The Asia for Animals podcast

A conversation with World Animal Justice: Utilizing the law to help animals

How can animal advocates create a future where justice for animals is the global standard? Join us for a compelling discussion with Dr. Sabine Brels, founder of World Animal Justice (WAJ).
WAJ is spearheading a movement to bring "crimes against animality" into international law, mirroring the protections afforded to humans and the environment. In this episode of the AfA Policy Coalition podcast, you'll discover WAJ's bold vision for a world where animal rights are upheld, their strategies to criminalize acts of extreme cruelty and the overexploitation of animals as well as the Asia Pacific Animal Law Overview (APALO) – a groundbreaking project mapping animal protection laws across the region. Ready to drive change in animal law?
Visit worldanimaljustice.org to learn more about WAJ's vital work and how you can support their efforts. More about APALO, visit https://worldanimaljustice.org/projects/

In conversation with ACRES: Your introduction to social media animal cruelty content

What is social media animal cruelty content and how do organizations work to tackle this enormous issue? This episode, brought to you by our SMACC working group, will introduce how to spot some different forms of animal cruelty content, as well as exploring the interventions being taken by NGOs to find solutions, all through conversation with our coalition member, ACRES, from Singapore.

What is a civet and why should we care?

Have you ever heard of kopi lukak? Or civet cat coffee? Yes? Then this podcast will reveal more insights into the creatures behind the trade. Join us on the first episode of Asia's Wildlife Rescuers with Jes Hooper of The Civet Project, and fall in love with this cryptic and beautiful creature, and learn what you can do to help save them!

Using the power of research

How can the movement for animals in Asia best utilize the growing body of research? In this first episode hosted by our Capacity in Animal Protection Coalition team, we had a great, in depth conversation to uncover just that. Good Growth and Faunalytics have a strong partnership which aims to bring advocates the highest quality research to bolster their legitimacy and amplify their messages.
Here, Ella Wong, Head of Projects and Operations at Good Growth, and Björn Olafsson, Research Liaison for Faunalytics share their expertise on best practice for leveraging insights, developing a "research mindset", and how your organization can use their projects to benefit your work for animals.

One Life: An Introduction

Announcement! We are happy to introduce the newest project of AfA Coalition, One Life.
One Life aims to be a database of education resources which NGOs can use to promote concepts of animal sentience at the deepest level, to help new generations understand the ways in which animals share many cognitive and emotional abilities as well as needs with humans, and therefore, why they deserve our respect and protection.
One Life resources, developed by AfA Coalition President Dave Neale, Global Animal Welfare Director for Animals Asia, have been delivered via Animals Asia's education programs in China and Vietnam with great success for some years now. Dave, a major instigator of the AfA Coalition, sees the clear opportunity to disseminate these resources via AfA, so they can be used by animal organizations in many more countries around Asia.
Over the coming months, we will be working hard to make this a reality, so watch this space! In this exciting episode, we dig deep into the impetus and success of One Life and how Dave sees the project evolving, still under his stewardship as AfA President, and spreading throughout the Asia for Animals Network.

Shedding light on dog breeding practices

Puppy mills are large-scale commercial breeding facilities where dogs are bred in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions. Unfortunately, this serious issue is usually overlooked, and the public is often deceived with cute puppies presented in pet stores. For a year, PETA Asia has carried out various investigations in different countries across Asia to expose the cruelty behind this trending industry.
In this new episode of "Cat & Dog Conversations", we caught up with their Campaign Coordinator, Abigail Forsyth, to learn more about this important work.

Macaques and people: A focus on rhesus macaques in northern India

In the first installment of "All About Macaques", our AfA Macaque Coalition Lead Coordinator talks to Uddalak Tathagato Bindhani, who is currently working towards his PhD at the Wildlife Institute of India. Uddalak studies the ecology and behavior of rhesus macaques in human-dominated landscapes and gives us a great insight into what he’s observed and learned. Both where he works and across many of the regions where certain species of macaques live, the way people interact with them can sometimes be problematic, causing an array of issues for both humans and monkeys. Uddalak’s studies can shed light on some of the causes of and potential solutions to such interactions.

Greyhound racing: The dying industry

Meet Christine Dorchak, the founder and visionary behind GREY2K USA Worldwide. In this first episode in the series "Cat & Dog Conversations", we discuss how Greyhound racing, once a thriving industry, is now a dying sport.
Christine and her organization are committed to ending the cruel greyhound industry with a strategic approach focusing on legislation, public awareness, and promoting adoption. She highlights that this issue is sadly present in many countries, including Vietnam, the UK, USA, and Australia. Christine also shares personal stories to inspire advocates to speak up for greyhounds.
 

Veganism in India: Influencing youth via institutional outreach

Focus on Farm Animals: Have you ever considered running an institutional outreach program to influence the youth in your country to try veganism? Well, that is exactly what the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organizations (FIAPO) is doing.
Back in October, we caught up with FIAPO’s Sarita Joshi at our conference in Kuching, Malaysia, to hear about her first-hand experience of delivering the institutional outreach program, which had already engaged over 2,000 university students within its first 18 months!
Sarita talked to us about successes, pitfalls, and aspirations for how our movement can inspire young people towards more compassionate lifestyles. This was a great chat, and this episode will be especially for you if you are involved in running education programs for animals in your country or are thinking of doing so.

An overview of farmed animal advocacy in China

The first in a new series on the AfA Podcast: Focus on Farmed Animals, we caught up with Jeff Zhou of Compassion in World Farming at our conference in Kuching, Malaysia in October 2023.
Jeff, who is CIWF's Cheif China Representative, talked to us about his experience of regularly participating in our conferences over the years, as well as the sessions he gave on advocacy in China at the first in-person Asia Farm Animal Day in Kuala Lumpur, just days before our interview.
Jeff shares his thought on the outlook for the movement for farmed animals and diet change in China, and why he thinks it is picking up momentum. Listeners in China can also learn about how they could get involved in advocacy, for example via the International Farm Animal Welfare Fellowship, of which Jeff is an organizing partner.
Check it out and enjoy!