A Kynd Life

Geelong Duck Rescue (GDR) formally began in 2016 and consists of a dedicated group of volunteers who actively have a presence at the Lake Connewarre wetland system in Geelong each duck shooting season.
GDR's mission is to protect native waterbird species who call this ecosystem home. Volunteers attend the wetlands from dawn to dusk to rescue wounded birds and collect evidence of shooters breaching regulations. The number of shooters attending the wetlands has declined since GDR's involvement.
In this episode I speak to the Coordinators of GDR Nat and Mish who provide an insight into what is involved in duck rescue, their experiences and their vegan journey. They provide great suggestions for people to get involved both on the wetland and from their home.
https://www.facebook.com/geelongduckrescue
https://www.instagram.com/geelongduckrescue/
TAKE ACTION!
https://animaljusticepartyvictoria.good.do/banduckshooting/email/
https://www.animalsaustralia.org/features/duck-shooting-is-not-a-sport/
OTHER VIC DUCK RESCUE GROUPS
https://www.facebook.com/CADSDuckRescue/
https://www.facebook.com/Regionalvictorians

Dim Kailaris was raised in a Greek family, with strong ties to culture and traditions including eating meat, dairy and eggs in every meal. He could never understand people being vegan, until seven years ago when he watched Earthlings. Dim saw what happens inside slaughterhouses and went vegetarian. Two months later, he learnt about the egg and dairy industry and went vegan from an ethical standpoint.
Being vegan was not enough, Dim needed to speak up about what was happening to animals, so he became active. Initially, Dim started posting on his social media and attended organised events such as protests, vigils and street outreach.
Dim recognised the importance of slaughterhouse footage in his own vegan journey and got involved in investigation work inside slaughterhouses and factory farms. He knew how powerful the footage was, so entered facilities in Australia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.
Being a teacher, Dim tried educating students about the realities of where their food comes from, however he quickly received backlash from schools and parents. Dim recently moved into full time animal rights work, which allowed him to focus on creating dontwatch.org
dontwatch.org includes a 6 minute video showing the realities of the animal agriculture industry. During the first 48 hours of it's launch, dontwatch.org had over 100,000 views and now averages 2000 views per day. The website contains recipes, links to Challenge 22, activism materials and the ability for people to contact the organisation for support.
In this episode, Dim also shares his experiences in conducting investigation work, disruptive action and activists working together to achieve total animal liberation.
https://dontwatch.org/
https://www.instagram.com/dim.stagram/
https://www.instagram.com/dontwatchofficial/
https://www.facebook.com/kailaris

Aline Dürr was pregnant with her first child, when she started to move away from eating meat. After Aline's daughter was born, she came across a short video about the dairy industry and she connected with it so deeply. Aline received an invitation to the premiere screening of Dominion and she felt the need to attend. This bought about big change, as Aline came home and told her partner she was going vegan and wanted to raise their daughter vegan.
Aline is an interior designer and after going vegan, she wanted to combine her two passions, so she pursued a career in vegan interior design. Aline is the Founder and Director of Vegan Interior Design, a social enterprise providing design services, as well as an educational platform for people and companies to create healthy, sustainable and cruelty free services.
Aline published her first book "Vegan Interior Design" last year, which won the PETA Vegan Homeware Awards 2021. She is also organising the first ever Vegan Interior Design Week, a virtual event being held in November.
Outside of work and family life, Aline volunteers for a number of animal rescue organisations, including NSW Hen Rescue and finds fostering ex battery hens extremely rewarding.
In this episode, Aline shares her experiences as a foster carer, raising a vegan family and provides advice on how to make informed decisions when designing your living space and purchasing products for your home.
https://www.instagram.com/vegan.interior.design/
https://www.facebook.com/veganinteriordesign/
https://www.veganinteriordesign.com
https://www.veganinteriordesignweek.com

Richard Oglesby, known as Trikky Oges to his friends, spent most of his life working in industries that exploited animals, until he started a job at Edgar's Mission, which changed his whole life.
Trikky began his career in shearing sheds across outback Australia when he was 20 years old. He was a zoo keeper at Adelaide Zoo for seven years and recalls the boredom animals in captivity experienced. Trikky then became a groom at a top cattle stud in Victoria and later a contractor at equestrian centres.
Trikky met Pam Ahern, Founder of Edgar's Mission, at a local farmers Markets and was invited to join the Edgar's team in May 2015. Trikky recalls arriving at Edgar's Mission and feeling an overwhelming sense of joy when he was met by Saturday, a special needs Suffolk sheep in a cart. He met all the beautiful residents and recognised their strong will to live. He began to reflect on his food choices and as a result, Trikky went vegetarian at age 68.
Trikky's 2018 new years resolution was to go vegan, which he accomplished with the encouragement and support of the Edgar's crew, who supplied him with recipes and meals. Trikky is a testament to it being "never too late to change".
Trikky attended a Save Movement rally where Pam was the guest speaker. He then came across an Anonymous for the Voiceless Cube of Truth in Southbank and realised being active for the animals was the next necessary step in his journey. He attended the next Cube event and has been a regular member ever since.
In this episode, Trikky shares the importance of learning from each other, going outside your comfort zone for the animals and being a proud example of diversity within the vegan movement.
https://www.instagram.com/trikkyoges/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100031136912915

It's been a year since I first interviewed John Thomas and what better time to have him back on the show, than while he is in the middle of a bodybuilding competition prep!
John is aiming to compete in an amateur division bodybuilding class later this year. He is working with a coach who has no prior experience with a vegan competitor, which John sees as an opportunity to change the sport from the inside out.
Alot of changes have occurred in John's life since we last spoke; he recently moved to Tampa to surround himself with the top athletes in his sport, dyed his mohawk green to stand out and spark conversation about veganism, got tattoos, found a tumor on his chest and sadly his father passed away.
In this episode, John provides heartfelt reflections on the year that's been, how competition preparation is going and his plans for the future.
https://www.instagram.com/thebodybuildingvegan/