Animal Rights: the Debate

An exploration of the issues around our relationship with animals.

Some Good, Some Bad 01/30/2025

Some Good, Some Bad It's been a mixed few months, with the current British Government the first ever in the U.K. to water down animal protection legislation, but with Mexico passing a law to improve the lot of animals. David and Martyn take a look at national and international developments. We receive no grants or funding from any organisations or charities, so we urge you to help us continue in our efforts to encourage informed discussion about this most important of moral issues. Donate here: Join the WhatsApp community: Find out more: https://linktr.ee/animalrightsdebate /episode/index/show/8455740d-a913-453b-a5ed-20f522efd647/id/35079880

Reaching Out 01/02/2025

Reaching Out Animals, humans, and the planet are in deep trouble. All across the globe, people are waking up to the undeniable connections between every living being―and noticing how out of balance our world has become. Yet, awareness is not enough. The Compassion Consortium aims to provide spiritual comfort, fellowship, and reflection, for those practising or exploring a plant-based lifestyle. We talk to Rev Sarah Bowen, Executive Director of its Training Programs about the support for those who reject violence and believe in extending an ethic of care to all sentient beings . If you would like to comment on this or previous episodes, please e mail us at: [email protected] To carry on the debate, join our dedicated WhatsApp community https://linktr.ee/animalrightsdebate /episode/index/show/8455740d-a913-453b-a5ed-20f522efd647/id/34670740

A Year In View 12/20/2024

A Year In View We take a look back over a year of legal proceedings to protect the interests of animals, further evidence that livestock farming is unavoidably cruel, and some opposition in the Roman Catholic Church to the way we treat other animals. Join David and Martyn for a review of some positive news and the challenges ahead. /episode/index/show/8455740d-a913-453b-a5ed-20f522efd647/id/34544280

Can Animals Be Persons? 11/28/2024

Can Animals Be Persons? To suggest that animals are persons – with all that such a claim implies – may seem far-fetched to some. After all, the way we treat animals is usually justified on the basis that there are fundamental differences between humans and animals. In the latest episode, we are joined by Professor Mark Rowlands from the University of Miami in Florida, who makes the case that other animals meet the criteria for personhood. His books ‘Can Animals Be Persons?’ and ‘The Happiness of Dogs’ provide a fascinating insight into the lives of animals. If you would like to comment on this or previous episodes, please e mail us at: To carry on the debate, join our dedicated WhatsApp community https://linktr.ee/animalrightsdebate /episode/index/show/8455740d-a913-453b-a5ed-20f522efd647/id/34157235

Animal Equality, Undercover Investigations, and Animal Farming 11/07/2024

Animal Equality, Undercover Investigations, and Animal Farming The scale of animal farming is vast, its cruelty horrific, and the environmental damage extensive. Animal Equality is an international organisation working to end the suffering caused by such farming, and to promote a plant-based diet. Its large number of undercover investigations have been instrumental in exposing the reality between farm and slaughterhouse. We talk to its Executive Director, Abigail Penny, about the challenges and the successes, and how each and everyone of us can make a real difference. If you would like to comment on this or previous episodes, please e mail us at: or join our dedicated WhatsApp community https://linktr.ee/animalrightsdebate /episode/index/show/8455740d-a913-453b-a5ed-20f522efd647/id/33827062

Genetic Engineering and the patenting of animals, animal law courses and George Bernard Shaw 10/17/2024

Genetic Engineering and the patenting of animals, animal law courses and George Bernard Shaw In this episode, we talk to Dr Maureen O’Sullivan who is a law lecturer at the University of Galway, and whose academic interests include intellectual property law, particularly the morality of granting patents for biotechnology ‘inventions’, including genetically altered animals. Maureen has a particular interest in vegetarianism and veganism in Ireland. At the recent summer school run by the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, of which she is a Fellow, she presented on the animal rights sympathies of Irish authors such as George Bernard Shaw and James Joyce. We also talked about her involvement in the successful campaign to ban fur farming in Ireland. If you would like to comment on this or previous episodes, please e mail us at: [email protected] /episode/index/show/8455740d-a913-453b-a5ed-20f522efd647/id/33446672

A Lifetime Campaigning 09/05/2024

A Lifetime Campaigning Few individuals have played such a central role in the modern animal rights movement as Kim Stallwood, whose career stretches back nearly half a century. From working as a holiday job in a slaughter house, to his role as executive director of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals [PETA], Kim's journey provides a shining example of commitment to the values of truth, justice and compassion. We talk to him about how much has changed, from when a London vegetarian restaurant called Cranks in the 1970s epitomised public perceptions about vegetarianism, to how a plant-based diet has become mainstream, and also what remains to be done to change radically the moral status of animals. /episode/index/show/8455740d-a913-453b-a5ed-20f522efd647/id/32729262

Vegans, the Law, and the Workplace 08/01/2024

Vegans, the Law, and the Workplace Adopting veganism is a transformative and fulfilling experience, but it is not always welcome, particularly in the workplace. The Vegan Inclusion Co works with employers to help them understand and accommodate the needs and rights of vegans, for whom a plant-based diet is not a dietary preference, but an ethical position. Join us as we talk to Jeanette Rowley, who gave key evidence in a case before an Employment Tribunal which successfully established veganism as a protected characteristic in equality law, and Jess Swallow, also a solicitor, the other co-founder of the Vegan Inclusion Co. Visit their website at www.veganinclusion.co.uk /episode/index/show/8455740d-a913-453b-a5ed-20f522efd647/id/32280377

Who Will Speak On Behalf Of the Animals? 06/30/2024

Who Will Speak On Behalf Of the Animals? Extensive polling has shown that a considerable majority of the population want to see significant changes to the way our society treats animals. David and Martyn discuss the state of public opinion, and the extent to which the political parties have taken it on board. Join us for an election special. If you have any questions or comments, please contact us at [email protected] /episode/index/show/8455740d-a913-453b-a5ed-20f522efd647/id/31948592

Cruelty Knows No Boundaries 06/06/2024

Cruelty Knows No Boundaries The campaign for animal justice is world-wide, with legal action sometimes taken against those who break the law. In this episode we talk to Carlos Contreras Lopez, a leading animal rights lawyer originally from Colombia and now practising in Spain and who is representing Cruelty Free International, one of the complainants in a prosecution of laboratory technicians for allegedly causing appalling suffering in a Spanish laboratory. Carlos says watching the video changed his life. Please email us at with any questions, suggestions, or comments. /episode/index/show/8455740d-a913-453b-a5ed-20f522efd647/id/31379412

Dominion over the Animals 05/02/2024

Dominion over the Animals Compassion for others is a principle close to the heart of religion, but how far - if at all - does it extend to other animals? In this episode, we speak to Barbara Gardner, a co-founder of the Animals Interfaith Alliance, 'a unique alliance of the world's most influential faith based, animal advocacy organisations. Author of The Compassionate Animal, Barbara Gardner joins us for a discussion about faith, morality, and animals. /episode/index/show/8455740d-a913-453b-a5ed-20f522efd647/id/30387548

Animals in the news 04/18/2024

Animals in the news In this episode, Martyn and David discuss topical issues in the news which are distinct but also connected - the richness of animals' lives, their cognitive abilities, and sentience; the benefits to neuroscience from studying animals' brains, and the implication this has for animal ethics; our commodification of animals such as dogs and farm animals; and the environmental degradation caused by intensive farming. /episode/index/show/8455740d-a913-453b-a5ed-20f522efd647/id/30806923

Richard Ryder and the Victims of Science 04/04/2024

Richard Ryder and the Victims of Science Richard Ryder has been dubbed the father of animal rights in this country, coining the term 'speciesism' to describe our irrational approach to non-human animals. He has published a dozen books, including, most famously, Victims of Science, described in Parliament at the time as the best-informed reference book on animal experiments. As well as a number of other books on animal rights, he has written about history and psychology. He spent an incredible 50 years as a trustee of the RSPCA. Join us for a discussion with Richard Ryder about the ethics of animal exploitation, animal rights, and the future of the movement. /episode/index/show/8455740d-a913-453b-a5ed-20f522efd647/id/30386218

Parliament Debates Animal Experiments 03/08/2024

Parliament Debates Animal Experiments Thousands of dogs, monkeys, and other animals are subjected to experiments which cause pain and suffering, all permitted under the law. What is the moral justification for treating sentient beings in this way? And will yet another debate in the House of Commons lead to meaningful progress in ending such research? Join us as we discuss this controversial subject. /episode/index/show/8455740d-a913-453b-a5ed-20f522efd647/id/30294658

The RSPCA - after 200 years 02/15/2024

The RSPCA - after 200 years As the oldest animal welfare society in the world, the RSPCA is synonymous with campaigning against cruelty to animals. Founded in 1824 by William Wilberforce and others who had brought about the end of the slave trade, the RSPCA soon became supported by the great and the good, with Queen Victoria its patron. Two hundred years later, we celebrate the RSPCA's achievement in putting cruelty at the heart of the nation's concerns, but we also ask about the challenges ahead. The intensive farming of animals is widely condemned, and the RSPCA's approach is to support 'welfare' schemes that inevitably endorses the mass killing of animals whilst aiming to improve their conditions whilst alive. But is that a realistic - or moral - position? Join us for a stimulating discussion with Chris Sherwood, the Chief Executive of the RSPCA. /episode/index/show/8455740d-a913-453b-a5ed-20f522efd647/id/29855088

Plant-Based ...the Future? 01/29/2024

Plant-Based ...the Future? Whether it is because of the appalling cruelty inevitable in animal farming, the protection of the environment, or concerns about our health, many people across the world sign up to follow a plant-based diet during January. Is it a steppling stone to a permanent shift in lifestyle, or a short-lived experience? And is the decline in the fortunes of some companies producing vegan alternatives just a set-back as the market adjusts, or does it herald the passing of a fashion? Join us as we speak to Dr. Toni Vernelli, who is International Head of Communications and Marketing at Veganuary. /episode/index/show/8455740d-a913-453b-a5ed-20f522efd647/id/29679153

The Price of Meat - for the Animals 01/08/2024

The Price of Meat - for the Animals Millions of animals spend their lives in 'factory farms', before they meet a brutal end in a slaughter house. Apart from its impact on the environment, animal farming raises some fundamental moral issues about the treatment and killing of other sentient beings. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - PETA - is a world-wide organisation campaigning for a radically different approach to the way we treat animals. Join us for a discussion with Chelsea Munro, a campaign manager for PETA, as we consider the reality of intensive farming for animals. /episode/index/show/8455740d-a913-453b-a5ed-20f522efd647/id/29389598

Are all animals equal? 12/04/2023

Are all animals equal? The idea that animals have rights has now become mainstream, but what does that mean in practice? Whilst cruelty to animals has long been regarded as unacceptable, is it wrong to kill animals for food, or to cause them suffering in scientific research? In this first episode, we will look at some of the issues that arise from our relationship with other animals, and how it can be unlawful to cause them unncessary suffering but at the same time treat them as mere commodities. /episode/index/show/8455740d-a913-453b-a5ed-20f522efd647/id/28669878

Animal Rights: the Debate

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