Max Chesnes--the award-winning environment reporter for the Tampa Bay Times—a lifelong Floridian, recalls growing up in Jupiter, where he developed an almost religious fervor for nature, spending endless days in (and on) the water, hiking across the terrific parks,...
Amy Munns--named the 2026 Pet Sitter of the Year by Pet Sitters International, (PSI), considered the world’s leading educational association for professional pet sitters and dog walkers—recalls that animals were always around while she was growing up in San...
Allison Argo--, and writer-producer of “Tusker: Brotherhood of Elephants,” a new episode of the PBS series Nature—recounts how her background in the family business of theater (on Cape Cod) may have made her uniquely equipped to launch a filmmaking career. Her...
Dawn Barbone--founder of Samadhi Wildlife, a nonprofit refuge in Ormond Beach that rehabilitates sick, injured, and orphaned wildlife native to Florida—explains that she hasn’t merely loved animals since she was a child, but has also loved healing them since then....
Artist-photographer-writer Claire Rosen—who’s cultivated a long, lauded career, with much of her work reflecting a longstanding passion for animals, and celebrated for its sense of whimsy—traces the shaping of this sensibility back to her childhood, reading Beatrix...
As we’ve done 14 times before—spanning the better part of five years–today’s program involved setting aside the usual “Talking Animals” format in order to present the show-length feature, “Ask The Trainer.” In each session of ATT, listeners are invited to call or...
Dr. Holly Dutton--Medical Director at the Tampa and Clearwater locations of VEG ER for Pets, a national operation specializing in around-the-clock emergency care for pets—reviews some of the VEG ER distinguishing traits we covered in her June 2025 appearance on...
Dr. Jennifer Conrad—veterinarian, founder of The Paw Project, tireless crusader against declawing cats for a quarter century—recalls the initial impetus for her anti-declaw advocacy: her work, as a newly-minted veterinarian, with declawed big cats at a wildlife...
Andria Gibbon--founder and president of Protecting Paws for Life, a nonprofit Florida organization dedicated to helping more domestic violence shelters become pet-friendly--recalls, as a young woman in New Jersey, her transformative first foray into animal rescue,...
Dr. Crystal Heath--a veterinarian who’s bristled at inhumane treatment of animals throughout her career, and before, dating back to her childhood as a 4-H kid discovering the goats she’d raised would be slaughtered—recalls growing up in a rural part of Northern...
