Animals Are Calling

Habitat loss is the greatest threat to the world’s biodiversity and wild animals are experiencing a catastrophic decline in their natural habitats through human activity and climate change. Trillions of animals are exploited in the lucrative global wildlife trade every year, while agriculture is the single largest cause of habitat loss as it ruthlessly clears land to grow crops to feed farmed animal. And it’s sentient animals caught in the crossfire; beings who think, feel, have personalities and needs, that are suffering routinely at human hands.This episode we will explore why hundreds of Amazon river dolphins are dying from rising temperatures and drought, speak to a world leading deep diver and ocean campaigner who has a strong connection with marine life, and understand more about how animals are suffering in Brazil due to intense agribusiness.In this episode, we talked with:Dr. Miriam Marmontel - Mamirauá Institute: Talks about the recent drought they are experiencing in the Amazon, how this caused the deaths of hundreds of Amazon dolphins, and what they are doing to help. Roberto Vieto - WAP Global Animal Welfare Advisor: Talks about his personal experiences helping animals during the Amazon and Pantanal fires, how agribusiness is the main challenge we need to face, and how Xama and Cecilia can be the hope we need to keep fighting for our planet.Jonnie Hughes - Producer/Director at Silverback Studios: As producer/director for some award-winning wildlife films, some of them with Sir. David Attenborough, Jonnie has experienced our planet and its animals as no one before. In the episode, he talks about animal sentience and how we are losing habitats and species faster than ever before.

Wild animals in captivity and exploited for tourist entertainment are deprived of a life where they can express their full range of emotions, feelings, and natural behaviours. In this episode we’ll find out why wild animals deserve a wild life and why they should never be in captivity or farmed. We will find out how sentient wild animals suffer in captivity for tourist entertainment and what the travel companies are doing to offer responsible travel options. In this episode, we talked with:Dr. Helen Lambert: Animal welfare scientist and sentience expert, returns to this episode to explain what wild animals feel in captivity and what is learned helplessness.Carol Buckley - Elephant Aid International: Explains her journey working with elephants in captivity and how that led her to create a Sanctuary for Tara (the first elephant she worked with) and for the recent resident Mundi.Janek Andre - We Whale: Janek shares his experience about how a visit to a dolphinarium at 17 years old marked him forever. After years of looking for opportunities to improve the lives of dolphins in captivity, today he is offering whale and dolphin watching options to tourists who want to see these animals in the wild waters of Tenerife, Spain.Sofie Lund - Nordic Leisure Travel Group & Spies: Sofie’s personal experiences as well as seeing customers seeking more responsible travel options led her to partner with World Animal Protection Denmark to explore wildlife friendly travel options, here she explain more about it.

Factory farming is the biggest cause of animal cruelty in the world. Billions of farmed animals are suffering every day in an industrial global food system. This pain, stress and fear is not only harming them, but is impacting our own health and creating a global crisis. Scientific evidence shows that farmed animals are sentient beings who can think and feel, so how can understanding sentience change the way we treat the animals that we eat?In this episode we talked with: Dr Hannah Larsen Global Animal Welfare Advisor for World Animal Protection. Hannah studied the lives and behaviour of free-range laying hens on commercial farms, leading her to identify how differences in individual personalities and behavioural traits can influence their welfare. She has applied her knowledge to policy development, research, and training, and worked at the Ministry of Primary Industries in New Zealand, one of the first countries in the world to introduce legislation recognising animals as sentient beings. In this episode, she explains what animal sentience means for factory-farmed animals.Jo-Anne McArthur is an award-winning photographer and author. She has documented our complex relationship with animals around the globe and has worked undercover to help expose the cruelty and suffering that animals in factory farms endure. Based in Toronto, Canada in this episode, she discusses why farmed animal stories need to be heard and how animals' complex emotions are changing the way we see them

Have you ever wondered if animals can feel complex emotions like us? How would we relate to them if we knew they are capable of experiencing pleasure, pain, joy, and fear? In this episode, we are exploring what sentience means and how by understanding sentience and putting what we learn into practice we can help change the way the world works to provide animals a life worth living.In this episode, we visited and talked with:Dr. Helen Lambert: Animal welfare scientist and sentience expert, explains what animal sentience means and how understanding animals' complex emotions can help change the way we relate to them and treat them.Henry Mance: Author and Chief Features Editor at the Financial Times, who wrote a featured article all about how understanding the intelligence and complex emotions of pigs can impact the future of investing in factory farming, talks about his findings.Laurence Candy: Former beef and dairy farmer transitioning away from using livestock towards growing cereal and preparing to become certified to Biocyclic Vegan Standard, explains how he changed his entire production system at Northwood Farm after connecting with animals and nature, and how understanding sentience has led him to these changes.

How can understanding animal sentience could change the way we see animals?In this new season, we delve into the direct impact that factory farming, wildlife exploitation, and habitat loss have on individual animals—creatures capable of feeling pain, joy, and fear. We'll explore how these revelations not only affect the animals but challenge us to reflect on our own emotions and responsibilities. Most importantly, we’ll ask the critical question: what can each of us do to make a meaningful difference?We’ll examine the science, hear personal stories, and feature diverse perspectives from across the globe. Our contributors share how their lives, businesses, and practices have been transformed by what they’ve learned about animal sentience, while we spotlight what must still be done to end cruelty and suffering—once and for all.

Episode 7: A Look Back at Series 1For this episode Carly Squires is joined by a selection of World Animal Protection’s experts, as she looks back over the first series of Animals Are Calling, unpicks the key things we have learned and discusses the small but fundamental things we can all do to make a difference. Thanks so much for subscribing to the podcast. We’d love to hear from you in the form of a review. It’s great feedback for us and helps other people find the podcast. Just click on the review section wherever you listen to the podcast. Thanks to Kristin Heggeli who has compiled this episode. Animals Are Calling is a podcast from World Animal Protection.It’s produced and mixed by Jonny Bunyan for Pardon Our FrenchThe executive producer is Emi Kondo.Thank you so much for listening.

S1 E6: Fooled by a Smile with Eugenia Morales and Morvah GeorgeFor this episode Carly Squires is joined by World Animal Protection’s Eugenia Morales and Morvah George to discuss how behind their 'smile', captive dolphins are suffering in the tourist industry.How can we create a better future for these beautiful animals? And which big brands are helping us make this happen?Thanks so much for subscribing to the podcast. We’d love to hear from you in the form of a review. It’s great feedback for us and helps other people find the podcast. Just click on the review section wherever you listen to the podcast.Animals Are Calling is a podcast from World Animal Protection.It’s produced and mixed by Jonny Bunyan for Pardon Our FrenchThe executive producer is Emi Kondo.Thank you so much for listening.

For this episode Carly Squires is joined by World Animal Protection’s Cameron Harsh and Vince Cinches, to discuss how reducing your meat intake can truly make a difference to animals and the environment.But what are the ways in which we can practically reduce our meat consumption? And how are big brands joining the movement? Thanks so much for subscribing to the podcast. We’d love to hear from you in the form of a review. It’s great feedback for us and helps other people find the podcast. Just click on the review section wherever you listen to the podcast. Animals Are Calling is a podcast from World Animal Protection. It’s produced and mixed by Jonny Bunyan for Pardon Our French The executive producer is Emi Kondo. Thank you so much for listening.