Compassionate Living

Hope for the Animals Podcast

The wait is over! Hope Bohanec’s book is finally out! Our host of the Hope for the Animals Podcast, Hope Bohanec, has released an anthology called The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat, Humane Dairy, and Ethical Eggs published by Lantern Publishing and Media. As humanewashing and greenwashing become more prevalent and pervasive, this volume, with 18 contributing authors, activists and academics, exposes the humane hoax from every angle.

We have two guests on the podcast today for our first session of the Humane Hoax Book Club to discuss the book. Alastor Van Kleeck has a Ph.D. in English and co-founded the Triangle Chicken Advocates Sanctuary as well as The Microsanctuary Movement. Alastor also co-founded The Humane Hoax Project with Hope and wrote a chapter for the new book. Much of Alastor’s writing is available at strivingwithsystems.com. Also joining us is Sena Crutchley. Sena is an associate professor and long-time animal rights and environmental activist. She is a founder and board member of Piedmont Area Vegan Educators and also founded and runs Ruby’s Refuge, a microsanctuary for chickens and fishes. Sena is a volunteer on the Humane Hoax Team.

Resources:

ORDER THE BOOK! The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat, Humane Dairy, and Ethical Eggs.

Register: Virtual Book Launch Party, April 29

The Humane Hoax Project

Did you know that ducks like to take a swim before breakfast and that cows like to have a view? Paul Drake is the designer and construction leader of the animal housing at Piedmont Farm Animal Refuge, where he is helping to pioneer a new process called animal-centered design. Paul has a Master’s of Architecture and has a passion for designing sustainable structures that can improve the lives of animals. Lenore Braford is the Founder and Animal Care Director at Piedmont Farm Animal Refuge in Pittsboro, North Carolina. Lenore has nearly a decade of experience working with and enriching the lives of animals. On this episode, we will hear all about the new process of animal-centered design and how this unusual animal refuge is innovating sanctuary life and creating unique spaces designed for each individual species of farmed animal to feel safe and thrive.

Resources:

Ryuji Chua on The Daily Show

Animal Centered Design

Piedmont Farm Animal Refuge

Compassion Consortium (monthly online spiritual vegan gathering)

TRANSCRIPT: EPISODE 62

We continue our celebration of International Respect for Chickens Month with a reminder about the upcoming Humane Hoax Chicken Webinar on Saturday, May 21. Then our guest is Tara Hess who spent close to a decade working as a caregiver and in shelter management roles at Farm Sanctuary. She is now the Senior Advisor at the Open Sanctuary Project where she uses her hands-on experience to help create animal care resources that are accessible and reflect the many nuances of sanctuary work. Tara and Hope talk about combating harmful information about chickens and how the commodification of chickens demeans their worth as individuals. They discuss the Avian Flu epidemic that is devastating wild and domestic bird populations in the US and the risk to farmed animal sanctuary residents. Tara also talks about the new Rooster Resource from the Open Sanctuary Project, addressing misconceptions about roosters and rooster stigma.

Resources:

The Open Sanctuary Project

Rooster Resource

Humane Hoax Chicken Webinar– May 21, 2022- Information and Registration 

On this episode our guest is Alene Anello, founder of Legal Impact for Chickens, a litigation nonprofit dedicated to fighting for farmed animals. Alene graduated from Harvard Law School, clerked for a federal judge, and then started litigating for animals. Hope and Alene chat about why it’s important to focus on chickens, starting a legal non-profit, and what her organization’s unique litigation strategies can do to help the billions of birds bred and killed for food. Alene is committed to helping chickens and creating a vegan world to honor the memories of her two beloved avian family members, Conrad and Zeke.

Resources:

Legal Impact for Chickens

 Humane Hoax Chicken Webinar Info and Registration

Hope’s flying solo today with a sweet story of rescue. Kakkuta the rooster was covered with blood when Hope found him in a parking lot. This rescue story will touch your heart and open your eyes to the plight of roosters in the egg industry. Hope explains why Kakkuta almost died because people believe the myth that backyard chicken keeping is a more ethical way to obtain eggs. Wherever there is a situation where hens are being kept for their eggs, we must always ask, “Where are their brothers?” Join us for this powerful story of rescue and get ready to open your eyes and heart to the truth that eating eggs, no matter the label, causes suffering.

Resources:

United Poultry Concerns- Backyard Eggs Info

The Reason for Vegan Series: “Cage-Free” and “Free-Range” Eggs Explained

For the fifth and final installment of our Microsanctuary Series, we are joined by Quincy Markowitz. Quincy is the co-founder of Farm Bird Sanctuary, a bird-only sanctuary located in southern Wisconsin. They have been caring for chickens for over ten years and also engage in community action, including a campaign against a yearly “chicken toss” event at a local “Pioneer Days” festival where chickens are thrown from the second story roof of a building to crowds of people. Quincy tells Hope about the challenges and joys of rescuing roosters, problems with free ranging hens bred for their eggs, and their first love, a rooster named Sunny. 

Resources:

Farm Bird Sanctuary

Microsanctuary Resource Center

For the fourth installment in our summer Microsanctuary Series, Hope has a conversation with Rebecca Moore, the founder of the Institute for Animal Happiness, a non-profit chicken rescue in Hudson Valley, New York. While working at large farmed animal sanctuaries for over 10 years, Rebecca found herself repeatedly bringing home chickens who required more special, individualized care, and realized there was a critical need for greater advocacy and education on behalf of chickens. Empowered by the Microsanctuary Movement, Rebecca turned a small rented backyard into a non-stop busy advocacy hub that is fiercely dedicated to a mission of care, activism, and change. 

Rebecca shares her years of expertise caring for special needs birds and the innovative approaches she has created for their care and recovery. She also talks about the need to deconstruct the current sanctuary model that mimics a farm environment and the importance of letting the chickens themselves be seen, heard, and allowed to tell their individual stories. Rebecca explains how even someone of little means and few resources can rescue and offer care to animals in need.

Resources:

Institute for Animal Happiness

Facebook: Institute for Animal Happiness

Microsanctuary Resource Center

Microsanctuaries reshape the traditional, large farm sanctuary model and challenge us to rethink how we can provide care for farmed animals. Microsanctuaries demonstrate that almost anyone can offer sanctuary and be a caregiver to animals in need. Our Microsanctuary Series will feature a different small sanctuary each month through the summer of 2021.

This episode we are joined by Justin Van Kleeck, co-founder of the Microsanctuary Movement. This grassroots movement broadens the definition of sanctuary to encompass more regions, different properties, a smaller number of animals, and also other species than we might typically find in a sanctuary. Smaller scale rescue gives people access to caregiving who might have smaller spaces, fewer resources, less money, or otherwise can’t or don’t want to mimic the current farm sanctuary model. Justin takes us deep into this exciting new trend in farmed animal rescue and caregiving. 

Resources:

2^nd Annual Humane Hoax Chicken Webinar

The Microsanctuary Resource Center

Triangle Chicken Advocates

Episode 10: Rooster Rescuer Justin Van Kleeck

Moving into May, we are celebrating two milestones. This month we recognize International Respect for Chickens Day and also the one-year anniversary of the Hope for the Animals Podcast. One year ago, life was drastically changing and our in-person outreach events were all abruptly cancelled due to the pandemic. Meanwhile, the chickens continued to suffer, so we knew we had to do something. We moved our message online and created the Hope for the Animals Podcast. 

To help us celebrate, today on the podcast we have UPC’s founder and president, Karen Davis. Karen dives deep into the ethical philosophies that she has developed over four decades. She talks with Hope about the origin of International Respect for Chickens Day, the importance of being conscious of our language when speaking and writing about farmed animals, UPC’s innovative sanctuary aviary, and the importance of recognizing and promoting Chickens’ Earthrights.

Resources:

International Respect for Chickens Day

Dying for Dinner Cards (Small Chicken Educational Card)

“Do you know who chickens are?” Video

Hope begins with a review of the popular documentary Seaspiracy. This new film on Netflix exposes human impacts on our oceans and all marine lives. Then, we have the first interview in our new series called the Microsanctuary Series. On these podcasts we will explore how animal rescuers are having a large impact in small spaces. Our first featured Microsanctuary is Sweet Peeps Sanctuary in Alabama. Founder Tracy Glover shares how each of the chickens in her care have individual personalities and how she has learned that chickens are incredibly social, gentle, curious, and smart. The Microsanctuary Series will feature a different small sanctuary once a month through the summer of 2021.

Resources:

Seaspiracy the Movie

Reason for Vegan Series 9: The Fishing Industry Exposed

Sweet Peeps Sanctuary (Facebook)

Chicken Farming in America: A Webinar Series (ARC) 

Until All Are Free (Film)

TRANSCRIPT- EPISODE 26

For Episode 10, Hope announces the upcoming Humane Hoax Chicken Webinar, the first-ever webinar dedicated solely to chickens, and offers a brief overview of the featured presentations. The Humane Hoax Chicken Webinar will be on Saturday, September 12 and you can sign up for free by going to www.humanehoax.org

Next on the show, we have chicken advocate and rooster rescuer extraordinaire Justin Van Kleeck of Triangle Chicken Advocates. Justin will: 

• Expose the hidden issues with backyard chicken keeping and how roosters are affected by the egg industry. 
• Introduce us to the concept of a microsanctuary and the importance of supporting small-scale rescue and lifetime care of non-traditional animals. 
• Share how the experience of rescue and caregiving has the potential to expand what it means to be vegan.

Resources and Links:

Humane Hoax Chicken Webinar (sign up for free! September 12, 2020)

Triangle Chicken Advocates

Microsanctuary Resource Center

TRANSCRIPT: EPISODE 10

In the latest episode of the Hope for the Animals Podcast, Hope will answer the question, “Can there be ethical eggs?” Some people are learning that humane labels like “cage-free” and “free-range” are misleading consumers about the treatment of the animals, yet they believe there are still other ways to find “ethical” eggs. Some think they can find a “better” egg at a farmer’s market, a small farm, or from a neighbor. But are those eggs truly ethical?

Next we have an informative interview with the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s Kelsey Eberly. Kelsey is a Staff Attorney with the ALDF who will share her experience exposing humane-washing in animal agriculture. On behalf of ALDF, Kelsey files false advertising lawsuits that uncover cruel farming practices hidden behind humane labels. Hope and Kelsey explore the fascinating world of animals and the law, new plant-food product label restrictions, and ag-gag laws.

TRANSCRIPT: EPISODE 9

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?

The Reason for Vegan Series is supplemental to our regular episodes and is perfect for pre-vegans who want to learn more about animal agriculture and veganism. This series is also great for new and existing vegans to get in-depth information about the animal farming industry so they will be excellent advocates for all farmed animals.

TRANSCRIPT: Reason for Vegan Series 3: “Cage-Free” and “Free-Range” Explained

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 second Reason for Vegan Series she will expose the cruelty of the chicken meat industry, explore why we should care about chickens, and what you can do to help stop the suffering.

The Reason for Vegan Series is supplemental to our regular episodes and is perfect for pre-vegans who want to learn more about animal agriculture and veganism. This series is also great for new and existing vegans to get in-depth information about the animal farming industry so they will be excellent advocates for all farmed animals.

TRANSCRIPT: Reason for Vegan Series 2: The Chicken Meat Industry Exposed

On our very first episode, Hope will discuss Speciesism and the Covid-19 crisis. We will also hear from the legendary founder and president of United Poultry Concerns, Karen Davis. Karen will join us for an in-depth discussion on UPC’s 30 year anniversary, the connection between wet markets and disease, International Respect for Chickens Day and more.

TRANSCRIPT: EPISODE 1

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 first Reason for Vegan Series she will expose the brutal killing of millions of baby chicks in the egg industry, explain why they do it, and what you can do to stop the massacre.

The Reason for Vegan Series is supplemental to our regular episodes and is perfect for pre-vegans who want to learn more about animal agriculture and veganism. This series is also great for new and existing vegans to get in-depth information about the animal farming industry so they will be excellent advocates for all farmed animals.

TRANSCRIPT: Reason for Vegan Series 1: The Egg Industry Exposed