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: https://ko-fi.com/animalrightsdebate

Join the WhatsApp community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LTGteTLZkwI9XUtB1Xxfen

Find out more: https://linktr.ee/animalrightsdebate

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: animalrightsthedebate@outlook.com To carry on the debate, join our dedicated WhatsApp community https://linktr.ee/animalrightsdebate

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.

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: animalrightsthedebate@outlook.com

To carry on the debate, join our dedicated WhatsApp community https://linktr.ee/animalrightsdebate

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: animalrightsthedebate@outlook.com

or join our dedicated WhatsApp community https://linktr.ee/animalrightsdebate

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: animalrightsthedebate@outlook.com

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.

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