Talking Animals

Maria McKee—the singer-songwriter who burst onto the music scene some 35 years ago, fronting the band Lone Justice, going on to a storied solo career—discusses her lifelong love of dogs, while noting, early on, there was an incident that so traumatized her that she steered clear of dogs (“I shut down around dogs”) for a number of years. But, McKee recalls, once she reconciled those feelings, it’s been dogs, dogs, and more dogs ever since. Indeed, at the moment, she and her husband, Jim Akin, currently share their home with three: a pug, a whippet, and a greyhound. McKee notes that over the years, she’s had a real soft spot for pugs—she mentions writing the grieving lament, “My First Night Without You,” after another, much-beloved pug of hers died many years ago (I ended up playing the song later in the show)—but given the health challenges that routinely plague these in-bred animals, she’s decided she’s unlikely to adopt another pug. That decision partly prompted McKee to adopt a greyhound, a black former racer that she renamed Enitharmon, a nod to her passion for William Blake’s work. McKee has since plunged into the greyhound world, volunteering for an adoption group, attending greyhound events, etc. She still regularly travels to the UK, and somewhat less frequently than before, to Ireland, and outlined the multiple steps involved in having Enitharmon travel with her. She enthuses about a concert she gave last January in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, as part of a festival, noting that performances may become somewhat less rare, because she’s preparing to release her first new album in a decade. McKee explains that the new material—which, musically, she describes as “orchestral pop”–is the product of looking back on various stages of her life, including the famously complicated career of Lone Justice. In addition to this sort of reflection, she observes that a key impetus and inspiration for the new music was the deeply dark, “iconic” character she portrays in “Beauty, Majesty, And Terror,” the third and latest film she and Akin have made. (http://mariamckee.org, https://www.facebook.com/maria.mckee.7)

 

ALSO: I spoke with Talking Animals “Greyhound Correspondent” Don Goldstein—albeit belatedly and far too briefly, owing to a telephone outage so significant that 911 systems in four counties were temporarily down; we finally connected via Skype in the final two minutes of the show—about pending legislation (House Bill 463, Senate Bill 674) that would ban the use of anabolic steroids in racing greyhounds, and about Proposed Amendment 67, which would phase out greyhound racing in Florida. It was to be heard two days later, on Feb. 2, by The Florida Constitution Revision Commission’s Executive Committee—the next step in the process.

COMEDY CORNER: Brian Regan’s “Dog Barking” (http://brianregan.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” Maria McKee’s “My First Night Without You,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Joni Mitchell’s “Black Crow”

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/TAJan31.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Jodie Wiederkehr—campaign director for Chicago Alliance For Animals (CAA), she’s spearheading CAA’s campaign to ban horse carriages in Chicago—recalls how her earliest professional animal advocacy work began in 1997, but that she grew up in a politically-engaged household that was forever taking in sick or injured animals, including a baby lamb! She describes other campaigns she’s worked on in different parts of the country, including the successful effort a few years back to ban greyhound racing in Massachusetts. Wiederkuhr discusses the key things learned from the greyhound effort that she’s applying to the campaign seeking the ban of horse carriages—the core of that campaign is CAA’s contention that the horse carriage companies are regularly violating ordinances that dictate that these horses may not be worked more than six hours in any 24-hour period, often working the horses far longer than that, sometimes twice that limit…and the city’s often ineffectual  policing and enforcement of that law. Other concerns include the impact on the horses’ hooves of walking on streets and pavement for all those hours—often doing so in extreme heat or cold. Wiederkuhr outlines the underpinnings of the endeavor, including sending Daily Action Alerts—a notice requesting a specific action be undertaken–to CAA members and others participating in the campaign, which often involves communicating with the 50 aldermen (Chicago’s counterparts to city council members). She also notes that living in Chicago is not required to assist in this campaign. (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1744351765790299/2309412465950890/)

COMEDY CORNER: Nick DiPaolo’s “Animal Activists” (https://www.nickdip.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Matthew Sweet’s version of “Flipper”

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/TAJan24-.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Amy Kight—newly named executive director of Busch Wildlife Sanctuary (though she’s worked at the Jupiter, FL wildlife refuge, hospital, rehabilitation facility, and educational center since 2004)—discusses being so passionate about working with animals and so eager to do so as a very determined little kid that she landed a gig helping out at a veterinarian’s office at age six…and continued in various capacities there until she was 22. Meeting a woman who ran a wildlife hospital spun Kight in that direction, she recalls, and she has traveled that direction practically ever since, with a detour to return to school for training as a veterinary technician. She notes that Busch Wildlife Sanctuary treats about 4500 animals each year, from birds to bobcats to gators, pointing out the emphasis is on helping sick or injured Florida species, but the facility tends not to turn away any animal that’s brought there, or brought to their attention, citing as a recent example a kinkajou they’ve been looking after until the animal can be relocated to an establishment that cares for exotic animals. Kight explains that the Sanctuary’s goal is to release the “patients” back into the wild after treating them, but some are too injured or ill to make it, and many end up recovering, but for one reason or another cannot be released and are provided a permanent home at Busch. She also describes the Sanctuary’s multifaceted educational efforts, among them guided tours, presentations, and outreach that includes providing animals to late-night talk shows and other television programs. (http://www.buschwildlife.org, https://www.facebook.com/BuschWildlife/)

 

ALSO: I spoke briefly with Brad Myers, aka “The Vegabond Chef,” who is slated to present a cooking demo, showing how to make his popular Mediterranean veggie burger, part of an ongoing event that, for the first time, will also become a vegan potluck, to be held Jan. 25 at the Safety Harbor Art And Music Center. (https://vegabondchef.com, https://www.facebook.com/VegabondChef, http://www.safetyharborartandmusiccenter.com)

 

COMEDY CORNER: Jackie Kashian’s “New Dog” (http://www.jackiekashian.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: We didn’t play Name That Animal Tune today.

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

 Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/TAJan17-.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Dr. Peter Rork—a retired orthopedic surgeon and pilot who co-founded Dog Is My CoPilot, an organization that flys shelter animals to different parts of the country, boosting their prospects of being adopted—recalls his lifelong love of flying, taking his first lessons at age 12. He describes his all-consuming passion for being airborne, noting that one of the top ten experiences in his life was when he first soloed in a plane. Rork explains that his zeal for flying has never wavered, that even during the grueling years of medical school, subsequent training and practicing, he always found the time to fly. Rork recounts how Founding Dog Is My CoPilot (with attorney and original executive director Judy Zimet) represents the confluence of a few factors, including having volunteered with Pilots N Paws, a somewhat similar organization (though it tended to fly few animals, sometimes as few as one), Rork’s decision to retire from his medical practice, and his enduring love of dogs. He addresses some aspects of the early years (mistakes made while traveling the learning curve, a smaller plane, etc.), while reporting how the well-oiled machine that DICM has become—with present/current executive director Kara Pollard, deftly handling all the planning involved with the sending organizations, the receiving organizations, the other logistics—now operates on a given flight. Noting that they have now flown more than 8000 animals, Rork points out that apart from a couple of modest grants—and reaching into his own pocket as needed—Dog Is My CoPilot is a nonprofit funded by donations; the organizations for whom Rork flys the animals never pay a dime. (https://dogcopilot.org, https://www.facebook.com/DogIsMyCoPilotInc)

 

ALSO: I spoke briefly with Frank Cerabino, a columnist at The Palm Beach Post, who tweeted a photo of an iguana who, temporarily stunned by the 40-degree temperatures that marked the south Florida cold snap, was lying supine near the edge of Cerabino’s pool. That photo went big-time viral, appearing online, in newspapers, and on television across the world. Cerabino’s column about the iguana adventure: https://tinyurl.com/y84bjp6u

COMEDY CORNER: Ahmed Bharoocha’s “Crows & Cows” (http://ahmedbharoocha.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: We didn’t play Name That Animal Tune today.

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/TAJan10.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Dr. Ann Weaver—an animal behaviorist conducting a long-term study of bottlenose dolphins off the coast of St. Petersburg, Florida—talks about the enormous array of species she has worked with directly or studied before landing on the dolphin study in 2005, driven by a lifelong passion to work with any animal she could. This yielded a large number of jobs, ranging from the Department of Agriculture, to The San Diego Zoo, to stints in academia as a professor and dean. Weaver recounts why she initially found the dolphin study intriguing, and why—13 years later—she feels every bit as enthusiastic, hoping it continues indefinitely. Part of her enthusiasm stems from the singularity of the study: charting the behavior of the bottlenose dolphins that live in and around the John’s Pass area, recording the impact before, during and after a major bridge construction project there—affording the rare opportunity to study a species before it’s impacted by such an endeavor. She outlines some of the study’s findings, and how they might help guide those undertaking a comparable project where one or species might otherwise be similarly affected. Weaver discusses some of the more unusual stories included in her new book, “Secrets Behind The Dolphin Smile—25 Amazing Things Dolphins Do,” including a female dolphin kidnapping another’s calf, and a male playing dead as a highly unusual courting strategy. (http://www.goodnaturedstatistics.com)

Dr. Weaver Interview on Facebook Live:

ALSO: I spoke briefly with Trevor Chin, of Florida Voices For Animals, about a demonstration against Gibsonton Circus, slated to perform three shows on Jan. 6 at the International Independent Showmen’s Club, in Riverview, FL. (https://www.floridavoicesforanimals.org)

 

 

COMEDY CORNER: Kevin Hart’s “honiZ” (portion) (http://www.kevinhart.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: We didn’t play Name That Animal Tune today.

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/TAJan3-.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Christophe Cox—co-founder and CEO of APOPO, a Tanzania-based nonprofit organization that trains African giant pouched rats to detect landmines and to detect tuberculosis—recounts the genesis of the organization, when co-founder Bart Weetjens began contemplating whether the rodents he kept as pets could be taught to find landmines, and drafted his friend, Cox, to help explore and realize this vision.

Cox outlines some of the new countries APOPO is expanding its landmine-detecting operations to—Columbia being the newest—while noting those where the organization continues those efforts, including Cambodia, Angola, and Zimbabwe. Cox allows that someone newly exposed to APOPO could be excused for finding the mission—training rats to detect landmines and tuberculosis—to sound a bit improbable at first blush. He notes that the institution has grown accustomed to skepticism over the years—APOPO is now celebrating its 20th anniversary, and has always forged ahead, undeterred bynaysayers. Cox describes the training process the rats undergo to learn to detect landmines within ever-expanding parcels of land, working closely with their handlers, pointing out that APOPO breeds the rats in-house that then receive this tutelage. The rats have detected over 100,000 landmines, and Cox says not a single rat has detonated a landmine or otherwise died in the performance of the detection duties. He also explains how the rats that detect tuberculosis approach that task—multiple rats sniffing samples that have tested negative—and the so-called HeroRats have identified more than 12,000 tuberculosis infections that were missed by clinics; that is, by conventional medical means to diagnose the disease. (https://www.apopo.org/en, https://www.facebook.com/heroRAT/)

COMEDY CORNER: Dana Gould’s “Chimps, Bears & JFK” (http://www.danagould.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” Lauris Vidal’s version of “Queen Bee,” Booker T’s version of “Get Behind The Mule,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Black Sabbath’s “Rat Salad”

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/TADec27.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

This morning, I once again tabled the usual “Talking Animals” format to present my Annual Christmas Animal Song special—that is, a show entirely devoted to Holiday-oriented animal tunes. Once again, as we make no bones about in the opening of the program, to effectively pull off this conceit, I’m required to fashion the program with a liberal sprinkling of “Rudolph”-related songs, from Butch Walker’s somewhat boozy new take, from his recently-released (and aptly titled) collection, “Over The Holidays And Under The Influence” to Keith Richards’ classic fiery rendition, a must-include track. I also played some far less obvious nuggets and possible future classics, including Sia’s “Puppies Are Forever,” probably the best new Christmas song (especially in the “Talking Animals” realm) on probably this season’s best new Christmas album, the quirky, if wordy “Dominick, The Italian Christmas Donkey” by the also-wordy Vinnie Bonofici And His Italian American Band, Kacey Musgraves’ rendition of “I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas,” EELS’ propulsive fave, “Christmas Is Going To The Dogs,” and a slice of Dirk Keysser’s novelty reading of “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer” (it sounds like a brood of chickens singing). I took a brief break from playing cool yule songs to read what I call the Dorothy Strauss Christmas message, as I do every year. That message, whose author has always been unknown to me and my family—growing up, my Mom hung a poster of it each Christmas season—may have been written by Howard W. Hunter, according to a Google search conducted by an enterprising “Talking Animals” listener.

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/TADec21-.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Scott Hardy—co-founder of Hardy Hayes Refuge, a mom-and-pop rescue-rehab operation with sizable ambitions, and accomplishments to match—outlines his lifelong love of animals, describing a childhood where the insights gleaned from trying to treat a locust as a pet helped shape his sensibilities more than the family’s beloved beagle. Hardy (the “mom” to his “pop” is his wife, Christine Hardy-Hayes) recalls that owning and running Wagging Tails, a pet supplies shop in New York, represented another key step along the path that led him to the work he does today. Hardy makes clear, though, that a profoundly pivotal precursor to Hardy Hayes Refuge was his two and a half year stint at the Austin Zoo, which is not a zoo in the conventional sense, but a non-profit rescue and sanctuary. Hardy recounts his work there as a keeper, primarily caring for the primates, but also looking after other animals, including a wolf hybrid named Kayla, about whom he shared an affecting story about an understanding they came to when changing the bandage on her infected duclaw and her signaling to him when the process became too painful. Hardy talks about meeting Christine—at a dog park, not surprisingly; she had five dogs, even less surprisingly—and how they landed at an eight and a half acre-spread in Bastrop, Texas, from which they operate Hardy Hayes Refuge. Hardy notes that the organization, which focuses on fostering dogs with challenging circumstances—including those with medical issues and victims of cruelty—is a 501 (c ) (3) that welcomes donations, but is also funded by such unusual sources as the Uncle Mullet You Tube Channel and Gladys Hardy’s website, Gladys being the spirited old gal famous for her on-air phone conversations with Ellen DeGeneres. (https://unclemullet.com, (https://www.facebook.com/yappytrails/, https://www.gladyshardy.com)

 

COMEDY CORNER: John Mulaney’s “Baby Grandma” (http://www.johnmulaney.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” Robert Plant’s version of “Bluebirds Over The Mountain,” (featuring Chrissie Hynde), instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Willie Dixon’s “Little Red Rooster”

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/TADec13-.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Kathy Stevens—founder and director of Catskill Animal Sanctuary, which sprawls over 148 acres in New York’s Hudson Valley, providing refuge to about 300 farmed animals rescued from cruelty, neglect, and abandonment—recalls a childhood growing up on a horse farm in Virginia, forging an intense connection with animals early on. The passion for animals, she explains, has been a vital through line of her life, and along the way, she also developed a powerful interest in education—going to grad school, teaching high school English, and so on. Stevens recounts being at a career cross roads, realizing the professional opportunity offered wouldn’t be a good fit for her, and deciding instead to combine her two chief interests (animals, education), and head down the path of creating Catskill Animal Sanctuary, which she did in 2001 at a small property in Kerhonkson, NY. In the ensuing years, Catskill has expanded to its present size and grown into what Stevens calls “the pre-eminent educational animal sanctuary.” The focus, she notes, is to encourage sanctuary visitors to directly participate in what she describes as a major social movement for humans to change behavior toward other species, adding that there are 300 critters on hand to help underscore that effort—observing that when visitors are “licked by a cow or when a turkey falls asleep in their lap,” the message tends to resonate in a more powerful way. Stevens describes the tours they offer, ranging from those for adults to those tailored for school kids. She makes it clear Catskill receives requests daily to take more animals, and addresses the criteria for saying Yes or No to such requests, by way of mentioning why they declined the previous day to accept three pigs needing a home, partly because that might compromise the life of the 22 pigs currently living there. While on this topic, she outlines the colorful story and unusual daily routine of one of those 22–a potbellied pig named Sister Mary Frances. (https://casanctuary.org)

ALSO: I spoke briefly with Jennifer Lockwood, a St. Petersburg-based pilot (she previously lived in St. Croix), who has coordinated–and in many cases, executed—the rescue of hundreds of cats and dogs that were abandoned in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, in the wake of the hurricanes. Many of these animals have been adopted stateside, including in and around the Tampa Bay area. (http://usvirelief.org, https://www.facebook.com/compassionkindfoundation/)

COMEDY CORNER: Nate Bargetze’s “How To Get Bitten By A Snake” (http://www.natebargatze.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: We didn’t play Name That Animal Tune today.

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/TADec6.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Ronnie Graves—owner of  Veterinary Inclusive Prosthetics And Orthotics, in Bushnell, Florida, which, for more than 20 years, has created custom prosthetic limbs for animals suffering from injuries, illnesses, or birth defects—recounts how he got started in the business of working on those sorts of devices for human clients. An amputee himself, Graves mentions he was hired via a program operated by the State of Florida, initially earning the princely sum of $3.35 per hour. Graves also describes a period working in Louisiana, an unhappy professional stint, although—as an inventor and budding entrepreneur–he did spend weekends demonstrating his invention, before returning to Florida, where he and his wife launched their own business. Graves describes how that business first widened out to fashion devices for animals: an area woman had a Morgan mare, Scarlett, who stepped into an armadillo hole and damaged her left front knee. Profoundly upset and desperate to avoid euthanizing Scarlett, the woman came to Graves, wondering if he could make a brace for the horse like he was doing for humans. He explained to her that he’d never done that kind of work for an animal, but would try—then threw himself into the task, consulting with a large animal veterinarian he knew at the University of Florida, and educating himself in horse anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, etc. He made the brace, and it worked. Graves recalls other animals he has helped, including Moses, the baby elephant in South Africa whose mother was poached, and whose tendons were too weak to support his weight. Upon hearing of Moses’ plight, Graves quickly made braces for him, and shipped them to South Africa. Graves explains that he’s provided devices for animals at sanctuaries, including Farm Sanctuary, The Gentle Barn, and Woodstock Farm Sanctuary. He emphasizes the importance of the humans caring for the animals who’ve been fitted for prosthetics, including removing them for a certain number of hours each day. Graves also briefly touches on some of the work undertaken by the Florida Disaster Animal Response And Transport, which he helped launch the better part of two decades ago. (www.my-vip.com, www.facebook.com/VIPVeterinaryProstheticsOrthotics/)

ALSO: I spoke briefly with Dara Eckart, executive director of Friends of Strays, about the St. Petersburg shelter’s announced goal to adopt out 1000 animals in 2017. She explains that while in the last two or three years, they’ve reached an adoption level of around 500 animals—570 at the highest—Friends of Strays is on track, with about a month left, to reach that 1000 figure. (www.friendsofstrays.com, www.facebook.com/FriendsofStraysAnimalShelter/)

COMEDY CORNER: Max Rosenblum’s “Dog People” (http://maxrosenblum.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Jake Shimabukoro’s “Dragon” (A nod to “Uke It Out 3.0 WMNF’s 3rd Annual Ukulele Festival”)

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/TANov29-.mp3 | Open Player in New Window