In this interview episode of Our Hen House, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan sit down with vegan zoologist, author, and activist Jordi Casamitjana for a wide-ranging conversation about the philosophy, legal landscape, and long-term vision of the vegan movement.

• Ethical veganism as a protected belief: Jordi shares the full story behind the landmark 2020 UK legal case that held that ethical veganism is a protected philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2010 — and what that means for vegans around the world.
• The five core axioms of veganism: From ahimsa and animal sentience to anti-speciesism and vicariousness, Jordi breaks down the philosophical framework that underpins his book Why Vegans Don’t and explains why veganism is a sociopolitical movement, not just a diet.
• Radical and idealist — and proud of it: Jordi makes the case for holding firm to long-term vegan goals rather than diluting the movement to gain short-term acceptance, and why he sees radical idealism as essential to meaningful change.
• Autism, black-and-white thinking, and the vegan mind: In a candid and rarely shared revelation, Jordi opens up about being AuDHD and how neurodivergent thinking may be uniquely suited to the clarity and moral consistency that veganism demands.
• Finding your role in the movement: Jordi offers grounded, personal advice on how vegans can discover their own unique contribution — without compromising their values or shrinking their goals to fit in.

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Jordi Casamitjana is a Catalan-born vegan zoologist and animal behaviour specialist based in the UK, whose decades of activism span undercover investigations, zoo closures, illegal hunting prosecutions, and the banning of bullfighting in Catalonia. He is best known for the landmark 2020 legal case that established ethical veganism as a protected philosophical belief under Great Britain’s Equality Act 2010. He is the author of Ethical Vegan: A Personal and Political Journey to Change the World and Why Vegans Don’t: A Philosophical Guide to Vegan Behaviour, and works as a freelance writer, video creator, and public speaker on veganism and animal rights.

We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today. Contributions of any amount are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

In this episode of The Hen Report, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan cover a range of stories at the intersection of animal rights, activism, and culture. They dive deep into the ongoing Ridglan Farms beagle rescue situation — with a planned April 19th action drawing thousands — and the support from Congressman Mark Pocan, who pushed back on Ridglan’s request for protection from activists. The hosts also revisit the largely forgotten history of the Hegins pigeon shoot, celebrate Ann Esselstyn’s Guinness World Record dead hang at age 90, share a heartwarming story about Poland’s Citizen Frog Patrol, discuss the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade’s latest victory against Visa’s sponsorship of Milan Fashion Week, and review World Animal Protection’s Moving the Menu report grading fast food chains on plant-based options.

• Ridglan Farms beagle rescue — Activists plan a mass rescue on April 19th; Congressman Mark Pocan publicly urges Ridglan to prioritize rehoming dogs under their court settlement
• Hegins pigeon shoot history — A look back at one of the animal rights movement’s defining moments of open rescue and direct action in 1990s Pennsylvania
• Ann Esselstyn’s Guinness World Record — The 90-year-old plant-based advocate sets a dead hang record, highlighting the power of a whole-food, plant-based diet
• Poland’s Citizen Frog Patrol — Community volunteers carry migrating frogs across dangerous roads each spring, a ritual that Mariann connects to the need for meaningful community practices in animal advocacy
• Fast food & fur industry accountability — World Animal Protection’s Moving the Menu report gives nearly all major U.S. fast food chains failing grades on plant-based options; CAFT wins another major victory as Visa drops its sponsorship of Milan Fashion Week

RESOURCES

• • • • • Save the Ridglan Beagles
        • Ridglan Farms activists plan return amid increased security measures
        • Ann Esselstyn’s World Record
        • Citizen ‘Frog Patrol’ helps amphibians survive a dangerous road journey in Poland
        • The Afterlife Project by Tim Weed
        • Moving the Menu report
        • VISA INC. DROPS MILAN FASHION WEEK!
  •  We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today.

Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

This week on Rising Anxieties, Mariann runs through a lineup of stories that have the animal agriculture industry sweating — from a ballot initiative that could make killing animals for food illegal in Oregon, to the egg board spending a cool million to get scrambled eggs into school cafeterias, to bird flu quietly turning dairy cows into a mammalian petri dish. Plus: a study proving chickens can feel joy (don’t ask what the industry plans to do about it), and a USDA “Product of USA” promo that accidentally starred Calgary.

In this episode:

• Oregon’s PEACE Act — Animal rights advocates are collecting signatures to put a ballot measure before Oregon voters that would remove cruelty exemptions — and the Animal Agricultural Alliance is very, very nervous
• Egg industry buys its way into schools — The American Egg Board drops $1 million to push eggs into school breakfast programs, with a big assist from USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins, who assures us eggs are “as real as food gets”
• Colorado fur ban and the slippery slope everyone agrees is real — Wildlife commissioners advance a commercial fur sales ban, and both animal advocates and their opponents agree this is just the beginning
• Bird flu update: dairy cows as a training ground — Researchers warn that H5N1 may be using North American dairy cattle as a launching pad to better infect humans, and vaccination remains controversial
• Chickens can experience joy — A University of Bristol study finds gentle human handling triggers positive emotions in chicks; the poultry industry’s proposed response remains mysteriously unexplained

We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today. 

Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

Rose Patterson, Director of Animal Rising in the UK, joins Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan for a deep dive into one of the most daring and legally complex animal rescue stories in recent UK history. Rose shares how Animal Rising evolved from a climate-focused Extinction Rebellion offshoot into a frontline animal rights organization, and what it really takes to challenge the systems that exploit animals — from factory farms to royal estates.

• The MBR Acres Beagle Rescues: Rose details the two open rescues at MBR Acres, the UK’s only beagle breeding facility for animal testing — including the occupation, the 23 dogs saved, and the fate of Love and Libby, the puppies taken back by police.
• Five Trials, Mixed Verdicts: With 20 defendants split across five trials, the same act of rescue resulted in both guilty and not-guilty verdicts, raising urgent questions about jury discretion, legal precedent, and the honesty defense under UK law.
• Theory of Change Through Direct Action: Rose explains how bold, nonviolent actions — blockading McDonald’s and dairy distribution centers, disrupting the Grand National, and conducting the largest farm investigation in UK history — are designed to create moral shock and shift public culture.
• From Puppies to Pigs: Rose reflects on the strategic challenge of transferring public empathy from companion animals to farmed animals, and why she believes the UK is closer to ending factory farming than many realize, with 56–85% of the public already opposing it.
• What’s Next for Animal Rising: A massive multi-year factory farming investigation and campaign is set to launch this summer, backed by over 100 trained volunteer investigators and aimed at pressuring the UK government to phase out factory farming entirely.

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Rose Patterson is the Director of Animal Rising. She’s been a dedicated animal rights advocate since 2012 and has led major campaigns, investigations, and direct actions, including blockades of McDonald’s and dairy distribution centers, the disruption of the Grand National horse race, and the largest investigation in UK history on RSPCA Assured farms. Rose was recently found not guilty for rescuing beagles from MBR Acres, a breeding facility for animal testing.

We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today. Contributions of any amount are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

In this week’s Hen Report, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan mark Mariann’s 76th birthday with a wide-ranging conversation touching on animal rights, food trends, and the power of changing your mind. Mariann reflects on her Rising Anxieties episode, connecting the Declaration of Independence’s “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” to animal rights, while Jasmin shares updates on her theater rehearsals and an exciting free book proposal program at World Shapers for nonfiction writers working on animal rights topics (apply by April 17th).

• Etsy bans fur – After just 58 days and 50 protests across 17 cities led by the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade (CAFT), Etsy announced it will prohibit fur products — including mink, fox, and rabbit — effective August 2025
• Young people and meat-free eating – A UK study of 1,000 young adults found half had considered going meat-free during school, with parental support emerging as the single biggest factor in whether they stuck with it
• Fiber maxxing goes viral – TikTok’s latest health trend promotes high-fiber eating, which naturally skews plant-based; benefits include reduced risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s
• Gen Z ditches meat alternatives for fermented foods – Kimchi, kombucha, miso, and sourdough are surging among younger consumers who want food that’s authentic and gut-friendly, not just a meat replica
• JBS invests $37M in cultivated protein – The world’s largest meat producer launches a R&D center in Brazil for cultivated meat, signaling growing industry confidence in animal-free protein

RESOURCES

• • • • • Ever thought about writing a book that helps animals?
        • World Shapers: Three Months to a Book Proposal
        • ETSY BANS FUR!
        • Etsy Bans Animal Fur
        • Online Retail Giant Bows to Activists by Banning Fur Sales. It’s Hurting Conservation and American Trappers
        • NEW MFW TARGET: VISA
        • OHH Episode 917 with Suzie Stork
        • Young people more open to ditching meat than previously thought – new study
        • What Is TikTok’s Fibermaxxing—and How Does It Help Animals?
        • The future of food isn’t just plant-based it’s fungal, fermented, and lab-grown
        • Gen Z isn’t buying plant-based meat, but they’re spending record amounts on fermented foods
        • JBS launches cultivated protein R&D center in Brazil with US$37 million investment
        • FOR LOVE OF ANIMALS BOOK STUDY: To sign up for the study and to receive your copy of the book, email Sheila at [email protected]
  •  We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today.

Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

It’s Mariann’s 76th birthday, and instead of cake, she’s serving up a surprisingly coherent framework for moving the animal rights movement forward — one that borrows from the Founding Fathers, sidesteps the usual vegan vs. welfarist cage match, and lands on a deceptively simple idea: animals deserve the right to pursue happiness, starting with the right to raise their own young.

• The movement’s fragmentation problem: Welfare reformers, effective altruists, veganism advocates, the Non-human Rights Project, and the rescue world are all pulling for the same ultimate goal but using different tactics — this episode asks whether a shared incremental goal could work for all of them.
• Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness — for animals: Mariann makes the case that “life” and “liberty” may be too absolute to litigate right now, but “the pursuit of happiness” offers a legally and politically workable wedge.
• The right to raise your own young: A concrete, science-backed example of a happiness right for at least some animals that most people intuitively understand — and one the factory farming industry structurally cannot provide.
• Building a bigger tent: You don’t have to go vegan to agree that a mother cow should get to nurse her calf. That’s the point. Meet people where they are and let the thinking do its work.
• Existential welfare revisited: The episode revisits Mariann’s “existential welfare” framework — finding reforms that sound reasonable to any normal person but would be industry-ending if taken seriously.

We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today. 

Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

In this episode, Mariann sits down with Bruce Friedrich, Founder and President of The Good Food Institute and author of Meat: How the Next Agricultural Revolution Will Transform Humanity’s Favorite Food and Our Future, for a wide-ranging conversation about why the plant-based and cultivated meat revolution isn’t dead — it’s just getting started.

• Alternative proteins are a global food security imperative, not just an animal welfare cause — governments from Singapore to China to the UK are investing in plant-based and cultivated meat to reduce dangerous dependence on imported food and protect against supply chain shocks.
• The science is working and the progress is real: from $3M raised by one cultivated meat company a decade ago to 1,500+ patents, 170+ scientific papers per year, and 20+ governments actively funding the sector, the trajectory is unmistakably upward.
• Cultivated meat media (the growth input) is now animal-free: all major companies have moved to xeno-free media, debunking a key vegan concern and dramatically cutting production costs — some companies have already hit below $0.25/liter, versus the predicted floor of $6.50.
• Plant-based meat faces a scientific, not a culinary, challenge: the biggest obstacle is the lack of open-access academic research and B2B infrastructure — not taste — making government investment and scientific collaboration critical to progress.
• You can make a difference right now by contacting your elected representatives — especially Republicans — to advocate for federal funding of alternative protein science, framing it around food security, economic competitiveness, and not ceding ground to China.

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Bruce Friedrich is the founder and president of the Good Food Institute (GFI), a global network of six science-focused nonprofits dedicated to transforming the way the world produces meat. Since its inception in 2016, GFI has grown from an idea into a global science think tank with more than 230 full-time team members, the plurality scientists. A TEDFellow and Y Combinator alum, Bruce has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Nature Food, and on podcasts like The Ezra Klein Show and TED Radio Hour. He holds degrees from Georgetown Law, Johns Hopkins, the London School of Economics, and Grinnell College.

We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today. Contributions of any amount are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

In this episode of The Hen Report, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan tackle three meaty topics: the psychological toll of watching graphic animal footage, the loaded politics of the word “vegan” (is it an identity, a type of food, a diet, or a moral theory?), and the bizarre cultural obsession with meat as a symbol of masculinity — from a Texas Senate race scandal to online backlash against a fitness influencer who dared to eat tofu. They also touch on the latest convictions of Animal Rising activists in the UK and close out with an Easter etymology lesson you didn’t know you needed.

• Vegan identity vs. vegan behavior — Does labeling yourself “vegan” help or hinder the animal rights movement? Jasmin and Mariann explore whether the word creates barriers to entry for people who care about animals but aren’t ready to “join a group.”
• Graphic footage and vegan burnout — How do animal activists stay informed without traumatizing themselves? The hosts share their personal boundaries around graphic animal content and why setting those limits is not only okay but necessary.
• Meat, masculinity, and political theater — From Kenny Torrella’s Vox piece to Ted Cruz calling a Texas Senate candidate a “freak who wants to ban barbecue,” the hosts break down how veganism has become a political football in the culture war over gender roles.
• Animal Rising UK convictions — An update on the trial of activists who rescued puppies from a laboratory breeding facility, and why identical defenses led to wildly inconsistent verdicts.
• Easter, estrogen, and tofu scramble — A brief etymology of Easter tied to fertility, femininity, and the goddess Eostre — plus a case for why tofu scramble beats any egg analog on the market.

RESOURCES

• • • • • How meat became a measure of manhood
        • Processing Meat is a biweekly newsletter written by Kenny Torrella and Marina Bolotnikova
        • What the James Talarico Vegan Story Reveals About U.S. Politics
        • Trio guilty of stealing puppies bred for research
        • Great Lakes Rabbit Sanctuary
  •  We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today.

Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

Mariann Sullivan returns with another serving of industry-grade anxiety, covering everything from animal rights extremism accusations and the Trump administration’s failed egg lawsuit to cultivated meat bans, dairy farmers who think new brushes make up for everything, and a New York Times writer who is absolutely certain her sled dogs are volunteers. It’s a lot — but that’s kind of the point.

In this episode:

• NABR vs. DxE at Ridglan — The biomedical research lobby hopes to dust off the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act to go after activists who rescued beagles from a Wisconsin breeding facility
• California’s cage-free egg law survives (for now) — A federal judge dismisses the DOJ’s lawsuit, and even the egg industry quietly admits the real problem is bird flu, not housing regulations
• Florida bans cultivated meat, courts agree — Six states now have bans on a product not yet on store shelves
• Dairy farmer discovers cows like back scratches — one dairy insider is very proud of her new brush bristles and not thinking too hard about anything else
• The New York Times sled dog essay — the author knows exactly what her dogs are thinking, feeling, and hoping for, and Mariann has some thoughts about that

We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today. 

Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

When Canadian animal rights lawyer and Animal Justice Executive Director Camille Labchuk discovered that a Manitoba horse exporter had shipped 97 horses to Japan in December 2022 — on a rerouted flight projected to exceed Canada’s 28-hour transport limit and without a legally required contingency plan covering the full journey — she did something almost unheard of in Canadian animal law: she filed a private prosecution. In this episode, she and host Mariann Sullivan break down the brutal realities of Canada’s live horse export industry, the regulatory failures of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), and the historic trial that followed, with a verdict expected imminently.

• Canada’s live horse export industry exposed: A small number of Canadian exporters factory-farm horses specifically for live export to Japan, where the meat (basashi) is considered a delicacy, with individual shipments fetching over $1 million — yet most Canadians have no idea this industry exists.
• Systemic enforcement failures by the CFIA: Despite clear evidence of repeated violations of Canada’s 28-hour animal transport law and mounting data from Japan showing deaths, collapses, and serious injuries, the CFIA has never charged a single horse transporter — a pattern Animal Justice calls regulatory capture.
• A landmark private prosecution: Animal Justice used Canada’s little-known private prosecution right — rooted in British common law — to charge Carlisle Farms Limited for failing to have a legally required contingency plan covering the full duration of the horses’ journey to Japan, culminating in a two-day trial in Winnipeg in February 2025.
• The “Cruel Cargo” report: New data obtained from Japanese government and feedlot records reveals that in just one year, 9 horses died, 29 collapsed on flights, and 290 others suffered serious injuries or illness — none of which were reported by Canadian exporters or tracked by the CFIA.
• Legislative and legal momentum: A federal bill to ban live horse exports passed the Canadian House of Commons but died in the Senate; Animal Justice is now pushing the new Carney government to revive it, while also pursuing private prosecutions as a tool to force real enforcement of existing animal transport laws.

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Camille Labchuk is an animal rights lawyer and Executive Director of Animal Justice, Canada’s leading legal advocacy organization for animals, where she has spent over 15 years using litigation, investigation, and legislative advocacy to transform how Canada treats animals. Under her leadership, Animal Justice has secured landmark victories including the national ban on whale and dolphin captivity and the defeat of ag gag laws; she has argued cases at the Supreme Court of Canada, testified before legislative committees, and written for outlets including the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star. A Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, Camille holds degrees from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and Mount Allison University, and brings a unique combination of legal and political strategy to the fight for animals — shaped by her earlier career as a press secretary to a federal party leader and two-time parliamentary candidate.

We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

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You can listen to the Animal Law Podcast directly on our website (at the top of this page) or you can listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher. Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it on Apple Podcasts, and don’t forget to leave us a friendly comment! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would consider making a donation or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Don’t forget to also listen to the award-winning,  weekly signature OHH podcast — now in its fifteenth glorious year!

In this episode of The Hen Report, Jasmin and Mariann are joined by open rescue pioneer Adam Durand to discuss the dramatic March 15th Ridglan Rescue — a coordinated action in which 100 activists descended on a Wisconsin beagle breeding facility supplying dogs to medical research labs, ultimately freeing 22 dogs despite reinforced doors, an aggressively blocking vehicle, and on-site arrests. Adam shares what it was like inside, why the public response has been unlike anything the movement has seen before, and what comes next as organizers plan a follow-up action with a prospective 2,000 participants.

• The Ridglan Rescue: 100 activists used angle grinders and bolt cutters to breach a Wisconsin beagle breeding facility on March 15th, rescuing 22 dogs bound for use in medical research — a culmination of years of open rescue advocacy led by Wayne Hsiung, Alexandra Paul, Adam Durand, and others from the DxE network.
• Inside the facility: Adam describes conditions identical to factory farms — wire mesh cages, ammonia-saturated air, and near-total sensory deprivation — contradicting the assumption that medical research kennels meet higher welfare standards.
• Public support and media momentum: The rescue generated overwhelming mainstream support, with even law enforcement expressing conflict over the arrests, reflecting a cultural shift in how people view animals.
• Legal landscape: Ridglan faces court findings of illegal cruelty and has been ordered to exit the dog-supply business, but a deal with prosecutors has delayed and denied criminal accountability — the central grievance driving continued direct action.
• What’s next — April 19th, Madison, WI: Organizers are aiming to mobilize 2,000 people for a follow-up action at the Blue Mounds facility; participants can sign up at savethedogs.io and choose roles ranging from front-line rescue (with arrest risk) to public protest on open land.

RESOURCES

• • • • • Adam Durand on episode 847
        • Warm Hearts, Wet Noses, and the Questions We Can’t Ignore
        • Maddie Krasno of Justify on episode 780
        • Melanie Kaplan on episode 884
        • Tom Regan Visiting Research Fellowship
  •  We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today.

Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.