Do you love Halloween? Do you like to dig deep into philosophical discussions of life and death? This episode might just be for you. Today’s show is a Halloween special with something a little different. In the first half, Hope explores the theme of cannibalism in zombie, vampire, and other fantasy and horror movies and shows how these stories actually underscore our speciesist tendencies. Then, in the second half of the show, Hope and her husband Cogen, have a conversation about why people love horror movies and ask the question, could it be that our society likes to eat meat because it’s a socially sanctioned murder? Or can horror movies help us to empathize with farmed animals that are experiencing the same horrors as the victims in the movies?

In this episode, we will delve into the discord between human rights and animal rights. This friction has been featured in various spheres: academic studies, the media, food and culture literature, food security issues, and the law which is where we will focus on today.

Maneesha Deckha is Professor and Lansdowne Chair in Law at the University of Victoria in British Columbia where she directs the Animals & Society Research Initiative. Her research expertise includes critical animal law, vegan ecofeminist theory, and postcolonial theory. She is the author of Animals as Legal Beings: Contesting Anthropocentric Legal Orders and has directed an open access documentary series designed for high school and undergraduate students called A Deeper Kindness: Youth Activism in Animal Law.

Maneesha gives real world examples of legal cases to show that there are cultural, racial, and indigenous rights concerns for extending legal rights to nonhuman animals and how we can mitigate these tensions. One example is the case brought on behalf of Happy the Elephant at the Bronx Zoo by the Nonhuman Animal Rights Project. She unpacks some of the history of these apprehensions and offers a framework for solidarity to move us forward for everyone’s benefit.

RESOURCES:

Books:

Trickster Trilogy by Eden Robbinson

Aphro-ism: Essays on Pop Culture, Feminism, and Black Veganism from Two Sisters by Aph Ko & Syl Ko

Sista Vegan edited by A. Breeze Harper

Brotha Vegan edited by Omowale Adewale

Please support this podcast:

Hope for the Animals Podcast

Compassionate Living

The humane hoax is alive and well all over the globe and today we are leaning how it is used in the UK. Rose Patterson is the Co-Director and Actions Coordinator for Animal Rising. After getting a masters in Animal Welfare Science, Ethics, and Law and working for World Animal Protection she joined Animal Rising in 2020. She has worked on the strategy for multiple campaigns, designed and coordinated dozens of actions and led large complex projects mobilizing hundreds of people, including the disruption of the Grand National horse race which garnered a great deal of press and most recently the largest investigation into animal farming in UK history targeting RSPCA Assured farms.

Rose shares Animal Rising’s work exposing humanewashing by the RSPCA and how as Rose says, the RSPCA is failing farmed animals. She also tells the story of Animal Rising’s infamous disruption of the Grand National Horse Race in Great Britain that got huge media coverage. Hope and Rose also talk about strategy and the importance of the grassroots in animal advocacy.

Resources:

Animal Rising

Support this podcast:

Compassionate Living

Hope for the Animals Podcast