Brigid Wasson—the president of Mission Reunite, a nonprofit organization that aims to assist pet owners whose animals are missing—describes her personal and professional involvement with animals, including growing up with cats (but not dogs), and her two stints...
Barbara Trask Lovett—the president of Save Nosey Now! (SNN), an organization that helped a high-profile, long-suffering circus elephant (Nosey) win freedom from the neglectful, exploitative treatment of her owner…and seeks to educate the public about the plight of...
Samantha Szesciorka—a Reno-based former U.S. Army journalist whose passion for horses, particularly mustangs, is manifested in some distinctive ways—recalls that she was indeed one of those little girls who loved horses, but didn’t really have access to them until...
Ashley Bell—the actress perhaps best known for her acclaimed work in such top horror films as “The Last Exorcism” and “Psychopath”—discusses the elements and interests that led her to directing “Love & Bananas: An Elephant Story,” a documentary chronicling the...
On this program, we marked the 15th anniversary of “Talking Animals”—almost to the day! I launched the show on June 16, 2003 at KUCI, the campus-community radio station at the University of California at Irvine. At the tail end of 2005, “Talking Animals” found a...
Kristen Auerbach—Director of Pima Animal Care Center (PACC), and recognized as a prominent, pioneering figure in the animal shelter world, in part through her previous stints at Austin Animal Center (which became the nation’s largest no-kill shelter), and Fairfax...
Arin Greenwood—a journalist who specializes in writing about animal welfare, and whose sterling new novel, “Your Robot Dog Will Die,” was published Tuesday (April 17)—offers her synopsis of the book, and recalls key elements of the setting, story, and fundamental...
For this edition of “Talking Animals,” I altered the show’s usual format to convene an in-studio panel discussion about Canine Companions For Independence (CCI), pegged to CCI’s then-upcoming third annual DogFest Walk ‘n’ Roll event, on March 3 at Al Lopez Park in...
Jane O’Hara—the animal advocate and artist whose paintings explore animal issues, depict their plight, and explore our relationships with them--recalls growing up in a family where animals didn’t have much of a presence, but she liked them. O’Hara notes that art...
Maria McKee—the singer-songwriter who burst onto the music scene some 35 years ago, fronting the band Lone Justice, going on to a storied solo career—discusses her lifelong love of dogs, while noting, early on, there was an incident that so traumatized her that she...
