We all go through terrible things in our lives.

None of us are going to get away from suffering and also suffering exists at every turn.

I mean, there are lonely people in that building across from my house that I'm looking at right now. They're suffering everywhere.

So what a privilege for any of us to be able to alleviate the suffering of others.

And when you go to suffering and do something about it,

it gives meaning to the suffering, to the efforts,

to your own life. Hi, I'm Elizabeth Novigrad's welcome to Species Unite, the podcast where we talk to people who are fighting

some of the hardest fights on earth to stop the unnecessary suffering of animals.

I am really excited to share today's conversation.

It's with Joanne MacArthur.

Joanne's an award-winning photojournalist and the founder of We Animals Media.

For 20 years she's been photographing and bearing witness to our complex relationship with animals.

She's worked in over 60 countries in just about every

industry you can imagine, including fur farms, factory farms, bear-bile farms,

zoos, rodeos, marine parks, with the mission to make the lives of these invisible animals

visible. She's also co-founder of the Unbound Project and the author of two books

We Animals and Captive and she was the subject of Liz Marshall's acclaimed documentary, The Ghost in Our Machine.

I think we all grew up with a lot of animals. We may just not be seeing them.

I mean I was always seeing the squirrels and the wildlife in my neighborhood in Ottawa.

Also I would always beg my parents for animals that I could have in the house,

you know, gerbils, hamsters, birds.

I was always attracted to the, you know, other species species and very very curious about them.

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