Arin Greenwood and Lee Greenwood—siblings who are both lawyers, skillful writers, and engaged in promoting animal welfare, from different platforms—recount growing up in a house that was, unsurprisingly, brimming with animals (though Arin notes a difficult six-year stretch, start when she was 6, when the family went dog-less). The Greenwoods agreed there was no predict they would both end up with jobs involving animals—he’s a legislative attorney for Best Friends Animal Society; she was the animal welfare editor for The Huffington Post, and now writes about animals for The Today Show, The Washington Post, and The Dodo, among others—because these sorts of jobs didn’t exist when they were younger, or if they did, they were unaware of them. Lee describes what his job entails–including wearing the hats of advocate and lobbyist–and cites a recent successful effort in Delaware that he contributed to: outlawing Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) in that state. This leads to a conversation with the Greenwoods about the family complications and other problems associated with BSL in various areas, including Miami-Dade County and Ontario Canada. Arin recounts her career path, including the five years she spent working as a lawyer on the Mariana Islands, near Guam, ultimately moving to Washington, DC, and took on an assortment of freelance writing gigs—something she’d begun while in law school—starting contributing to The Huffington Post, and pretty soon got hired on there. She enthuses about the range of stories she has the opportunity to write, covering the animal beat, and now writing for an array of publications. Arin’s also a novelist, and her third book, “Your Robot Dog Will Die,” will be published in April—she offers a brief synopsis of the story. (www.facebook.com/aringreenwood, www.facebook.com/lee.greenwood.1217, https://bestfriends.org)
Greenwood Interview on Facebook Live: www.facebook.com/duncan.strauss/videos/10156176992304218/
ALSO: I spoke briefly with Don Goldstein, who, as Talking Animals’ “Greyhound Correspondent,” has kept us well informed about various matters regarding greyhound racing, including proposed bills and other legislative developments. Today, Don speaks to us about the recent move by Senator Tom Lee, seeking to end greyhound racing by way of filing a constitutional amendment that—if it passes—would outlaw dog racing starting in 2021. He points out that the way for citizens to voice their support for the amendment making it on to the ballot is via the General Provisions Committee: www.flcrc.gov/Committees/GP/
COMEDY CORNER: Drew Hastings’ “Farming 101” (portion) (www.drewhastings.com)
MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals
NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: We didn’t play Name That Animal Tune today.
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