Better Life for Animals

When a stray piglet named Zelda arrived at a Bay Area humane society, there was no barnyard for her. She stayed in a kennel near the dogs, where Kim Sturla visited every day and sometimes shared her lunch. Soon, Zelda was greeting Kim at the gate just as her own dogs greeted her at home. That bond changed how Kim thought about farmed animals and helped inspire her to co-found Animal Place in 1989.

On Better Life for Animals, host Cheryl Moss talks with Kim about the early days of the California farm animal sanctuary and what it takes to care for rescued animals over a lifetime. Kim recalls sitting quietly with Bruce, a severely underweight pig who needed time to trust her, and watching hens rescued from battery cages stretch their wings and discover dust bathing.

Kim also shares how sanctuary teams decide which animals they can take in, what happens behind the scenes during a large-scale rescue, and how Animal Place helps organizations bring the food they serve into line with their mission.

Full episode show notes

https://www.betterlifeforanimals.com/podcast/090-Kim-Sturla

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Imagine spending decades confined in a windowless laboratory, never experiencing the freedom to explore the outdoors. For many rescued chimpanzees, this was their reality before arriving at sanctuary.

In Episode 089 of Better Life for Animals, host Cheryl Moss welcomes Diana Goodrich, co-director of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, to explore the extraordinary resilience of chimpanzees rescued from biomedical research, roadside zoos, and other captive environments.

Diana shares how her experience working with Washoe, the famous chimpanzee who learned American Sign Language, transformed her understanding of animal intelligence and compassion.

She also discusses the Cle Elum 7, the emotional impact of decades of laboratory confinement, and why chimpanzee rehabilitation requires patience, individualized care, and meaningful social relationships.

Through the stories of Negra and George, listeners discover how rescued chimpanzees respond differently to newfound freedom and why providing choices is essential to their well-being.

Cheryl and Diana also examine the ongoing challenges facing primates, including the exotic pet trade, private ownership, animal testing, and the urgent shortage of accredited sanctuary space.

Diana explains how approximately 1,600 individual donors help sustain Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and why public education, advocacy, and responsible social media engagement are essential to protecting primates.

This conversation offers an important reminder that chimpanzees deserve more than basic survival. They deserve safety, companionship, dignity, and the opportunity to live as individuals.

Listen to Episode 089: https://www.betterlifeforanimals.com/podcast/089-diana-goodrich

Learn more about Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest: https://chimpsnw.org

Farm animals need enough room to stand, turn around, and stretch their limbs. Yet even these basic protections remain the subject of an intense political fight. In Episode 088 of Better Life for Animals, Cheryl Moss welcomes back Matthew Dominguez of Compassion in World Farming to discuss the Save Our Bacon Act and what he sees as its threat to progress against extreme confinement.

Matthew explains how California's Proposition 12 and other state measures have become important tools for improving conditions for farmed animals. He describes the effort to challenge these protections through federal legislation and explains why advocates are focused on language that could be included in the Farm Bill. His concern extends beyond one campaign: weakening state protections could affect the movement's ability to secure future improvements.

The conversation connects animal suffering with the lives of workers, farming communities, and consumers. Matthew discusses corporate influence, industry consolidation, environmental damage, and the pressure facing family farmers. He also challenges the argument that animal welfare protections are responsible for rising food prices, encouraging listeners to look more closely at the broader forces shaping the food system.

One encouraging theme is the range of people willing to oppose extreme confinement. Matthew describes animal advocates working alongside family farmers, faith leaders, and businesses with different motivations but shared concerns. Cheryl and Matthew explore why reaching beyond familiar audiences can make advocacy more effective. Agreement on every issue is not required to work toward a specific improvement for animals.

Listen, share, and subscribe to Better Life for Animals for conversations with people working toward a more compassionate world.

https://www.BetterLifeForAnimals.com/podcast/088-matthew-dominguez

Animal protection laws can only help when they are enforced. Attorney Vanessa Shakib joins me, Cheryl Moss, to discuss how legal advocacy can expose hidden suffering, challenge unlawful business practices, and hold government agencies accountable.

As co-founder and co-director of Advancing Law for Animals, Vanessa uses civil litigation to protect animals exploited in research and industrial food production. She explains how animals' legal status as property creates obstacles and how her organization uses existing laws to bring their interests before the courts.

Our conversation covers taxpayer-funded animal experimentation, oversight of foreign laboratories, a challenge to a USDA enforcement policy, and litigation involving Cedar the goat. Vanessa also discusses applying California's unfair competition law to cases involving animal laboratories and factory farming.

You'll hear why enforcement matters alongside stronger legislation, what gives Vanessa hope about the next generation of animal attorneys, and how people without legal training can support this work.

Full show notes: https://www.betterlifeforanimals.com/podcast/087-Vanessa-Shakib

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What happens when an animal sanctuary becomes more than a place of rescue?

In this episode of Better Life for Animals, host Cheryl Moss talks with Simone Scampoli, Executive Director of Capra Libera Tutti, an animal sanctuary in Italy where rescued farmed animals are given the opportunity to make choices, form relationships and live as individuals.

Simone shares the remarkable story of how a former farm became an animal sanctuary and why animal agency is central to the work of Capra Libera Tutti.

They discuss farm animal rescue, animal rights, vegan education, sanctuary life and animal advocacy, including why sanctuaries are not petting zoos and how simply observing animals can transform the way people see them.

Simone also shares how the sanctuary educates children and non-vegan visitors through storytelling, builds a community of supporters, approaches fundraising and manages the emotional demands of animal advocacy.

It's a powerful conversation about rescued animals, compassion and the important role sanctuaries can play in creating a different future for animals.

Full Show Notes

www.BetterLifeForAnimals.com/podcast/086-Simone-Scampoli

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Is cage-free really a victory for animals when hens are still being used as part of the same food system?

Dan Shannon, CEO of The Humane League, joins Cheryl Moss to explore why the answer isn't as simple as yes or no.

Dan explains what life is like for hens confined in battery cages, how cage-free systems can reduce suffering, and why incremental reforms can provide a strategic foundation for much bigger changes.

The conversation also explores corporate accountability, the Farm Bill, protecting hard-won animal welfare laws, and why giving more people ways to participate can strengthen the animal protection movement.

Dan also shares his perspective after approximately 30 years as a vegan, discusses Betty Goes Vegan, and talks about the transformational impact animal sanctuaries can have on the way people view farmed animals.

Sometimes a small win isn't the destination. It's what makes the next win possible.

Full show notes: https://www.BetterLifeForAnimals.com/podcast/085-Dan-Shannon

Betty Goes Vegan: https://amzn.to/4xTAZcA

The Humane League: https://www.TheHumaneLeague.org

Five rescued pigs became twelve in just two months. For Kathy Cullen, founder of Jolene's Retreat, that unexpected turn was the beginning of a much bigger journey.

Kathy spent 25 years as a teacher before animal advocacy changed the direction of her life. When five pigs suddenly needed somewhere safe to go, she wasn't prepared to take them. But when she learned they could otherwise go to slaughter, she said yes.

Soon she discovered two of the females were pregnant. Five pigs quickly became twelve.

In this episode of Better Life for Animals, Cheryl Moss talks with Kathy about what happened next and what she has learned from creating a sanctuary for rescued animals.

Kathy discusses why sanctuaries are not petting zoos and why respecting an animal's boundaries is so important. Living with rescued pigs has given her a firsthand view of just how different their personalities, preferences and relationships can be.

Kathy also opens up about the emotional realities of animal advocacy and why having ways to reset is essential when doing difficult work. She shares what it is like operating a sanctuary in the heart of an animal agriculture area and why that can be particularly challenging.

At the center of the conversation is a simple but powerful idea: animals are individuals.

Through Jolene's Retreat, Kathy hopes to give people opportunities to meet rescued animals, learn their stories and begin seeing farmed animals in a very different way.

https://www.betterlifeforanimals.com/podcast/084-Kathy-Cullen

What does it mean to truly see an animal rather than simply look and move on?

Writer, animal photojournalist, and activist Diana Hulet joins Cheryl Moss to explore how photography and storytelling can help people recognize animals as individuals with full lives, relationships, and experiences of their own.

Diana shares how her childhood connection with photography eventually became part of her animal advocacy. After decades of teaching yoga, meditation, and philosophy, she could no longer reconcile teachings about nonviolence with the exploitation of animals she saw around her. She returned to the camera and began documenting animals in factory farms, slaughterhouses, rodeos, aquaculture operations, sanctuaries, and wildlife settings.

The conversation examines the ethics of photographing animals in exploited settings, why beauty can help audiences remain present with difficult stories, and how thoughtful writing can give powerful images greater context. Diana also discusses the healing and educational role of animal sanctuaries, her study of ahimsa and engaged Jain Studies, and the meaning behind her Substack, The Lateral Line.

This episode invites listeners to slow down, notice the animals who are often overlooked, and consider how food, entertainment, spiritual practices, and everyday choices affect other beings.

Listen and learn more: https://www.betterlifeforanimals.com/podcast/083-Diana-Hulet

Internationally recognized fine art photographer Robert Sturman has spent more than two decades documenting dignity, resilience and healing. His work has taken him into prisons, military communities and cultures around the world. Then a rescued coonhound named Otis entered his life and gave his work an entirely new purpose.

Otis survived the laboratory-testing industry and still carries an identification tattoo inside his ear. When Robert agreed to foster him, it took only moments for him to understand that Otis had found his permanent home.

In this moving conversation with host Cheryl Moss, Robert shares how Otis transformed his understanding of animals and strengthened his commitment to advocacy. He discusses the cultural conditioning that allows animal exploitation to remain hidden, the intelligence and dignity he sees in Otis and the importance of turning compassion into meaningful action.

Robert and Otis are also featured in Born on Death Row, a documentary created to expose the largely hidden industry that breeds dogs and other animals for laboratory research.

This episode is an invitation to see animals differently, question what society has taught us to accept and consider the everyday choices that can help create a more compassionate world.

Listen to the complete episode:

https://www.BetterLifeForAnimals.com/podcast/082-Robert-Sturman

Learn more about the Born on Death Row documentary at BODRDoc.org

What happens when the life you built no longer reflects what you believe?

For Chiara Saitta, becoming vegan changed far more than what she ate. It prompted her to leave a career in fashion and film, help open Rome's first vegan patisserie, and eventually dedicate herself to caring for rescued animals in Portugal.

In this episode of the Better Life for Animals podcast, Chiara shares the experiences that led her to Riza Animal Sanctuary, where she helps care for around 60 animals through a fully volunteer-run operation.

From meeting a rescued pig to watching her brother reconsider his choices after an encounter with a cow, Chiara has seen how connecting with animals can open hearts in ways a conversation alone sometimes cannot.

She also offers an honest look at what happens behind the scenes of sanctuary life. Compassion must be supported by veterinary care, appropriate diets, dependable volunteers, and consistent funding. Chiara explains how she draws on her business experience to meet those needs, including founding the Coimbra Vegan Market to help generate income.

Looking ahead, she shares plans for a larger sanctuary property and a vegan cooking school where food, education, and meaningful encounters with animals come together.

• Why Chiara's vegan bakery was designed to welcome people who were not vegan.

• How sanctuary visits can inspire lasting changes in perspective.

• Why rescuing animals is only the beginning of providing lifelong care.

• How community events can support sanctuary fundraising.

• What animals taught Chiara about staying present during difficult times.

https://www.BetterLifeForAnimals.com/podcast/081-Chiara-Saitta

Subscribe, rate, and review Better Life for Animals on your favorite podcast platform. Every share helps introduce more people to the individuals and sanctuaries working to give animals the lives they deserve.

https://www.BetterLifeForAnimals.com