Hope for the Animals

In Episode 8, Hope offers her thoughts about the seemingly inescapable question posed to vegans, “Don’t plants feel pain?” She then interviews Lisa Levinson, director of In Defense of Animals’ Sustainable Activism Campaign. Lisa is also the founder of Vegan Spirituality, a group that explores veganism as a spiritual practice. More recently, she co-founded the Interfaith Vegan Coalition, a group that fosters an inter-religious collaboration to address animal cruelty. In this episode, Lisa and Hope discuss faith-based vegan advocacy, compassion fatigue, and spiritual support for vegans. Lisa also talks about her work with the National Goose Protection Coalition, which provides resources to help stop the slaughter of wild geese.  Resources and LinksInterfaithvegancoalition.org Interfaith@idausa.orgwww.idausa.org/veganspiritualitywww.idausa.org/compassionfatigue TheSpiritualForum.org/vegan-retreatVegan Spiritually FaceBook Pagegeese@idausa.org

Duck, Duck, Goose!  In this series of short shows, Hope will focus in on specific aspects of animal agriculture and answer the question of why are we vegan. In this fifth installment of the Reason for Vegan Series she talks about ducks and geese exploited in industry and the hidden cruelties of down, feathers, foie gras, and duck meat. Ducks and geese are waterfowl who not only desire to be in water, they need water for their health and well-being. When waterfowl are commodified in the industry, they are kept in filthy dark sheds without sufficient water to submerge themselves in. If they can’t bathe in water, they experience miserable conditions that are unique to their evolutionary need for water. 

Hope starts us off by exposing the contradictions inherent in labeling meat “humane.” Classifying the flesh of slaughtered animals as humane, or implying in the product marketing that the animals had a happy life, is a cognitive dissonance that most people don’t think about or don’t want to think about.She then has an informative interview with journalist and animal activist Martha Rosenburg who talks about her decades of reporting on the use of pharmaceuticals in animal agriculture. Martha and Hope discuss numerous aspects of animal agribusiness including: meat treated with ammonia gas, arsenic in turkey feed, antibiotic abuse and the potential impending catastrophe of human antibiotic resistance, and how conditions are so bad in slaughterhouses that even prisoners won’t work there.  “It is impossible to reconcile the principles of humane treatment with the inherently inhumane act of sending animals to slaughter, irrespective of how “good” a life they may have had.”  –Hope Bohanec, The Ultimate Betrayal: Is There Happy Meat? 

The latest episode of the Hope for the Animals Podcast is all about birds! We begin with an exploration of the wealth of scientific research revealing avian intelligence, emotional complexity, and sentience. Then we have an inspiring interview with Elizabeth Young, founder and director of Palomacy Pigeon and Dove Adoptions. Elizabeth shares the fascinating history of pigeons and inspiring stories about Palomacy’s rescue and adoption program. Elizabeth Young loved all animals but had no particular interest in pigeons. That is, until years ago, when she started volunteering at the San Francisco Animal Care & Control shelter, where she learned it was common for pigeons to come into shelters but never leave. The other animals—dogs and cats, rabbits and rats, parrots and snakes, farmed animals and wildlife—all had at least one rescue group to help them, but pigeons had none. Now with Palomacy Pigeon and Dove Adoptions, Elizabeth has saved the lives of more than 1,000 birds directly and helped countless others across the U.S. and beyond. She has come to know these charming birds and is mesmerized by their sweet nature. Listen to her moving story in Episode 6 of the Hope for the Animals Podcast.  Palomacy Pigeon and Dove Adoptions Palomacy FaceBook Help Group

Reason for Vegan Series: In this series of short shows, Hope will focus in on specific aspects of animal agriculture and answer the question of why are we vegan. In this fourth installment of the Reason for Vegan Series she talks about turkeys, tells the story of her first amazing encounter with a turkey, and exposes the turkey meat industry for its hidden cruelty. 

In Episode 5, Hope will inspire us with some good news for animals! Launching the new Glimmer of Hope segment, she will share a collection of recent positive advancements and media stories for animals that have been underreported with all that is going on in the world. In these trying times, we can all use some uplifting news. Then we have an interview with Melanie Joy, PhD. Melanie is a Harvard-educated psychologist, organizational consultant, trainer, and relationship coach. She is the author of six books including the award-winning book Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism, as well as Beyond Beliefs: A Guide to Improving Relationships and Communication for Vegans, Vegetarians, and Meat Eaters. Melanie has given her acclaimed carnism presentation and trained vegan advocates on six continents. Her work has been featured in major media outlets around the world.  In this podcast, Melanie and Hope talk about the concept of carnism, how it informs society’s relationship with farmed animals, and the distinction between carnism and speciesism. They also discuss the most effective communication methods for vegans encouraging pre-vegans to explore an animal-free diet. Don’t miss this episode with one of the most sought-after speakers in the animal rights movement today, Melanie Joy.  Recommended Reading: Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism Beyond Beliefs: A Guide to Improving Relationships and Communication for Vegans, Vegetarians, and Meat Eaters Powerarchy: Understanding the Psychology of Oppression for Social Transformation

In episode 4 we talk with Connie Spence, an outspoken vegan and anti-oppression activist whose work addresses a range of justice issues. In this podcast we will discuss using creative tactics in vegan activism, systemic racism in the food system, and unjust farm subsidies. Connie Spence is the founder of Vegan Justice League and the Agriculture Fairness Alliance. The Vegan Justice League educates vegan advocates about the issue of farm subsidies, and the Agricultural Fairness Alliance is a federal lobbying group influencing legislation to bring fairness back to farm policy by ending subsidies and bailouts. Connie has utilized creative tactics in her vegan activism. Using a large stage light, Connie has projected vegan messages onto buildings that could be seen from half a mile away. These seven-story tall projections have been shown in diverse locations such as on the Staples Center, on Las Vegas hotels, on freeways in Los Angeles, and many other prominent locations. Now, through her two sister organizations, she is dedicated to educating the community about how the food system is monopolized and rigged by livestock farmers and what we need to do to solve it. Agriculture Fairness Alliance is sponsoring federal legislation that will divert subsidies to programs that help struggling animal farmers transition to sustainable, plant-based, cruelty-free farming.  Learn more about how to support this legislation here.

Reason for Vegan Series: In this series of short shows, Hope will focus in on specific aspects of animal agriculture and answer the question of why are we vegan. In this third Reason for Vegan Series she will expose the truth behind egg industry labels like “cage-free” and “free-range.” These labels are gaining in popularity, but are they really better for the birds? To understand these labels, we must first look at the standard battery cage system and the multiple cruelties that all hens endure in the egg industry. These labels suggest that the hens are “happy,” but does cage-free really mean cruelty-free? 

On this episode, Hope digs into the Farm System Reform Act introduced by Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker. The bill is being pushed as an end to factory farming, could it be true? Then she has a conversation with Climate Healer’s Sailesh Rao about his campaign Vegan World 2026, overhauling society by seeing it as an engineering problem, and exploring what it would take to change the system to create a vegan world in just six years. 

In this episode, Hope will discuss the current pandemic crisis and how it is affecting our food supply, meat industry workers, and animals. Then we will activist and author Robert Grillo talking about his book Farm to Fable and his work with Slaughter Free Cities shutting down slaughterhouses in Chicago. Robert is the founder and director of Free from Harm, a non-profit dedicated to helping end animal exploitation. www.hopefortheanimalspodcast.org