Podcast: Checking in with Juliet Gellatley, Director of Viva!

Here at The War on Wildlife Project we were thinking that as us campaigners, conservationists and activists can’t get out to meet and see each other now, how about creating something to bring the conservation community together – everyone from individuals to grassroots organisations to larger charities – something that reminds us all that we’re still out there, still working, but that also shows the human side of things during this COVID-19 crisis.

An ongoing series of short podcast conversations we could think of as ‘check-ins’ (as in ‘we’re checking in to make sure we’re all okay’) – chats about how we’re getting on, how we’re adapting as campaigners, how connecting with Nature – even if it’s just through the window – is helping us cope.

Now, we appreciate that everyone has Facebook, Twitter, their own blogs even, but perhaps bringing everyone together like this in one place could really create an interesting set of viewpoints/tips/different thinking – and maybe even keep us from feeling alone…

So that’s the idea, and today I’m speaking with zoologist and animal rights activist Juliet Gellatley. Juliet is Director of Viva! the Bristol-based vegan organisation which recently celebrated twenty-five years of campaigning to end the abuse of animals exploited and killed for food and creating instead a ‘state of kind’. Viva! had a busy summer planned including the launch of a feature-length documentary on intensive pig farming called Hogwood, but nevertheless I found Juliet in typically positive mood…

 

“…three quarters of the world’s new infectious diseases are caused by human contact with animals – and it’s not those animals fault – it’s directly due to factory farming them – to negative human behaviour destroying our planet and the animals within it…”

 

Checking-in…with Juliet Gellatley
April 2020
 

Viva is online at viva.org.uk and on their homepage you can find links to a huge amount of news, tips on veganism, vegan cookery, and of course to the Hogwood documentary. As you’d expect they are on multiple forms of social media including Twitter at vivacampaigns and Facebook at vivevegancharity

If you like the idea of these podcasts please do spread the word on social media, and if you’d like to come and have a virtual chat yourself email me at charlie -AT- waronwildlife.co.uk

Thankyou very much for listening – and please stay well