 |
           
|
Outstanding Activist!
Now
a committed activist and vegan, 29-year-old Jo-Anne McArthur developed
her deep love and concern for animals when she was very young. She first
put this love into action when she was 11. One day, while walking in her
neighborhood in Ottawa, she heard a dog barking from inside someone's
backyard. Feeling sorry for the dog and worrying that no one had time
to play with him, she went up to the house and asked if she could start
taking him for regular walks. Her neighbors agreed. Seeing "Duke's"
excitement and joy during their walks had a profound impact on Jo-Anne.
She had found her passion.
Today, Jo-Anne's passion for helping animals is stronger than ever. A photographer by trade, she has managed to incorporate her activism into her profession, successfully using her camera to bring awareness to animal issues. In recent years, she has traveled to countries across the globe, including India, Peru, and Turkey, to document the many hardships animals endure in the modern world. With the photos taken on these journeys, she has created an ongoing photo essay entitled, "We Animals," which she proudly exhibits 2-3 times each year. All the proceeds Jo-Anne raises from print and postcard sales at the exhibits are donated to various organizations. In early 2007, she plans to do a fundraiser for Farm Sanctuary.
Although Jo-Anne often travels around the world in search of powerful images, she also takes incredible photographs in the United States and in her home country of Canada. Currently, she is shadowing cruelty investigators from the Ontario SPCA, capturing film of their difficult work for a new photo documentary that she hopes will be featured in newspapers across North America in the fall of 2006. A few months ago, she traveled to New Orleans to help animals rescued in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. When she wasn't feeding hungry puppies and cleaning up poop, she was - of course - taking pictures. Some of the pictures will be published in C-ing Magazine, a new Canadian magazine about photojournalism. Proving herself to be a very busy young woman, Jo-Anne is also donating her time to take movie stills for an upcoming film called, "The Vegan Transformation," about Canadian vegan triathlete, Brendan Brazier.
Farm Sanctuary,
too, has benefited from Jo-Anne's talents and dedication. She has completed
two volunteer internships at our shelters and has taken countless photos
for the organization over the years. She happily calls Farm Sanctuary
her "home away from home." Her primary home is in Toronto, where
she lives with her partner Adam, her dog Samson, and 6 budgies she adopted
from the Humane Society. A positive, friendly and vocal vegan, she proudly
sports a "Say No to Foie Gras" bumpersticker on her car, hosts
dinner parties to show friends how amazing vegan food can be, and frequents
demonstrations for animals, including protests against the Canadian seal
hunt, KFC and circuses. And as if all that weren't enough, she volunteers
to bottle-feed kittens at the Toronto Humane Society each spring, and
last year she even convinced a local restaurant owner to stop selling
veal for good. Thank you, Jo-Anne for all that you do!
Together, we ARE making a difference. If you would like to find out more about volunteering your time to educate others about factory farming and vegetarianism, please contact us at activist@farmsanctuary.org, or call 607-583-2225 ext. 229. Click here to find out what YOU can do to help!