By: Shriya Swaminathan
“In our world, we have endless magic. We don’t have to wave a wand to do it. We can influence others to protect animals from human exploitation and abuse.” If those words aren’t inspiring enough, we bet this interview with Protego Foundation’s Creator Tylor Starr will ignite the magical spark we all possess. Tylor graciously sat down with VEGWORLD to chat about how his love for Harry Potter translated into campaigning for animal rights. Along with friend and activist Kathryn Henzler- affectionately known by the team as the American Hermione, the duo has pioneered the first-ever wizarding world-themed animal rights organization!
VW: Let’s start at the very beginning with young Tylor! How did your love for Harry Potter come to be and influence your activism?
TS: Growing up, I was always known as the “Harry Potter kid” in all circles of my life. I didn’t get to do a lot of fun things like hang out with my friends, or go to each other’s houses. Because of that, it was hard for me to make friends and school became a place of excitement since it was my chance to leave the house. Because of that, I feel the idea of a wizarding school where you can go away and learn magic appealed to me. Even more meaningful, was having a group of friends I could always count on. Though I was pretty much within the 4 walls of my bedroom, there was no stopping me from embarking on adventures with Harry, Ron, and Hermione- I could do magic! The discussion of magical creatures in the books got me curious about extending the analogy to our muggle world. No one was talking about dragon liberation in these books and I couldn’t help but notice the stark parallels in the differential treatment of magical creatures and the speciesist practices in our world.
VW: The animal rights movement is always exploring creative ideas to spread the message. What inspired you to start a Harry Potter- themed Animal Rights Organization?
TS: It feels so surreal that we’ve been around for 6 years! As an established Harry Potter fan (fan is quite an understatement) I’ve read the entire series over 136 times. Each and every time, it meant something different to me. During one such re-read, the idea for The Protego Foundation was spawned. It came down to me asking myself- “If not now, when? If not me, who?”
I discussed this with my close friend and fellow proud Potter nerd Kathryn Henzler. The goal was to reach out to the ardent Harry Potter fan base and encourage them to live more compassionately. I wanted the community to make similar connections that I did, and empower themselves to advocate for animals in their capacity. With that mission at heart, Kathryn and I decided to get the ball rolling on creating an organization dedicated to bringing the magic of freedom to non-human animals in the muggle world.
VW: How did you settle on the name Protego?
TS: When we first started off, we were called the Fwooper Foundation. That was sparked from the early animal rights movement that projected the idea that animals are “voiceless” and we are their voice. I don’t agree with that narrative. I believe animals have a voice and it’s up to us to listen. A Fwooper is a magical bird whose high pitched song would drive the listener insane. So they had to be sold with a Silencing Charm placed on them. I felt that using the Fwooper as a mascot with the tagline “Breaking the Silencing Charm” was a great way to convey our goal of breaking the Silencing Charm we’ve placed on animals exploited in the muggle world. The issue was that not many people knew about the Fwooper so there was the added step of explaining the whole concept before people understood what our organization was about.
To be more straightforward with our branding, we renamed it the Fantastic Beasts Foundation. This was during the release of the first Fantastic Beasts movie and Warner Bros. asked that we change our name as we weren’t officially licensed with their brand. So we headed back to the drawing board to brainstorm names.
The spell “Protego” is a very strong one in Harry Potter. It is also Latin for “I Protect.” The idea of using that as the name for our foundation felt so right as it projects exactly what we hope to accomplish- make people realize why they should care about animals, and understand that it’s our responsibility to protect them. Fans could easily click with the mission of the organization with the name “Protego” and understood the purpose.
VW: What are the different campaigns you’ve launched drawing parallels with magical creatures of the wizarding world?
TS: I do feel that the vegan butterbeer campaign really put The Protego Foundation on the map. However, we have worked on several different notable animal rights-centered campaigns. For example, we drew parallels between Erumpents– featured in the Fantastic Beasts series, and Rhinos, who are brutally poached and hunted for their horns in Africa. For our “Erumpent Rescue” campaign, we partnered with a local, on-the-ground rhino rehabilitation sanctuary- Saving the Survivors. We were able to mobilize the Harry Potter fandom and fund this brilliant sanctuary. In addition, fans signed a “Howler” (magical letter in a red envelope which enchants the written message into the writer’s voice) addressed to the Environmental Minister in South Africa, urging her to increase environmental protections and anti-poaching regulation for rhinos. These little victories keep us going- be it vegan butterbeer, saving the rhinos, or our recent victory with keeping magnificent owls out of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme parks, it’s our way of making the world a better place for animals through our love for Harry Potter. In addition to funneling money to support grassroots organizations we partner with, we also want to provide Harry Potter fans actionable steps they can take. Showing them that their voices matter and are heard is valuable.
One of our earlier campaigns was the “Adopt a Pygmy Puff” campaign, which we used to deliver the “Adopt Don’t Shop” message, was one of my favorites! We discussed the problems with opting for a companion animal from a breeder, and the need to help the millions of animals in shelters find loving homes.
Another campaign that I hold dear to me is the “Find Dougal” campaign. The objective was to make the connection between a Demiguise named Dougal, and chimpanzees in our world, who are being exploited for experiments, entertainment, and so many more needless purposes. Demiguises are monkey-like creatures who are typically hunted for their pelts used in invisibility cloaks. For this campaign, we partnered with Accio Box- a Potterverse-inspired subscription box we had worked with to revamp into an all-vegan box. Together, we made a donation to the Save the Chimps Sanctuary in Florida. The sanctuary is not open to the public- which I respect. But as a token of their appreciation, they invited us to visit the facility in Florida! It was surreal, humbling, and an immense honor to see their dedication to protecting their resident chimps upfront.
We are currently working on a campaign making the connection between the torturous treatment of animals in our circuses with the Circus Arcanus– featured in the Fantastic Beasts series, that depicts the horrendous abuse of magnificent creatures for unnecessary entertainment.
To wrap that long answer up- education is at the forefront of what we do. We bring Harry Potter fans together, educate them on the importance of being kind to animals, which does require confronting invisible biases and dissonance. Changing behaviors to align with being kind to animals can be difficult. However, The Protego Foundation seeks to ease that process for our fellow Potter fans!
VW: Do you feel that your approach with the wizarding world theme and reaching out to Harry Potter fans has been successful?
TS: Definitely! I feel it’s a great way for folks to make the connection within a space that they’re already connected with. We want to break down that speciesist and “magicist” idea that we love Nifflers but abuse Dragons. In the same vain, we love cats and dogs, but abuse pigs and elephants. The message that your magical abilities do not define you anymore than your species does was the foundation on which we created this organization.
That being said, we have conducted informal surveys through the years. Turns out that something like 90% of our members are first time animal rights activists! Infact, the majority of our supporters are not vegan. Setting the requirement to be vegan in order to be animal rights activists does a huge disservice to monumental victories we have seen in the animal rights movement over the decades. If you had to be vegan to do a circus protest, there would probably be 2-3 people tops! We must acknowledge that mobilizing support for animal rights across the board also has the power to plant the seeds of awareness around one’s lifestyle choices. For a lot of our supporters, this is the first time they are hearing an animal rights message that speaks to them. They tell us that because of us, they are now learning of animal rights issues through a lens that is digestible and engaging. There’s immense power in that!
VW: We are seeing so many fascinating innovations in the muggle world to remove animal exploitation from the supply chain. How conducive would the wizarding world be to the similar animal-free advancements?
TS: I’ve actually spent quite a lot of time thinking about this. The wizarding world is frozen in a specific time period and often doesn’t welcome new technologies. They are a community that still uses quills, does not use cell phones, or other gadgets that could make life much easier. The general canon is that technology and magic would not complement one another and perhaps may cause more damage. But, I do feel there are ways that the wizarding world can be more compassionate to all living creatures in a way that mimics the technologies in the muggle world.
Similar to lab-grown meat that uses cells to replicate conventional meat, “Geminio”- the Doubling Charm, serves the same purpose by creating more from an existing template. There are spell creators whose job is to make spells for specific purposes! Being able to tap into that creativity and improvising on the inherent magic of the wizarding world is how I foresee the shift away from exploiting magical creatures.
VW: What an engaging chat, with so many nuanced perspectives! To wrap up with one final question- in your opinion, whom in the wizarding world do you think would comprise an animal rights group?
TS: Given I can choose the squad from different time periods, without a doubt Hermione would be upfront, and center in the fight for magical creatures. She’ll probably have some kinks in her approach to iron out as a new animal rights activist.
I’m also very strongly inclined to say Newt Scamander- he has to be a vegan, animal rights activist in my opinion. A less known fun fact- actors cast in the Harry Potter films get to sit with the prop makers and design the wands for their character. So when Eddie Redmayne was going through this process for Newt’s character, he was being shown wands made of trophy horns, and leather- all animal products. At this, Eddie Redmayne said that he felt Newt’s love and respect for magical creatures would necessitate that he carry a wand free of animal products! So they designed a wand made of wood and fossilized stone to align with Newt’s apparent vegan ethics- which was really fascinating! Plus, when I asked Eddie Redmayne at a Q&A I attended if he thought Newt Scamander is an animal rights activist, he agreed!
My next obvious choice is Luna Lovegood, given the deep spiritual connection she has with magical beings. Hagrid would also be a part of the crew but has some cognitive dissonance he would need to confront. His heart is in the right place though! Last but not least, I’d go for Charlie Weasley. He has massive respect for magical creatures and even goes to work at the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary. I feel that if this power group got together, the fantastic things they could do for the magical creatures of the wizarding world would be unmatched!
Be sure to visit Protego Foundation’s website to learn more about their campaigns, volunteer opportunities, and how you can support them on the magical ventures. Patrons can also join Book Club discussions and listen to insightful conversations on their podcast- ProtegoCast!
Image Sources: Protego Foundation
