Jo-Anne McArthur on Uncovering Truth & Inspiring Compassion for We Animals

MANIFEST THIS with Ashley Wood

episode 49

Each week I talk to women who are creating and living the life that they want to live and today I’m talking to Jo-Anne McArthur.

For fifteen years, Jo-Anne has been documenting our complex relationship with animals. She has walked onto factory farms, visited zoos and marine parks, attended rodeos, assisted in animal rescues and raids, and documented the lives of animals in sanctuaries. With her images, JoAnne seeks to bring the invisible animals of our world––the animals we eat, wear, test on, and confine––into the light.

This might seem different to you, if you’ve listened to the show before, because we usually talk about spirituality, manifestation, wellness, entrepreneurship, but here’s the thing.

As is the micro, as is the macro. If we’re not taking care of one another, and yes this includes the animals and plants on our planet, we feel this on a much bigger scale. And we’re seeing it now – animal agriculture is the leading cause of species extinction, ocean dead zones, water pollution and habitat destruction.

And Jo-Anne discusses these very difficult topics with such compassion, such empathy, without judgement and she even talks about how going vegan made her feel more clear spiritually as well.

Jo-Anne founded We Animals, an international photo project documenting our complex relationships with animals around the world and in 2013, she was the subject of the documentary The Ghosts in Our Machine, which followed her as she documented the plight of these abused and exploited animals and advocated for their rights as sentient beings.

In 2018, one of her images won the People’s Choice Award in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition and her newest endeavour, the Unbound Project, is a photographic project that celebrates female leaders at the forefront of animal advocacy, both contemporary and historical.

Jo-Anne’s images have been used in hundreds of campaigns around the world, including by the largest animal protection groups in the world. She is the author of two books We Animals (2014), and Captive (2017) and in 2017, she and the We Animals team launched the We Animals Archive, which allows free use of thousands of images for anyone fighting for animals.

If you like what you hear today, or you’re inspired to eat more plants and less animals, please subscribe, rate and review this podcast, Manifest This!, on iTunes and email me a screenshot of your review to [email protected]. I will send you a free ebook called High Vibe Vegan Food filled with delicious recipes to help get you started!

IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS...

  • what Jo-Anne does and how she got into this work
  • who the ‘invisible animals’ are
  • how people respond to Jo-Anne’s message
  • Carnism 
  • why I gave up dairy
  • the lies that children are told by the dairy industry in elementary schools
  • how Jo-Anne speaks to children in elementary schools about the factory farming industry and invisible animals 
  • why Jo-Anne went vegan 
  • how veganism and spirituality are interconnected 
  • how Jo-Anne finds the opportunities to take the photos that she does
  • We Animals Archive
  • how We Animals and Jo-Anne’s work is funded 
  • how Jo-Anne remains emotionally grounded and how she takes care of herself
  • the Unbound Project
  • dairy and feminism 
  • how she feels about the work she does

SHOW NOTES

-----
If you want to say hello to me, I'm @_ashleywood on Instagram.
Book an Akashic Records reading with me on ashleywood.life