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To start the show, we speak about the changing times in the midst of an environmental crisis and the people becoming aware as they embark on Climate Strikes throughout the world, including the Climate Strike today in the City of Vancouver.
The new, informative and evoking film “Sea of Shadows“, created by film maker Richard Ladkani, makes its Canadian première at the Vancouver Film Festival this week. This documentary film tells the stories of a Mexican investigative journalist, scientists, and a ship of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society activists who are battling the illegal poaching of the totoaba fish and extremely endangered vaquita porpoise in the Sea of Cortez. Only 30 vaquitas remain at the time of filming, and this storyline conveys the larger issue that our oceans are in crisis at the hands of human beings. Tune in for a review of this film, and buy your tickets for the September 27th or October 3rd VIFF screenings at this link.
The Game Changers Movie Premiere
The long-awaited movie, The Game Changers, has finally come out in theatres and will be available on iTunes as of October 1st. Activists around the world are thrilled at the potential this film has to save animals from slaughter by showing people that we don’t need to get our nutrients from animal flesh or secretions to thrive.
The film, created by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jackie Chan, and James Cameron follows James Wilks as he travels the world on a quest for the truth about meat, protein, and strength. James is an MMA fighter who is best known to many as a winner of The Ultimate Fighter. Trained in traditional striking martial arts, he also holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The Game Changers showcases elite athletes, special ops soldiers, and visionary scientists to change the way people eat and live.
On today’s show, we speak with a non-vegan who attended the screening on how the film impacted them, as well as a review of the movie by our host, Jen, who works with professional athletes and is very excited to have another tool to spread awareness about veganism and animal rights.
A Happy Pig Rescue Story
Earlier this week, one of our local activists was sent a Craigslist ad for a pig who was being given away by her owner who had torn down her barn to make room for a new petting zoo. The ad created a frenzy in a local animal activist group, and for 5 hours, activists there dropped everything they were doing to find a sanctuary for the pig. During that time, one of our local activists had the pig safely in her car and the pig is now at her new home on the Sunshine Coast at Kitchensink Rescue Farm & Sanctuary, arranged by P.E.A.C.E (People Ensuring Animal Care Exists). We speak with the activist, Sam, who went out to the farm to get the pig, and about how stressful these all-too-common Craigslist posts are for activists and sanctuary owners, when we are left to swoop in when an animal is no longer wanted. It’s stressful, costly, and unfair, but this happens all the time, especially to pigs.
GRASS Toronto Activists Making an Impact on Bacon Nation Restaurant Owner
Marni Jill Ugar is one of the many dedicated activists in the Toronto area, lending her time to multiple animal rights campaigns. She works with GRASS Toronto (Grassroots Anti-Speciesism Shift) to challenge social norms when it comes to the human exploitation of animals. This past summer, she and her group have been protesting outside the Toronto restaurant Bacon Nation, which she found out about when she saw one of their trucks that read “Go Pig or Go Home” and “Pork Star”.
We are overjoyed to include an interview of Marni Jill Ugar and Andrew Motta, the owner of Bacon Nation, on a breakthrough the activists have had with him. Andrew sat down with Marni and fellow activist, Igor, to make some compromises in order to put an end to the protesting. Andrew agreed to attend a Pig Vigil and put some vegan options on his menu, including the upcoming Beyond Bacon. At the pig vigil, Andrew petted and gave water to the pigs through holes in the slaughterhouse-bound trucks and confessed that he had never met a pig before and remarked how “they’re just like my dog”. Connecting to the animals can be as simple as that.