Board of Directors
Executive Director/Treasurer - Tove Reece
Director/Vegan Outreach/Secretary - Karin Nelson
Director/Communications - Maxwell Mah
Director - Sarah Ure
Tove Reece - Executive Director
I’ve been involved in animal rights for about 30 years and co-founded Voice for Animals Society in 1997.
Ever since I can remember, I’ve had a special affinity for animals and have loved being around them. I always considered animals as fellow beings, never seeing them as “the other”.
Like most people I grew up eating meat but somewhere in my 20s I started to connect the dots and it dawned on me that the animals on my plate did not want to die. I soon became aware of the terrible suffering that the animals we raise for food endure. The decision to become vegetarian was an easy one but regrettably, it took me 15 long years to go vegan.
The exploitation and suffering of animals is everywhere, leading me to the realization that “if animals are being used for profit, there is/will be abuse”. To overcome any fears I had in working for animal rights, I developed my own personal motto: “there is nothing anyone can do to me that is worse than what animals have to endure”. This has given me strength whenever I’ve had to face angry, hostile, threatening opposition, being arrested at WEM or even just speaking to a room full of people.
What keeps me fighting is the terrible injustice towards animals. What keeps me going is the wonderful world of caring, generous, selfless animal rights people.
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Karin Nelson - Secretary/ Vegan Outreach
Sarah Ure - Director
I am a lawyer, currently working with a legal tech company here in Edmonton. I have two bachelor of arts degrees from the University of Calgary, and pursued my law degree at the University of Victoria.
I was interested in the law program at the UVic due to its environmental sustainability focus and specialization program. I’ve been interested in environmental and animal welfare issues for many years, and sat on the board for the Environmental Law Centre during my time at law school, and was also an active member in the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund chapter.
I became a vegetarian in 2008, and went vegan in 2014, when I began my legal articling internship with the animal rights law organization, Animal Justice Canada in Toronto. I was fortunate to gain a wide array of experiences there, working towards creating a more humane legal and social landscape for non-human animals in Canada through various initiatives.
After my internship, I moved back home to Alberta where I worked first in the non-profit sector in an access to justice role with the Elizabeth Fry Society, and then as a criminal defence lawyer in Lethbridge and Calgary before eventually moving to Edmonton in 2019 to begin my current employment.
I began volunteering on the board of Voice For Animals upon moving to Edmonton and speaking with fellow directors Tove and Karin. It became clear that this group is doing important work for non-human animals in Edmonton, Alberta and beyond. Most of my work for the organization is geared towards legal research and writing; petitioning government and proposing legislative improvements to better protect non-human animals.
I believe we must all work towards a better society and planet for human and non-human animals. We must stand up for those who cannot. We must raise our voices for the voiceless."
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Sarah Ure, BA, JD
