Find our conversation here on YouTube or here on Podcast.
Lu (@LuShegay) is an animal law attorney from Kazakhstan, now based in the USA. She is the co-founder and Managing Director of the Institute of Animal Law of Asia (ialasia.org and @ianimallawasia).
In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what matters?” Sentientism is “evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” In addition to the video linked above, the audio is on our Podcast here on Apple and here on the other platforms.
We discuss:
0:00 Welcome
1:15 Lu’s Intro – Animal law from Kazakhstan to the USA
2:07 What’s Real?
- Kazakhstan as a secular country, with Islam and Christianity the main religions
- Being brought to Christianity by Lu’s mother
- Learning about religion and realising “it’s not real – god is not real”
- Believing “there’s somebody above us but they’re not like us”
- “I believe in the universe and I believe in science”
- Believing using facts and reason, but also believing there are some things that can’t be explained
6:52 What Matters Morally?
- Morality can come from the heart. Listening to ourselves re: what feels right or wrong
- Having compassion & putting yourself in someone else’s shoes
- As a child: loving animals but still eating animals
- Re-considering animal ethics while exploring animal law in Kazakhstan
- “The legal system doesn’t work well in Kazakhstan even for humans” so many aren’t ready for the animal law field
- Studying animal law in the USA and learning about animal suffering
- Dr Raj Reddy’s class “changed my world” https://law.lclark.edu/live/profiles/7148-rajesh-reddy
- Going vegetarian
- Learning about what happens to male chicks in the egg industry. Giving up eggs
- Going vegan. “It came to me naturally that I was doing something wrong”
- Eating meat is central to culture in Kazakhstan but there are meat and dairy alternatives
- Family not understanding veganism. Questioning health and ethics
- “I’ve only met one other vegan in Kazakhstan”
- Biocentrism, ecocentrism and the interdependencies for sentients
- Loving space, but not understanding why governments spend so much more on exploring other planets rather than caring for ours and exploring our oceans
- Long-termism. Space colonisation
21:54 The Future
- Being realistic about moral scope expansion
- Raising awareness and educating people
- Recognising that different countries have very different contexts. Where there are serious human crises it’s harder to prioritise non-human issues
- The non-human animal law agenda across Asia
- Does law follow culture and politics or can it lead and innovate as well?
- In many Asian countries politics & law don’t respond to public opinion
- Some countries have animal laws but there is no enforcement (e.g. Kazakhstan animal cruelty legislation)
- Different animal law approaches (cruelty, personhood, farming/fishing)
- The EU and UK recognising the salience of animal sentience
- “I’m positive about our future… I experienced the rapid change in my views”.
Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at sentientism.info. Join our “I’m a Sentientist” wall using this simple form.
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Thanks to Graham for your video and audio skills!