I tweeted recently - I'm @charliemoores if you'd like to check this out or follow me - that I'd been a little bit quiet on Substack, the blogging platform I use.I explained why in a post I wrote called 'Choosing sides on August 12th'...and it occurred to me that actually I'd been a bit quiet on Buzzsprout too - so here's that blog in audio form, slightly changed to fit the rhythms of my speech but well, the sentiments and intentions are exactly the same... So, About five years ago a senior...

In this podcast I talk with professional ecologists Tom Langton and Dominic Woodfield as we discuss a number of related issues that we’ve grouped together under the tite ‘Badger Culls, Biodiversity, Birds and the High Court’. It’s a complex conversation, and it takes experts like Tom and Dominic to explain everything so clearly: it includes duties to protect wildlife and the repeated failure of statutory bodies with respect to those duties which – depending on an upcoming Court Appeal on July...

A conversation with a pioneer of non-animal testing Dr Carol Treasure. Carol is a founder of XCellR8, a laboratory exclusively devoted to animal-free safety and efficacy tests for the cosmetics, personal care and chemical industries. XCellR8’s clients include high street retail brands, large ingredient manufacturers and fast growth SMEs.  Many of XCellR8’s tests are for moisturisers, soaps and shampoos – in fact, if you use a product from Lush, chances are its components were tested for how...

Charlie Moores and Dominic Dyer discuss attempts  by fox-hunting supporters. to intimidate activists. It's nothing new of course, but it should always be called out. In this particular instance, fox hunting supporters are making threats towards a hotel in Peterborough where the League Against Cruel Sports is hosting their next Enough is Enough event on June 17th and at which Dominic will be speaking... Register for free for ‘Enough is Enough’ at The Bull Hotel and Conference Centre,...

"I've tried to write the book that I felt I needed to read when I was younger, but I hope it appeals to all age groups." Trust me Sophie, it does... A conversation with zoologist and science communicator Sophie Pavelle, about her first book, Forget Me Not, which is subtitled “Finding the forgotten species of climate change Britain”. We spoke shortly before Forget Me Not’s launch date and discussed what the book is about, Sophie’s modern and fresh writing style (a style that I think makes her...

In the latest episode of The Off the leash Podcast Charlie Moores and Dominic Dyer look at the latest on the badger cull - in other words, a climbdown by Defra; the findings of the Foreign Affairs Committee on Afghanistan & Nowzad - basically the most senior civil servants were found to be uncooperative and evasive; Dominic’s upcoming documentary which starts filming very soon; but we start with the submission Dominic and Born Free made to the EFRA Committee (the committee which examines...

"As one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, Britain has a long way to go. Somerset’s super nature reserve is a great start; but it must also be an opportunity to change the way we regard and manage the countryside for the 21st century." (Stephen Moss, Observer Comment,  22 May 22) A conversation with birder, award-winning author, bird tour leader, BAFTA award-winning television producer, a stalwart of the British Birdfair, President of the Somerset Wildlife Trust, teacher of...

A conversation with pro-wildlife campaigner Rob Pownall, founder of Keep the Ban.  We’re talking shortly before Rob jumps out of an aeroplane 10000’ above the Kent countryside to raise funds for a very special project to raise public awareness about one of fox hunting’s dirtiest secrets – cubbing. Cubbing, as you’ll hear us discuss, is a disgusting form of animal abuse, a wildlife crime where – to put it simply - fox hunters train their hounds by setting them on fox cubs. Rob is absolutely...

"I think what my life has taught me so far is that hardly anything is impossible if you work hard enough and you are passionate enough about. It is incredible the difference one person can make..." (Sam Hutchinson) A conversation between Off the Leash’s Dominic Dyer and Sam Hutchinson, the founder of the animal welfare charity Power of One, which is described as a "platform which gives small charities and teams across the world a voice and the opportunity to connect with people like you, who...

A short conversation between Charlie Moores and Dominic Dyer about the Queen's Speech and animal welfare legislation.  Yesterday, May 10th, the Queen’s Speech, which sets out the government’s legislative agenda for the next parliamentary year, was given in the House of  Lords. It was - according to most commentators - a drab affair, a mix of new plans, long-made pledges and a handful of held-over bills. On animal welfare legislation, though, it was universally slammed with promises broken...

"Talk to your candidates...find out if they really care." A conversation with powerhouse campaigner Saffron Gloyne, who has been selected to represent the Animal Welfare Party in the May local elections. Saffron is one of thirteen candidates in Croydon’s Addiscombe West ward where three seats are available. According to the Animal Welfare Party's website, Saffron will focus her campaign on standing up against wildlife crime in Croydon, championing the borough’s ability to become a nationwide...

I woke up this morning to a thrush’s liquid song cascading from the top of an oak tree about 100m away. Phrase after phrase, loud and clear. Not the repetitive song of a Song Thrush, nor the more mellow conversation of a Blackbird, but the melodious outpouring of a Mistle Thrush. Perched, typically, in the open, bold as brass, daring the local Sparrowhawk to interrupt, swept up in the power of his own remarkable voice as it bounced around off the stone walls of our home. During lockdown I...

Dominic Dyer speaking at a PETA UK reception, where to quote PETA, “MPs had the opportunity to see and feel the world’s first faux bear fur, a fabric that has been expertly created by luxury faux furrier ECOPEL to replace the bearskins used to make the Queen’s Guard’s caps”  Dominic and I have discussed this issue in numerous podcasts before (eg Shortcast #53 Dominic Dyer | Bear Hats and Ben Wallace ), but essentially – exactly as that quote from PETA explains – the Ministry of Defence have...

A slightly truncated Off the Leash Podcast this time around, as Charlie Moores and Dominic Dyer focus on why they’ve been saying ‘Off the leash Podcasts is dead, long live Off the Leash’  this week (Charlie posted a shortcast explaining about the upcoming changes earlier this week, but we wanted to discuss it at more length),' we outline upcoming events this week, including a Parliamentary reception organised by PETA UK as part of the ongoing campaign against the fur caps worn by the Queen's...

“Off the Leash Podcasts is dead, long live Off the Leash”. Okay, that’s a little over-dramatic, but I was looking for a way to get people’s attention and referencing regnal succession and using a phrasal template seemed like a good idea… Anyway, back to the matter in hand. We are coming up to the first anniversary of Off the Leash Podcasts (or OTL) – we launched our podcast trailer on April 30th 2021 - and while things have been going really well (we’ve had almost 40k downloads now), we’ve...

A conversation between Charlie Moores and Duncan McNair, founder of Save the Asian Elephants or STAE. Duncan is a prominent corporate litigation lawyer and was Chair of the highly-influential 2013 McNair Inquiry and Report which was commissioned by the RSPCA and called for greater commitment to higher welfare standards for farmed animals. Its recommendations were unanimously approved by the Council of Trustees of the RSPCA the month after the Report’s publication and resulted in the RSPCA...

In this episode of The Off the Leash Podcast, Charlie Moores and Dominic Dyer look at Dorset Police’s baffling and frankly bizarre decision to halt an investigation into the poisoning of a White-tailed Eagle found dead on a Dorset shooting estate; at an FOI request from Wiltshire Hunt Sabs that found that an astonishing 53 police officers chaperoned the notorious Avon Vale Hunt at one meet in Wiltshire in early March but still couldn’t see assaults on sabs taking place in front of them; and...

“Badger culling is not going to work as a method of controlling disease in cattle and should be abandoned immediately and permanently.” Dr Mark Jones., Born Free Foundation Charlie Moores in conversation with Tom Langton, a conservation ecologist with involvement in High Court judicial review of decisions surrounding badger culling policy in England, and veterinarian Dr Mark Jones, Head of Policy at Born Free. In mid-March, open-access research by Tom, Mark, and Dr Iain McGill - a...

An uplifting and beautifully told shortcast about snares by Animals Asia's Ryan Marcel Sucaet - part of Off the Leash's series of shortcasts supporting Animal Aid’s petition to make the use of free-running snares illegal. Ryan Marcel Sucaet is the Bear & Vet Team Director at the Chengdu Bear Rescue Centre. Animal Aid petition  Make the use of free-running snares illegal for trapping wildlife (Deadline 9th May 2022)   Animal Aid Website and Twitter feedAnimals Asia Website and Twitter...

Shortcasts are short standalone audio comments and statements from conservationists, campaigners, charities, authors and members of our audience. If it needs to be said – say it here! A shortcast by Edith from Staffordshire Wounded Badger Patrol, a group of volunteers who work to protect badgers in the Staffordshire badger cull zone. "It's definitely worth doing - it's satisfying to know that we're out there protecting badgers."     Wounded Badger Patrol - Staffordshire  Facebook...

A conversation between Charlie Moores and Anne, a spokesperson for the Wiltshire Hunt Saboteurs. Anne and Charlie have spoken before, in late December, shortly after a well-publicised attack on hunt protestors by followers of the notorious Avon Vale Hunt at their Boxing Day meet in the Wiltshire village of Lacock (link below).  This time they’re talking in late March, so towards the end of the so-called fox hunting season. It’s been a tumultuous period for the various Wiltshire hunt packs...

A short conversation between Off the Leash's Charlie Moores and Dominic Dyer on Dominic's government petition calling on the UK to "Suspend trade agreement with Faroe Islands until all whale & dolphin hunts end" which of course was launched after the Faroese slaughtered an almost unbelievable 1428 Atlantic White-sided Dolphins on the 12th of September last year. After a huge push in the last week or so the petition has now reached 100,000 signatures, which given the understandable focus...

Charlie Moores talks with the founder of Keep the Ban, Rob Pownall. Launched in 2015 but ticking over until some eighteen months ago, a change in strategy, a new website, and a massively ramped up social media presence saw Keep the Ban launch numerous anti-hunt campaigns and develop investigative work alongside the renowned Hunt Investigation Team (or HIT). As Rob explains he has some extremely interesting ideas on where he thinks Keep the Ban should go next, plans for expanding on the work...

Four days ago Off the Leash posted a short conversation between Charlie Moores and campaigner and Off the Leash colleague Dominic Dyer on what he'd been doing to make it easier for refugees fleeing Putin's war on Ukraine to come into the UK with their companion animals. We were very critical of the UK government on that occasion, but Dominic is back with - thankfully - better news...  Shortcast #77 Dominic Dyer | Ukranian Refugees and Companion AnimalsThe Off the Leash Podcast 3.3  Ukraine