Freedom of Species

There are some animal advocates that transform your thinking and how you approach your activism. Psychologist Melanie Joy and Animal Asia founder Jill Robinson come to mind. Well, add Sandra Higgins to the list. Sandra has a clarity of purpose that will inspire and challenge you.Sandra is the Founder and Director of Eden Farmed Animal Sanctuary and the creator of the world's largest vegan advertising campaign - 'Go Vegan World'. As a psychologist, Sandra is the Director of The Compassion Foundation of Ireland.Here are a couple of Sandra's presentations and some relevant resources:Irish Vegan Festival - 'What Other Animals Need From Us' on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74OzTrAgbDQSixth Annual Conscious Eating Conference -  'Go Vegan World & The Animals of Eden' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2xrfeHad-8Eden Farmed Animal Sanctuary http://edenfarmedanimalsanctuary.com/Go Vegan World https://goveganworld.com/Matilda's Promise http://www.matildaspromise.org/Image: Sandra & Charlotte (courtesy of Sandra Higgins)

Amanda Leeper talks about the cruel realities behind the chick hatching programs commonly run by Australian primary schools, kindergartens and child-care centres.  At face value, these programs seem to be a cute cuddly experience for all involved but the reality is very different, and the learning outcomes for the children are not necessarily positive.  Having successfully lobbied her local council and primary school to discontinue their hatching programs, Amanda is well-qualified to share her experiences and tips on how to speak out on behalf of these most vulnerable.RSPCA  http://kb.rspca.org.au/what-are-the-animal-welfare-issues-with-chick-hat...Edgars Mission  https://www.edgarsmission.org.au/hatching-a-good-idea/World of Animal Welfare  http://www.woaw.org.au/teachers/animals-and-education/for-the-birds-chic...Make It Possible homepage  http://www.makeitpossible.com/Melbourne Chicken Save homepage https://www.facebook.com/Melbournechickensave/

Throwing the baby out with the bathwater? It appears current feverish land clearing, mostly for pastoral animal agriculture, makes a mockery of efforts & money to protect threatened species, biodiversity & climate change mitigation.We chat with Dr Hugh Finn from Curtin Law School who wants the animal welfare implications of land clearing addressed,April Reside from Queensland University about the crazy levels of land clearing happening there now & Fiona Probyn-Rapsey from UNSW about why we have an unhelpful blind spot when it comes to land use and animal agriculture.Further information, including the history of land clearing in Qld, courteousy of the Wilderness Society:https://www.wilderness.org.au/land-clearing-queensland#4Here's the link to the APEEL organisation April Reside mentioned: http://apeel.org.auMentioned articles of interest: Hugh Finn  https://theconversation.com/land-clearing-isnt-just-about-trees-its-an-a...April Reside https://theconversation.com/just-ten-mps-represent-more-than-600-threate...Listen to this thought provoking talk by Fiona Probyn-Rapsey  titled,  "The Feral Amongst Us":http://www.freedomofspecies.org/show/fiona-probyn-rapsey-feral-amongst-us

Sandra Higgin's presentation at this year's Irish Vegan Festival titled What Other Animals Need From Us.  Sandra Higgins is Founder and Director of Eden Farm Sanctuary and the woman behind the largest vegan advertising campaign, Go Vegan World. As a psychologist, she is Director of The Compassion Foundation of Ireland.The talk is a motivation check for animal activists and an ethical check for vegetarians and those who still consume animals.  Irish Vegan Festival Sandra Higgins presentation What Other Animals Need From Us on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74OzTrAgbDQIrish Vegan Festival http://www.irishveganfestival.com/Eden Farmed Animal Sanctuary http://edenfarmedanimalsanctuary.com/Go Vegan World https://goveganworld.com/Matilda's Promise http://www.matildaspromise.org/

We hear from CEO Nick Spencer and Marketing Officer Phalkun Chan of Ibis Rice, in Phnom Penh. This project of the Wildlife Conservation Society protects some of Cambodia's most endangered wildlife species, particularly the iconic giant ibis, by collaborating with local rice farmers for a win-win outcome.Ibis Rice www.ibisrice.com

WORLD DAY FOR THE END FOR SPECIESISMNearly 50 years on from when British psychologist Richard Ryder coined the term 'speciesism', we now have a World Day for the End of Speciesism.It's a day to call for an end to discrimination against another purely on the basis of their species.Marches are being held in over forty cities in ten countries, including Melbourne, Sydney and Burleigh Beach in Queensland https://www.end-of-speciesism.org/en/Melbourne March for the End of Speciesism event details https://www.facebook.com/events/1415916478454442/Program interviews include:Clinical neuropsychologist Dr Ash Nayate - Speaker at the Melbourne March for the End of SpeciesismTrevor Weedon - Event organiser for the Melbourne March for the End of SpeciesismPaul York - Academic and activist - Animal Rights Academy http://animalrightsacademy.org/  & Comparing Racism & Speciesism presentation http://animalrightsacademy.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Comparingracismandspeciesism.pdfDr Brock Bastion - Voiceless the Animal Protection's  2014 Rethinking: Speciesism seminar series https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INu5VsBFBXk

We are savouring some sweet victories! We chat with Chris Del force from Aussie Farms whose 'ag gag' charges, as well as those of Dori Kiss, were dismissed. We also chat with Andy Meddick about the recent successful campaign that resulted in a refusal to permit a new greyhound breeding & training facility . Photo credit: the beloved Sputnik Meddick courtesy of the Meddick familyFor more info on 'ag gag' laws:https://www.voiceless.org.au/the-issues/ag-gagThe tune at the end of the show titled , "I will be their voice" is by Vegan Smythe: http://www.vegansmythe.com

Be inspired by the selflessness of lamb foster carers Emma Sullivan of Animal Liberation Victoria & Luke Westmoreland of Victorian Lamb Rescue, and get angry about the enormous yet largely unknown death toll of the Australian sheep industry. Victorian Lamb Rescue https://www.facebook.com/Victorianlambrescue/Animal Liberation Victoria https://www.alv.org.au/lamb-truth/End to the silence about 15 million dead lambs http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/end-to-the-silence-about-15-..."Where there's livestock, there's dead stock" - farmer Simon Teate http://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2015-07-10/sheep-lambing-booroola-lambs...Emma & Dawn the lamb photo credit: Love Bree Photography

2017 ICAS OCEANIA CONFERENCE - Forging Alliances and Intersections Dr Yamini Narayanan on Cow Protectionism And Indian Animal AdvocacyAudio provided by Progressive Podcast Australia https://progressivepodcastaustralia.com/Dr Yamini Narayanan is an ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) Senior Fellow at the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation.Her work explores the notion that that religion influences urban development in India, and must inform policy. India's scale and speed of urbanisation makes its sustainable urban development critical globally, yet modernist urban planning has failed to address slum growth, poverty, gender inequality and ecological crises.More recently, her research has begun investigate to the ways in which animals – particularly those regarded as heritage or sacred icons in India, such as cattle – are invoked as symbols of human identity politics and/or as resources for growth in cities. Animals have a significant yet invisible role of in city building, and urban religion can be complicit in enabling animal exploitation for urban development. Her work now also seeks to develop frameworks for multi-species inclusive urban planningInstitute for Critical Animal Studieshttp://www.criticalanimalstudies.org/Dr. Yamini Narayanan http://www.deakin.edu.au/about-deakin/people/yamini-narayananDr. Yamini Narayanan article Dairy, Death and Dharma:The devastation of cow protectionism in India https://www.animalliberationcurrents.com/dairy-death-dharma/

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."Photo credit: Greater Glider at home http://www.geco.org.au/