Rob Laidlaw, the founder of Zoocheck joins Anitha to talk about his journey into animal activism. For over 40 years, Rob has been speaking up for wildlife. From his initial efforts to close down horrific roadside zoos to helping three elephants, who spent their lives in captivity, find a sanctuary, there is no limit to the kind and compassionate actions Rob has taken for the benefit of wildlife.
Despite witnessing the many atrocities animals are subjected to at the hands of humans, Rob shares why he is still optimistic for the future of wildlife.
An episode full of hope and kindness, and one you don’t want to miss.
To learn more about the amazing work Zoocheck is doing, check out the following links:
As a thank you to Rob for sharing his story, Anitha donated to the New Cat City Rescue & Sanctuary. This small animal rescue located in Toronto, Ontario is a permanent home for animals with special needs and requirements. To learn more about their work, check out their website:
Rachelle Hansen joins Anitha to talk about Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary, located in Ontario, Canada. Rachelle shares stories of the residents who currently live and have lived at the sanctuary. She talks about the friendships they have made, things they enjoy doing and how the folks at the sanctuary do their best to make the lives of the residents as happy and comfortable as possible, given they can never be returned to their natural homes in the wild.
Bob & ColletteNora & MojoNjeriMax under his blanketDarwinBoo & Gerdie
Of course, Rachelle talks about Pockets Warhol, the famous white-capped capuchin monkey who loves to paint. His art work is highly sought after.
Pockets
Rachelle also talks about the residents’ lives before coming to the sanctuary—many were victims of the pet trade, bio-medical experiments and zoos.
During their conversation, Rachelle shares the horrific plight of more than 6,000 endangered Cambodian macaques arriving in Canada for the past 19 months to be used in laboratory testing. These wild-caught primates, typically between one and two years of age, are illegally trafficked from Cambodia to Montreal, Canada in tiny crates, often without food or water. If they survive the trip, they then endure immense pain, suffering and terror as they are subjected to experiments, even though it is well documented that these drug experiments consistently fail to improve human health. This is such a tragedy, BUT there is something everyone can do to help. Rachelle, shared the following link, where folks can sign a petition and email the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Julie Dabrusin to urge her to stop the importation of long-tailed macaques into Canada.
Horrible things are happening in the world, but here is one instance where you can help. Please click on the link and sign the petition.
As a thank you to Rachelle for sharing her story, Anitha donated to Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary. Located in Sierra Leone, Tacugama is dedicated to enforcing wildlife laws, and rescuing and rehabilitating critically endangered orphaned Western chimpanzees. To learn more about Tacugama, check out their website. You can also listen to episode 55 of the Kindness Is Everything podcast, where Dr. Izzy Hirji, a veterinarian, talks about volunteering with both Tacugama and Story Book Farm.
For the inaugural audio and video episode of the podcast, Ron King joins Anitha to talk about Oscar’s Place, a sanctuary for donkeys to heal and live happy donkey lives.
Ron talks about the many individuals at the sanctuary and how people don’t realize that donkeys are incredibly affectionate, smart and love to hug!
Ron also shares his journey of healing and how the sanctuary and the donkeys helped him.
An incredible conversation about the power of love.
To learn more about Oscar’s Place check out their website. It’s full of information about donkeys, how to sponsor or adopt a donkey, and of course photos of adorable donkeys to fall in love with.
As a thank you to Ron for sharing his story, Anitha donated to Jarjeer Mules. Anitha and Ron have both visited this donkey and mule rescue located in Marrakech, Morocco. Anitha also had the pleasure of chatting with the founder of Jarjeer Mules on episode 119.
To learn more about Jarjeer Mules and listen to their podcast episode, click the following links:
Dr. Crystal Heath generously joins Anitha for a third time. During her previous two appearances on the podcast, Dr. Heath focused on the importance of speaking up for animal welfare. This time, she talks about the injustices many humans are facing and why she is standing up for those who can’t protect themselves.
Like others who are upset by the actions of the current US administration at detaining immigrants, Dr. Heath was documenting a peaceful protest in Los Angeles outside a federal detention centre, when she and others were ‘kettled’ and arrested.
In addition to sharing this harrowing experience, Dr. Heath talks about the inaccurate depiction of LA as a place filled with violent demonstrators.
She and Anitha also discuss how folks who stand up for human justice, just like those who stand up for animal rights, are mistreated and coerced into silence.
An incredible episode for anyone who wants to know what is actually happening in Los Angeles.
To learn more about this issue and the other injustices Dr. Heath bravely speaks out against, check out the following links:
As a thank you to Dr. Heath for sharing her story, Anitha donated to Our Honor, a non-profit organization that supports veterinary students, veterinarians, and other animal professionals in speaking their conscience to create more ethical systems that consider the best interests of all species.
Anitha Rao-Robinson 