Tapping into fandom with animal protection and vegan messages, The Protego Foundation accesses sci-fi, fantasy, and other other devoted fan communities to advocate for animals. Our guest is Brittany Drake, campaigns director for The Protego Foundation. Brittany talks about the foundation’s creative campaigns such as getting vegan butter beer offered at the Harry Potter theme parks, a Game of Thrones inspired campaign encouraging vendors at fan conventions not to use wild animals as props for photos, and their latest campaign around the release of the movie sequel, Wicked For Good.

Brittany and Hope go on to talk about the animal rights and vegan themes in numerous movies and televisions entertainment, unpacking the animal personhood vision of Wicked, the strong animal characters in The Wizard of Oz, disturbing animal eating parallels in Stargate Atlantis, and vegetarianism in Avatar: The Last Airbender. They also talk about how the use of fictional creatures and characters can garner an audience's imagination and empathy for animals.

Brittany Drake is the campaigns director for The Protego Foundation. She has helped with countless campaigns and seen several achieve success including Starbucks’ dropping of the vegan upcharge for nondairy milks, Harvard and UMass closing their monkey labs, and Farmer John closing their Los Angeles slaughterhouse. In addition to her campaign work, she has rescued farmed animals and been arrested for civil disobedience on multiple occasions.

Resources:

The Protego Foundation

The Protego Foundation Mailing List

(related) Hope for the Animals Podcast, episode 127: From Teddy Bears to Talking Fish: Children’s Media and Animal Personhood with Cogen and Hope Bohanec

Recommended Movies:

Wicked and Wicked For Good

Remarkably Bright Creatures

Chimp Crazy

Okja

Support this podcast:

Hope for the Animals Podcast

Compassionate Living

Social Media:

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Happy Pride Month! We’re celebrating Pride with Kathleen Gage, the founder of Vegan Visibility. Kathleen shares her experiences as a vegan lesbian and emphasizes the significance of understanding the history of the LGBT+ community and its relevance to current political and social dynamics. Kathleen discusses her business, Vegan Visibility, and her work with Blue Barn Animal Sanctuary in Creswell, Oregon. She also shares her personal way she celebrates Pride.

Kathleen Gage is the founder of Vegan Visibility and a longtime business consultant, keynote speaker, marketing strategist, and podcast host. With certifications in Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Plant-Based Nutrition from Cornell University, Kathleen has spent decades helping entrepreneurs and changemakers grow their visibility and impact. She hosts 2 podcasts “Vegan Visibility” and “Plant Based Eating for Health,” and is the creator of the Vegan Visibility Virtual Summit, supporting vegan and plant-based entrepreneurs worldwide. She resides with her wife in Pleasant Hill, Oregon.

Resources:

Vegan Visibility

Socials:

https://x.com/kathleengage

https://www.facebook.com/VeganVisibilityNetwork

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleengage/

Other Pride Hope for the Animals Episodes:

The Vegan Drag Queen, Honey LaBronx

Trans Vegan Voices

Cage-free eggs are everywhere. They are now available at most every grocery store, a muffin lists cage-free eggs in the ingredients, and a restaurant touts cage-free omelettes on their menu. Is this a win for hens? We crack into this question with Amber Canavan examining PETA’s new document called, “White Paper On the Failure of Cage-Free Housing Systems To Reduce Over All Hen Suffering”.

On this episode, Amber shares why PETA released this white paper, how cage-free facilities can actually create new and worse conditions for hens, and how humanewashing eases consumers concerns about the treatment of farmed animals. Amber and Hope both share first hand experience of witnessing cage-free facilities and the reality of cage-free egg farming.

Amber Canavan is Associate Director of Vegan Campaigns at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Her victories include persuading Costco, Target, and Albertsons to stop selling coconut milk sourced from brands that used forced monkey labor in Thailand; getting Kikkoman soy source to end decades-long experiments on animals; compelling Starbucks, Dutch Bros, and other coffee chains to drop a vegan milk upcharge; and orchestrating the rescue of over 400 hens from a cage free egg facility that was shutting down. She has worked on various animal rights legislation, including the foie gras sales ban that passed in New York City.

Resources:

PETA’s Cage-Free White Paper

The Cage-Free Conundrum, Hope for the Animals Podcast Episode 100

The Humane Deception with Lia Wilbourn, Hope for the Animals Podcast Episode 124

Support this podcast:

Hope for the Animals Podcast

Compassionate Living

Social Media:

Facebook

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