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To start this show, we review the results of the civic election in Vancouver last week, where the Non-Partisan Association (NPA) garnered the most seats on the Park Board, and they have promised to now overturn the ban of breeding cetaceans at the Vancouver Aquarium. But to end this sad story on a more positive note, Farah tells us about an exhibit that has just launched in Victoria called Ocean Walls, which acts as a beautiful alternative to marine captivity.
Also, Alison tells us about an opportunity to be part of a global vegan music video, which you can also read about on Facebook here. At the end of the show, we play the song for this video, called “I Don’t Eat Meat Anymore”, sung by Emily Grove and produced by Johnathan Skinner.
Jordan Reichert, Banning the Horse-Drawn Carriages in Victoria, BC
For our first interview, we have Jordan Reichert from the groups Island Animal Liberation and The Critical Cat to speak with us about the issue of the horse-drawn carriage industry in our province’s capital of Victoria, BC. For those who have visited Victoria, you’ll know that it’s a tourist driven city via the Parliament Buildings, the Buchart Gardens, the old English motifs, and, with that the horse-drawn carriages that people can hire to take them for a ride on the beautiful harbour front of Victoria
But there are many issues of exploitation and oppression to be considered for these horses, which includes an accident earlier this year where a horse was spooked and bolted, crashing into two cars and a motorcycle. As a result of this accident, and many other issues of concern for the animals’ safety and well-being, animal activists in Victoria are calling for a ban of the horse-drawn carriage industry in the city, and Jordan is one of the organizers or a public rally in Victoria tomorrow that will protest the use of these animals.
In this interview, Jordan speaks to us about the many concerns of welfare for the carriage horses, what needs to happen for the City of Victoria to implement a ban on this practice, and alternatives to using animals for this type of tourism. He also tells us about the plans for the protest, and the Facebook event for it can be found here.
Aviva Vetter, Humane Society International on Be Cruelty-Free: Ending the Testing of Animals for Cosmetics in Canada
For our feature interview, we have Aviva Vetter of the Humane Society International Canada on the show. She is the Canada campaigner for HSI’s Be Cruelty-Free campaign, which is a global campaign to end animal testing for cosmetics.
The campaign’s stance is to use a variety of approaches in its goal to end testing in Canada (and world-wide), which includes:
- Change Canadian law to ban animal testing for cosmetic products and ingredients, and to end the sale of newly animal tested beauty products from other parts of the world.
- Promote modern science, championing the development of new non-animal tests and training regulators and companies in their use.
- Educate consumers, raising awareness about animal testing and how to shop cruelty-free.
- Work with companies to help them move away from animal testing, and partnering with cruelty-free companies to lobby for change.
- Build an unstoppable national campaign backed by the public, top companies, politicians and our celebrity friends Paul McCartney, Ricky Gervais, Ke$ha and more.
Aviva speaks with us about the Canada campaign, explains what kinds of invasive tests are happening on animals now for cosmetics sold in Canada, and tells us about the alternatives that exist for ensuring safety of cosmetics.
HSI also has an online pledge that you can sign to show your support for ending all cosmetic testing on animals.
