Defender Radio: The Podcast For Wildlife Advocates And Animal Lovers

Easter is around the corner, and for some reason, that means we’ll soon be surrounded by rabbits. Sadly, it isn’t just the stuffed toys or chocolate egg variety, but real, live, fluffy bunnies who are given as pets by well-meaning parents or loved ones. While bunnies can make wonderful pets, there’s a lot more to raising and giving them a home to them then you might think. The combination of impulse buying from pet shops and the amount of work necessary to keeping a rabbit healthy and happy means many – far too many – end up being sent to live outdoors, where they can wreak havoc on ecosystems, or given up to shelters. Fortunately, rescues like Ladybird Animal Sanctuary are ready to help bunnies get a second chance. Lisa Winn, co-founder and animal manager for Ladybird Animal Sanctuary, joined Defender Radio to talk about why giving bunnies as gifts can be a bad decision, what goes into giving a rabbit a good, happy home, and why rabbits are one of the most popular pets in the world. You’ll also hear from my

It is remarkable how significant an impact people have on the wildlife around them, even if it isn’t always seen. Understanding our role, and what we should do to help animals we see, is also something we’re not too clear on. Fortunately, we do have some wonderful people in our communities who can help. Wildlife rehabilitators are ready for the influx of injured, orphaned or ill babies they’ll be seeing in the coming weeks – but a growing part of their work is to make sure their community is ready, too. In southern Ontario, registered rehabilitators are also facing the ongoing spread of rabies as distemper, deadly diseases that can ravage the animals. And in regions like Grimsby, the home of Urban Wildlife Care, rapid development is creating problems in areas where animals once lived without ever being seen. These subjects, along with a few interesting anecdotes about a Headstones concert, squirrels that like to mock dogs, and the need to support local rehabbers, were discussed when Defender Radio was joined

The sun is shining, the rain is washing away the last of the snow, and families are hitting the trails and sidewalks with their four-legged companions and that means it’s time for some spring training. Whether you share your home with a young puppy or a senior dog, getting out and reviewing the basics like sit, down, stay, and a good recall (coming when called) is a great idea, both for the safety of your pet, and for building your relationship. Of course, turning these exercises into fun games makes it even more enjoyable. From lazy hounds to neurotic herders and every type in between, getting to know your furry family member through play and training, and finding ways for them to interact socially in appropriate ways with other dogs and people will make your home a little bit happier. To help us with our spring training, and answer questions from our social media audience, we were joined by dog trainer, and a good friend to both The Fur-Bearers and my own family, Kyla Boyer.

Steven Wise stood up in a New York court room to make his case last week. It’s something he’s worked toward for years, and so far, the courts haven’t supported his efforts. But Steven knows that his clients need him – because they simply can’t speak for themselves. Steven is the founder and president of the Non-human Rights Project, and his clients are chimpanzees being kept in confinement. The goal is to get these chimps, individuals of a species that experts have long identified as sentient, emotional, and social, out of cages and into sanctuaries. The case is to appeal the failure of the New York County Supreme Court to issue writs of habeas corpus on behalf of two captive chimpanzees, Tommy and Kiko, who were recently featured in the HBO documentary Unlocking the Cage. Steven took a break from preparing his arguments last week to join Defender Radio and explain the background of the cases of Tommy, Kiko, and other non-human animals for whom the Non-human Rights Project is speaking, why the law should gran

Raccoons are the enemy, and green bins are the battlefield. At least, that’s how some Torontonians view an ongoing saga between themselves and the furry neighbours that so successfully live in Canada’s largest city. Attitudes on raccoons in the Greater Toronto Area are split surprisingly evenly, but due to their problem-solving skills the sneaky fur-bearers do make it into the news and even political discussions regularly. And that’s where Dr. Suzanne MacDonald got involved. Dr. MacDonald, a professor of psychology and biology at York University, helped the city test which new green bin designs would best prevent raccoons from enjoying a feast; and now, she’s trying to determine if the new bins will help the city’s raccoons shed a few pounds, and potentially have smaller litters. On this week’s episode of Defender Radio, Dr. MacDonald joined us to discuss her fascinating hypotheses on raccoon learning and their potential evolution, as well as how she tests their problem-solving skills, and some practical advi

Spring is in the air. Well, right now it is. Later today, it might be snow. Or hail. Or summer. It’s been a bit hard to tell exactly what to expect in regards to the weather, but one thing is certain – we’re in a season of change. As the weather changes, we’ll also be seeing changes in the behaviours of all sorts of life – from spiders spinning new webs, to birds stretching their wings and picking up the early worms of 2017. Of course, we’ll also be seeing all kinds of local wildlife scurrying about to find leftovers from beneath the snow, a new mate, or pushing their young out to find their own homes. While it can be wonderful to watch, our influence on these animals can be significant, so understanding who’s doing what, and how we might be affecting them, is vital this time of year. To talk about this season of change, what we can expect from our furry neighbours, and how to prevent conflict in and around our homes, Defender Radio was joined by Janelle VanderBeek of the Wildlife Rescue Association of BC.

Talking about conflict isn’t always easy. Emotions can be high – the sight of a large animal can be unnerving and cause instinctual fear reactions, and the loss of a family pet can be devastating for an entire community. Frequently, the emotional upheaval leads to a desire to find a problem – and a coyote can be an easy target. Though the science showing the lack of effectiveness of lethal control to prevent conflict is growing, as is the evidence of successful non-lethal, co-existence strategies, there is still a lot of breakdown in communications about coyote conflict. From reporters who simply don’t know there’s a difference between a conflict and an attack, to residents whose heightened fear makes it difficult to see the full ecosystem in their backyard, finding ways to talk about conflict is a challenge all on its own. Fortunately, we have advocates like Lesley Sampson, the founding executive director of Coyote Watch Canada. To discuss how to pose questions in an investigation into conflict, to consideri

What happens when you put 20 international scientists in a room for two days to talk about human-wildlife conflict resolution? You get the seven principles for ethical wildlife control. The BC SPCA and UBC’s Animal Welfare program (funded by the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies) hosted a two-day workshop in 2015, which brought together scientists from around the world to look at these subjects from an international perspective. Out of this workshop came the seven principles for ethical wildlife control. The paper, which was published this month in the journal Conservation Biology under the title International consensus principles for ethical wildlife control, and is publicly available, does not focus on a single ethical standpoint, or biological function to determine effective, ethical control. It is, according to the authors, the first paper that poses several points to create a framework for control and conflict resolution. It can be boiled down to several questions: Can the problem be mitigated by

There is a war on wildlife in the United States, waged with federal dollars at the behest of large lobby groups. It sounds like a conspiracy theory, but there’s no hiding the nefarious truth about this one. The United States Department of Agriculture, or USDA, has a small offshoot called the wildlife services program. This division has, for decades, slaughtered wildlife – to the tune of 500 animals per day – across America. Despite the ongoing rise in scientific evidence pointing toward co-existence as a successful strategy to ending or preventing conflict with wildlife, this wildlife agency continues in its wild west style of management. But standing up for the animals are numerous non-profits, including the WildEarth Guardians. The group recently updated and re-released their in-depth, solution-oriented report, War on Wildlife, that looks at the Wildlife Services program, and accompanies a new, action-focused website, endthewaronwildlife.org to help American supporters take action against the killing. To di

Culling grey seals on Canada’s east coast will not help the recovery of Atlantic Salmon populations. That’s what the science says in a report prepared for the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. But that committee, in opposition to all things good and logical, has said they are recommending the government undertake a cull of grey seals to aid the recovery of wild salmon. Killing seals on Canada’s east coast for economic purposes – not to be confused with the sustenance hunt undertaken by Inuit communities – is a political hot potato. This latest proposal is without merit, and could in fact have negative impacts on a fish population in recovery. To talk about this report, her recent Huffington Post blog, what the science really shows about fisheries and seals, and the historic attempts to create an industry out of seal slaughter, Sheryl Fink, Director of Canadian Wildlife Campaigns for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, joined Defender Radio.

Compassion is something we at The Fur-Bearers talk a lot about – but how do we speak with compassion? And, in a world of seemingly massive cultural, social, and political divides, is it worthwhile? Compassionate communication is a concept that’s been around for some time – it frequently includes the use of self-awareness, empathy, and honest self-expression. In the case of The Fur-Bearers, it is often cited for how we communicate to others our facts and ethical stances on the use of fur, on wildlife conservation, and in the development of a more compassionate – and empathetical – culture. But it isn’t always easy – we see, hear, and read the harrowing truths of how animals are treated. We’re exposed to systemic hate of races, cultures, and species in the daily news. And we’re also confronted with the realities of confirmation bias, sensationalism, and misinformation mixed in with reliable information. Sorting through all of this – and finding a way to be more compassionate in our communication is a struggle.

Stopping wildlife conflict, protecting individuals, and ensuring co-existence can be a struggle after development. But it can be a whole lot easier if you incorporate it into the planning stages, and that’s exactly what Dr. Lael Parrott hopes to accomplish. The UBC professor recently spoke to the Kelowna Capital News about her work in the region to create wildlife corridors as part of the development and expansion of the area, particularly surrounding precious agricultural and natural places. By combining variables such as how individual animal species behave at specific times of year and interact with other variables, with detailed geographic information and other data, then running it all through a computer, Dr. Parrott can reasonably predict how wildlife will react and respond to various planning options. Her work has impressive potential to mitigate existing conflict, too. In Whistler, Dr. Parrott’s team is using the same system of modelling to determine if electric fencing placed in specific areas on the

The Little Smoky caribou herd is in trouble, and the Alberta government is gearing up for a plan that scientists and advocates claim will only waste money – and could actually harm wildlife populations. Less than 100 of the ungulates remain, and unless something is done, the population – and the species itself – could disappear from Canada forever. Studies have shown that the greatest risk to the caribou is habitat alteration – primarily from the exploration and exploitation of resources that create roads, carve out seismic lines used for geological surveying, and the general fragmentation of the landscape. Under the apparently false flag of conservation, the Alberta government has infamously slaughtered hundreds of wolves instead of ending habitat fragmentation. Government reports have shown that the province’s experts don’t think this will save the caribou – only repairing the habitat can do that. But instead of doing the one thing science shows will be successful, the government has launched another plan –

If you see a dog sit down and pant, are they smiling, or showing anxiety? If they roll on their back, is it submissive, or simply an ask for a belly rub? And what, possibly, do these questions have to do with how we communicate messages of greater social change? A conversation on dog behaviour and our perception of it – namely, focused on the upsetting incident of a polar bear killing a dog around the same time a video of a polar bear touching a dog at the same location went viral – was the original purpose of this week’s Defender Radio episode. A discussion of critical thinking, dog behaviour, and perception is, of course, where we started. But in talking with Joan Watson, a dog behaviourist, owner of K9 Shrink, and Animal Behaviour/Ethics instructor at Durham College, a bigger picture started to form. Could the way we perceive behaviour in dogs, and how we start to understand what our canine companions really need, help us foster compassionate change in other arenas? Could the experiences of learning to exe

Jaclyn Penney’s family is in mourning. Their beloved dog, Doug, who had been with them only six months, died in front of Jaclyn’s mother from the unrelenting crush of a snare trap in November. While out for a walk on their dead end, residential street near Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, Doug wandered only several feet from the side of the road when he activated the snare, quickly killing him. It is a trauma that no animal should endure. But that day, Jaclyn had to find a way to tell her young son why his friend wasn’t waiting for him when he came home from school. An interview with the CBC, and hundreds of emails from supporters of The Fur-Bearers, got the attention of the province’s Minister of Environment and Conservation Perry Trimper, whose office reached out to Jaclyn to set up a meeting. Jaclyn joined Defender Radio to share what was discussed in that meeting, as well as how her family is handling the tragic loss of Doug and trying to move forward.

The Rowels family was trying to find a home. But when they arrived in a tiny town in southern Bulgaria, they found their calling: finding homes for street dogs. The heartwarming story began with Diane and Tony Rowels looking for a change in their family’s life. The couple moved themselves and their children to Rudozem, Bulgaria, where they hoped to perhaps open a café. Instead, they became protectors of street dogs, opened a shelter, and help rehome hundreds of dogs across Europe. Their story, with its ups and downs, loss and beauty, is told in a documentary directed by a long-time supporter of The Fur-Bearers, Erin Parks. Finding Shelter, the story of the Rudozem Street Dog Rescue, is available now on the iTunes store, with proceeds going to help the dogs. To share with us insight into the Rowels’ family story, the impact they’re making for the dogs, and how wanting to tell the stories of various animal rescues around the world led to focusing on this very special family, Erin Parks joined Defender Radio.

Two cougars killed by the Conservation Officer Service in a coastal community in British Columbia created quite the stir this week. Social media and the traditional media were fascinated by photos captured by a resident, Gladys Miller, showing the juvenile cougars hunting a seal, and lazing about the tiny town of Ocean Falls. The decision to kill the cougars, who the conservation officers say were habituated, conditioned, and a threat to public safety, also fascinated many, generating news articles, social media posts, and blogs, much like the one posted at TheFurBearers.com earlier today. Bryce Casavant, the former Conservation Officer who was ostracized by the government for refusing to kill two healthy bear cubs in 2014, told Defender Radio he’d like to talk about the situation. While we expected a brief chat, followed by a more extensive interview with a biologist, the interview went in a much different direction. A surprisingly candid conversation with Bryce ensued about his experience making life and de

“Don’t tell me, show me,” is a way of noting that actions mean more than words. And maybe it’s a lesson Canadian parliamentarians need when it comes to fishermen and seal hunters in eastern Canada. Sheryl Fink, director of Canadian Wildlife Campaigns for IFAW, today published an article on the Huffington Post about a small private members’ bill from the Senate that represents a big problem. Bill S-208, if passed, would create National Seal Products Day. The intent is pretty obvious: to increase world interest in seal fur products from the commercial seal hunt in Canada. This is not the Inuit or sustenance hunt of the far North – it is a strictly commercial enterprise that has dwindled for decades – and finally crashed in 2009 with a European Union prohibition on commercially-harvested seal products. Sherly joined Defender Radio to talk about her article, a petition Canadians can sign to let their politicians know how they feel about the commercial seal hunt, and how we can stop talking about seal products, an

The frightening reality is that British Columbia has no species at risk or endangered species laws on the books. Species at Risk legislation is what it sounds like – policies that are put in place to protect all species that’s population is deemed, scientifically, to be in a precarious position within an environment. This can range from aquatic plant life to terrestrial mammals, and small flowers to big birds. Remarkably, British Columbia has no provincial species at risk legislation. Right now, as part of their five-year-plan to protect species at risk (which doesn’t include developing standalone species at risk legislation), BC is accepting comments on a series of topics. This unique opportunity is only available through the end of November, and getting educated is the first step to putting together compelling responses. Defender Radio was joined by Joe Foy, National Campaign Director at The Wilderness Committee to talk about species at risk legislation in BC – and how we can effectively participate in this

Cougars are persecuted for the typical reasons: they’re large carnivores that, when they come into conflict with people or places people live, can do significant damage. Add on the instinctual fear we have of large predators, the media’s love of sensationalizing stories about wildlife, and it all starts to make sense. But one study is challenging the way we should be looking at cougar-related conflict. Dr. Chris Darimont, Hakai-Raincoast professor at University of Victoria, science director for Raincoast Conservation, and research scholar for the Hakai Institute, coauthored a study that looked at 30 years of cougar conflict data – along with 30 years of cougar hunting data – and has shown a startling correlation between the two in British Columbia. In simple terms, when cougars are hunted – primarily as trophy animals – Dr. Darimont’s study shows that conflict with livestock and people goes up. To discuss this paper, its wide-ranging ramifications, and why the government and hunters are trying their best to i