Kim Skrovanek—founder of The Humane Education Connection—recounts growing up as a passionate animal lover, tending to all the sick and injured animals that she spotted in her North Florida neighborhood. (“Yes, I was that kid.”). That passion, Skrovanek explains,...
Lori Shepler—an award-winning former Los Angeles Times photographer who now presides over CityTheKitty.com, among the most informative and influential websites dealing with feline declaw surgery--traces that unlikely path. Shepler recalls how the cat who later...
Kristie Middleton—the Senior Director of Food Policy for the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), and author of the new book “Meatless: Transform the Way You Eat and Live—One Meal at a Time”--discusses her job at HSUS, and what the duties entail. Middleton,...
Keegan Kuhn—half of the filmmaking duo behind the award-winning documentary, “Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret,” and whose new film is “What the Health”—discusses the impact and acclaim generated by “Cowspiracy,” and how, rather than feeling intimidated by the...
Robert Grillo —an activist and writer who is the founder of Free from Harm, and just published his first book, “Farm to Fable: The Fictions of Our Animal-Consuming Culture”—recounts how his work in advertising, particularly handling food accounts (like working on...
For today’s edition of Talking Animals, I jettisoned the usual format and convened a panel discussion about the end of the Ringling Bros. circus. I was inspired to present the panel because I was struck by the array of reactions in the wake of the announcement by...
Paul Solotaroff—Rolling Stone contributing editor who wrote a wide-ranging, high-profile exposé about the netherworld of puppy mills in the then-new issue of the magazine—discusses how he came to write the piece, sort of goaded into it by Humane Society of The...
Dr. Jennifer Conrad—the veterinarian and founder of The Paw Project, which has long educated the public about the painful and crippling effects of feline declawing, and who, as of this interview, has made more appearances on “Talking Animals” than any other...
Dr. Don Moore—who wears many hats, among them scientist, wildlife biologist, Oregon Zoo director, and expert on polar bears featured in “Polar Bear Town,” a Smithsonian Channel docu-series examining the annual migration of polar bears to Churchill,...
Adam Sugalski—executive director of OneProtest, a Florida-based advocacy organization perhaps best known for its high-profile, successful effort to help halt the Florida bear hunt—recalls how he first stepped into the role of advocate when, as a professional...
