Fact: In Victoria, old growth native forests, home to many threatened species, are still being cut down for low grade cheap paper products. Volunteer citizen scientists are on the front line of defence saving hundreds of hectares of forest. We speak with Ed Hill from GECO, Goongerah Environment Centre, East Gippsland. "The fact that citizen surveys are repeatedly finding threatened species in forests that have not been appropriately surveyed raises questions about the functionality of the regulatory system."
Roy Taylor interviews Justin Kerswell of Viva!. Viva! has been supporting Australian activist groups by campaigning against the sale of kangaroo meat in the UK for over 20 years.
Viva's campaign against kangaroo meat began in 1994 and had notable success with UK supermarket Tesco cancelling the sale of kangaroo meat. However the kangaroo killing industry, has not rested, and they continuesto promote their products across the world, both in supermarkets and in clothing. In 2006, Viva!'s ongoing campaign saw David Beckham refuse to wear kangaroo leather boots, now wearing cruelty-free synthetics.
Recent good news came with Morissons and Tesco removing kagaroo from their shelves, however the campaign continues, with Iceland and Lidl current campaign targets.
Please help protect Australian wildlife, for more information:
Every year, hundreds of brumbies lose their freedom & are transported for slaughter. We discuss this & find out what is going on with the wild horse draft management plan for Kosciuszco National Park with Peter Cochran of Snowy River Mountain Bush Users Group & Mae Lee Sun from Wild Horse Journal.
Photo of Trooper, a 'lucky' brumby that escaped slaughter.
Via Voiceless, the Animal Protection Institute Few Australians are aware of the real economic forces behind the production of meat, fish, eggs, and dairy.
Animal food producers rely on government subsidies, artificially low prices, and influence over legislation and regulation to provide the cheap meat, eggs and dairy to which consumers have become accustomed.
We chat with Ren Hurst, founder of New World Sanctuary. Ren gives us a lot to think about when it comes to our relationship with horses and how training can shut down a healthy conversation between human and horse, and, well, many other sentient beings!
We speak to Sally Hunter, an animal and human rights activist who works to end the oppression of all individuals. Sally describes the connections between the animal and human rights movements, what they do well and what they can learn from each other.
Lorinda (founder and president, pictured) and Natalie (committee member) explain why palm oil has become so popular in food manufacturing and its consequences for orangutans and other forest species of Indonesia and Malaysia. They also describe how Palm Oil Investigations has become a force to be reckoned with and how governments prefer consumers to remain ignorant of the ingredients and impacts of their purchases.
On this episode, we hear a talk by Dr Nick Pendergrast called Cowspiracies about Meat Eating Environmentalists: A Critical Examination of the Environmental Vegan Movement, delivered at the 2016 Institute for Critical Animal Studies Oceania Conference in Canberra, and we remember non-human mothers by reading out some stories and messages from listeners.
We chat with Sydney Fox Rescue about 1080 poison which is used to kill foxes and in its usage kills many other 'unwanted' and 'wanted' species. Andy Meddick from AJP also joins us to shed light on this very dark & cruel poison.
Anita Krajnc returns to Freedom of Species to discuss how Toronto Pig Save has inspired an animal save movement; pig, chicken, cow, sheep and soon-to-be fish save groups are bearing witness to animal suffering and changing hearts and minds all over the world. We also hear about the #pigtrial that is proving #compassionisnotacrime in the Canadian courts and garnering global media attention.
If you missed the National Day of Action for Greyhounds on April 9th, fret not. We recorded the following speakers at the Melbourne rally: Dr Eleonora Gullone, Brian Murray, Dr Helen Jeges, Kim Oxley, Dr Sonja Kassenboehmer and Jennifer Davis. We also chatted a bit further with Dr Helen Jeges about the Victorian Government's promotion of greyhound racing to children.
We speak with Philip Sutton, a climate campaigner and long time environmentalist. In 2008, Philip co-authored the book ‘Climate Code Red: The Case for Emergency Action’. Since the release of the book, Philip has continued to work on strategies and actions for achieving a safe climate. We chat with Philip about what a safe climate is and why climate change IS an animal issue.
We get an update from Damien, the Australian founder & CEO of the International Anti-Poaching Foundation. The IAPF primarily exists to protect rhinos and elephants from the ruthless organised crime syndicates that deal in rhino horn and elephant tusks. He explains what's developed in southern Africa since he was here in the 3CR studio in May last year. This includes the recent vicious attacks on two IAPF rangers in Mozambique, IAPF's new accredited training program for anti-poaching rangers, and South Africa's plans to legalise the trade in rhino horn.
A panel discussion from the 2016 Institute for Critical Animal Studies Oceania Conference, held in Canberra (Australia). Panelists: Three Australian activist scholars - Jess Ison, Nick Pendergrast and Lara Drew.
The panelists reflect on their experiences of anarchism and animal liberation; a critical dialogue into the causes of speciesism whilst taking a broader view of social justice and the nature of oppression.
Meg Good from 'Voiceless - The Animal Protection Society' discusses Australian animal law and how it is used to persecute and protect non-human animals. Meg combines a passion for animal, environmental and social justice with a deep knowledge of law and skills in education to work for the development of animal law in Australia and the protection of non-human animals.
We're joined in the studio by two highly-experienced environmental communicators, Angela Rutter of the Australian Conservation Foundation and Doug Gimesy of communication consultancy The Framing Effect. They share their wealth of knowledge on how to most effectively deliver your message to engage audiences and, further, how to motivate them to act.
For many people who consume animal flesh, slaughterhouses act as a black box where animals enter and “meat” emerges.
This week, we're joined by Dilan, one of the organisers of the March To Close All Slaughterhouses event that will be happening on the 11th March in Melbourne.
Listen to hear about what the March To Close All Slaughterhouses is attempting to do, what it symbolises, and how you can get involved.
Building lush golfing greens in corella country may not have been the brightest of ideas but when the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning approved a permit to kill the native birds to stop them feeding on the fairways it's not surprising that the community was outraged.
Members from Deakin University Vegan Society, Monash Vegan Society, and University of Melbourne Animal Protection Society joined us in the studio to discuss all things veganism and animal protection at University campuses. Universities have a large audience of young people ready to connect with the animal movement. We'll learn how these three groups are making those connections and how well it's working.
Founders of Melbourne Chicken Save, Melbourne Cow Save, Melbourne Pig Save & the newest Melbourne Sheep Save join us in the studio to talk about their place in the growing worldwide Save Movement for farmed animals. They explain what the principle of "bearing witness" means in practice, the purposes of their rallies and slaughterhouse vigils, and what each group is up to.
On our first show back from the summer break, we speak with Kristin Leigh of Animal Liberation Victoria about a series of vigils they have been holding at Melbourne slaughterhouses. Kristin tells us about why ALV has been doing this activism, what they have witnessed and what happened when dozens of police showed up to one of their recent peaceful vigils.
For many, the goodwill of sharing a meal at Christmas often camouflages the animal cruelty when it comes to pigs in the food production system. For activists, there is much opportunity to speak up for these individuals this festive season.
Josh Agland - Where time is money and compassion is a cost. Ex-industry insider who worked in an abattoir for 3 years explored the realities of a modern slaughterhouse, and the effect they have on animals, workers and the surrounding community.
Our guest is Lawrence Pope - a successful campaigner for bats (he stopped a massive culling of flying foxes in Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens years ago), cats, dogs in relation to traps, horses (in particular jumps racing) & author of "The Teeth of Beasts" & "Some Touch of Pity " which give rare and transparent insights into these journeys of activism & campaigning in all their
There is a lot yet to be researched and articulated surrounding the issue of wild horses in Australia. One thing is clear though. Our wild horses are not being given a fair go when one takes into consideration the more current understandings of a wild horse in the ecology, let alone the immense suffering of a wild animal trapped & killed in a slaughterhouse for pet food.
The introduction of the Australian brushtail possum to New Zealand for the fur industry has resulted in a highly successful population of approximately 30 million. We speak with Hans Kriek of SAFE New Zealand about the broad context of the issue, including the possum's entrenched demonisation in NZ society. We also hear from Nicholas Holm of Massey University about how the possum takes the blame for the ongoing degradation of the NZ environment by the #1 predator and pest species - the human.
The show features Alexandra Sedgwick, animal activist, former science student at Deakin University and founder of Cruelty Free Labs Australia. Alexandra discusses what led her to start the organisation, and where to next for her and CFLA.
This week, the FOS team will be joined in the studio by our friend Justine Curatolo who has recently returned from volunteering in Zimbabwe with the International Anti-Poaching Foundation.
Last April, we recorded the fantastic talk given by Dr Michael Klaper at Melbourne's Astor Theatre, an event hosted by Animal Liberation Victoria. Dr Klaper is an acclaimed doctor, dedicated environmentalist, and passionate educator. He has been a champion of the vegan diet since the early 1980s, recognising the devastating impacts that animal agriculture has on human and planetary health and, of course, on animals.
We chat in the studio with Adam Cardilini, an ecologist at Deakin University. Adam tells us about his journey to becoming an animal rights activist, educator, and scientist. He also speaks about his animal advocacy training project that's been short-listed for a funding grant by Voiceless, his VeganSci initiative, and his recent attendance at the Institute for Critical Animal Studies (ICAS) Oceania conference in Canberra.
Catherine Cadden has been an educator since 1987 finding alternatives to teaching, learning, and conflict resolution that work with the principles of nonviolence. She is a certified trainer with the Center for Nonviolent Communication bringing over 14 years of experience practicing, living and teaching Nonviolent Communication (NVC) internationally to participants of all ages. Catherine is also the author of Peaceable Revolution Through Education.
Kate Raffin grew up in rural Australia and is a visual artist who enjoys many forms of communicating. For the last 7 years, Kate has studied with and assisted various local and international Nonviolent Communication (NVC) trainers. This includes training with the founder of NVC, Dr. Marshall Rosenberg. Kate offers foundation training in NVC and runs practice groups that aim to support the integration of these skills. She is a trained facilitator and mediator and works with specialist groups, including aged care workers, Juvenile Justice, parents, teachers and children. Find out more about Kate at www.kateraffin.com
This week's show will feature an interview with Dr Peter John Chen. Ahead of his upcoming talk at October's Animal Activists Forum we chat with Peter about lessons that can be learned form the history of the animal rights movement in Australia.
Peter John Chen DipMR, BComm(Hons), PhD is a lecturer in Australian politics, media and policy at the University of Sydney. He is the author of Electronic Engagement: A Guide for Public Managers (ANU E Press, 2007), Australian Politics in a Digital Age (ANU Press, 2013), and the forthcoming Animal Welfare in Australia: Politics and Policy (Sydney University Press, 2016).
Has the use of the word 'feral' been a great weapon of distraction from the institutionalised violence & environmental destruction caused by the livestock industry? We play a thought-provoking presentation by Fiona Probyn-Rapsey from the School of Humanities & Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong.
Paul Mahony, climate change & animal rights campaigner, describes the links he's found between Australia's environmental organisations & the livestock industry, which he's mapped out in his online presentation "The Link That Too Many Ignore". Could this explain why so few people are talking about the very significant role of animal agriculture in climate change?
Lucy's Project is hosting the Domestic Violence & Animal Abuse, International Perspectives Conference in November. We chat with the creator of Lucy's Project, Anna Ludvik, & also chat with Lisa Craig about the project "Saving Grace" which she has co-created with photojournalist Richard Wainwright & will be launching at the conference.
Do we have to choose between native wildlife and cats? Before we go to a cruel & expensive war on cats, the Threatened Species Commissioner is holding a round table on this issue.
"Dairy is often promoted as a ‘no harm’ industry, yet at the core of this multi-billion dollar business is the exploitation of the dairy cow and her calf."
Voiceless sat down last year with a dairy farmer, a vegan, an academic and an animal activist to talk about the ethics of high production dairy farming in Australia.
We hear from Shir Friedman of Israeli food biotech start-up SuperMeat, about the anticipated arrival of cultured meat into our supermarkets. "Cultured meat packs a triple punch. First, it helps drastically reduce unsustainable environmental impacts that are common in the current meat industry. Second, it will set free countless of animals who currently undergo tragic conditions prior to slaughter.
Jonathan Balcombe is the director of animal sentience at the Humane Society Institute for Science and Policy and the author of a number of books, including Second Nature, Pleasurable Kingdom, and the newly released What a Fish Knows. Balcombe has three biology degrees, including a PhD in ethology from the University of Tennessee, where he studied communication in bats. A popular commentator, he has appeared on Fresh Air with Terry Gross, the BBC, and the National Geographic Channel, and in several documentaries, and has contributed features and opinions to The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Nature, and other publications. He lives in Florida. Find him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter at @Jonathanpb1959, and visit his website at www.jonathan-balcombe.com
Ed Hill - GECO
Fact: In Victoria, old growth native forests, home to many threatened species, are still being cut down for low grade cheap paper products. Volunteer citizen scientists are on the front line of defence saving hundreds of hectares of forest. We speak with Ed Hill from GECO, Goongerah Environment Centre, East Gippsland.
"The fact that citizen surveys are repeatedly finding threatened species in forests that have not been appropriately surveyed raises questions about the functionality of the regulatory system."