The Animal Wellness Podcast

Crate Free USA’s battle against extreme confinement of factory-farm animals | Episode 48

Thanksgiving turkeys. Christmas hams. The holiday season is inextricably linked to these staples of holiday indulgence. While we amble through the darkening days of the year, however, the animals whose lives will be sacrificed to feed us are far worse than they need to be. And that is so because of unnecessarily inhumane conditions on the factory farms where the majority of them are bred, live short, grueling lives, and are slaughtered assembly-line style.
One of the worst aspects of factory-farm life for these doomed sentient creatures is extreme confinement. Pigs are known to receive the worst of it, when pregnant sows are kept in indecently small cages known as gestation crates. The fight against their use is one key focus of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy, which battle is now being waged before the Supreme Court.
Another soldier is Jessica Chipkin. She is the founder and president of Crate Free USA, an organization whose mission simply is to reduce the suffering of animals on factory farms. Founded in 2015, the group believes there’s really no difference between cruelty inflicted on a dog, cat, bird, horse, chicken, calf or pig.
They group tries to:
Create awareness of the extreme and inhumane confinement of hogs, chickens, and cows on factory farms
Educate consumers on how to purchase from local, sustainable farmers
Advocate for legislation to eliminate extreme confinement practices
She joins us in this episode to talk about her work with Trader Joe's, Aldi and Costco, as well as her youth-education effort and her mobile app. Also on the show is Scott Beckstead, our director of national campaigns, and Marty Irby, who provides a legislative update. Joseph Grove is the host.
 
Music from https://filmmusic.io: "Fearless First" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com); License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Ending the abuse for carriage horses | Episode 47

On August 10, 2022, a carriage horse named Ryder collapsed on a hot New York City street and instantly became the symbol for a growing movement.
Ryder was found to be a decade older than he should have been according to regulations, when he dropped to his side, requiring a spray of cold water to revivify him. He was emaciated and, it was later discovered, ill with cancer. Liberated at last from having to pull tourists around a crowded metropolis of cars, buses and trucks, he was sent to a privately owned farm. Retirement was short, however, and he had to be euthanized just a couple of weeks ago.
As sad as his fate, however, many former carriage horses face an even worse end. Those who are no longer of use to the industry often are sold for slaughter and must endure a terrifying trip to Canada or Mexico, where they are killed and butchered for their meat.
Animal Wellness Action, the Center for a Humane Economy, NYClass, Revolution Philadelphia and other groups are working hard to convince municipalities to do away with carriage-horse rides and the animal-suffering they entail. Part of their argument is that electric carriages are now available, able to preserve the tourist experience of slow, open-air views of cities and the jobs of people driving the carriages. Invest in the e-carriages, say the advocates, and you can preserve the tourist attractions and at the same time eliminate cruelty.
This episode brings together several experts with vast experience advocating for horses and championing solutions to their systemic abuse. Joining host Joseph Grove in this episode of the Animal Wellness Podcast are:
Marty Irby, executive director of Animal Wellness Action
Kate Schultz, senior attorney for the Center for a Humane Economy and a former New York City prosecutor who specialized in animal-abuse cases
Edita Birnkrant, executive director of NYClass, a group that is among leading the movement to ban horse-carriages and in New York and replace them with electric alternatives
Tiffany Stair, co-founder of Revolution Philadelphia and a vocal antagonist to the city’s carriage-horse industry.
You can learn more about the organizations they represent here:
Animal Wellness Action
Center for a Humane Economy
NYClass website
NYClass Facebook
Revolution Philadelphia Facebook
 
Music from https://filmmusic.io: "Fearless First" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com); License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Dan Buettner on living better, longer and kinder with Blue Zones lifestyles | Episode 46

Dan Buettner is a prolific writer, traveler and advocate for the human species. His work with National Geographic led to an interest in areas of the world where people live the longest and most healthy–areas he dubbed Blue Zones. Since then, one of his missions has been to understand the commonalities among those areas and how people in other parts of the world could adopt them and reap their benefits. He calls those common attributes the Power 9.
 
We were interested in Buettner’s work because one of the Power 9 is that people in the Blue Zones eat much less or no meat. Where meat is consumed, it is done so only seldomly and usually entails pork in small portions, each about the size of a deck of cards.
 
Once again, what helps animals helps us all.
 
In this interview, Buettner sits down with Wayne Pacelle, the president and founder of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy, and host Joseph Grove to talk about the benefits of eating a diet that is as kind to our own bodies as it is to the animals it spares. It comes just as preorders are being taken for his newest book about Blue Zone living, “Blue Zones American Kitchen: 100 Recipes to Live to 100.”
 
The book is currently the No. 1 new release in Amazon’s Natural Food Cooking category. With beautiful photography and essays by the author about his experiences, the book makes a great holiday gift for anyone who wants to eat better and at the cost of fewer animals.
 
You can visit Dan Buettner online here: https://danbuettner.com/. He also can be followed on Instagram, @danbuettner.
 
Also: Marty Irby, executive director chief lobbyist for Animal Wellness Action, updates viewers on the organization's legislative efforts at this Congress comes to an end.
 
Music from https://filmmusic.io: "Fearless First" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com); License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Harness racing: A struggling enterprise grapples with animal wellness | Episode 45

American horse racing has been in peril for quite some time. As a member of the Coalition for Horseracing Integrity, we’ve been working to stamp out doping and whipping in the sport, and bring an end to horse slaughter as well. With the enactment of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act in 2020 that took effect July 1st of this year, we’re finally on the right track.
Unfortunately, rogue operators and horse racing insiders who’ve flouted state laws and regulations for years continue to work against proper implementation and enforcement of the new law. One of the key areas we’ve met the most resistance is in the world of harness racing, a lesser known division of the sport that’s quickly dwindling into obscurity. The U.S. Trotting Association (USTA) and those in the industry who want to keep doping alive and maintain the status quo have gone to great lengths despite the conviction of numerous criminals involved in harness racing.
But there is hope thanks to the good apples in American harness racing like the U.S. Harness Racing Alumni Association and our good friend and coalition partner Freddie Hudson, a retired trainer, author, and founder and CEO of the group. Freddie’s been the key ally that’s made the most difference in this area and is creating awareness and bringing newcomers into the fold with our efforts.
In this episode of the Animal Wellness Podcast, host Joseph Grove and Marty Irby, executive director of Animal Wellness Action, and editor of www.HISAwatchdog.org interview Hudson and the episode gives listeners some key insight into the latest happenings on this issue.
Music from https://filmmusic.io: "Fearless First" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com); License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Will the Supreme Court side against animals? The attack on Prop 12 | Episode 44

In the latest but perhaps most appalling subversion of animal welfare since assuming control of the executive branch, the Biden Administration has targeted the nation’s most important farm animal welfare law. In an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Department of Justice sided with the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and the American Farm Bureau Federation (Farm Bureau) in their dubiously grounded efforts to overturn California’s Prop 12.
 
Approved with more than 62 percent of the vote in 2018, Prop 12 stipulates that any California farmer raising breeding sows, laying hens, and veal calves must provide minimum space allotments to the animals. The law also bars sale in California of pork, eggs, or veal coming from farms that rely on the most extreme confinement methods. If out-of-state farmers want their animal products to find shelf space in the large California market, they must play by the same rules that in-state farmers must observe. It’s a level playing field for all.
 
Wayne Pacelle, president and founder of Animal Wellness Action, and Kate Schultz, senior attorney, talk about the implications of the case and what it potentially means for animals.
 
Executive Director Marty Irby also joins host Joseph Grove.
 
Music from https://filmmusic.io: "Fearless First" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com); License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

The fight to spare animals through FDA Modernization | Episode 43

One of the critical campaigns of Animal Wellness Action is to ensure the modernization of FDA drug-testing standards, which currently require the suffering and entail the deaths of countless thousands of animals each year. Key to this modernization--and the alleviation of this toll on animals--is to eliminate the requirement in the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act of 1938 for animal testing as the only test method for any new drug development protocol. The pharmaceutical industry is burdened by outdated FDA statutes and regulations that bar the use of faster, cheaper, and more reliable test methods.
 
Recently, the work has become more challenging. Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina has introduced legislation to strip all riders from the bill, leaving just the base funding package for FDA.  That maneuver would block key reforms of FDA and keep the status quo when it comes to animal testing. 
 
There is urgency to address the problem because between 90 and 95 percent of drugs found safe in preclinical tests fail during human clinical trials due to toxicities not predicted by traditional animal tests or because of lack of efficacy. This exposes the public to unacceptable risk and stifles the movement of life-saving drugs into the marketplace.
 
The broader results are extraordinarily high costs for drugs, inordinately long wait periods bringing drugs to market, and, even after the drugs are approved for common use, the potential of serious side effects for consumers. However, significant investments in technology development and research have resulted in transformative breakthroughs in alternative methods, enabling us to leave most animal testing behind.
 
One of the many organizations also in this fight is PETA. Kathy Guillermo, a senior vice president at PETA, joins our founder and president Wayne Pacelle to discuss her organization's work to uncover animal abuse related to medical testing, improvements in science such as organs on a chip, and legislative work to ensure passage of the initiative.
 
Marty Irby, executive director, joins host Joseph Grove.
 
Music from https://filmmusic.io: "Fearless First" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com); License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

How a California lawsuit may change things for kangaroos | Episode 42

Animal Wellness Action has been pressuring Nike, Adidas and other retailers of "k-leather" soccer shoes to discontinue the models. More than 2 million kangaroos a year are slaughtered, including joeys, just so athletes can don prestige shoes with no performance-enhancing value.
Natasha Dolezal, deputy director of campaigns, and Scott Edwards, general counsel, update listeners on our work for kangaroos, including recent protests and the filing of a lawsuit against California retailer Soccer Warhorse, which we allege has been violating state law by selling kangaroo-sourced soccer shoes.
Marty Irby, executive director of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy, also joins host Joseph Grove.
 
Music from https://filmmusic.io: "Fearless First" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com); License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Monty Roberts, ”The Man Who Listens to Horses,” talks whipping horses in races, the wild ride of Rich Strike, and the Queen | Episode 41

Monty Roberts, "The Man Who Listens to Horses," talks whipping horses in races, the wild ride of Rich Strike, and the Queen
 
Monty Roberts is one of the most celebrated and admired horse trainers ever to take the reins. Not only has he sold more than 6 million copies of his blockbusting "The Man Who Listens to Horses" and published hundreds of training videos, he has been repeatedly called in for service by Queen Elizabeth II and traveled at her behest to more than 40 countries.
 
In this episode, he weighs in on the topics of whipping horses during races, the wild ride of Rich Strike in last month's Kentucky Derby, the fate of notorious trainer Bob Baffert, and what he hopes to do next, in the twilight of his career.
 
Marty Irby, executive director of Animal Wellness Action, joins the show and provides an update on the organization's legislative efforts as Congress approaches the summer break.
 
Joseph Grove is the host.
 
Music from https://filmmusic.io: "Fearless First" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com); License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)