Cruelty Free Friday: We Animals

“Polar bear in captivity at the Toronto Zoo, 2005" 

 photograph by Jo-Anne McArthur

"We Animals is an ambitious project which documents, through (candid) photography, animals in the human environment. The title is intentionally broad in subject matter, interpretation and implication. The premise of the project is that humans are as much animal as the sentient beings we use for food, clothing, research, experimentation, work, entertainment, slavery and companionship. The goal of the project is to break down the barriers that humans have built which allow us to treat non-human animals as objects and not as sentient beings. My objective has been to photograph our interactions with animals in such a way that the viewer finds new significance in these ordinary, often unnoticed situations of use, abuse and sharing of spaces. The founder and photographer of this project is Jo-Anne McArthur, who is based in Toronto, Canada."


To learn more about We Animals, visit Jo-Anne's website and their Facebook page. For anyone lucky enough to be in Toronto this weekend, there will be an opening for the exhibition of photos entitled, "We Animals: Stories of Love and Liberation".


* I am now the proud collector of the Jo-Anne McArthur's photo featured above after being selected in The Ghosts In Our Machine sponsor give-away. I cannot wait to frame this amazing image and share it with my family and community at large.

Cruelty Free Friday: Pure Whippet Love

Finn, our whippet, doing what he does best, meditating and looking elegant

Before we had twins boys, my husband and I peacefully spent time with a beautiful and athletic whippet named Finn (pictured above). We spent over eight years with this stunning and enlightened being, and we are fortunate to still have Finn as the wise pillar of our family as he turns twelve years old this August. 

Finn REM dreaming

Having a whippet around you all of the time is a dreamy and expansive experience. Strict rules about no dogs on the bed, in the bed, or on every holiday with you shift to the back burner. Whippets want to be with you all of the time – not in a clingy manner, but rather as a trusted confidante or soul mate during both the celebratory and the tough times. I did not have children for close to ten years, and there was not a moment when Finn was not there with me after every doctor's visit and challenging moment in my journey to motherhood. For this, I will be indebted to him forever. He has been my solid rock and my touchstone for compassion.

Finn taking a nap in Bulgaria

I wanted to share these personal sentiments for my Cruelty Free Friday post, because even though Finn was not a rescued whippet, he was spared a life as a traveling show dog and litter misfit of sorts. People approach us all of the time about whether he was rescued, and this always brings a glimmer of hope that folks are indeed aware of the plight of retired racing whippets and greyhounds. I was looking through some of the photos on Jo-Anne McArthur's amazing site, We Animals, last night, and the images of greyhound racing brought tears to my eyes. Their lives are certainly far from the life that Finn has led. 

As mentioned before, Jo-Anne McArthur is involved with the extremely vital documentary film and multimedia project, The Ghosts in Our Machine. The team has met their fundraising goal, but any contributions made during the remaining eighteen hours will go towards, We Animals. I will be making  a contribution on Finn's behalf, as he has indeed been central in our lives and not for a moment invisible. I wish that this was the case for so many other beings we share the planet with. Finn, we love you.

Cruelty Free Friday: Ghosts in Our Machine

THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE [trailer 02] from THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE on Vimeo.

If you not heard about writer, director, producer Liz Marshall's latest documentary film project, The Ghosts In Our Machine (TGIOM), you are missing out on a valuable layer of information about animals and their treatment and presence in the modern world.


"THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE is a cinematic film and an unfolding narrative online experience that attracts an audience leading up to the production of the film, and sustains and fosters community engagement throughout the lifecycle of the project. Together they seek to uncover the dark recesses of our anthropocentric society to illuminate the lives of individual animals used for human profit and consumption. TGIOM features award winning documentary photographer Jo-Anne McArthur as she photographs global stories of animals used within the machine of our modern world."


You can follow TGIOM's news and updates on Facebook as well as support the project here. Thank you, Cow Jones Industrials, for featuring this project on your own Facebook page.