Ren Hurst on Honoring Consent with Horses and Other Animals and Undomesticating Our Lives, Linda Bakker of Wildlife Rescue Association on Effects of Wildfires on Birds

This show broadcasted live on Friday, September 18th, 2020 from Noon to 1pm PST at 100.5fm CFRO – Listen to the show here!

In this show, we have a feature interview with compassionate horse carer and author Ren Hurst, on honouring consent with horses and other animals as well as the effect of domestication on nonhuman animals and humans and Linda Bakker from Wildlife Rescue Association who speak on the displacement of bird populations as a result of the wildfires in the Pacific Northwest.

Ren Hurst on Creating a Paradigm Shift in Human-Animal Relationships

Horse advocate Ren Hurst smiling at camera with small snake behind her neck and on shoulder
Horse advocate Ren Hurst smiling at camera with small snake behind her neck and on shoulder.

Ren Hurst is a former horse trainer and hoof care specialist who found joy and freedom through her connection with horses. She became a passionate horsewomen, but walked away from it completely twenty years later when she realized she wanted to be with the horses in a way that their relationship matters more than the results of races. This radical shift in awareness influenced her to change her perspective on her relationship with horses.

Ren left Texas to start a sanctuary in Northern California with the best care in mind; she became the director of Sanctuary13 and the co-founder of the New World Sanctuary Foundation in Southern Oregon. Watch a short film featuring Ren Hurst and the horses at The New World Sanctuary Foundation:

YouTube player

Now, through writing, teaching, and mentoring, Ren helps people undo the human-animal domestication mindset to heal the root cause of exploitation and suffering. Ren Hurst’s first book, Riding On the Power of Others: A Horsewoman’s Path to Unconditional Love, follows her story through her falls, rises, and life-changing insights as she finds an ever-deepening compassion for herself and all life around her. She writes with decades of knowledge and understanding of horses. Ren creates video content on her Youtube channel with support through her Patreon to educate all.

Support Ren Hurst in creating a paradigm shift in human-animal relationships through education on her Patreon.

During the interview with Ren Hurst, we hear on her experience working with horses, honoring consent with horses and other animals, the effect of domestication on nonhuman animals and humans, her knowledge around being in better relation with others, re-wilding ourselves, and more.

Linda Bakker of Wildlife Rescue Association on the Displacement of Birds due to the Forest Fires & Smoke in the Pacific Northwest

Linda joined the Wildlife Rescue Association team as an animal care volunteer in 2006. She has a varied background that includes a degree in surgical nursing, a Master of Arts in Environmental Science, and five years of experience working as an environmental consultant in the Netherlands. Linda has had many different positions within Wildlife Rescue including Wildlife Rehabilitator, Volunteer Coordinator, Team Leader of Wildlife Rehabilitation and Programs Director. In addition to her work at Wildlife Rescue, she resides on the Board of Directors for the Oiled Wildlife Society of BC.

On this week’s episode she joins us to speak about how their greatest concern at WRA during Wildfire season is the displacement of bird populations who must flee their woodland homes during the fires. When the are displaced many of them end up in urban environments which they are not used to and can be harmed by cats, cars, etc. Of course there are more unseen long term effects, like those we might experience as humans, such as respiratory damage from smoke inhalation. Another concern during this time of year is that migratory species are headed south and are forced to change their flight paths in order to avoid the smoke and fires.

Support Wildlife Rescue Association by donating or becoming a volunteer!

Show produced by Leah Thompson, with web content written by Asami Hitohara and Leah Thompson

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