, describing the day she met them in the dark basement of a research facility in northern Pennsylvania, their reaction upon arrival at their new home, the friendships they have forged, and the exhilaration of watching the chimps touch grass for the first time in their lives.

Animal Voices speaks with Laura Gough of Animal Equality about their recent undercover investigation of a pig farm in Norfolk, U.K.  The routine brutality seen in the footage gathered over two months is shocking.  So too is the revelation that the randomly-chosen farm boasted the “Red Tractor” symbol, supposedly awarded to U.K. farms that adhere to high animal welfare standards.

The details Gough describes in this interview are horrifying, but Gough argues persuasively for the importance of bringing these stories to light.  She also discusses how activists can get through tough times when they feel like shutting down, and she reminds listeners that choosing a vegan lifestyle is a simple way to refuse to take part in the exploitation of animals.

Animal Equality's work spans the U.K., Spain, Italy, Venezuela, and India, and includes education, undercover investigations, and open rescues.  The group has been featured on Animal Voices several times before.

At the top of the hour, we connect with Ashkon Hobooti to hear about the 4th annual Vegan Rock, which will happen at The Boat in the Kensington Market on February 23rd.  Come listen to “happy, fun, upbeat” music from an all-vegan lineup of musicians — Dream Awake, Stefi Beck, Matt Zadkovich, and Hobooti himself — and indulge in some delectable bake sale goodies, including gluten free, raw, and nut free choices!  All proceeds will go to the Toronto Vegetarian Association.

Then, in our feature interview, we speak with Jennifer Cox, who writes about queer, gender, and feminist issues for Because We Must.  Because We Must writers strive to illuminate “both the diversity and interconnectedness of struggles against oppression”.  In her recent piece, Reproductive Justice: Arguments for Animal Advocates, Cox discusses the lessons animal advocates can take from the reproductive justice framework.  By looking beyond the reductionist way large national organizations frame issues, and listening to communities whose voices have been marginalized, advocates may discover a world of under-reported struggles, unique strategies, and potential allies. In this wide-ranging conversation, Cox also touches on the limits of rights-based activism, why animal liberation is a feminist issue, why people need to be “unapologetically out” about the causes they care about, and the vital importance of humility and acknowledgement of privilege in conversations within activist communities.

Animal Voices is happy to welcome back Amanda Lollar, founder and president of Bat World Sanctuary, a non-profit, volunteer run organization which has also built a network of Bat Rescue and Education Centers all over the US.  Founded in 1994, Bat World Sanctuary has been a permanent refuge for bats used in research, “retired” from zoos, orphaned, permanently injured or confiscated from the exotic pet trade.

The last time we spoke with Amanda Lollar was back in 1998- one of the earliest shows in the Animal Voices archive! Needless to say we had a lot to catch up on. Our favorite update was hearing about their rescue of The Little River Eight and Lil’ Drac, an orphaned short tailed fruit bat. In the videos below you can watch as Lil’ Drac grows stronger. His personality begins to emerge and volunteer caregivers at Bat World Sanctuary find out that he enjoys rocking himself after being fed.

Lil’ Drac Part 1

Lil’ Drac Part 2

Dylan Powell is back on the show to not only give us an update on the Marineland Animal Defense campaign but to also talk about the ways that MAD and Shark Allies Niagara have dealt with the threat of SLAPP lawsuits (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation). An important conversation considering the current climate of repression to environmental and animal rights activists.

After the break Kimberly Socha joins Dylan Powell to talk about the 11th Annual North American Critical Animal Studies Conference in Buffalo, New York from March 2-4, 2012 at Canisius College. We even get hear a little bit about Socha’s new book, “Women, Destruction, and the Avant-Garde: A Paradigm for Animal Liberation“ the first publication of a new Critical Animal Studies book series.

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Today’s show is inspired by to two very courageous Asian Elephants; 6-year old Mosha and 50-year old Motala. After losing their legs from landmine accidents, Mosha and Motala were given a second chance to walk again thanks to the efforts of Soraida Salwala, founder of Friends of the Asian Elephant Hospital in Lampang, Thailand. To talk about “The Eyes of Thailand“ a documentary film which tells the story of Soraida Salwala’s quest to help Motala and baby Mosha walk again, we are joined by Windy Borman, Director, Producer, and CEO of DVA Productions. Check out the trailer for the film below!

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We wanted to take some time on today’s show to look back at 2011 with the hope that it will help inspire an even better year of activism in 2012 as we work toward earth, animal, and human liberation. The Live Free Collective put it really well when reflecting on their first year of activism in 2011 when they wrote:

“Oppression is a collective process that surrounds us. It is easy to despair in response. It is our hope that this will provide perspective and motivate. Too often we lose sight of the important work that does get done and the end of a calendar year – and our first year – offers a great time to regroup and renew.”

So in keeping with The Live Free Collective’s hope to provide perspective and motivate, today's show is a special 2011 in review episode. Tune in to hear highlights from interviews with Jonathan Balcombe, Jason Hribal, Will Potter, Jenny Bundock, lauren Ornelas, and of course, we hear from Kevin Tillman who re-introduces us to the Vegan Hip-Hop anthem, “Hood Diet” by Loer Velocity featuring and produced by Donnan Linkz.

Enjoy!

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To talk about the incredible rescue efforts of the Beagle Freedom Project, we are joined by Shannon Keith, civil and animal rights lawyer, president and co-founder of Uncaged films, and president and founder of Animal Rescue Media Education (ARME).  Shannon tells us about her kind and generous work  to rescue beagles who have spent their entire lives caged in laboratories for use in experiments, including the rescue of 40 beagles from a Spanish laboratory in November, 2011.

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“A vegan diet is an effective and meaningful way to put your beliefs into practice,” say Virginia Messina and Jack Norris, authors of Vegan for life: Everything you need to know to be Healthy and fit on a Plant-Based Diet. But putting your beliefs into practice isn’t always easy with so many myths circulating about protein, iron, calcium, omega’s and B12. So for this week’s show we asked you to write in and share your vegan diet related questions. To answer your questions, we are joined by Virginia Messina, a registered dietitian and public health nutritionist specializing in vegan nutrition. All of the questions discussed in this interview along with information on everything from the Vegan Food Guide, raising vegan children, vegan diets for people over fifty, sports nutrition, managing wieght, heart disease and diabetes, as well as so much more can all be found in the book, Vegan for Life.

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We are joined by Joëlle Verdier, founder of CLAM and one of the 95 activists who occupied a bullfighting ring on October 8, 2011, in Rodilhan, France. The activists’ goal was to prevent apprentice Toreros from killing six calves by peacefully occupying the arena. As shown in the video below, the activists endured a violent beating from the crowd of spectators. Joëlle tells us about the bullfighting industry and reflects on the experience of using civil disobedience as a tactic to stop bullfighting in France.

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This week, we speak with Anita Krajnc from the Toronto Pig Save and Patti Blersch of the newly-created Burlington Pig Save. The Toronto Pig Save is a collective of artists, activists and writers based right here in Toronto; the group's almost weekly protests bear witness to the suffering of pigs en route to Toronto's biggest slaughterhouse, Quality Meat Packers. The protests have become something of a hub for Southern Ontario animal activists, drawing in many important figures from various other Toronto-based groups including ARK II, the University of Toronto Animal Rights Group, The Love and Rage Liberation Collective and the newly-created Stop York Animal Testing.

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This week we are joined by Juliana Machado Ferreira, Biologist and Ph.D. candidate at University of São Paulo, to talk about her work with SOS Fauna. SOS Fauna is a non-profit organization that combats wildlife trafficking and rehabilitates the victims of illegal trade. Check out Ferreira’s TED talk to see some incredible images of the animals she works to protect.

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Welcome to a jam-packed show inspired by a week of victories for animals after Toronto city council voted to both ban shark fin and send the surviving elephants at the Toronto Zoo to PAWS sanctuary in California. First, we’re joined by Julie Woodyer, campaigns director at Zoocheck Canada who (... More)

Welcome to a jam-packed show inspired by a week of victories for animals after Toronto city council voted to both ban shark fin and send the surviving elephants at the Toronto Zoo to PAWS sanctuary in California.

First, we’re joined by Julie Woodyer, campaigns director at Zoocheck Canada who tells us about the struggle to send Iringa, Toka, and Thika to a sanctuary and not another zoo. Woodyer also discusses the potential for this decision to have positive implications for Lucy, who is still living alone in the Edmonton Valley Zoo. (click here to listen to our interview about the ongoing case of Lucy the elephant)

Second, Nicholas Wright, Toronto based attorney and founding director of Lawyers for Animal Welfare helps us make sense of Toronto’s new  bylaw which bans possession, sale, trade and distribution of shark fins or their derivative products. Wright tells us about the details of ban and the how the issue of municipal jurisdiction threatened to thwart attempts to ban shark fins.

Finally, Claudia Li, founder of Shark Truth joins us to talk about the traditional significance of shark fin in Chinese culture and why she argues the practice of shark finning no longer fits with Chinese values. Li addresses the concern that it is cultural discrimination to ban shark fin and also responds to claims made by the Toronto Chinese Business Association that the ban is unfair and irresponsible. To learn more about Shark Truth’s work visit them on Facebook and Twitter, or check out their (less...)

Today we talk with Joyce Tischler, co-founder of the Animal Legal Defense Fund. As one and of the visionaries who has shaped the field of animal law, Tischler’s work has pushed the boundaries of the law to protect the lives and interests of animals. With unique insight into the creative legal strategies that attorneys have developed to protect animals, Tischler  tells us about the challenges animal lawyers are faced with while working within a legal system entrenched with the belief that human interests should always trump the interests of animals.

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In 2009, subway passengers from across Toronto were greeted with a provocative ad campaign that challenged them with a simple question: Why Love One But Eat The Other? The ads were put together and distributed by a dedicated Toronto team with the help of Mercy For Animals, and offered viewers information about factory farming in Canada, as well as some ethological facts about the chickens, pigs and cows that end up on their plate every day as food. This year, the ad campaign returns with the same dedicated team of volunteers making it happen, but a far expanded reach. Launched on October 11th, the campaign will see 1,000 ads across the Toronto subway system, sure to generate discussion and debate among the riders. Join us as we speak with Lisa Kramer and Kimberly Carroll, the minds behind the campaign as they discuss their motivation, their process, and even show some of the ads to a small early audience of subway riders.  The campaign will continue until the end of December.

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Rod Coronado. Just mentioning his name in animal rights circles is enough to generate discussion and debate about the ALF, about direct action more generally, and about the use of arson as a tactic specifically. Behind the name is a history spanning decades, from the cold waters of Iceland to the misty hills of Oregon, with many lessons to be learned along the way. Dean Kuipers, author and journalist based in California, documented the life and times of Rod Coronado for nearly two decades, earning his trust and the trust of his peers to be able to give a dispassionate insider's account of a segment of the animal and environmental movements that rarely opens itself up to outsiders. Throughout his work he paints a heartfelt but not uncomplicated portrait of a man driven to action by his passionate beliefs and love of animals and the earth; in our conversation we discuss access, the complicated nature of direct action campaigns, and what makes someone like Rod Coronado such a compelling figure, many years after his most prominent AR work.

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When it comes to the question of animal testing, advocates for animals are all too familiar with arguments rooted in a false dichotomy between “us or them.”  To respond to common myths and assumptions about the legitimacy of animal based research, Animal Voices welcomes Dr. Ray Greek, President and co-founder of Americans for Medical Advancement. Dr. Greek helps us better understand the scientific argument that because animals are not  predictive models for humans, animal testing is actually counterproductive and detrimental to human health and medical progress.

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With a growing industry of products, services, and even TV shows, dog training is big business in the United States and Canada. But some of the most popular practices in the dog training world are abusive and rely on dominance and intimidation to control behavior. Alana Stevenson, author of Training Your Dog the Humane Way: Simple Teaching Tips for Resolving Problem Behaviors & Raising a Happy Dog, joins us to talk about how to teach and learn with our animal companions by using positive, kind and compassionate methods. Stevenson’s work is a welcomed alternative to an industry awash with harmful training methods that don’t put the dogs interests first.

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This week we are joined by two guests from across the continent to talk about wolves. Sadie Parr, former director of the Canadian Wolf Coalition (which is now part of the Northern Lights Wildlife Wolf Centre) speaks to the Canadian context. Gary MacFarlan, Ecosystem Defense Director of Friends of the Clearwater, describes the situation for wolves living in the US.  Discussing issues like the wolf hunt, sterilization programs, and habitat loss from industry, the Animal Voices team is happy to host this interesting and informative conversation about the status of wolves in North America.

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This week we cover a recent Toronto event aptly named “10,000 Tastes, 10 Billion Reasons“. The event, held at both Young and Dundas Square (Canada’s busiest pedestrian intersection) and CIUT’s home at The University of Toronto’s Hart House, combined free vegan hot dogs with music, vegan celebrity appearances (including Farm Sanctuary co-founder Gene Baur and former Montreal Canadiens forward Georges Laraque) and a performance by this week’s guests, the co-creators of Vegan Meal Time.  We start off the show with event organizer, Shannon Kornelsen (whose blog, The Veganomaly, has a great review of the event) and then catch up with Ben and Justin who are Getting Friendly after the break. Tune in if you’re looking for a good laugh!

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