The Animal Wellness Podcast

Our Annual Review and Look Ahead for Animals | Episode 71

Wayne Pacelle again joins the show as he and host Joseph Grove recount the accomplishments of the past year and how Animal Wellness Action and sister organization Center for a Humane Economy have set things for a successful 2025. Along the way, they discuss the differences among distinct victories, protecting them and ensuring they fulfill their promise for relief for animals, and long-term work that may take years to pay off.
You can read Wayne’s 2024 year-end column by going here.
The Animal Wellness podcast is sponsored by Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. It focuses on improving the lives of animals in the United States and abroad through legislation and by influencing businesses to create a more humane economy. The show is hosted by veteran journalist and animal advocate Joseph Grove. 
 
www.animalwellnessaction.org
www.centerforahumaneeconomy.org
 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnimalWellnessAction
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/centerforahumaneeconomy/
X: https://twitter.com/AWAction_News
X: https://twitter.com/TheHumaneCenter
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/animalwellnessaction/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/centerforahumaneeconomy/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/animal-wellness-action/ 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI_6FxM4hD6oS5VSUwsCnNQ 
PRO: BMIComposer: Jonathan Shapiro (IP# 00240288778)Publisher: Kulanu Music (IP# 00240190310)

How Did the Animals Fare? A 2024 Election Recap | Episode 70

Animal Wellness Action this year intensified its efforts to help elect candidates who vote with animals in mind and to defeat incumbents who don’t. In 2024, the Washington D.C.-based group invested heavily in nine races across the country and prevailed in seven of them.
Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action, recounts the victories in our latest podcast. Joined by host Joseph Grove, he breaks down the races, why they were important for animal welfare, and what the victories mean against the larger political landscape.
Pacelle also reviews the outgoing Biden administration on animal issues and shares his expectations from appointees to the next Trump administration.
The Animal Wellness podcast is sponsored by Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. It focuses on improving the lives of animals in the United States and abroad through legislation and by influencing businesses to create a more humane economy. The show is hosted by veteran journalist and animal-advocate Joseph Grove. 
 
www.animalwellnessaction.org
www.centerforahumaneeconomy.org
 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnimalWellnessAction
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/centerforahumaneeconomy/
X: https://twitter.com/AWAction_News
X: https://twitter.com/TheHumaneCenter
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/animalwellnessaction/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/centerforahumaneeconomy/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/animal-wellness-action/ 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI_6FxM4hD6oS5VSUwsCnNQ 

Dan Ashe Debunks Prop 127 Opponents | Episode 69

The Proposition 127 ballot initiative in Colorado has garnered national attention even as the presidential election and other national races dominate the headlines. The initiative, launched and supported by the Cats Aren’t Trophies campaign, seeks to modify state law by criminalizing, according to the ballot language, “the intentional killing, wounding, pursuing, entrapping, or discharging or releasing of a deadly weapon at a mountain lion, lynx, or bobcat.”
In this episode of the Animal Wellness Podcast, host Joseph Grove talks with Dan Ashe, the former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and head of its National Wildlife Refuge System, the top wildlife management agency in the United States. Ashe is a vocal supporter of the Yes on Proposition 127 movement, which some consider ironic given that Ashe is a well-known hunter and proponent of hunting.
Ashe tells Grove that Proposition 127 is actually a pro-hunting initiative, given the self-regulating nature of the big cats and their propensity to cleanse deer and elk herds of animals carrying the devastating Chronic Wasting Disease. Further, Ashe says, the methods of trophy hunting–using packs of dogs with high-tech equipment so “hunters” can simply shoot the cats out of a tree–is wholly at odds with traditional “fair chase” principles associated with true hunting.
The two discuss the ethics, science, and biology supporting Proposition 127, with Ashe summarizing by saying “trophy hunting isn’t hunting. It’s killing.”
Dan Ashe's pro-Prop 127 ad can be viewed here.
 
Ryan Luterman-Sevel produced the episode.

YES on Proposition 127 | Episode 68

The episode comes from a webinar hosted by Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy relative to the Yes on Prop 127 | Cats Aren’t Trophies ballot initiative in Colorado.
The two groups are members of a broad coalition supporting the initiative, which would make illegal the cruel, inhumane, and unsporting practice of trophy-hunting mountain lions in the state. The practice is egregious because it uses packs of dogs equipped with telemetry devices to chase the cats up trees, where they remain terrified and unable to escape until a “hunter” shoots them down just to mount them as trophies.
Hosted by Joseph Grove from the Animal Wellness Podcast, the event featured several guests. Wayne Pacelle is the founder and president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. The Non-Profit Times has named him seven times as one of the nation’s top 50 non-profit executives, and he is the author of two NYT bestselling books about animals and animal welfare. Wayne has led efforts to pass 1,500 state laws for animals, more than 100 federal laws and amendments, 30 ballot initiatives, and 500 corporate agreements.
Samantha Miller leads our Yes on 127/Cats Aren’t Trophies campaign and is Colorado state director for Animal Wellness Action. Her previous roles include Government Affairs Specialist for Miller Public Policy; Executive Director for Washington Wildlife First, and Wildlife Coexistence Campaigner for WildEarth Guardians.
Dr. Jim Keen is the head of veterinary sciences for the Center for a Humane Economy. He worked as a veterinary infectious disease and public health researcher at the USDA in Nebraska and at the University of Nebraska for more than 30 years. Over the past decade has intensified his work as a proponent of sustainable agriculture and an advocate against livestock abuse. His current interests include working towards more animal-friendly agricultural-food systems and improving the welfare of industrial factory-farmed livestock and of animals used in biomedical or agricultural research.
The group discussed the necessity of making the change to Colorado law, the broad support behind the initiative, and the role of mountain lions as part of a stable ecosystem and as important checks against the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease.

Meet the Rescuers | Episode 67

Many of our shows deal with complex legislative and veterinary issues, so every once in a while we like to meet up with people on the ground, deep in day-to-day work with animals. This is one of those episodes. In it, we talk to:
 
Paul Collins, the Wisconsin state director for Animal Wellness Action. In his free time, he volunteers at a local rescue sanctuary, where he has befriended emus and become a master of cleaning goat stalls.
 
Alecia Torres, the operations director at Heartland Farm Sanctuary in Wisconsin. Heartland provides specialized care to rescued farm animals, offers empathy-based humane education programs and provides experiential therapy for young people in partnership with our animals to create a mutually supportive space for healing.
 
Robin Herman, the head of Lucky Dog Retreat Rescue, a non-profit offshoot of a dog daycare she once owned and operated. Robin, through Lucky Dog and her own, private work, has rescued almost 1,400 dogs and placed them in new, loving homes. She tells us about her upcoming Parvo Prevention Project in Indianapolis, where she and other volunteers will try to vaccinate up to 500 or more dogs against the deadly virus.
 
The message is the same: We rescue animals, but at the same time, they rescue us.
RELATED LINKS
Heartland Farm Sanctuary
Lucky Dog Retreat Rescue
 
The Animal Wellness podcast is produced by Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. It focuses on improving the lives of animals in the United States and abroad through legislation and by influencing businesses to create a more humane economy. The show is hosted by veteran journalist and animal-advocate Joseph Grove. 
 
www.animalwellnessaction.org
www.centerforahumaneeconomy.org
 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnimalWellnessAction
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/centerforahumaneeconomy/
 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AWAction_News
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheHumaneCenter
 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/animalwellnessaction/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/centerforahumaneeconomy/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/animal-wellness-action/ 
 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI_6FxM4hD6oS5VSUwsCnNQ 
 
PRO: BMIComposer: Jonathan Shapiro (IP# 00240288778)Publisher: Kulanu Music (IP# 00240190310)

Our Top Wins for 2023 and Goals for 2024 | Episode 66

The past year was busy on the animal-wellness front. Not only did Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy see some major wins outside of Congress, we worked to set up major legislative victories for when the 118th Congress returns for its second and final year.
In this podcast, Wayne Pacelle, president of the groups, and Jennifer Skiff, director of international, review those wins and set the stage for 2024. Victories include:
The Supreme Court’s upholding California’s Prop 12 and affirming the state’s right to exclude from its markets products from animals kept in extreme confinement.
The persuasion of Nike, Puma, and New Balance to stop sourcing products from hunted kangaroos.
Developing opposition to the EATS Act, a sinister bill that would undo the ability of states to enact animal-welfare protocols that may impact other states.
The inclusion of animal-welfare standards into the requirements products must satisfy in order to be labeled “organic”—a legally binding designation putting first-ever farm animal welfare rules into federal law.
RELATED LINKS
Wayne Pacelle’s blog on our Top 2023 Accomplishments.
Our dedicated Kangaroos Are Not Shoes website.
Scenes from our Global Day of Protest against Adidas.
Scenes from our latest protest in the Don’t Be a Dick’s Campaign.
The Animal Wellness podcast is produced by Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. It focuses on improving the lives of animals in the United States and abroad through legislation and by influencing businesses to create a more humane economy. The show is hosted by veteran journalist and animal-advocate Joseph Grove. 
www.animalwellnessaction.org
www.centerforahumaneeconomy.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnimalWellnessAction
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/centerforahumaneeconomy/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AWAction_News
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheHumaneCenter
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/animalwellnessaction/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/centerforahumaneeconomy/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/animal-wellness-action/ 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI_6FxM4hD6oS5VSUwsCnNQ 
 
PRO: BMIComposer: Jonathan Shapiro (IP# 00240288778)Publisher: Kulanu Music (IP# 00240190310)

The International Fight for Kangaroos | Episode 65

About 1.5 million kangaroos a year are shot, bludgeoned or left to starve to death or die of their injuries. This occurs because companies like Adidas and New Balance still pay hunters to head into the Australian wilderness to hunt the animals. The hunters make the kills, the kangaroos are skinned, and the skins are made into soccer shoes for affluent customers across the United States and other parts of the world.
 
That's right. The largest commercial slaughter of terrestrial wildlife is predicated on selling soccer shoes, or cleats, to pros, amateurs and kids who are willing to pay extra merely for the "luxury" of wearing leather from dead kangaroos.
 
Worse, the slain kangaroos often have joeys in their pouches. The policy for joeys is that they are immediately to be killed, usually by bludgeoning them against the bumper of the hunter's truck. Those who don't meet this fate often escape back into the wild, where they, too, face starvation, dehydration, or being attacked and eaten by other wild animals.
It's a brutal kill for what seems to us to be an absolutely frivolous purpose
 
The campaign to stop this horror show is called Kangaroos Are Not Shoes, and here to talk about is Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. He'll tell us about progress the campaign has made and what comes next. Also on the show are Emma Hurst and Louise Ward. Hurst is a member of the Australian parliament, representing the Animal Justice Party, and Ward is a state director for it. We had the chance to visit them during a break from their whirlwind visits with U.S. congressmen and senators on Capitol Hill.
 
Listeners can take action for kangaroos by visiting www.kangaroosarenotshoes.org, where you’ll find links to congressional Action Alerts and a petition for the Don’t Be a Dick’s campaign, which intends to pressure the nation’s largest sporting-goods retailer to stop trafficking in the skins of slaughtered kangaroos.
 
The Animal Wellness podcast is produced by Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. It focuses on improving the lives of animals in the United States and abroad through legislation and by influencing businesses to create a more humane economy. The show is hosted by veteran journalist and animal-advocate Joseph Grove. Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify and Podbean offer subscriptions to the free show.
 
www.animalwellnessaction.org
www.centerforahumaneeconomy.org
 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnimalWellnessAction
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/centerforahumaneeconomy/
 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AWAction_News
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheHumaneCenter
 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/animalwellnessaction/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/centerforahumaneeconomy/
 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/animal-wellness-action/
 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI_6FxM4hD6oS5VSUwsCnNQ 

One Teen’s Heroic Fight against Dairy | Episode 64

Last May, Marielle Williamson was an anonymous teenager doing anonymous teenager things. Like her classmates at Eagle Rock High School in Los Angeles, California, she was busy preparing to graduate and to leap across the threshold into adulthood. The last thing on her mind was becoming the subject of countless news stories and being thrust into a debate about nutrition, animal welfare and the First Amendment. But that's what happened to her, and that's the topic of today's show.
We were interested in Marielle's journey because it intersects with efforts to have Congress pass the ADD SOY Act.
The bill would require the USDA to reimburse schools when they provide soy milk as an alternative to dairy milk in the breakfast and lunch lines. Right now, not only does it require notes and special permission even to receive soy milk instead of dairy, but schools aren’t paid back for the cost of it, the way they are when they serve cow's milk.
That's why, whether a kid wants it or not—even if dairy makes the kid sick— her or she gets two cartons of milk with each school-provided meal. Oftentimes, maybe even most times, those cartons end up straight in the garbage, unopened, because their would-be consumers either don't like milk or have a physical aversion to it, usually in the form of lactose intolerance.
Not only is the practice harmful to children who don't know they are lactose intolerant and drink the dairy, or who drink it despite the many health concerns surrounding diary, it represents a remarkable waste of tax-payer dollars.
But tax-payer dollars aren’t the only waste. Also in vain, too, is the suffering of the thousands of dairy cows required to provide all that wasted milk. When we take for animals, we oftentimes help people, too. Helping animals helps us all.
To learn more about the need for the ADD SOY Act, watch our special webinar featuring Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy; Dotsie Baush, executive director, Switch4Good; Dr. Lakshman (Lucky) Mulpuri, chief executive, PlantsNourish; and Rep. Troy Carter, who introduced the legislation. You can view it here: https://bit.ly/ADDSOYwebinar.
The Animal Wellness podcast is produced by Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. It focuses on improving the lives of animals in the United States and abroad through legislation and by influencing businesses to create a more humane economy. The show is hosted by veteran journalist and animal-advocate Joseph Grove. Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify and Podbean offer subscriptions to the free show.
Music from https://filmmusic.io: "Fearless First" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com); License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
 
OTHER LINKS
www.animalwellnessaction.org
www.centerforahumaneeconomy.org
 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnimalWellnessAction
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/centerforahumaneeconomy/
 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AWAction_News
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheHumaneCenter
 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/animalwellnessaction/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/centerforahumaneeconomy/
 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/animal-wellness-action/
 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI_6FxM4hD6oS5VSUwsCnNQ