“We didn't do any type of advertising. We didn't do any press around it. We just did what we do well, we quietly lobbied the city council and worked until we had a majority of the council co-sponsoring the bill. And then we said, okay, now it's time to actually move this, we need a hearing, we need to bring this up for a vote. So by the time the foie gras industry realized what we had done, it was too late.” Allie Feldman Taylor

 

Allie Feldman Taylor is the founder and president of Voters for Animal Rights in New York, also known as VFAR. Allie founded VFAR in 2016, and in 2020 she ran VFAR candidate endorsement process for more than 50 animal rights candidates for the New York State Senate and Assembly. In 2019, she led the campaign to ban foie gras in New York City. She's also helped pass New York City laws making it a crime to steal wild birds and to ban wild animals in the circus.

 

I asked Allie to come on the podcast because I really wanted her to explain how everyday citizens can influence and change laws to help create a better country for animals.

 

Even though it feels like a hopeless time and like a lot of our political actions are meaningless, the local level is where they can be super meaningful.

 

LINKS:

 

VFAR https://vfar.org/

 

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/votersforanimalrights/

 

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/votersforanimalrights/

 

Twitter https://twitter.com/theanimalvoters