Freedom of Species

We discuss Victoria's animal care and protection laws which are open for consultation. You can provide your feedback on the planned changes to animal care and protection laws through engage victoria. You feedback can help create better legislation for animals so if you've got some time please consider submitting some feedback to the process. You can find details about the planned changes by readin...

This is a trivia show featuring questions related to animals, animal rights and animal advocacy. Questions range from the number of species of ants, to the proportion of Australians who are vegan, to the talking gorilla raised by Penny Patterson. Listen in and see if you can beat other FoS listeners to the correct answers!  Music: Animal liberation by Los Fastidios: https://www.losfastidios.net/ T...

Harley and Nick discuss the following horror movies from an animal rights perspective: Get Out, Midsommar, Raw and Us. In discussing Get Out, we draw on Aph Ko’s book Racism as Zoological Witchcraft: A Guide to Getting Out: https://lanternpm.org/book/racism-as-zoological-witchcraft/  Music: Animal liberation by Los Fastidios: https://www.losfastidios.net/ Television by IDLES: https://idlesband.ban...

We discuss a recent NSW high court decision which impacts animal advocates ability to collect footage of animals in farm and other industry settings. The case was brought to the courts by Farm Transparency Project. You can find out all about the case here. We also discussed some news highlighted by a recent VegNews.com article and transitions from animal agriculture to plant-based agriculture.

 We speak with Chris and Samah from Aotearoa Liberation League (ALL), a decolonial animal justice project that aims to end systematic oppression of all animals. Chris and Samah talk about how they met and their kaupapa (read about this here https://www.all.org.nz/kaupapa), using social media to maximise impact and reach people who are open to liberation messages, the dairy industry and decolonisat...

On this show we spoke to Will Applebe who is head of investigation and rapid response at SAFE New Zealand. We talked about animal protection campaigns, live export and ag gag, plus more. You can find out more about SAFE's work at https://safe.org.nz/  Music Played: Aldous Harding 'The Barrel' - https://aldousharding.bandcamp.com/album/designer Pacific Heights (feat. Motte) 'A Lost Light' - https:/...

Australia has eighty odd species of microbats. We live closely together with them, and we are mostly unaware. So let's get to know them! Our wonderful guest Ericka from Microbats of Melbourne guides us through the microbat world. You'll definitely come around to bats after listening this podcast! Some of the bats we discussed: Gould wattle bat, Little forest bat, Ghost bat, Southern bent wing bat...

  We speak with Emma Hakansson, writer, activist and model who is passionate about anti-speciesism and collective liberation.  Emma is the founding director of not-for-profit Collective Fashion Justice, dedicated to the creation of a total ethics fashion system. Topics covered include collective liberation, total ethics fashion, feminism, the work of Collective Fashion Justice and her new book How...

Nick and Harley analyse True Blood, Buffy, Twilight and The Vampire Diaries from an animal rights perspective.  Music: Animal liberation by Los Fastidios: https://www.losfastidios.net/ Vampire in You by Universal Poplab: https://open.spotify.com/track/0A6NpH2SNa9yZOdORmDPls?si=7932568c76e04b8e Television by Bad Religion: https://badreligion.com/albums/stranger-than-fiction Marliya by Spinifex Gum...

Recently lots of local pounds and shelters are overun with dogs and other animals needing adoption. A major reason is that more animals are being surrended or abandoned since the pandemic related travel restrictions have been lifted. Saskia from Forever Friends Animal Rescue shares stories about all the work that goes on behind the scenes of dog rescue. There's a legion of people involved in bring...

In 2019 50 activists were arrested as part of a 'Meat the Victims' action inside Excelsior Hog Farm in Abbotsford, BC, Canada. This farm is regarded by the industry as one of the "best" farms - owned and operated by a board member of the BC Pork Producers Association. The action was in response to undercover footage from within the farm which showed unimaginable suffering and abuse. An extensive p...

 The Freedom of Species team come together for another Animal Trivia show for the 3CR Radiothon 2022! Listen to the interesting animal sounds, trivia questions such as do you know the name of the band who sings our theme song, Animal Liberation? Play along and see if you can beat the FoS presenters and other FoS listeners!  Thanks so much to everyone who pledged donations and/or sent in answers fo...

Harley reflects on her activism in the UK with Animal Rebellion over the last few years, focusing on tensions between trying to build a mass movement for animals while also being concerned about police repression and security culture. She also discusses the loss of momentum for activists during the pandemic and ways to overcome this.  Links: You can find out more about Animal Rebellion at: https:/...

This week we will take time to remember and reflect on victims of animal violence, this is a memorial to animals. I read out the names of sites of violence against animals in Victoria, Australia. You can find the list of abattoirs I read the names of at: Farm Transparency Project - Abottoirs in Victoria www.farmtransparency.org/facilities/food/abattoirs?state=VIC&country=Australia

This Rotations show features Nick from Freedom of Species and Lottie playing some songs that they like by women artists. This show originally aired on Rotations on 3CR Community Radio on 3 July 2022. Rotations airs 2-3pm every Sunday and features music from a wide range of 3CR presenters. For more information about the Rotations show, see: https://www.3cr.org.au/rotations  Music played: Hit Like a...

With the Australian federal election only a week away we speak with Animal Justice Party candidate, Meg Watkins, about the parties positions on animals. I also share some of the documented animal policies from other parties. In the second half of the show we hear about a recent advocacy win from Kristin Leigh from Melbourne Against Horse Drawn Carriages. 

 We speak with Bronwyn Currie, Animal Justice Party VIC Lead Senate Candidate for the upcoming Australian Federal Election.  Bronwyn is a longtime resident of Melbourne’s bayside area and has broad professional experience across a wide range of areas. She has been passionate about animals her entire life, Bronwyn’s contributions to animal protection have been recognized through multiple nomination...

This week we're talking to Jax, a climate and animal activist based in the UK. We talk about taking action in South Africa, hunt stabbing and shutting down the UKs largest dairy production center.  Music: Animal liberation by Los Fastidios: https://www.losfastidios.net/ The Eco-Terrorist in Me by Rise Against: https://www.riseagainst.com/ The Huntsman Comes A-Marching (live) by Frank Turner: https...

We are animal advocates walking on Country, on lands that are still unceded and that continue to be colonised. How are animals placed in the settler colonial history of so-called 'australia'? What is the work that we as settlers need to do within our communities to align with the First Nations cause? Our guest is Shannon Woodcock, speaking from Gunai Kurnai Country, to talk about how we can educat...

 Adam and Caroline head back to the 3CR studio and discuss the emerging trend in animal documentaries - to focus on the real lives of animals, and without narration. It underscores the idea that nonhuman animals are unique individuals with feelings, relationships, goals, desires and personalities of their own.  The films we discuss are: COW by Andrea Arnold, Gunda by Viktor Kossakovky and My Octop...

This show features Jamie Woodhouse of the Sentientism project on effectively communicating with those in the vegan movement who hold conspiratorial and/or non-evidence based views.  Links: Jamie is working to develop Sentientism (“evidence, reason and compassion for all sentient beings”) as a philosophy and as a global movement. He hosts the Sentientism Podcast and YouTube and has published articl...

This show features Sarah on Indigenous critiques of the movie Don’t Look Up (Netflix) and why Indigenous knowledge is so important in informing animal rights and environmental movements. Sarah is a Maori wahine living on Dharawal Country and Criminology researcher. This episode is a follow-up to our previous show ‘What are the Most Effective Individual Actions for the Climate?’ https://www.3cr.org...

 Caroline & Adam speak with members of AJP Western Region at their protest of the Geelong Pro Rodeo event held in Geelong on Saturday February 12, 2022. We discuss a range of topics including what happens to animals at rodeos, how best to advocate for animals during the upcoming elections at the State and Federal level in Australia, and how we can reimagine experiences with animals that recognise...

Listen back to this episode to hear what has happened ever since settlers brought the brushtail possum to Aotearoa (New Zealand). Our guest is Emily Major, a PhD Candidate at Canterbury University in Christchurch. She studies how possums are violently framed as pests, persecuted and exterminated in the region. Links: Emily's Blog - Framing Speciesism: https://framingspeciesism.com/blog/  Music: Is...

We speak with Dr Bill Lynn and Dr Fran Santiago-Avila about Multispecies Justice, an alternative approach to negotiating the complex relationships of coexistence between other animals and humans. Importantly, Multispecies Justice centres animal needs, as well as humans, when determining how to create a just world. Fran is the Big River Connectivity Science and Conservation Manager for Project Coyo...