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.

​Everyone interested, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook.

Thanks to Graham for your video and audio skills!