Jason Meltzer—co-founder and Chief Dog Officer of Wag, the on-demand dog walking app—describes being a dog guy since childhood, growing with dogs around and, foreshadowing his later adult careers, making a few bucks walking the neighbor dogs during junior high....
Fern Levitt—the director of “Sled Dogs,” a documentary that provides a behind-the-scenes examination of both the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and commercial operations in Canada and the U.S. that provide opportunities for recreational dog sledding—recalls how one...
Ronnie Lee—the veteran British animal rights activist, who in 1976, founded the Animal Liberation Front (ALF)—muses about how to reconcile a lad whose childhood, in its basic contours, resembled many people’s childhood, yet he went on to become a firebrand...
Denice Heatherly—co-founder of Music City Animal Advocates, a non-profit organization whose stated goal is “to create an animal-saving culture in greater Nashville and surrounding counties” —describes her formative years, when her grandmother was a serious animal...
Janet Vorwald Dohner—an author whose specialized books, including “Farm Dogs,” “Livestock Guardians,” and her new one, “The Encyclopedia of Animal Predators,” reflect 35-plus years experience on her small family farm —discusses her formative years in Indiana,...
Dr. Dani McVety—a Tampa native and veterinarian who co-founded Lap of Love Veterinary Hospice in 2009, and it’s since become the nation’s largest network dedicated solely to end of life veterinary care--recounts the history of the enterprise, launching Lap of Love...
Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald—a veterinarian for 35 years, featured on Animal Planet’s “Emergency Vets,” which aired for 11 seasons—recounts his pre-vet, 25-year stint working security for Rolling Stones tours, and how that period ended when Keith Richards urged him to get...
W. Bruce Cameron — the New York Times bestselling author of numerous books, including "A Dog's Purpose," made into a feature film starring Dennis Quaid —discusses how he decided to make Breed Specific Legislation, or BSL (in this case, Denver’s ban on pit bulls) a...
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,...
Alison Eastwood —the actress, director and animal advocate whose Eastwood Ranch Foundation recently launched FosterFurkids.com, a website that connects rescue groups and animal shelters with a nationwide network of pet fosters and transporters—discusses a childhood...
