James Aspey

James Aspey is recognised as one of Australia’s most dedicated and impassioned animal activists. On New Year’s Day 2014, he took a vow of year-long vow of silence to protest animal cruelty and reflect the lack of voice that animals have in how they are treated by humans. He didn’t speak again until the 13th of January 2015 when he finally spoke in an interview on Australian television. In 2016, he made another drastic statement when he was tattooed non-stop for 24 hours to further raise awareness. He has given countless speeches all over the world, raising awareness of animal cruelty, and these have been watched and rewatched millions of time on YouTube.

Aspey is unequivocal in his denouncing of the meat and farming industry, describing it as a “holocaust” of animals. He also has strong words for farmers and frequently debates meat-eaters on his social media pages. He has made veganism and compassion for animals his life work, travelling the world to talk, debate, argue, and advocate. He even stood in the 2019 New South Wales elections for the Animal Justice Party.

Aspey is a strong character who has overcome leukemia and drug addiction. He converted to veganism after an Indian traveller he met told him that eating animals was giving him bad karma. Today, he is most active on his Instagram account, which currently has upwards of 203,000 followers. He also has more than 90,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel, on which he hosts videos of his viral speeches, his many mainstream media appearances, and debates.