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Jo-Anne McArthur Uses Photojournalism to Give a Voice to Animals Who Suffer all Over the World
Photojournalist, Jo-Anne McArthur
World-renowned photojournalist, activist, author and educator, Jo-Anne McArthur, has spent over a decade documenting the plight of animals from every continent in the world, and has had her thought-provoking work published in the National Geographic, Canadian Geographic, Photolife along with countless other highly-esteemed publications. In today’s interview, Jo-Anne discusses her past projects such as 2013’s Canadian documentary “The Ghosts in Our Machine” created by Liz Marshall. The film documents Jo-Anne’s efforts as an activist to expose the lives of animals who suffer on fur farms, slaughterhouses, and medical testing labs…followed by the hopeful side of this misery: farm sanctuaries and loving activists who are dedicating their lives to speaking out for these victims of human greed and ignorance.
Jo-Anne’s first book (published in 2013) entitled “We Animals” contains haunting images of animals held captive and dominated by humans for food, clothing, entertainment and research. Find out about her current project which Jo-Anne is currently fundraising for: a book called “Captive” which documents the lives of animals trapped in zoos and aquaria around the world. It’s a well-known fact that there aren’t many employment opportunities in the animal rights field, but Jo-Anne is an inspiration to anyone wishing to create a career out of their talents for this important cause. Find out how she turned a passion for photography into a full-time job, while creating a call for help and a ray of hopeful light on behalf of the voiceless, innocent victims of enslavement, exploitation, captivity and torture. If you or someone you know participates in outreach on behalf of animal rights, I highly recommend displaying Jo-Anne’s books at your events. The first time I saw “We Animals” was on the Liberation BC table at the Animal Advocacy Conference in Vancouver last spring. The expressions on the faces and in the eyes of the animals struck deep into my soul…if I were not already vegan, surely those images would have caused me to pause and re-evaluate my daily choices and the impact of them on other sentient beings who have done nothing harmful to me and with whom I am fortunate to share space with on our planet.
Donate to Jo-Anne’s projects here.
“We have enslaved the rest of the animal creation, and have treated our distant cousins in fur and feathers so badly that beyond doubt, if they were able to formulate a religion, they would depict the Devil in human form” – William Ralph Inge
Is It Time to Ban Fireworks for the Sake of Animals?
Last weekend’s death of a Vancouver family’s beloved dog, Maggie has made headlines in every local news source this week. She was spooked by fireworks while playing at Trout Lake’s off-leash dog park, ran onto the skytrain track, and was eventually hit by a train. This was preventable, says a transit employee whistleblower who advocates that the truth to be told about what really happened and is critical of how the situation was handled. This is just one of countless tragic stories of animals dying as a result of fireworks noise. Is it time we consider banning fireworks for the sake of animals? There are many petitions circulating online as a result of this death, and many others every year. Please sign the Vancouver petition here.