Do animals play?

Worldwide, there are a vast number of unowned cats. But is this a bad thing? The cat lovers among us may wish for a world where all these moggies have a loving home and a human lap to purr in. But is this what the cats want? My guest today is Vicky Halls of International Cat Care, who is an expert in "unowned" cats. She believes that we should be making sure it is the cat that dictates the nature of their relationship with us, something humans are not so great at doing when it comes to animals! Learn more here: https://icatcare.org/unowned-cats/

In the UK, where I'm currently living, you will get 15 years imprisonment for armed robbery, due to the lasting physical and psychological damage to the victim. But abuse, or kill an animal? You'll get away with a maximum of 5 years, but probably less, even if this animal is the companion of a human. The abuse of companion animals is rife in domestic abuse settings, yet it is rarely spoken about, nor taken as seriously as other crimes. My guest today wants to change that. Maya Badham trains professionals to recognise the link between abuse of animals and abuse of humans, particularly within a domestic setting. She joins me in this episode to discuss how we often overlook actions that affect the animals present in the home when we investigate domestic abuse. You can read more about her work on her website: https://sahsda.wixsite.com/sahsda As our audience is international, we cannot signpost to specific organisations here, but if you, or anyone you know is affected by anything discussed in this episode, please reach out to your local support services as soon as possible.

A year as a key decision maker in the world of animal rescue showed me just how difficult it is to change mindsets in a highly emotive field. Yet, many of the well-meaning policies rescues employ may actually be doing more harm than good in the long run. So in this episode, I am joined by my guest Dr Karen Griffin of the Dog Rehoming Project to investigate how animal rescues could be using scientific evidence, instead of anecdotes and emotions, to make data-driven decisions and ultimately help more animals in their communities.

The inspiration from today's episode came from the 2019 paper: The Milkmaid’s Tale: Veganism, Feminism, and Dystopian Food Futures, by Dr Angela Lee. I was lucky enough to have Dr Lee join me to discuss her work on the systemic nature of food, and how our dietary choices are intrinsically linked to social justice issues. I ponder the questions: is it morally admissible for vegetarians and vegans to eat fake meat products? And if you consider yourself a feminist, does this mean that you are morally required to be vegan?

I speak with Maythe Han, a PhD anthropology researcher who has been investigating kinship between humans and their dogs. Despite the project being "a love letter" to her own dog, she has uncovered a dark side to our love for our closest canine companions...

As humans, we love to categorize. But what if these categorizations don't really reflect biological reality? Professor Volker Sommer joins me this week to give us some insight into the history, and the problems with, the taxonomic system, including whether some non-human primates should actually be included in our "human" genus Homo. 

Happy, a captive elephant, currently has a petition filed on her behalf for a common law writ of habeas corpus (that is, against unlawful and indefinite imprisonment) in the New York Supreme Court. Those who filed the petition are demanding recognition of Happy’s legal personhood and fundamental right to bodily liberty. But what is legal personhood? What does it mean to be a "person"? To answer these questions I'm joined by Dr Joe Wills of the University of Leicester, expert in human rights, animal rights and legal, political and moral theory. 

A "behind the scenes" look at the history, and current practices of using primates in laboratory research. Why do we use these animals? What are the problems associated with their use? To help answer these questions I am joined by Janire Castellano Bueno, PhD student at Newcastle University, who works on improving welfare for laboratory rhesus macaques. 

Dr Raoul Schwing of the Kea Lab in Austria joins me to talk about one of his favourite topics, play. Do animals play? Why? And what special purpose does play serve in Kea parrots, one of the smartest and most mischievous birds on the planet?

My guest today is Dr Simon Doherty of Queens University, Belfast. He talks to me about risks of zoonotic diseases, and how the best way to tackle these, and other public health problems is through communication and collaboration across scientific fields.