NYK Politics

In the wake of NYK’s february focus on factory farm animal welfare, listen as NYK Executive Director Kathryn Sussman and Animal Justice Executive Director, Camille Labchuk, hash out the crucial significance of agricultural gag legislation (ag-gag laws). Kathryn and Camille discuss why the public needs to be informed about ag-gag laws, and why it is crucial that we all take a proactive role in striking them down. Ag-gag laws do not serve the best interest and welfare of factory farmed animals, and, in fact, they need to be struck down if these animals are to be protected from inhumane treatment and atrocious living conditions. 

At the outset of their discussion, Labchuk provides a brief history of ag-gag laws, and explains how they were created in response to undercover investigations of factory farming operations. The early ag-gag laws, in the nineties, banned recording images or sounds at factory farming operations without the owner’s consent. By 2013, ag-gag bills were introduced to many state legislatures across the United States. Fortunately, many states rejected the bills, and in states like Utah, Iowa, and Kansas, ag-gag laws were challenged and struck down in court on the grounds that they were unconstitutional as they are a violation of free speech.

Kathryn and Camille discuss Canada’s ag-gag Bills, in particular Ontario’s proposed 156. This bill makes it illegal for any person to be on farms and slaughterhouse facilities  without the owner’s consent. It also bans the public from impeding transport trucks carrying farm animals, and it prohibits interacting with farm animals on transport trucks without prior consent. Lubchuk explains that Bill 156 targets animal protection organizations that seek to expose hidden cruelty in farms and slaughterhouses. According to Labchuk, Bill 156 is a piece of crafted legislation which essentially attempts to hide animal abuse from the public, allowing factory farms to prioritize profit-making at the expense of farmed animal welfare. 

“I think it’s important to note that undercover employees and whistleblowers who come forward, are essentially the public’s only eyes and ears on farms and the reason for that is that the government doesn’t regulate on farm conditions, and they don’t oversee or monitor them either. So, there’s no government inspection on farms on a daily basis or any basis.” – Camille Lubchuk

Labchuk points out how 819 million land animals are farmed for food in Canada without any government regulation or oversight for their welfare, from birth to slaughter (2018).  As a result, undercover investigative efforts at farms and slaughterhouses are often the only way that exposes farm animal abuse. She explains that the lack of marketplace transparency of  ag-gag laws do not reflect the public’s will for the treatment of farm animals – people care deeply about animals, including the majority of the meat-eating public.

Listen as Kathryn and Lubchuk examine and expose the weakness and counterintuitive nature of Bill 156, and the arguments put forward by proponents of ag-gag laws.  Learn about the powerful impact of animal vigils on the welfare of farmed animals, and how Bill 156 targets these peaceful acts of compassion and freedom of expression.

Now you know!

In this episode of NYK Politics, Kelly Donithan, senior specialist with the Disaster Operations at Humane Society International (HSI), Washington D.C., takes us on a startling journey: join us as we see through the eyes of personnel on the ground in Australia as they face the hard reality of rescuing wildlife amidst the perils and aftermath of the fires.

Listen as Donithan describes her experience leading wildlife-rescue efforts on Kangaroo Island, the third largest island off the coast of Australia, and one of the most heavily affected locations: the island has now lost 1,700 square miles to the flames.

Kathryn and Donithan discuss the length and severity of this record-breaking fire season in Australia. Donithan underscores how the temperatures have been hotter and the conditions drier than in the past, and so the fires have burned far more intensely and on a much grander scale. The fires have taken human lives and livestock, destroyed property and vegetation, and devastated the wildlife population so unique to Australia.

“We come across clusters of bones that if you touch them, they just kind of disintegrated into a powder . . . I mean they were just on such a hot fire – the temperatures being hotter and the weather just being drier. The fires have burned far more intensely and, and on a much grander scale than they have in the past.” – Kelly Donithan

Donithan describes the array of species that are part of the wildlife rescue and recovery efforts, including subspecies of kangaroos, wallabies, bandicoots and koalas. Kangaroo Island has a high density of koalas, so the rescuers have found many dead, but have also been able to help others that are still alive and suffering the extremely traumatic and challenging aftermath of the devastation.

Listen as Donithan explains that the rescuers’ number one priority is to keep animals in the wild, and not to intervene if it is not absolutely necessary. Rescue teams are monitoring injured wildlife from afar and are working with local people to determine each individual’s survival capacity.

Kathryn and Donithan discuss the misleading images in media footage of seemingly content and social koalas in the arms of humans after having been rescued. In fact, Donithan points out that such states of compliance are a sign of severe physiological and often emotional trauma, resulting from exhaustion, dehydration, malnutrition, or for the young animals, separation from their mothers.

Using GPS pins, the wildlife rescue teams also assess areas where koalas are high up in trees, checking once or even twice a day – rescuers want to be there for koalas when they move down to the ground. While it is not normal behaviour for koalas to drink, as they get most of their hydration through the eucalyptus leaves they eat, the rescuers are putting out water stations as many of the eucalyptus trees have been destroyed or severely damaged by the fires. The water stations also benefit other species of animals, like kangaroos and wallabies, in these areas, and are a major part of the next phase of recovery, along with food stations, as the main rescue effort winds down on Kangaroo Island.

Now you know!

In this episode of Now You Know Politics, Kathryn Sussman talks with Liz White, Executive Director of Animal Alliance of Canada and leader of the Animal Protection Party of Canada about Canadian wildlife management and culling practices. Listen as Liz outlines why “management” came about in the early 1900’s in Canada, its pros and its cons, and the differences between government-sanctioned hunting, and culling.

This week on NYK Politics, Kathryn Sussman and Zoocheck founder Rob Laidlaw give an overview of the most pressing animal welfare & environmental topics that Canadians should consider when casting their vote at the 2019 federal election.

This week on NYK Politics, Kathryn Sussman and Zoocheck founder Rob Laidlaw give an overview of the most pressing animal welfare & environmental topics that Canadians should consider when casting their vote at the 2019 federal election.

They describe the links between climate change and conservation issues, as well as the biggest threats faced by animal species in Canada. Climate change can’t be discussed in isolation from animal welfare, and we should bridge the gap that creates a disconnect traditionally as all these questions are interwoven and affect the whole planet, including us as human beings.

This month on NYK Politics, Kathryn Sussman and Zoocheck founder Rob Laidlaw discuss the multiple uses of animals in the academic curriculum. Dissection is still going strong among classroom activities despite decades of parents and kids opposing it and various studies proving its ineffectiveness in teaching; but also live animals are kept as pets in the classroom and school outings to nearby animal facilities and local zoos remain a favourite.

Listen as insider advocates Kathryn Sussman and Rob Laidlaw summarize the differences between sanctuaries, large commercially run zoos, and privately owned, small facilities often referred to as roadside zoos and their sometimes dubious links to the film industry. Kathryn and Rob discuss the hard-to-regulate status of various types of animal institutions with a number of current issues in the news, and they list ways that visitors can identify and avoid facilities that are not ethically sound.

Listen as Kathryn Sussman and Zoocheck founder Rob Laidlaw outline mainstream hot topics regarding large mammal welfare in captivity. Starting with the low-down on Canada’s recent adoption of Bill S-203 banning whale and dolphin captivity and what it really means for cetaceans, Kathryn and Rob then touch on the well-being of other wide-ranging animal species, getting into the specifics for elephants, and whether their needs can be properly met in zoos, especially in Canada.

In this episode, Kathryn Sussman and Rob Laidlaw, leading animal rights advocate for over 30 years, outline current hot topics derived from the latest news related to cetaceans.

Kathryn and Rob scrutinize the current status of Canadian Bill S-203 – Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act – that will prohibit the taking of a cetacean into captivity and will require a permit for the import and export of a cetacean. They also explore the controversy surrounding the Vancouver Aquarium lawsuit against the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Park Board. Plus, have you seen the viral images of the adorable therapy whale Simeon, who showed up in Norwegian waters only to be deemed a Russian spy?!

Kathryn leads the discussion with Rob not only about these recent events that have the power to deeply impact individual cetaceans and their future in Canada and abroad, but also about the profound underpinnings of why humans, as a species, make things as difficult as we do when it comes to changing the very practices that are harming our planet and the wildlife with which we share it. Many of us have heard about the latest International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) report underscoring that there are currently a million species at risk of extinction. Take part in Kathryn and Rob’s analysis of the best strategies to prompt society to join efforts in fixing this disastrous problem, as it will inevitably, and drastically, affect the human species.

“The last thing anyone should lose is hope… what if the next person that gets involved tips that whole thing towards another direction… maybe all the people thinking it’s a bleak future are wrong… maybe things can be changed, so let’s see!” – says Rob Laidlaw remaining hopeful.

Now you know!

Conclusion:

Be part of the change!

Simply avoid going to facilities that are housing whales or dolphins

If you do go to visit a facility housing whales or dolphins, express your concern or voice your displeasure with these exhibits

Find humane whale-watching tour operators if you are going to participate in eco-tourism

Contact your local elected officials asking for legislation that discontinues captivity of whales and dolphins

Contact organizations and take action in establishing viable solutions for the future of these animals, such as sanctuaries that provide rehabilitation, open-ocean enclosures and ideally release

Support Bill S-203 and write to your local officials in favor of Bill S-203..

Help us spread the word by sharing this podcast in your network

What’s next?

•   Write to your local MP, to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna, and to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, asking them to adopt Bill S-203 before it is too late.

•   Help us spread the word and keep track of parliament updates. As of May 2019, Bill S-203 has passed Committee without amendments and is now in Third and final reading in the House of Commons. The more of us that can pressure the government to pass this legislation, the likelier we are to finally have an end to the wild capture and captivity of whales and dolphins in Canada.

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