Interview with Rob Laidlaw
Written By: Mariana, a Junior Giraffe Club member
Rob Laidlaw has spent more than 40 years working to protect animals of all kinds in Canada and around the world. He is a Chartered Biologist, founder of the wildlife protection organization Zoocheck, and in 2014 was awarded the prestigious Frederic A. McGrand Lifetime Achievement Award for substantial contributions to animal welfare in Canada. His work has resulted in changes to laws, regulations, and policies throughout Canada. He is also a multi-award-winning author of 11 children’s books about animal welfare and wildlife protection, that are published in many countries, as well as numerous articles, reports, book chapters, and other materials. He has spoken to hundreds of audiences of all ages throughout the world and appeared in a broad range of media stories and documentary films.
Fun fact: Rob wrote the forward to Anne’s non-fiction children’s book, 5 Giraffes! His other books include Bat Citizens, Saving the Ninjas of the Night, No Shelter Here, Making the World a Kinder Place for Dogs, 5 Elephants, and Wild Animals in Captivity.
Junior Giraffe Club member Mariana asked Rob some questions about his role in animal advocacy, his journey, and more:
1. What did you do immediately after high school? Did you have a path set already, and what is some advice you can give young students about career choices?
I left high school and became a professional musician for several years, traveling to different towns and cities to play in nightclubs and other similar kinds of venues. While it was an interesting experience, my mind was set on pursuing work in the protection of animals. At the time, except for humane societies, there were very few animal welfare organizations and none that I could find that were conducting animal protection campaigns, so I eventually decided to start my own project investigating a variety of animal-use industries. As the first few years passed I met other like-minded people and together we started several animal welfare groups. Then, in 1984, I visited a small zoo in my home province of Ontario and was horrified by the conditions. Since no one was trying to help those animals, I decided I would. That decision led to the establishment of Zoocheck which has worked to help animals across Canada and around the world ever since. While my entry into a career helping animals may be unconventional, the advice I can give to young people based on my experience is to be persistent (ie., don’t give up), keep learning and make every effort to gather as much experience as you can by volunteering, initiating your own projects and anything else you can think of. It will pay off in the long run.
2. What was your experience writing children's books? How was this experience different from others?
I had never thought about writing a children’s book until a publisher approached me to see if I would interested in writing a book about zoos. While I had written articles, reports, and other materials for adults in the past, I thought the offer of writing a children’s book was a good opportunity, so I said yes. To my great surprise, the book did well and it led to me writing another 10 children’s books about wildlife protection and animal welfare. The entire book writing experience was very different from my professional advocacy work because when you’re writing any kind of book, you typically do most of it alone, while advocacy work nearly always involves interactions with a large number of other people on an almost daily basis. Once a book is published however, it has to be promoted so, for me, that meant traveling to schools, libraries, book festivals and other venues across the country to speak to kids and adults about the topics covered in my books. It allowed me to talk to thousands of kids about why we should all be doing our part to promote animal welfare and wildlife conservation. That was a very different experience than speaking to adults only at universities, conferences, or in government meeting rooms and chambers. I was very surprised at how much kids knew about animals and that many of them wanted to help.
3. Were there people who tried to stop you or created obstacles in your path that slowed you down from pursuing your dreams? Can you share some advice about this?
I don’t actually recall anyone trying to stop me from pursuing involvement in advocacy for animals and the environment, but it was quite a long time ago so it’s possible I just don’t remember. Having said that, I can say there’s been no shortage of obstacles throughout the years, but I’ve always believed that if you encounter obstacles, you should just try to work around them and that’s what I’ve tried to do. That mindset was probably a factor in being able to start several organizations, conduct campaigns, and set up events for animals and the environment throughout the years. I also think I was just lucky that things turned out the way they did because I didn’t have a step-by-step plan. I did look for opportunities to do the things I wanted to do (as long as they moved me in the right direction) and, if there were none, then I tried to create them myself, but the path forward was at times meandering. If I were to give advice to young people trying to become full-time advocates for a cause, I would suggest they keep trying to learn (especially about politics), accumulate experiences that help them build their resume, look for good opportunities, and if they are there, to take advantage of them and, finally, to be very persistent (i.e., don’t give up).
4. What were the processes, challenges, and accomplishments of creating ZooCheck?
Starting an organization is challenging at the best of times, but a key challenge as you grow is making the jump from being a volunteer organization to being one with paid staff. Often there isn’t enough funding to hire anyone, but to raise the funding required to hire staff, means someone has to devote their full-time effort to it as a volunteer. So that’s what I did. Moving Zoocheck to that next stage involved me working as a full-time volunteer for two years and then continuing for an additional two years for little, or at times, no pay at all. Doing that allowed Zoocheck to become better known and to gradually build support. An additional challenge that was a product of the way we decided to operate was that we were focused on very practical campaign work and didn’t pay too much attention to promoting the organization, an approach we still take today. Perhaps we were lucky, but it worked out in the end and I think we’ve been able to accomplish a lot for animals since those early days.
5. What is your opinion and view about animal freedom of choice? What is the level of importance in our world?
I think freedom of choice for domesticated and wild animals is extremely important. Having autonomy and being able to make choices is how most animals (including people) make meaningful contributions to the quality of their own lives. When animals can’t make choices, it usually means their environment is compromised and their lives and welfare are substantially diminished. I used to be a humane society inspector and I encountered countless dogs chained to wooden doghouses. Those poor dogs couldn’t make any meaningful choices and they couldn’t do much of anything to make their lives better. All they could do was walk a few steps in one direction or another before reaching the limits of their short chains. I also see lack of choice as a problem when many people walk their dogs. They pull on the leash and control everything their dog does. It’s awful. Their dogs want to sniff, scratch, and do things while they’re out, but they’re often not allowed. Their “owners” don’t seem to realize the walk isn’t for them, it’s for their dog, so they should let their dog make choices about how the walk goes. Lack of choice is also one of the reasons why I don’t like to see animals in zoos. Most captive animals are kept in very undersized, artificial spaces that severely limit their ability to engage in species-typical movements and behaviors, including making choices. It’s something most people don’t think about.