It feels like yesterday – and a lifetime ago – that the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the world. I don't know about you, but I'm still dealing with that experience, and I see the impact of it around me regularly. What's most upsetting, perhaps, is that experts are sending clear messages: it's not if, but when the next pandemic will hit.

A major source for potential virus spillover is fur farms, of which there remain dozens in Canada today, despite a British Columbia mink fur farm ban announced in 2021. Dr. Neil Vora, a former CDC epidemiologist, Executive Director of the Preventing Pandemics at the Source Coalition and Orchestrator in Residence at Integral, and passionate conservationist, is one of many people pushing for change. Dr. Vora joins Defender Radio to discuss the risks of fur farms, how Canada and other nations can embrace One Health policies, and how our relationship with nature is at the core of it all.

SHOW NOTES

Photo of a mink on a Canadian fur farm by We Animals

Dr. Neil Vora's website: https://neilvora.com/

Preventing Pandemics at The Source: https://www.preventingfuturepandemics.org/

Ban fur farming or risk a new pandemic (The Guardian, by Dr. Neil Vora): https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/24/fur-farming-pandemic-risk

Marking the end of fur farming in British Columbia: https://thefurbearers.com/blog/marking-the-end-of-mink-farming-in-british-columbia/

Want to suggest topics for Defender Radio? Reach out to us at info@TheFurBearers.com, by visiting DefenderRadio.com or engaging host Michael Howie on social media via Instagram (www.instagram.com/howiemichael) or Facebook (www.Facebook.com/DefenderRadio).

Defender Radio is produced by The Fur-Bearers (www.TheFurBearers.com), a charitable non-partisan organization whose mandate is to advocate on behalf of fur-bearing animals in the wild and in confinement, promote coexistence solutions in communities and protect the habitats of fur-bearing animals across Canada. You can follow The Fur-Bearers on Instagram (www.instagram.com/furbearers), Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/thefurbearers.bsky.social) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FurFree).