Animal Friendly

It's that time when we start getting ready for one of the biggest festive celebrations of the year! 

It's not what you think...I'm talking about Veganuary! 

Veganuary is a celebration of veganism that happens in January (and throughout the year) and it's going from strength to strength. People from over 228 countries and territories have taken part and more than 2,100 new vegan products and menu items were launched for Veganuary 2024. 

Anyone can take part. Just sign up with your email at https://veganuary.com/ to join the fun and learn about veganism in a friendly environment. There's no pressure and no judgement - everyone and anyone can participate. 

I had the pleasure of speaking with Sandra Hungate (U.S. Director of Veganuary) and learned about the start of Veganuary as well as how they spread the word through engagement with retailers, restaurants and organisations. Sandra obviously loves her work and her enthusiasm is contagious. She recommends starting to think about Veganuary now and getting your preparations ready for the new year. 

Veganuary - give it a go! 

https://veganuary.com/

 

Featured Music:

Another Good Day by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon
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If you're thinking, hmm, I've never heard the word philzoothropy before, you're right!

It's a totally new word. 

Philzoothropy is a love of animals, especially as shown by contributing time, money, influence etc to their general welfare. It's a new take on an existing word (philanthropy) and makes us think about how we can spend money in more intelligent ways, that helps both animals and humans. 

Sound clip taken from: MATTHIEU RICARD - A Plea for Animals, the Planet & Human Beings (english). Clip starts at 13:40 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDEQY6svpfM

Organisations mentioned in episode.

https://weanimals.org/

https://veganuary.com/

https://plantbasednews.org/

https://www.akashinga.org/

https://hiddeninsight.org/

Articles cited:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/how-does-a-word-get-into-the-dictionary

https://philanthropy.indianapolis.iu.edu/news-events/news/_news/2024/giving-usa-us-charitable-giving-totaled-557.16-billion-in-2023.html

https://www.charitiesregulator.ie/en/information-for-the-public/search-the-register-of-charities

https://www.cafonline.org/docs/default-source/uk-giving-reports/uk_giving_report_2024.pdf

https://mccrindle.com.au/article/charitable-giving-behaviour-in-australia/

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/364288/how-factory-farming-ends-animal-rights-vegans-climate-ethics

 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/01/eu-four-times-more-money-farming-animals-than-growing-plants-cap-subsidy

https://plantbasedtreaty.org/vegandonuteconomics/

Featured Music:

I Walk With Ghosts by Scott Buckley | https://soundcloud.com/scottbuckley
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Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

 

 

 

 

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When millions of people were forced to flee their homes due to the invasion of Ukraine, they were unable to take their companion animals with them. An estimated one million dogs and cats were left homeless and living on the streets.

Dan Fine heard about this from a Ukrainian friend in Vancouver, and he was moved to help.

He teamed up with volunteers and animal charities to organise missions to vaccinate and sterilise these stray pets, with two important aims. To prevent more dogs and cats being born, and to prevent the spread of rabies from wild animals to these strays and then to humans. 

It sounds like the plot of an action film but this is a race that’s happening in real time.

Dan came on the podcast to talk about their documentary, War Tails; which explains the problem, but also the solution.

www.wartails.org

War Tails trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_-rNAq0oF0&t=6s

www.uwarf.com 

Some Ukraine footage from K9 Rescue International:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpPZI0bY6cI

Featured music:

https://wartails.bandcamp.com/album/war-tails-original-soundtrack

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In this episode I was joined by Pei Feng Su, the founder of ACTAsia, to talk about her autobiography which has just been published.

Life of Pei: The Battle for Compassion takes us through Pei’s life from traumatic teenage years to her investigative work with the World Society for the Protection of Animals to the founding of ACTAsia, which aims to promote compassion for animals, people and the environment through visionary education programmes.

Pei has a unique perspective on both East and West and her book describes how animals, and indeed humans, are impacted by cultural norms in Asia that people in the West might not understand or appreciate.

ACTAsia have won many awards for their ground-breaking work and it was a real pleasure to talk to the author of a book that I enjoyed so much.

https://www.actasia.org/

https://www.actasia.org/about-us/peis-bio/

https://lanternpm.org/book/life-of-pei/

Live book launch on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/ACTAsiaEducation/videos/1294997104750728

Follow Pei:

LinkedIn @actasia

Instagram @actasia @peisu_

Facebook @actasia @pei f. su

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/11/farm-animals-and-humans-should-be-treated-the-same-children-say

Featured Music:

Uniqueness by Vlad Gluschenko | https://soundcloud.com/vgl9
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Creative Commons / Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC BY 3.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

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Julius Kirumira is a young vegan advocate from Uganda, who set up the organisation, Vegan Planet Africa, in 2019. They are committed to spreading awareness about the benefits of a plant-based lifestyle; not just as a dietary choice but as a conscious decision that aligns with their values of compassion, health and sustainability.

We talked about his dog, Max, who first inspired him to seek justice for animals; about the various projects that Vegan Planet Africa undertakes; about climate change and how his activism has helped him evolve and grow in his life. 

Although he displays great strength and determination himself, he never hesitates to credit those around him who have helped him in his journey and he emphasizes that we are all united in this fight to save our planet and to help animals.

Update: In this episode Julius talked about needing more funding to continue the Aqua Bloom Uganda Project. They received this funding and the project is continuing and expanding. With thanks to the Sanus Planet Foundation. https://sanusplanet.org/en/ 

Update: In 2026, Julius launched The African Institute for Animal Welfare. 

https://aifaw.org/

https://veganplanetafrica.org/

LInked In profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/all/?fetchDeterministicClustersOnly=true&heroEntityKey=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_profile%3AACoAADuYAvcBVUPJE40WmCfjGfE6lxFtXLbQMtE&keywords=julius%20kirumira&origin=RICH_QUERY_TYPEAHEAD_HISTORY&position=0&searchId=a62db5c7-9c5a-4803-b6b4-a0850061f854&sid=r_~&spellCorrectionEnabled=true

https://mariquitasolis.com/

https://loveforalluganda.org/atlas-vegan-community-school/

https://vegnews.com/vegan-news/uganda-first-vegan-school-zoonotic-disease

Julius talking to Mariquita Solis:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnIFUGHWYRI&t=2581s

Julius talking on SanusPlanet podcast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPwyobMLs6E

Featured music:

'They Didn't Know It Was Impossible' by Sapajou

Free download: https://bit.ly/3awa3Jg

 

 

 

  

 

 

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Dog Advocacy Ireland is a dedicated group that campaigns for meaningful change regarding dog welfare protection in Ireland.

There are thousands of dogs in puppy farms all around Ireland, to the extent that we are known as the puppy farm capital of Europe. These dogs lead utterly miserable lives while their pups are easily bought and then discarded after a few months or years.

It is left to the Irish animal rescue groups to deal with this excessive dog population and they are now under tremendous pressure. An overhaul of Ireland’s dog breeding legislation is crucial and I talked to Zara about this, as well as other DAI objectives.

If you love dogs then you'll want to hear about their work and maybe even get involved yourself! 

https://dogadvocacyireland.ie/

https://dogadvocacyireland.ie/objectives/

https://www.irishtimes.com/podcasts/in-the-news/how-did-ireland-become-the-puppy-farm-capital-of-europe/

https://www.corkbeo.ie/news/local-news/operation-begins-remove-220-doneraile-26072017

https://dogadvocacyireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Inside-Irelands-E120m-puppy-farm-industry-%E2%80%94-where-designer-dogs-sell-to-Singapore-for-E5000.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDqyOLCFJ3c

https://www.animalfriendly.earth/17-protect-animals-protect-people/

Featured Music:

Folk Travel Vlog | A Folk Story by Alex-Productions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKCEd2cKKjg| 

Music promoted by http://onsound.eu/

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Eurogroup for Animals brings together 98 animal protection organisations with the aim of providing a voice for animals in the European Parliament. Their work encompasses many areas of concern, such as, animal use in science, trade and animal welfare, aquatic animals, wildlife, equines, farm animals and much more. 

In this episode I talked to their CEO, Reineke Hameleers, about four main topics; the current state of animal welfare legislation in Europe; obstacles to moving to animal-free science; food system transformation...and the Vote For Animals campaign which is currently underway on the run up to the European Elections in June 2024.

Animal advocacy and activism comes in different forms and it was fascinating and compelling to hear about this important work being done in the political arena, and how we can all take part in it.

https://www.eurogroupforanimals.org/

https://www.eurogroupforanimals.org/vote-animals

https://www.eurogroupforanimals.org/what-we-do/areas-of-concern/use-animals-science-still-too-high

https://www.eurogroupforanimals.org/what-we-do/areas-of-concern/food-system-transformation

https://www.eurogroupforanimals.org/news/why-meps-and-spitzenkandidaten-should-sign-vote-animals-pledge

https://www.eurogroupforanimals.org/news/italy-bans-cultivated-meat-and-meat-related-labelling-plant-based-food

https://www.eurogroupforanimals.org/library/illusion-choice-why-someone-already-decided-what-you-will-eat-lunch

It's time to think outside the cage. TED talk by Charu Chandrasekera

https://www.ted.com/talks/charu_chandrasekera_it_s_time_to_think_outside_the_cage

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2024/3/20/24105735/peak-meat-livestock-emissions-plant-based-climate-deadline

https://animal.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/Paris-compliant-livestock-report.pdf

Featured Music:

No. 4 by The Denotes | https://thedenotes.bandcamp.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons / Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)
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Mark Randell retired from the police as a Detective Inspector and has since dedicated his life to preventing animal crime, abuse and exploitation through education and investigation.

His organisation – Hidden in Sight – helps law enforcement and animal groups investigate abuse, as well as training police around the world to integrate animal welfare protection into their work of safekeeping the community.

He is also campaigns manager for Nature Watch Foundation and their campaign – Protect Animals, Protect People – calls on those engaged in the public protection of humans to include animal welfare in their policies, strategies and legislation.

We had a really interesting and wide-ranging chat about the need to treat animal abuse and exploitation seriously – both for the sake of the animals and as a way of targeting those who would also harm humans.

And I got both a film and a book recommendation at the end - excellent!

Please note: we did not go into any graphic details of animal abuse in the discussion.

https://naturewatch.org/campaigns/protect-animals-protect-people/

https://hiddeninsight.org/

https://naturewatch.org/

Francesca Sorcinelli, "Links between animal and human violence in Italy".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3JPmAW86dM

Teena Stoddard, "Human Violence and the links with animal abuse".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SS1UcIRGiQ

Slay (movie about fashion industry and use of animals)

https://www.slay.film/

Defending Animals by Kendra Coulter.

https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262048286/defending-animals/

Featured music: 

The Leap by Sapajou | https://soundcloud.com/sapajoubeats
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons / Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC BY 3.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US   

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Welcome to the first native wild bee sanctuary on the planet, nestled in the south-east of Ireland. 

I talk to Paul Handrick about the process of setting up a bee sanctuary, and what needs to be done to rescue the wild native bees of Ireland, and restore our wider environment in the process.

We talk about letting gardens go wild; about farmers caught in an unsustainable system and their desire to restore the countryside to former glories; checking if bee-friendly plants really are that friendly,  and how a queen bee tells you to Buzz Off!

Join me as we head on over to Coolafancy…

www.thebeesanctuaryofireland.com

www.savingbees.ie

Where to find Paul...

X                  @the_beeguy
Instagram     @beesanctuaryireland
Facebook     @beesanctuaryireland
Mastodon     @[email protected]

Artwork thanks to Clare-Louise Donelan: Common Carder Bumblebee foraging on Bush Vetch 

The Dave Goulson study that was mentioned…

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749117305158

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/lifesci/goulsonlab/blog/bee-friendly-flowers

Featured music:

Mountain Mist by Vlad Gluschenko | https://soundcloud.com/vgl9
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons / Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC BY 3.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

 

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Based on personal experience - sadly - this episode talks about the efforts made to try and find a lost cat; meandering around topics like the kindness of strangers, labyrinths, Yeats and Schrodinger's Cat. 

The cat in question, Goldie, hasn't been found yet - this episdoe will be updated if/when he ever is.

FOUND!!! Goldie was found after 14 months of living as a stray and is now home, eating and playing and sleeping like nothing ever happened. There is a 2 minute update at the end of the episode. 

 

Please support your local cat rescue groups.

https://www.galwaycatrescue.ie/

https://www.facebook.com/galway.catrescue

https://www.facebook.com/galwaymayolostandfound

found cats only (Ireland) on Facebook (private group)   https://www.facebook.com/groups/1524533841376115

Featured Music:

Another Door by Savfk | https://www.youtube.com/savfkmusic
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Secret Love from Calamity Jane.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU8tQpCZEzg

Forever Autumn by Justin Hayward.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJbp_GjD9VE

Daniel Day Lewis in Last of the Mohicans.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poxnVl2bBPQ

The Cat and the Moon (WB Yeats) read by Robert Lindsay.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2LrPWXrLHU

Aisling's Song from The Book of Kells.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32DM5tNeHBA

All efforts have been made to contact the copyright holders of any clips used in this episode. If you are a copyright holder and are unhappy with the use of your clip, please do get in touch at [email protected]

 

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