Talking Animals

The feral hog population is becoming a hog-sized problem in Texas. Don Champion has the story. Plus - Sam Litzinger learns more about Happy Tails -- a program that provides the elderly with a four legged companion - for a couple of hours.

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

Hundreds of military dogs are deployed overseas to help the United States military. To honor their service to their country -- these canine veterans are nominated for the American Humane Lois Pope LIFE K-9 Medal of Courage. Chip Reid spends some time with one of the hero dogs. Psychology Today's Adam Clark joins Sam Litzinger to talk about the bond between humans and their pets.

For this edition of “Talking Animals,” I scrapped the usual format to present two discussions about sexism, sexual harassment and misconduct within the animal welfare world—against the backdrop of what seems like an endless flurry of disturbing reports about this sort of misbehavior emerging from multiple fields (showbiz, media, comedy, politics, sports, etc.) First, I spoke with Dr. Lisa Kemmerer, a philosopher-activist and professor of philosophy and religions at Montana State University Billings, who’s written or edited nine books, including “Sister Species: Women, Animals, and Social Justice.” We talked about why these topics are not being discussed (publicly) within the animal welfare movement when it’s otherwise become a red-hot topic of national discussion…the implications and impact of the preponderance of women in animal welfare–Kemmerer estimates about 75%-25% female/male gender ratio…We discussed the CANHAD (Coalition Against Nonprofit Harassment And Discrimination) website, who submits to it and how, and I read a sampling of the testimonials…her view of why sexism and male privilege are key factors underlying this problem…what needs to change to address the problem, and more. The second conversation was with Carol J. Adams, a feminist-vegan advocate, activist, and the author of numerous books, including the landmark work, “The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory.” In August, Adams wrote a paper relevant to this topic, and the day before this show, wrote a two-part blog post entitled, “How Should We Respond To Sexual Harassment And Sexual Exploitation In The Animal Rights Movement.” We talked about the long history of the problem, that for 30 years victimized women in the movement have contacted her with their stories…She touches on Part 1 of the blog post from the previous day, expanding on the term she invokes, “vulnerability of inequality”…She outlines various facets of the supreme importance of forging greater accountability in the movement (an element of Part 2), describing Tofurky’s guidelines for what policies need to be in place at an organization before the company would consider donations …She places in the context of this conversation the germane-anew national discussion about Trump having admitted to sexually assaulting at least one woman, and there’s more than a dozen women who have accused him of sexual misconduct (and the day before, he’d all but endorsed Roy Moore), noting that a sizable contingent of male Trump supporters like it that he views women this way…She offers some suggestions for what steps a victim survivor might take, in addition to visiting CANHAD.org, and more. (http://lisakemmerer.com, http://caroljadams.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” Consolidated’s “The Sexual Politics Of Meat,” instrumentals

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/TANov22-.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Connecticut has become the first state to give a legal voice to abused animals. Plus -- there is now a site that matches you with a canine companion. Sam Litzinger learns more on this week's Talking Animals.

California has become the first state to ban the sale of dogs from puppy mills. Carter Evans reports. Plus -- Sam Litzinger learns that whales and dolphins are just as social as humans.

Sam Litzinger learns more about Washington D.C's Lights Out Program - which was launched to keep birds from flying into windows. Plus -- it is never easy to put an animal down. Psychology Today's Adam Clark weighs in on when it is most appropriate to euthanize animals.

Arin Greenwood and Lee Greenwood—siblings who are both lawyers, skillful writers, and engaged in promoting animal welfare, from different platforms—recount growing up in a house that was, unsurprisingly, brimming with animals (though Arin notes a difficult six-year stretch, start when she was 6, when the family went dog-less). The Greenwoods agreed there was no predict they would both end up with jobs involving animals—he’s a legislative attorney for Best Friends Animal Society; she was the animal welfare editor for The Huffington Post, and now writes about animals for The Today Show, The Washington Post, and The Dodo, among others—because these sorts of jobs didn’t exist when they were younger, or if they did, they were unaware of them. Lee describes what his job entails–including wearing the hats of advocate and lobbyist–and cites a recent successful effort in Delaware that he contributed to: outlawing Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) in that state. This leads to a conversation with the Greenwoods about the family complications and other problems associated with BSL in various areas, including Miami-Dade County and Ontario Canada. Arin recounts her career path, including the five years she spent working as a lawyer on the Mariana Islands, near Guam, ultimately moving to Washington, DC, and took on an assortment of freelance writing gigs—something she’d begun while in law school—starting contributing to The Huffington Post, and pretty soon got hired on there. She enthuses about the range of stories she has the opportunity to write, covering the animal beat, and now writing for an array of publications. Arin’s also a novelist, and her third book, “Your Robot Dog Will Die,” will be published in April—she offers a brief synopsis of the story. (www.facebook.com/aringreenwood, www.facebook.com/lee.greenwood.1217, https://bestfriends.org)

Greenwood Interview on Facebook Live: www.facebook.com/duncan.strauss/videos/10156176992304218/

ALSO: I spoke briefly with Don Goldstein, who, as Talking Animals’ “Greyhound Correspondent,” has kept us well informed about various matters regarding greyhound racing, including proposed bills and other legislative developments. Today, Don speaks to us about the recent move by Senator Tom Lee, seeking to end greyhound racing by way of filing a constitutional amendment that—if it passes—would outlaw dog racing starting in 2021. He points out that the way for citizens to voice their support for the amendment making it on to the ballot is via the General Provisions Committee: www.flcrc.gov/Committees/GP/

COMEDY CORNER: Drew Hastings’ “Farming 101” (portion) (www.drewhastings.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/2017/11/TANov15-.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Hundreds of military dogs are deployed overseas to help the United States military. To honor their service to their country -- these canine veterans are nominated for the American Humane Lois Pope LIFE K-9 Medal of Courage. Chip Reid spends some time with one of the hero dogs. Plus -- Sam Litzinger learns more about the Dog Parker -- which provides your dog with a comfortable and safe place when you go into a store that does not allow pets.

Sam Litzinger shares the story of a woman and her guide horse. Plus - Carter Evans learns more about the great white shark population off the coast of California.