Jan Creamer and Tim Phillips on Swoop’s World Primetime

Jan Creamer and Tim Phillips

On Thursday November 8, 2012 at 11am/PST (2pm/EST) we welcome Jan Creamer and Tim Phillips, the co-founders of Animal Defenders International (ADI) to Swoop’s World Primetime. Jan and Tim are two fearless, compassionate individuals who fight for those who cannot fight for themselves: the abused and neglected animals of the world. The renowned group stops animal abuse, rescues animals in distress, and secures legislation that protects animals from harm in laboratories, farms, and the entertainment industry. They use false identities, hidden cameras, elaborate cover stories, and covert surveillance techniques to capture footage in circuses, slaughterhouses, and laboratories. Swoop’s World Primetime is live on Thursdays at 11am/PST (2pm/EST) Tune in each week at Swoopsworld.com.

Jan Creamer

Jan Creamer is the President and co-founder of Animal Defenders International (ADI), a world-renowned group committed to animal protection across the globe. Along with her husband Tim Phillips, Creamer has built a reputation for getting the job done; the team not only investigates animal cruelty, but also secures legislation to stop the harm and bring abusers to justice.

Creamer’s dedication to making a change sparked in the mid-1970s, when she saw a leaflet in the street about beagles being forced to smoke cigarettes in experiments. The leaflet called for action and Creamer responded, volunteering for the National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS). Within years she left her graphic design job to become a full-time magazine editor for NAVS, their photographer, public speaker and later their Chief Executive.

While working on animal protection campaigns, Creamer met her husband and future ADI Vice President Tim Phillips. In 1990 they founded ADI and have expanded the group’s presence worldwide, with offices in London, Los Angeles, and Bogota.

The approach of Creamer and Phillips was recently highlighted in South America, where they embedded an undercover team for two years inside the circus industry. The findings shocked a continent and a huge public awareness drive by Creamer and Phillips secured legislation to ban the use of animals in circuses in Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay and Ecuador, with legislation proposed in others. Creamer and Phillips then returned to Bolivia to assist the authorities in tracking down circuses defying the law, and in what became known as Operation Lion Ark raided and rescued every animal – closing eight circuses. The operation culminated in airlifting 29 lions to freedom in the USA (25 in one flight to Colorado and four to California). Now, “Lion Ark” the movie captures the behind-the-scenes plight of the animal rescue, the heartache, and their joyful flight to freedom.

Creamer firmly believes that evidence is the key to change. She leads her team from the front, presenting evidence to governments all over the world, appearing in the media, and organizing public outreach campaigns. Creamer also works undercover to capture the appalling treatment of animals on film. She creates false identities and elaborate cover stories to infiltrate animal trafficking operations, fur farms, and circuses. She even tricked her way into a laboratory dealer and left with a group of beagles that were headed for experimentation. Phillips and Creamer often head into harm’s way to collect evidence, and death threats and violent attacks from drug dealers and gunrunners do not deter these two heroes from fighting for animal rights.

Creamer and ADI have succeeded in rescuing and protecting animals worldwide:

• Prohibited the use of chimpanzees and wild monkeys in experiments in Europe
• Secured bans on animal circuses in 20 countries
• Ended cosmetics testing on animals throughout Europe
• Provided evidence for the prosecution of Hollywood animal trainer Mary Chipperfield, the owners of Bobby Roberts Circus, and employees of Have Trunk Will Travel, all caught on film physically abusing their animals
• Developed and promoted human computer simulations in university laboratories, saving hundreds of thousands of animals around the world from experimentation

Tim Phillips

Tim Phillips is the Vice-President and co-founder of Animal Defenders International (ADI), a highly respected organization that campaigns across the globe investigating animal issues, creating public awareness, securing progressive animal protection legislation, and rescuing animals in distress.

Phillips’ passion for saving animals grew from a documentary he saw in 1981 titled “The Animals’ Film.” At the time, there was little support for modern animal rights, but the film’s exposure of cruel animal treatment compelled Phillips to make a change. Within two weeks, he became a vegetarian, left his banking job, purchased a camera, and began capturing evidence of animal abuse. Phillips’ video and photographic images have revealed shocking practices in entertainment, farms, and laboratories. He has received numerous awards for his animal protection documentaries, advertisements, and training videos.

In 1990, Phillips co-founded ADI with his wife Jan Creamer, a fellow animal rights activist. With Phillips serving as Vice-President and Creamer as President, the tenacious duo built a worldwide reputation with committed teams stationed in major cities. Last year, Phillips and Creamer, following a series of dramatic ADI exposés leading to laws prohibiting animals in circuses in South America, embarked on enforcing these laws. In Bolivia, almost every circus defies the law, so Creamer and Phillips and their team set about tracking down the illegal circuses. In a series of surprise raids called Operation Lion Ark, they closed every circus and saved every animal, the climax was a huge airlift of 25 former circus lions to Colorado (four other lions were flown to California). Now, ADI’s upcoming documentary “Lion Ark” will astonish audiences with a behind-the-scenes experience of this breathtaking story of courage and compassion.

Phillips describes ADI’s approach as “holistic,” gathering both physical and scientific evidence to stop animal mistreatment. He uses hidden cameras to capture footage of the suffering and relies on animal experts to analyze the behaviors. The covert surveillance and research provide the necessary evidence to prosecute abusers in court. Phillips and Creamer must often dodge angry mobs and handle dangerous animals in order to pursue their cause, but they persevere in their campaigns to end animal suffering.

Phillips and ADI have succeeded in rescuing and protecting animals worldwide:

• Established new controls over cross border movements of traveling circuses in over 170 countries
• Have secured legislation to ban the use of animals in circuses in countries all over the world and currently have a Bill (the Traveling Exotic Animal Protection Act) to do so in the US before Congress
• Received invaluable support from renowned television host Bob Barker for Operation Lion Ark
• Tracked down and rescued a suffering chimpanzee from Chile to relocate him to his natural home in Africa
• Spearheaded the shutdown of half of the British circus industry within six months
• Exposed the cruel treatment of elephants in Hollywood movies through undercover investigation
• Secured measures to prohibit the use of apes and wild caught monkeys in experiments in all European countries

To learn more about the campaigns of Animal Defenders International, please visit http://www.ad-international.org and www.lionarkthemovie.com.