Kindness is Everything

Rich Padulo joins Anitha to talk about a wonderful initiative called Treat Accessibly. Halloween is a magical and fun time for many children, but for some, knocking on doors and navigating stairs can be a challenge. Rich and his family wanted all children to enjoy Halloween so they moved their treat table to the bottom of the driveway.

Soon neighbours followed along allowing the community to connect while also making Halloween accessible to all children.

To learn how you can make your house treat accessible, click on the following links:

Website
How To Treat Accessibly At Home

Social media:
Instagram
Facebook
TikTok
TikTok

Samantha Knox, the founder of Itty Bitty City Kitties, joins Anitha to talk about how caring for a stray mom and her kittens turned into caring for hundreds of orphaned kittens!

Samantha’s kindness doesn’t end with caring for the tiniest of kittens, Itty Bitty City Kitties works with local caretakers to trap, neuter and release local cats to reduce pet overpopulation. She also extends compassion to pet parents struggling with veterinary costs. Itty Bitty City Kitties has created a Community Welfare Foundation to assist in providing low-cost veterinary services and access to free spay/neuter for low income pet parents in need.

The conversation pivots slightly from kittens when Anitha asks about Samantha’s social media posts where she shares her political views. Samantha speaks up for people of colour and those in the LGBTQ+ community. She speaks out against the current US administration's policies on immigration and the deployment of ICE.

She and Anitha talk about why she does this and the response she’s received. Fortunately, most of her followers support her decision to be kind to all beings!

To learn more about Itty Bitty City Kitties, check out their website:
Itty Bitty City Kitties Website

As a thank you to Samantha for sharing her story, Anitha donated to Itty Bitty City Kitties.

Ariana Spate joins Anitha to talk about how she uses social media to help dogs in shelters find homes. Ariana partners with shelters to give overlooked dogs a break from their shelter life and a chance to be seen as who they truly are. She takes these dogs on outings, allows them to decompress and shares videos and photos so potential adopters can see the true nature of these dogs.

Ariana shares stories of some of the transformations she has witnessed, such as dogs who bark and bark inside a shelter but are so calm and quiet once they are outside, or dogs who seem withdrawn in a cage and become cuddle bugs once they can relax.

Such incredible and worthwhile work.

To follow Ariana and see videos of the dogs she helps, check out the following links:

Arianas Doggos Website

Arianas Doggos on Instagram

As a thank you to Ariana for sharing her story, Anitha donated to Pause 4 Change, a Calgary based dog and cat rescue dedicated to helping animals in the western provinces of Canada. To learn more about their work, check out their website:

Pause 4 Change Website

Amber Sager joins Anitha to talk about New Leash On Love, a dog sanctuary and rescue she co-founded. Amber is passionate about helping dogs find their forever homes, especially those who are overlooked—senior dogs, dogs with disabilities, and dogs surrendered by their humans.

In addition to working with local rescues to place at-risk dogs, Amber also partners with international rescues to help dogs in other parts of the world find loving homes.

As a registered psychotherapist, Amber discusses how her professional training helping humans overcome trauma allows her to help dogs suffering from traumatic experiences.

To learn more about New Leash On Love and how they differ from other rescues, check out the following links:

Website

Instagram

As a thank you to Amber for sharing her story, Anitha donated New Leash On Love.

Author/Illustrator, Anoosha Syed joins Anitha to talk about the many aspects of her life. From creating books that showcase underrepresented characters to an honest account of being a working mom to what it’s like to live in the United States as a person of colour.

Anoosha and Anitha also talk about what brought them together—their book, SARI SISTERS. Anitha wrote the words and Anoosha created the art. Normally, authors and illustrators don’t get to meet, but not only did they meet, a lovely friendship was born.

To learn more about Anoosha (a mom, author/illustrator, art educator and so much more) click on the following links:

Anoosha's website

Anoosha on Instagram

As a thank you to Anoosha for sharing her story, Anitha donated to ARCO—Activating Reading Communities Organization. Located in Dallas Fort Worth, Texas, they help communities by creating an inclusive reading culture. To learn more about their work, click on their website:

Read With ARCO

Lev Goldberg joins Anitha to talk about being the first openly trans person to swim the Great Lakes. In 2025 Lev swam across Lake Ontario and then in August of 2026, he swam across Lake Huron! His goal is to swim across all five Great Lakes in an effort to raise awareness and funds for the LGBTQ+ youth.

An inspiring conversation about determination, physical and mental strength and helping others.

To follow Lev, check out the following links:

Lev Swims Lakes Website

Lev On Instagram

Lev Swims Lakes LGBTQ Youth Go Fund Me

As a thank you to Lev for sharing his story, Anitha donated to the LGBTQ YouthLine. This is an anti-racist, youth-led organization that connects 2SLGBTQ+ youth across Ontario to resources and community. To learn more about what they do, check out their website:

Website

Sangita Iyer joins Anitha to talk about how an encounter with a captive bull elephant in Kerala India grew into a lifelong mission to help these magnificent begins.

Sangita shares memories of being very young and creating a friendship with an Asian bull elephant whose feet were shackled. Despite the cruelty he endured by humans, Sangita tearfully remembers how he gently placed his trunk around her.  

She and Anitha talk about the dichotomy of the relationship South Asians have with elephants. On the one hand, many worship Ganesha—an elephant-headed Hindu God, yet they subject actualelephants to cruelty. Sangita, an award-winning wildlife filmmaker and author, depicts this abuse in her film and book, both titled GODS IN SHACKLES.

During the making of the film, Sangita realized that raising awareness alone wouldn’t be enough to help stop the abuse, so in 2016 she founded Voices For Asian Elephants. VFAE has a dual mission—raise awareness AND take direct action to improve the lives of endangered Asian elephants.

Sangita shares some of positive strides VFAE has made for improving the lives of elephants.

A truly remarkable woman going to remarkable efforts to save these remarkable beings.

To learn more about Sangita, click on the following links:

VFAE Website
VFAE on Instagram

As a thank you to Sangita for sharing her story, Anitha donated to Voices For Asian Elephants.

Jen Hillenga joins Anitha to talk about how she combined her passion for dogs and her talent for photography to create not only a career but a way to help dogs find their forever homes.

She shares how her two rescue dogs, Rocco and Nala inspired her to leave the corporate world and pursue her love of photography, focusing the camera on dogs and their humans.

Jen talks about how a great photo can show a dog’s true personality and help them find a loving home. Jen offers her photography services to many rescues. She was also the photographer for Isabel Klee, a well-known content creator, animal advocate and the bestselling author of DOGS, BOYS AND OTHER THINGS I’VE CRIED ABOUT. Jen had the privilege of taking Isabel’s author photo. As a dog lover, Isabel's photo included her soul dog, Simon. Sadly, Simon passed away not long ago. Millions of people around the world, many of whom had never met Simon, shared their love and grief for Simon.  Jen honoured Simon's life by offering a free studio session and 8x10 print to anyone who made a $100 donation to an animal rescue. Jen raised over $11,000 and is now busy fulfilling her promise.  

Such a lovely story of community and caring.

To learn more about Jen and her amazing photography, check out her website:

The Ways Of The Dog Website

As a thank you to Jen for sharing her story, Anitha donated to Rain or Shine Rescue. This non-profit cares for the most vulnerable dogs and cats, from seniors to animals with special needs to those requiring medical treatment. To learn more about this animal rescue, check out their website:

Rain or Shine Rescue

Lori Cohen, the executive director of The Beagle Alliance, joins Anitha to talk about this incredible organization that helps beagles, who were once the victims of the animal research industry, find loving homes. The Beagle Alliance also advocates for the release of all animals from scientific study.

Lori shares the inspiration behind her journey into animal advocacy. She also talks about her strong belief to not blame or criticize folks who conduct research on animals, but rather try and work with them to rescue as many animals as possible.

Lori shares some success stories of beagles who have been rescued and are now living a life full of love.

To learn more about the The Beagle Alliance, click on the following links:

The Beagle Alliance Website

Beyond The Lab Podcast

As a thank you to Lori for sharing her story, Anitha donated to The Beagle Alliance.

Lawyer and animal advocate Taj Uppal is charged with a felony crime and potentially faces six years in jail for rescuing a baby goat. He joins Anitha to talk about why he saved Phoebe and the consequences of his kindness.

Listeners will be shocked to discover who owns the factory farm where Taj found Phoebe in such dire condition. Many animals are still suffering at this factory farm, but thanks to Taj, Phoebe is not among them. She is now living the best life in a sanctuary.

A decision about Taj’s legal issues could come as early as August 25th. He shares how stressful this time has been and how he manages the stress—leaning on his friends, family and his faith.

An incredible conversation with an incredible human.

You can follow Taj on Instagram at Taj on Instagram

As a thank you to Taj for sharing his story, Anitha donated to EA Animal Welfare Fund. This organization finds and funds a wide array of altruistic projects that are most impactful to ending factory farming and improving farmed animal welfare. To learn more about their work, check out their website:
EA Funds