Tag: #goodnews

Episode 55: Kindness Is Dr. Izzy Goes Wild

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Izzy Hirji wears many hats—wildlife vet, world traveller, photographer, conservationist, vegan, and television celebrity! He joins Anitha to share his incredible adventures as he follows his hero, Dr. Jane Goodall, in making the world a better place for all beings.

Izzy begins the episode by talking about his childhood fear of dogs and how he not only overcame that fear, but now travels the world, treating all kinds of wild animals.

A fabulous episode for kids and adults, alike—packed full of beautiful, touching and often funny stories about the life of a wildlife vet.

To learn more about Izzy, you can follow him on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/dr.izzygoeswild/

To check out the TV series—Jungle Animal Rescue, that Dr. Izzy mentioned, here’s the link. https://www.disneyplus.com/series/jungle-animal-rescue/62AjlzYo2ddR

Here are some links for the book by Dr. Jane Goodall that changed Izzy’s life:

https://shop.janegoodall.org/product/Harvest-For-Hope/JGI104

https://www.audible.ca/pd/Harvest-for-Hope-Audiobook/B071468C5X

As a thank you to Izzy for sharing his story, Anitha donated to Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary. This sanctuary provides healing and recovery for primates who have been rescued from laboratories, roadside zoos and other terrible circumstances. In addition to all the amazing and kind things Dr. Izzy is involved with, he also makes time to donate his veterinary skills to treat and care for these residents.

To learn more about Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary, please check out: https://www.storybookmonkeys.org/

Episode 54: Kindness Is Always Fair

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Sabrina and her fur babies

Sabrina Fair Andronica joins Anitha to talk about being a children’s author and an animal lover, and how she combines these two parts of her life.

In her books, Sabrina gently tackles subjects such as dealing with grief over the loss of a pet, animal testing, and misconceptions people have about certain breeds of dogs; in particular Pitbulls.

She visits schools in hopes of inspiring children to be kind to all kinds.

During the podcast, Sabrina mentioned an app people of all ages can use when they are shopping. It’s called Cruelty Cutter and makes cruelty-free shopping simple. The app scans items and provides an instant response about the product’s animal-testing status.

As a thank you to Sabrina for sharing her story, Anitha donated to Moe Dogge Shelter. This shelter, located in Beruit, Lebanon, is dedicated to protecting and caring for street dogs and cats. To learn more about Moe and his passion to help animals, click on this link: https://moeshelter.godaddysites.com/

To learn more about Sabrina and her books, you can follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alwaysfairbooks/

Episode 53: Kindness Is Legal Rights For All

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Jake and two colleagues at the PAWS Conference

An exciting start to 2023, Anitha talks to Jake Davis, a lawyer working to seek legal protection for non-human animals.

Anitha met Jake at a conference about the plight of animals in captivity. The conference was hosted by Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS Elephant Sanctuary) and Jake was one of the speakers.

Jake chats with Anitha about his journey from a child who loved animals, to now, using his legal expertise to help change the status of animals from mere ‘things’ (who don’t have any legal rights) to ‘legal persons’ who have the fundamental right to such things as freedom from captivity.

Jake is a staff attorney with the Non-Human Rights Project and his clients include elephants, great apes, dolphins and whales.

Anitha loved hearing Jake optimistically talk about the progress the Non-Human Rights Project is gaining as they seek to free their clients from captivity.

A great episode for anyone looking to start the year with hope.

To read the article Jake mentioned about why zoos are bad for animals, click on this link:

 Opinion – Zoos Are Bad for Animals – The New Yo…

As a thank you for sharing his story, Anitha donated to the Non-Human Rights Project. To learn more about what they are doing to help animals, check out their website: https://www.nonhumanrights.org/

To learn more about PAWS Elephant Sanctuary and the work they are doing, click here: https://www.pawsweb.org/

Episode 52: Kindness Is Happy Holidays

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To celebrate the last episode of 2022, Anitha invited two special young guests to wish everyone Happy Holidays and a Wonderful New Year.

Thanks to everyone who shared their story of kindness this year. Without you, the podcast wouldn’t exist.

Episode 51: Kindness Is Karen’s Kind

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Like many people, the pandemic inspired Monique Monelle and her husband to take up a new hobby during lockdown. But their new ‘hobby’ was wonderfully unusual. They were inspired to rescue ex-battery hens.

Monique talks about what it was like when the hens first arrived, how she and her husband take care of them when they’re not feeling well, and how she fell in love with their unique personalities.

Animal lovers and anyone interested in starting their own rescue will love this heartwarming episode. 

To follow Monique and her growing number of rescue animals, check out their website and Instagram account:

https://www.karenskind.org/

www.instagram.com/karens_kind/

As a thank you to Monique for sharing her story, Anitha donated to Fresh Start For Hens. This organization is run completely by volunteers who rehome ex-commercial hens into pet homes, like Monique’s, throughout England and Wales.

To learn more about this non-profit, check out their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/freshstartforhens

Episode 50: Kindness Is Growing Roots & Shoots

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Photo credit: Jane Goodall Institute Canada

Anitha is thrilled to celebrate the 50th episode of the podcast with Lauren Saville, the manager for the Roots & Shoots program at the Jane Goodall Institute Canada.

The goals of the Roots and Shoots program and this podcast are very similar—empowering and supporting youth who are making a positive difference for animals, people and the environment.

Lauren talks about how this program has grown since it was started by Dr. Goodall back in 1991 in Tanzania.

Photo credit: JGI Canada
Photo credit: JGI Canada

Lauren also shares how schools, communities and individual students can apply to be a part of the Roots and Shoots program and qualify for a grant.

As a thank you to Lauren for coming on the podcast, Anitha donated to the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada.

To learn more about JGI Canada, please check out their website: https://janegoodall.ca/

Episode 49: Kindness Is Caring Around The World

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Twenty-one-year-old, Emily Redford from Ontario, Canada joins Anitha to talk about her experience caring for animals in different parts of the world.

Emily has travelled to India, Hyderbad, Egypt, Panama and Greece to volunteer with local animal rescues.

Though she is not ‘officially’ trained in animal health care, Emily is totally hands-on and assists with before and after surgery care, sedating animals and monitoring them during surgical procedures, and of course offering comfort to the animals.

Emily shares both the best and difficult parts of volunteering in these places.

As a thank you to Emily for sharing her story, Anitha donated to Animal Warriors Conservation Society. This is one of the groups Emily volunteered with while she was in India. This NGO helps animals through conservation, rescuing injured wildlife, and raising awareness about animal-related issues within communities.

To learn more about Animal Warriors Conservation, check out their website: https://www.awcsindia.org/

To learn more about the animal organizations Emily volunteered with, click on the following links:

People For Animals: https://pfahyd.org/

Furever Foster: https://www.fureverfoster.org/

Naxos Wildlife Protection: https://naxoswildlifeprotection.com/

Sea Turtle Conservancy: https://conserveturtles.org/

Episode 48: Kindness Is Saving Shankar

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Seventeen-year-old, Nikita Dhawan is on a mission to free Shankar, a lone African Elephant, from the Delhi Zoo.

Shankar was only two years old when he was taken from his family and deposited into the Delhi Zoo. Now, 26 years old, Shankar has endured endless years of isolation and being chained for 17 hours a day.

Nikita is determined to end Shankar’s suffering by having him live at a sanctuary in South Africa. Though she has obtained funding from The Aspinall Foundation to finance this trip from New Delhi to South Africa, other hurdles are still in the way. Nikita talks about next steps to attain her goal to help Shankar.

A story of perseverance and dedication to helping animals.

If you’d like to support Nikita’s goal to free Shankar from the Delhi Zoo, please sign this petition. https://chng.it/4wfxGb2vBW

To learn more about Nikita and Youth For Animals, check out their website: https://youthforanimals.org/

Here’s a link to the book Nikita mentioned: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B09ND4J375/ref=tsm_1_fb_lk

Here’s a link to Nikita’s webinar: https://fb.watch/fORy9zL-L8/

To learn about the Aspinall Foundation and the work they do, click here:

https://www.aspinallfoundation.org/

To learn about Born Free Foundation and the work they do, click here: https://www.bornfree.org.uk/

As a thank you to Nikita for sharing her story, Anitha donated to The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. They are one of Africa’s oldest wildlife charities and a leading conservation organization. They are known as the first and most successful elephant orphan rescue and rehabilitation program in the world. To learn more about The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, click here: https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/

Episode 47: Kindness Is Healing Animals Big & Small

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Dr. Vivek Basu fulfilled his childhood dream of becoming a veterinarian— and what an incredible veterinarian he has become. Vivek donates a lot of his time and skills to help animals of all sizes, near and far.

In addition to talking about what it’s like to treat many different animals—dogs, cats, racehorses, rescued primates and wildlife, we also explore difficult subjects like trophy hunting and the difference between zoos and sanctuaries.

As a thank you for sharing his story, Anitha donated to Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary, one of the sanctuaries where Vivek donates his veterinary skills. This sanctuary provides healing and recovery from trauma for primates who have been rescued from laboratories, roadside zoos and other terrible circumstances.

To learn more about Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary, please check out: https://www.storybookmonkeys.org/

Episode 46: Kindness Is Saving Glossies

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Spencer Hitchen from Noosa, Australia is dedicated to saving the last remaining Glossy Black Cockatoos.

With Spencer’s help, these beautiful birds have finally been listed as Vulnerable under Australia’s Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. Well done, Spencer!!

This is such an inspiring story of how perseverance, passion and using your voice, can make a positive difference.

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To find out more about Spencer and his efforts to help Glossy Black Cockatoos, check out these links:

Email. savesunriseglossies@gmail.com

Instagram @savesunriseglossies and facebook @savesunriseglossies

If you’d like to sign Spencer’s petition to save the glossies, click here:

Petition change.org/saveourglossies

As a thank you to Spencer for sharing his story, Anitha donated to Wildlife VOICE. This non-profit, gives a voice to the decreasing populations of animals and plants. Wildlife VOICE uses education, outreach and scientific research to inspire change.

To learn more about them- check out their website: https://www.wildlifevoice.org/