38. Heroes and Advocates: Honoring Veterans and Protecting Pets

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00:00:00:04 - 00:00:14:10
Voice Over
Pets add life. Your guide to the latest in pet trends, products and the joy of the human animal bond with Kristen Levine and Chris Bonifati powered by the American Pet Products Association and Dog TV.

00:00:14:12 - 00:00:26:04
Chris
Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of the Pal podcast. I am Chris Farley and I'm joined, as always, by the dazzling and daring Kristen Levin.

00:00:26:06 - 00:00:28:02
Chris
Kristen, how are we doing today?

00:00:28:04 - 00:00:35:03
Kristen
Oh, I'm doing great. I'm doing great. No complaints today. Are you, are you fully cashing in the proceeds?

00:00:35:04 - 00:00:35:14
Chris
Yeah, I was.

00:00:35:18 - 00:00:36:05
Kristen
Drinking your.

00:00:36:05 - 00:00:54:07
Chris
Coca-Cola. That's rare. I don't really drink soda. I've got some complaints, though. I've got some, Oh, if anybody needs some complaint. If you're watching this on YouTube. Yes. Look at my hair right now. I need a haircut so desperately. I'm all over the place. I've got this. I've got this, like, monopoly man mustache look going on.

00:00:54:07 - 00:00:57:12
Chris
So if you're not watching this, you're on YouTube. You're you're really missing out.

00:00:57:15 - 00:01:01:11
Kristen
You're missing out on intentional. It looks like the swoop of the hair. Yeah.

00:01:01:11 - 00:01:12:06
Chris
I mean, I'm trying my best over here. I'm working with what I got. But the hair, the hedges need to be trimmed. Nonetheless. Hey, regardless of.

00:01:12:09 - 00:01:13:01
Kristen
Oh, hey, I have a.

00:01:13:01 - 00:01:14:02
Chris
Question I'm using.

00:01:14:02 - 00:01:16:15
Kristen
Oh, speaking of that, I got to ask you a question.

00:01:16:17 - 00:01:17:05
Chris
Okay.

00:01:17:07 - 00:01:21:21
Kristen
Do you trim your own eyebrow? Do you trim your eyebrows at them? I just leave it at that.

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Chris
No, this is all natural. Okay. All right. Yeah, I, I don't think I would know how to I think I would, I would mess it up and I would look like I would give myself a look where I look constantly perplexed.

00:01:36:10 - 00:01:42:17
Kristen
Yes, well I know the reason I ask is because. So when you get older you are going to get, you know, those kind of crazy hairs that come out.

00:01:42:17 - 00:01:43:04
Chris


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Kristen
So my husband, I'm going to like throw him under the bus along, but he put.

00:01:46:13 - 00:01:47:00
Chris
Him right on the.

00:01:47:00 - 00:01:57:21
Kristen
Bus. He takes like his, like a little big razor and tries to shave it like trash to trim it, and he ends up shaving off the tail of his eyebrow. Come on, he's got to make a.

00:01:57:21 - 00:02:03:01
Chris
Product for that. There's got to be a product of the week. Well, the product grooming industry.

00:02:03:03 - 00:02:08:12
Kristen
The product is. I sent him to my, hairstylist and I had her wax, his eyebrows.

00:02:08:14 - 00:02:22:14
Chris
Oh, interesting. I would not want that. I would I'm I'm as an Italian man, I'm prepared for hair to start growing on places in my face that just really shouldn't. And that's just my lot in life.

00:02:22:16 - 00:02:28:02
Kristen
Well, I have a feeling Hope is going to introduce you to eyebrow waxing at some point.

00:02:28:04 - 00:02:55:20
Chris
Hope? If you're listening, don't, don't. Nonetheless, we've got an awesome show for you guys. As always, we're going to be, interviewing two amazing guests. Following up on on a little bit of a, Veterans Day. If you were, observing Veterans Day, yesterday and from all of us at, dog TV and the Pal podcast, if you are a veteran listening, to this show, thank you for your service to our country.

00:02:55:22 - 00:03:10:20
Chris
Genuinely. Thank you so much. And thank you for being a listener and supporter. Then we're going to do, two awesome stories, talk about two great products and then answer two of your burning questions at home. Does that sound like a plan, Christine?

00:03:10:22 - 00:03:12:22
Kristen
Sounds like a great plan. I'm ready.

00:03:13:00 - 00:03:17:00
Chris
All right, let's go ahead and start with story time.

00:03:17:02 - 00:03:21:05
Voice Over
Kristen and Chris present story time.

00:03:21:07 - 00:03:48:12
Chris
So for my story, Chris, and this is a this is, I'm sort of in uncharted territory here. I'm doing a follow up to my story last week. So if you are a routine listener, you'll remember I was talking about the, defunct Bed Stewie aquarium, in New York City, where there is a flying fire hydrant and people turned into an aquarium while the fire hydrant got fixed so the aquarium was shut down.

00:03:48:12 - 00:04:08:17
Chris
None of the fish were harmed to take out first, but they have now set it up. And if you're familiar with New York City, when you're walking down the blocks, they have those trees set up and they usually have like a little garden fence around them and a little bit of dirt. Well, the people who manage that aquarium set it up in one of the tree beds.

00:04:08:18 - 00:04:42:00
Chris
They used a makeshift, liners and stones that they could get their hands on. And now without the, the water flowing in from the leaky hydrant, they've set up a filtration system. Wow. They have, like, an aquatics hobbyist who helps them out and makes sure the fish are all safe. There's a bunch of volunteers who are trying to now set up a solar powered filtration system because it's currently battery powered, and they have to keep replacing the batteries.

00:04:42:02 - 00:05:13:21
Chris
It is now on Google Maps. It has Instagram and TikTok accounts. And there's even, like a little, sign with a QR code where you can learn more about the different types of fish and how they're being taken care of and why they are safe where they are. And they are looking for, some donations to be able to put a heating system in, so that they could, you know, in a, in a few weeks, it's going to get cold, for the, for those fish.

00:05:13:21 - 00:05:25:12
Chris
So they want to put in a water heating system and, but I guess I want to follow up on it because it's the most New York thing. It reminds me of that perpetual stew. Did you ever hear that story about the perpetual stew in Brooklyn?

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Kristen
Now?

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Chris
So it's like the most New York thing where, like, okay, somebody started a stew. And if you wanted a bowl of the stew, all you had to do is bring some ingredients to add a stew. So the student actually emptied.

00:05:39:17 - 00:05:41:07
Kristen
Oh, it just kept filling up.

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Chris
It's so weird. Like that.

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Kristen
Is weird.

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Chris
Yeah, but people are lining up. People are lining up for the for the perpetual stew. So it's just one of those weird. You gotta if you're in New York, if you're visiting, search it up on Google Maps. Go take a look for an authentic New York experience. It's through the Statue of Liberty there. Give us.

00:06:00:02 - 00:06:03:10
Kristen
The name. Tell us the name of it again so we can look at dead Stewie.

00:06:03:10 - 00:06:20:22
Chris
And that's b e d hyphen s stew y. So I don't know exactly where it is, but based on the name, I'm going to guess it's around NYU, which is sort of, like the East Village area. So if you're if you're around, if you're visiting, go ahead and take a look.

00:06:20:22 - 00:06:45:07
Kristen
All right. So my story is a little bit more serious. And it's in line with, you know, yesterday being Veteran's Day and also the a little little tease to one of our guests that we have today. So, the VA reports that they treat half a million veterans a year for PTSD. And we know that so many cases go unreported.

00:06:45:07 - 00:07:13:19
Kristen
A lot of veterans don't seek help for PTSD. So that number is, you know, on the very low end, I'm sure. And as we all know, it's it's widely understood that suicide is among one of the top causes of death for veterans suffering from PTSD. But we also know that pairing service dogs with these veterans veterans saves lives, enhances our lives, gives them reason to live just really enhances every aspect of our life.

00:07:13:19 - 00:07:34:13
Kristen
And we're going to hear more about that later with our guest today. But there are hundreds of thousands of veterans that can't get or, can't get a service dog or, you know, or haven't asked for one, primarily due to their inability in their lack of desire to ask for help. But also there is a huge funding issue.

00:07:34:16 - 00:07:55:08
Kristen
It costs a lot of money to train these service dogs. But the good news is there is a bipartisan group of lawmakers, in Congress that's pushing to make it easier for veterinarians to be paired with service dogs. It's called the Service Dogs Assisting Veterans Act, and it would designate $10 million a year for five years to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

00:07:55:14 - 00:08:15:00
Kristen
And all of those funds would then be used to award grants to nonprofit organizations, like the one that our guest ran today, that train and provide service dogs to eligible veterans. So I thought that was good news. The bill is in its early days, but, it's got strong bipartisan support. So hopefully we'll see that go through.

00:08:15:00 - 00:08:16:21
Kristen
Said.

00:08:16:23 - 00:08:45:19
Chris
Call your congressman, call him up, write an email, write a letter, handwrite a letter. I dare you. But that that's awesome. Yeah. There's a, there is a huge gap, between the amount of money needed, to, meet the demand, for, for veterans who, may not even realize they require a service dog. So it's, it's it's beyond just the training.

00:08:45:19 - 00:09:03:12
Chris
It's the awareness. And so if you're, out there and can either support the bill, write your congressman, or find, your local, I'm not even sure what to call them because it's so neat. Yeah, but, yeah, you know, like a a service.

00:09:03:12 - 00:09:04:03
Kristen
Dog dog.

00:09:04:03 - 00:09:14:06
Chris
Trainer who works with veterans. There's all sorts of organizations out there. So if you know of one, it might be a good time to leave a donation in honor of Veterans Day.

00:09:14:09 - 00:09:20:06
Voice Over
Beyond the Leash exploring the untold stories of pet passion and professionalism.

00:09:20:08 - 00:09:44:23
Kristen
Well, today we are honored to welcome our guest, Shannon Walker. She's a leading expert in canine training and the CEO and founder of Northwest Battle Buddies, which is a nonprofit dedicated to pairing veterans with service dogs to support those veterans living with PTSD. Now, Shannon's work is deeply inspired by her father, who is a veteran himself, and he instilled a profound respect for America's service members.

00:09:45:01 - 00:10:02:11
Kristen
As she was growing up and her journey from training police canine units to founding Northwest Battle Buddies really shows off her commitment to, to kind of like leveraging the power of canine companionship to uplift and support those who have served our country. So welcome, Shannon.

00:10:02:13 - 00:10:06:19
Shannon
It's so wonderful to see you and so grateful to be on the show. Thank you.

00:10:06:21 - 00:10:34:05
Kristen
Oh my gosh, I forgot to mention in the intro that you did a Ted talk a couple of years ago, and I watched it this morning and it was incredible. It just blew my mind. I don't even know where to start. But let's start with, talking about your inspiration, how you transitioned from training dogs specifically canine service dog or canine dogs to, sir, recruiting North West battle buddies.

00:10:34:07 - 00:10:57:05
Shannon
Absolutely. Thank you. So, you know, I've been a professional dog trainer for 30 years, and like you said, not only did I compete in a protection sport for ten years, but then I did also have the honor of working with veteran or with with police departments, helping them train their dogs. And then I also started my for profit business, because I'm a single mom, and I needed to be able to make money and be a stay at home mom.

00:10:57:07 - 00:11:21:01
Shannon
And my stay at home was my business. So my boys grew up in it, and I've been doing that for 30 years as well. And so it's all things dogs. But when a veteran walked into my business, my dad taught me to believe in God, family and country. And like you said, my dad really inspired. I believe legacy isn't just what you leave people on this earth when you leave, but it's what you leave in people when you leave on this earth.

00:11:21:03 - 00:11:36:06
Shannon
And my dad left in me a profound patriotism for our veterans. He always taught me that when you're in the presence of a veteran, you're in the presence of a hero, even though he never considered himself one. And then I raised my boys with the same belief system and my, my, my boys. They served in the Army and Marines.

00:11:36:06 - 00:12:02:17
Shannon
So we believe it. We live it. But when a veteran walked into my business and he wanted to be, he wanted help. He was looking for help. He wanted his personal dog to be trained, to be a service dog for him. And that experience became profound for me. That experience as I did what I do, I have I had trained service dogs before, but I had never, I had never served a veteran, and trained a dog for PTSD.

00:12:02:17 - 00:12:25:12
Shannon
And through that process, watching him go into those stressful places that he would always avoid with a service dog through the training, through everything we did, I saw him find courage inside himself to lead her where he was afraid to go alone, and I saw him do for her what he was unwilling to do for himself. And I watched him when he finished his training, and he finished his testing, I watched him walk away.

00:12:25:16 - 00:12:44:03
Shannon
And this took months. This took months. This was a huge process. And when I watched him walk away, his head was up and his shoulders were back. And I was watching Sammy, his yellow lab at his side. And out of everything I had accomplished in the dog world, all the times on the podium, helping all of the families with their dogs, helping the, police department, helping them certify their dogs.

00:12:44:03 - 00:13:03:11
Shannon
All of that is so significant, but nothing mattered to me as much as the value that that dog brought him and his life as a service dog, and seeing him change and learning about the suicide rate and learning about the price that our veterans are paying, you know, they may not be wearing the uniform anymore, but they're still paying a price for freedom.

00:13:03:13 - 00:13:22:21
Shannon
And it was such a profound moment. It was such a profound experience for me that it set me on the trajectory to thinking, if I can just adopt dogs out of shelters, I can train them and I can say thank you for my freedom. I can gift them and say thank you for my freedom. That was 257 service dogs ago and we have not lost one.

00:13:22:23 - 00:13:25:13
Shannon
We have not lost one veteran to suicide.

00:13:25:15 - 00:13:27:02
Chris
That is amazing.

00:13:27:06 - 00:13:48:09
Shannon
For our veterans that we've gifted these dogs to. This absolutely has been the life changing, life saving experience that that not only they deserve, but they need and their children need it and their families need it, and our communities need it. So I tell people all the time I get to do this, it's hard. You know, there's always the back side to the blessing.

00:13:48:12 - 00:13:55:18
Shannon
There's things to go through. But the same time, our veterans deserve it. And so I'm honored to be able to do it with I have an amazing team. So it's awesome.

00:13:56:00 - 00:14:17:04
Chris
Yeah. And you mentioned that that first, you know, dog took months to train. You say it's a lot of hard work. You know, why don't you give us a little peek behind the veil here and talk a little bit about that process to bring a dog from, maybe being slightly trained or untrained to the point where they could be that, incredible companion for a veteran.

00:14:17:10 - 00:14:18:23
Chris
What what kind of work goes into that?

00:14:18:23 - 00:14:39:02
Shannon
Absolutely. So it's actually about an 18 month process, depending on where we get our dogs. So get our dog out of a shelter is no small thing, because you have to go find the dog, work with a shelter. It takes time. It takes resources, it takes all that. But then we also purpose breed our dogs as well. Because we are one of the largest service dog providers that only provides for veterans.

00:14:39:02 - 00:15:03:00
Shannon
There's a lot of service dog organizations, but our niche and our expertise in Northwest Battle Buddies is serving veterans only. And so we also purpose breed English labs and English Cream golden retrievers. Well, it starts out with a breeding I got. I got six English lab babies out there in my well-paying area right now that we take care of and love on, and then those puppies will go into a foster home.

00:15:03:02 - 00:15:22:10
Shannon
So we vet families, I mean, background checks to everything, home inspection, everything that, making sure those puppies are going into a safe place. And then we educate those fosters about training and behavior modification and how to raise these puppies so that so the fosters enjoy it. And they're not little monsters by the time they get to us.

00:15:22:12 - 00:15:56:18
Shannon
But at the end of the day, we just want our fosters to love our puppies and keep them safe until they come to us. So the fosters and we have an oversight. We have monthly check ins. So there's all that work as well. And then and just not just all the support that these dogs deserve and need to make sure that when they do come to us, they train, we train them once they come to us and they leave the foster home at 8 to 12 months old, we start to train them for five months, five months of training, learning how to navigate all of life, incredible obedience on leash, off leash, obedience, respect in

00:15:56:18 - 00:16:14:12
Shannon
your space. But then how do you navigate elevators, escalators, the mall? You know, TSA, I mean, everything that we can imagine restaurants to take a dog to, to where they can serve. And then we teach them how to task. We teach them how to task and learn how to mitigate the symptoms of of invisible wounds of war, which is PTSD.

00:16:14:14 - 00:16:35:03
Shannon
Then once that five months is done, those dogs are specifically paired and matched to the group of veterans that are going to come into our program. So right now we are currently. So we train our veterans for five weeks. Our dogs are trained for five months, are our veterans are trained from five for five weeks. They come from across the nation and we train every day.

00:16:35:03 - 00:16:51:23
Shannon
And right now we have a group of 14 American heroes that are showing up here every day right now. And they are in week three and in two and a half weeks, if everything goes well, they will pass all their testing and these dogs will be gifted to them. These service dogs cost us about $25,000, but they are.

00:16:51:23 - 00:17:09:23
Shannon
They do not cost our veterans anything. We gift them. And then of course we follow up at three months they're re certifying, which means they retest at nine months later they retest. And every year after that for the life of the dog, for the life of the team, it might be ten years. Because we are a family. We have the oversight.

00:17:09:23 - 00:17:37:12
Shannon
We have that follow through, and we offer continued education for all of our veterans at any stage in their life with that dog, because we we want to be there, support them the whole way, because it's not just about the veteran, it's about the dog as well. You know, one last thing I'll tell. I always tell our veterans you are our mission, but the dogs are our responsibility, and we have that oversight to ensure these dogs have the best life as a service dog as they serve their veteran.

00:17:37:14 - 00:17:58:03
Kristen
So, Shannon, you mentioned, that you have provided 200 and was it 257 service to veterans? I can imagine, which is incredible, but I can imagine the the waiting list is it is there is there a waiting list, with your organization and or just nationwide for veterans that are, seeking to, to obtain a service dog.

00:17:58:05 - 00:18:19:06
Shannon
It is not uncommon for an organization to have a waiting list. And our waiting list is at least 140 veterans. Right now they're waiting. And the thing is, is this whole last year. So the suicide rate among our American heroes is 22 veterans a day will take their life on American soil. Lives lost in combat are only one and a half a day now, and one life is too many.

00:18:19:08 - 00:18:45:15
Shannon
However, that's what we're facing on American soil. And we do have a waiting list. And this last year we had the greatest influx of applications veterans looking for help. And not every organization has a waiting list like ours. But we do. And, we absolutely are going to serve every single one of them. We are constantly working on raising money, you know, working on developing relationships that are sustainable so we can continue.

00:18:45:15 - 00:19:05:17
Shannon
So last year we gifted 43 service dogs to our veterans. And we are one of the largest. We are one of the largest, providers in the United States. We are nationwide. We're represented in 28 states right now and five countries. So it's you know, it's it's very vast and we serve all conflicts. That's the other thing. Some organizations only serve post 911.

00:19:05:18 - 00:19:14:06
Shannon
We serve all conflicts. How can we say no to our Korean War veterans, which now we're kind of aging out of that. But our Vietnam veterans.

00:19:14:08 - 00:19:14:17
Kristen
Right.

00:19:14:17 - 00:19:37:12
Shannon
Our hundredth dog went to a Vietnam veteran. His name was Jim. And we we provided a beautiful English lab named bomber. And he said, you know, I really thought living my life was over. I didn't know at this stage of my life I would begin living. And it's like, what an incredible testimony that these dogs are doing for our veterans, because every story is the same, but it's all unique to itself.

00:19:37:14 - 00:20:07:15
Shannon
It's you know, it's just it's an incredible it's an incredible honor to serve them the way we do. And these dogs are there just to be able to describe the level, because they are a piece of medical equipment. This is a tool to help mitigate a disability. But it's so much more than that. And to hear the stories of our veterans really add fuel to our fire at Northwest Battle Buddies, just to press on, to continue as to to to serve them at the highest level as much as possible every year to just keep getting those names off the list.

00:20:07:17 - 00:20:36:10
Chris
Right. Shannon, this is incredibly inspirational. I feel like I could talk to you for hours, but we are coming up on time. And I want to ask you one more thing before we let you go. You know, if our listeners are out there and they want to get involved, whether it be, financially assisting or through acts of service, what are some ways that the folks out there can lend a hand to, your cause or other, causes out there that are doing similar things around the country?

00:20:36:15 - 00:21:02:08
Shannon
Yeah. Thank you so much for asking. Well, northwest battle buddies.org all spelled out is our website. They can find everything there. But I will tell you, you know, the two greatest obstacles of getting service dogs into the veterans hands is finances. And then it's education. We. Northwest Battle Days does have a monthly giving program called Operation Never Quit where people can, can can connect with us monthly.

00:21:02:13 - 00:21:22:12
Shannon
They can donate monthly. They are connected with it with a, they get an email which has our veterans, our heroes corner. They get it here from our veterans personally. They get to stay in touch with what we're doing. They can become part of the Northwest Battle Days family. But it's that grassroots across the nation because it is We the People.

00:21:22:17 - 00:21:44:04
Shannon
People can check out fostering a puppy. People can do a third party fundraiser. And most importantly, if you know a veteran that is struggling, even if you're a family member and you know what your father, your brother, your sister, your mother that is struggling, so many of our veterans have dogs because the families reached out to us and facilitated and brought that bridge to help, because they're not going to ask for help very well.

00:21:44:10 - 00:22:02:10
Shannon
They don't they're they're strong, they're courageous, and they don't ever want to take a dog from another veteran. They'd be more that they feel would be more deserving. So thank you for asking that. Northwest Battle buddies.org tremendous ways to help finances, donations. We need the help of the American people. And, our service dogs are changing lives.

00:22:02:12 - 00:22:06:07
Kristen
Thank you for the work you do, Shannon, and really glad you joined us today for education.

00:22:06:07 - 00:22:09:01
Shannon
Thank you for the opportunity. Appreciate you. Thank you.

00:22:09:03 - 00:22:11:14
Voice Over
Pets add life.

00:22:11:16 - 00:22:34:06
Chris
So if you haven't checked it out, I know we mentioned at the top of the interview, I highly recommend watching Shannon's Ted talk because if you think she was inspirational in the ten minutes or so we had her on our show, wait till you see the whole spiel. It's absolutely incredible. The work that she does and her, talent as an orator is,

00:22:34:08 - 00:22:35:11
Kristen
Oh. She's incredible.

00:22:35:16 - 00:22:37:17
Chris
Yeah, she's very good.

00:22:37:19 - 00:22:42:15
Kristen
Yeah. After the interview, we had her do a little promo for the show, and she just whipped it off like nothing, like.

00:22:42:15 - 00:23:21:13
Chris
Yeah, like a pro. Put me to shame. I thought I was, I thought I was an improv guy. Now I'm a sucker. But, you know, in all seriousness, there, you know, I mentioned, before on the show, there is a huge gap in, in funding for, services like Northwest Battle Buddy. So if you have, some extra cash, if you have some time to do some research and find one near you, or if you have some time to volunteer, or if you know a veteran who could benefit from a program like this, those are all things that you could go ahead and, and do today, and give back to,

00:23:21:15 - 00:23:49:17
Chris
this country a little bit. So, consider it, and if you go to, Chris sent you to. And joining us on the show now is Brad Pyle, the political director of the Humane Society Legislative Fund. Brad leads the organizations political efforts at the federal, state and local levels, managing everything from expanding advocacy efforts to overseeing compliance and fundraising for HLA, HSF laughs.

00:23:49:19 - 00:24:23:19
Chris
Oh, that's a mouthful of appreciation. Political action committees with a background in managing campaigns across Ohio, Oregon and New York, Brad built a robust portfolio of political action committees growing HLS, FS, H. S labs, many struggling influence and supporting measures that advance animal protect action. So thank you so much for joining us. Today, Brad. And I suppose we could just start by, you sharing what inspired you to transition from campaign management to your role at the Humane Society?

00:24:23:21 - 00:24:58:02
Brad
Absolutely. You know, the Humane Society family of organizations has thousands of staff across the country and around the world working to advance animal welfare policies. I actually came across this organization on the campaign trail with the candidate, and we came and met with the staff at the Humane Society Legislative Fund. We learned about the policies that they were working on as an organization, and it was really eye opening to me because I had been so accustomed to some of the other issues that we hear about common on candidate campaigns, on elections.

00:24:58:02 - 00:25:22:23
Brad
I'm sure you've heard about them in the TV ads that you're seeing and hearing leading up to the current election. But I had never really been that exposed to the intricacies of animal policies and the politics behind it. And I was so impressed and so moved by some of those meetings and the conversations after. And I was really excited to have the opportunity to join the organization and help grow and expand beyond where they already were.

00:25:23:00 - 00:25:33:03
Kristen
Great. So, Brad, can you talk to us a little bit about, what types of, legislation you're working on with regard to animal protection? Some, some specific examples.

00:25:33:05 - 00:25:55:02
Brad
Absolutely. We've got teams in Washington, DC advocating before the federal government, and we have teams on the ground in state capitals and city halls across the country working with their state and their local governments as well. It's everything from cracking down on the puppy mill to pet store pipeline and working to protect, puppies and kittens in those inhumane conditions.

00:25:55:02 - 00:26:18:13
Brad
At the federal level, we're working on the Puppy Protection Act. At the state and local level. We have all sorts of different approaches to tackling that issue, whether it's prohibiting the retail sale of these pets or cracking down on some of the more predatory financing situations that we see in these retail situations. And we're working in so many different ways to protect pets and the people that care about them.

00:26:18:15 - 00:26:20:14
Brad
And there's just a couple of great examples.

00:26:20:16 - 00:26:47:10
Chris
Yeah. And, you know, I think in today's, political landscape, a lot of issues tend to be very divisive. But I think one thing that a majority of folks can agree on is that our pets should be sourced, in inhumane and reliable ways. So if I'm a listener out there and I'm considering either adopting or purchasing a new pet, do you have any tips on how I could identify?

00:26:47:10 - 00:26:57:21
Chris
I a a, either a breeder or a store and ensure that they are, following, you know, some of these, tighter regulations.

00:26:57:23 - 00:27:16:02
Brad
Definitely. You can go to the Humane Society morgue. There are some great tips and tricks to, help you find that pet. Really encourage you to check out your local shelter and rescue, though there are so many great pets that need a good home, in shelters and rescues across the country, there is no shortage of adoptable pets out there.

00:27:16:04 - 00:27:21:11
Brad
And you can definitely find the next member of your family at a shelter near you.

00:27:21:13 - 00:27:30:14
Kristen
So, Doug, do you have a pet project? That one that's particularly, you're passionate about yourself or, that you're really excited about that you're working on, that you're working on?

00:27:30:14 - 00:27:54:20
Brad
Yeah. You know, I am still a, so invested in our democracy, in our electoral advocacy. One of my big responsibility in our organization is making sure that our advocates are engaged in the democratic process. You know, people often think that, voting doesn't impact your pet or your animals. The wildlife are the animals around you, and that's just not the case.

00:27:54:20 - 00:28:20:04
Brad
Animals are always on the ballot in every election, whether it's reelecting candidates that are championing some of that legislation I mentioned earlier, or in some more direct democracy examples like ballot measures, there are ballot measures that pop up every year that directly relate to animals. There are so many on the ballot this year. There are already some emerging that we expect to see on the ballot next year, and then the years beyond.

00:28:20:06 - 00:28:33:22
Brad
And more often than not, when voters have a chance to directly decide what the policies will be in their community based on a ballot measure, they overwhelmingly choose the pro animal side of that. The animal protection position on those choices.

00:28:34:00 - 00:28:56:17
Chris
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense to me when you say, that, you know, voting in those Non-presidential years could be more impactful because, you know, typically there's lower voter turnout when the president isn't on the ballot and you typically see more local elections come up. And I feel like a lot of these animal protections happen at more of a local and state level.

00:28:56:19 - 00:29:14:14
Brad
Absolutely. We see so much more, policy movement on the local and state level. But another really important thing about local policies is they they build on themselves and they snowball up to the federal level. So it is a lot easier to pass a statewide law if some of the biggest cities in that state have already passed that ordinance.

00:29:14:19 - 00:29:29:21
Brad
And it's a lot easier to pass a federal law if a lot of the states in the country have already made that their statewide law. And so a lot of these policies start as a local ordinances and build them their way up until there's a groundswell and then it becomes a federal norm. You know, every year is an election year.

00:29:29:21 - 00:30:00:01
Brad
And I like to say every election is an important election for animals. And the people that care about them. It's also some of those lower turnout years are when some try to sneak things across the finish line, whether they're trying to exploit animals for profit or personal gain, you have to be really diligent and make sure that you're always showing up to vote, because people know and people are watching and trying to take those opportunities to expand their ability to exploit animals, to.

00:30:00:03 - 00:30:16:08
Kristen
Yeah, that's a good point. I'm just curious to know, Brett, how are the legislative how is your work funded? Is this as it funded through the donations that come to the Humane Society of the United States? Is there a or how specifically, does your role get funded?

00:30:16:10 - 00:30:36:01
Brad
That's a great question. I work for the Humane Society Legislative Fund. We are a donor funded 584 organization. We're based in Washington, DC, and we've got staff across the country. And we are an affiliate of the Humane Society of the United States, but we're a separate entity from them. And they have their own fundraising arm as well.

00:30:36:01 - 00:30:53:09
Brad
And then the thousands of local animal shelters across the country are all often independent organizations as well, and do their own fundraising and are doing truly great work on the ground and, have their own fundraising needs to and really encourage folks to support shelters in their community.

00:30:53:11 - 00:31:13:20
Chris
Okay. So in other words, if I wanted to, you know, donate money to help an animal shelter, I'd donate to the shelter. But if I wanted to donate money to make sure, you know, my voice was being heard, that that there were advocates in Washington, I'd have to go directly to the legislative funds website and donate their.

00:31:13:22 - 00:31:32:04
Brad
Absolutely. You can go to hsn.org. We've got a great donate button. I encourage folks to click on it, and fill out the form there. And, you can support our great work. You know, our public policy can really save the lives of millions of animals across this country. And it's it's really important. Helping animals in your community is also really important.

00:31:32:04 - 00:31:37:23
Brad
And these two things work hand in hand to make sure the animals are protected, not just today on the ground, but in the future as well.

00:31:38:05 - 00:31:56:15
Chris
Yeah, I think everybody listening to this podcast would agree that they want to take care of animals. I mean, if you're listening to the pets at your podcast, yeah, I know where you're going to fall on these issues. But I think there there might be a bit of a lack of, of awareness because it's just not one of those issues that hits the news cycle.

00:31:56:15 - 00:32:15:18
Chris
Right? It's not one of those big issues that you hear debates about and people talking about it. So, are there any, informative resources that, the legislative fund has where I could go and learn more about some of the laws that might be being passed or how I could get involved in, in different ways, some more educational resources.

00:32:15:20 - 00:32:58:09
Brad
Absolutely. Our website, we've got a federal scorecard, and we have several state legislative scorecards as well, where we record and hold lawmakers accountable for how they voted on animal welfare policies that came before their legislatures. We've also got a long list of candidates that we have endorsed for office educational resources and blogs. You can subscribe to our blog and learn about what's happening in Washington, DC, what's happening in some of these state capitals across the country, and even some local ordinances as well that we support, you know, every level of elected office can impact animals, whether it's a county sheriff shutting down a dogfighting operation or a city council cracking down on puppy

00:32:58:09 - 00:33:08:14
Brad
mills, there are so many ways that every level of elected office can impact animals for the better. And that's something that we really work to educate our members and the public at large about.

00:33:08:16 - 00:33:12:02
Kristen
Wow. I learned a lot. This is this is great.

00:33:12:04 - 00:33:18:07
Chris
Yeah. It's, it's always great when we have people on the show who are smarter than us, which is important. You get.

00:33:18:07 - 00:33:20:17
Brad
Somebody. I'm sorry. I can help you.

00:33:20:19 - 00:33:47:18
Chris
Yeah, and Brad isn't one of them. No, I mean, but, But this really has been awesome. Brad, learning about this, I think, you know, my big takeaway is, is we are all fallen on the same side of this issue, but, you know, it's it's getting informed. It's making sure we're voting each year. It's making sure we're we're supporting candidates, from the federal level all the way down to the local level who, share our beliefs when it comes to animals.

00:33:47:18 - 00:33:53:19
Chris
So thank you for this great work that you're doing. What's that URL to your website? One more time for the folks listening at home.

00:33:53:21 - 00:33:56:17
Brad
H.S. lif.org.

00:33:56:18 - 00:34:02:03
Chris
That's that's an that's honestly that's the easiest one to remember. And they're easy to remember.

00:34:02:03 - 00:34:03:15
Kristen
Difficult to say for Chris.

00:34:03:15 - 00:34:13:00
Chris
To say for Chris. There might be some dyslexia going on. Who knows. But, thank you so much for joining us today, Brad. And to talk about some of these issues.

00:34:13:04 - 00:34:14:10
Brad
Thank you so much for the chat.

00:34:14:12 - 00:34:16:12
Kristen
All right.

00:34:16:14 - 00:34:19:04
Voice Over
Pets add life.

00:34:19:06 - 00:34:33:00
Kristen
Well, I thought Brad was really informative and I'm glad you explained. You know, the difference between the Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society legislative Fund. I think it's gets confusing for, you know, for us pet lovers who want to support these organizations that are doing great work for pets.

00:34:33:02 - 00:34:55:13
Chris
Yeah, I guess, like around that in general, you know, if you if, if you want to impact a charity's work, you have to donate directly to the charity. But if they have some type of lobbyist or political fund that has to legally be a separate entity, because when you make a political donation, it has to be in-kind meaning.

00:34:55:13 - 00:35:13:09
Chris
Like, I know I'm giving it to this person for the sake of this political stand that they're going to take. So just keep that in mind when you're thinking about, other charities that you support the work of. But if you want to support their advocacy and lobbying in Congress, you know, they may have a fund set up.

00:35:13:11 - 00:35:35:21
Chris
But, I mean, just learning about all the different, issues that they stay on top of. It's good to know that we have some watchdogs out there looking after our pun intended. Yeah, yeah, that was I was getting there. It was a pun intended. But it's good to know, because without, you know, where do you stand on the idea of government regulation?

00:35:35:21 - 00:35:49:18
Chris
Without government regulation, people would exploit animals. There are bad people out there that would do bad things. So it's good to know that there's good people out there who are making sure that doesn't happen over

00:35:49:19 - 00:35:55:00
Voice Over
The p- p- p- product of the week, of the week.

00:35:55:01 - 00:35:59:06
Kristen
All right, Chris, it's your favorite part of the show is that.

00:35:59:08 - 00:36:04:01
Chris
I mean, I could have multiple favorites. Well, it's like a dad with two kids. They're both because.

00:36:04:01 - 00:36:07:00
Kristen
You also say the the Q&A is your favorite, so.

00:36:07:00 - 00:36:14:19
Chris
Well, yeah, it's my favorite. But I would say product of the week has the best intro theme song.

00:36:14:21 - 00:36:15:16
Kristen
That's true.

00:36:15:18 - 00:36:25:01
Chris
The best jingle. That's what we call it. Intro theme song. What are you saying? Let's get some sleep. Why don't you have another coke and eat another bowl?

00:36:25:03 - 00:36:54:02
Kristen
All right, I'm going to go first today. And I. The product I chose to highlight is, one that I just had to use. And it is life sick. Well, it's it's pocketbook saving. Let's let's do that way. Little Miss Tulip, he is sleeping over my shoulder there. She had a, a bout with gastroenteritis last week, and, we were never really able to figure out what caused it.

00:36:54:02 - 00:37:10:23
Kristen
But typically, gastroenteritis is inflammation of your dog's, you know, gut, intestines and stomach. And it can be brought on by anxiety or them getting into something they shouldn't have eaten. It can. It can be caused by a lot of different things. In her case, I think it was because we had a lot of guests in and out of the house.

00:37:10:23 - 00:37:34:17
Kristen
And then, she went to the pet sitters and then, you know, it was just a lot of change going on in our home for a few weeks. So, three vet visits Friday, Saturday, Sunday, two overnight hospitalizations. And she's all better now. She's settling back in. She's back to her normal self. So it was all great. The vets that saw her were fantastic.

00:37:34:21 - 00:37:47:19
Kristen
However, it amounted to about a $4,000 bill by the time we were finished. So my product of the week is really any pet insurance. But I personally, I personally take.

00:37:47:19 - 00:37:49:00
Chris
Your pet health.

00:37:49:04 - 00:38:13:11
Kristen
Healthy paws. But insurance, which I've had for, you know, many years. And so that $4,000 vet bill is actually going to cost us about $1,000 when you, you know, take away our $200 deductible. My particular plan that I chose pays 80% after your deductible. So I just wanted to highlight how important pet insurance can be.

00:38:13:11 - 00:38:33:15
Kristen
You never know when these things are going to happen. And I mean, just to think about having to pay out of pocket for grand right before holiday season. And, you know, I mean, I would have done it, we would have made it work, but it would have been painful. So, I just encourage anyone who has been thinking about pet insurance or and putting it off.

00:38:33:17 - 00:38:52:23
Kristen
There are dozens of companies now. We've even talked to some of them on the show. You do have to do your research because you want to make sure that you get the right plan for you that has the right deductible, the right payout amount. And, the one complaint I always hear from pet appearances. Yeah, but they don't cover preexisting conditions.

00:38:53:00 - 00:39:14:17
Kristen
Well, you know, of course not, because that would be like you have a car accident with no car insurance, and then you go get car insurance and ask them to cover your accident that you were uninsured for. So it just doesn't work that way. But the sooner you get pet insurance, either the younger your pet is or, you know, the sooner you can before they start developing, health issues or have an accident.

00:39:14:18 - 00:39:18:23
Kristen
Get that policy started because you will be grateful that you have it.

00:39:19:01 - 00:39:21:23
Chris
And tulips are relatively healthy. Pup. Right.

00:39:22:01 - 00:39:38:20
Kristen
Yeah. She's she's four. She's extremely healthy. This was completely unpredictable. And we still don't really know, exactly what caused it. So, yeah, it's for the insurances for those times, you know, when there's an unexpected injury or illness.

00:39:38:22 - 00:39:50:00
Chris
Yep, yep. Well, Happy it all worked out. And tulips. Feeling better, I see. Yeah. This is green. They're talking about you. She knows she's like he's famous and she.

00:39:50:00 - 00:39:51:18
Kristen
Knows what else is new.

00:39:51:20 - 00:40:10:06
Chris
All right, well, my, product of the week. I'm also trying to save y'all some money. So, you know, Chris and Chris in here trying to save some money. So I was down, and I was down in Florida. I was talking to some, members of our extended team, and I was asking, hey, you know, I do this.

00:40:10:06 - 00:40:34:10
Chris
I do this little podcast. I got this little side gig going on called, you know, the Pets Add Life podcast. And I'm looking for a, you know, a product. Does anybody have any recommendations? And we got off topic really quickly, as most conversations do when you're having them with Chris. But we eventually came back around to, strawberry and our store brands.

00:40:34:10 - 00:40:58:10
Chris
Any good? Right. Are they any good? What's really in them? And I was talking to, a colleague of mine, and he was first we were talking about food, and he says, you know, I really don't like to buy the store brand foods, because even though you look at the, ingredient list and all of the percentages match what the vet says to have in a food, you still don't really.

00:40:58:10 - 00:41:33:02
Chris
It's just like that weird sensation of like, oh, I just want something a little more trustworthy. But what he did turn me on to is, Costco sells dental chews that are very similar to, like, a Nyla bone or greenies, and they sell them by the case of 72 because it's Costco, but it's $36 here in Connecticut. It's that I think that's like 70% off what you would pay for a name brand.

00:41:33:04 - 00:41:54:19
Chris
And this fellow swears by he says they're just as good. He compared the to, and and, you know, this is a great thing. So maybe if the food stuff, you know, and switching your animals food is, is kind of a no no, right. That's not even if it's scientifically it's completely fine. It's just something as pet parents, we don't really do right.

00:41:54:22 - 00:41:57:06
Chris
They're eating and they're healthy. We're not we're not.

00:41:57:12 - 00:41:58:01
Kristen
Don't mess with.

00:41:58:01 - 00:42:15:11
Chris
It. But sometimes you can shop around and find some replacement products if you're like, wow, you know, the bills are adding up. I gotta find some ways to, to cut some costs. I mean, Costco is great. You know, if you, if you're terminally online, like me and you're familiar with the work of the great wrestler.

00:42:15:12 - 00:42:18:14
Chris
I don't know, Chris, do you know who the wrestler is?

00:42:18:16 - 00:42:19:14
Kristen
And I do not.

00:42:19:15 - 00:42:45:08
Chris
He's like this tiny little meatball child that they parade around Costco and have him buy things, but it's like. They like, he's gotten so famous. They had him at the Mets game, but nonetheless, like, Costco, Costco is a great place. And you know, as somebody who works a lot with retail in the industry, I am noticing a lot more trustworthy retail brands taking on private label pet products.

00:42:45:10 - 00:43:10:21
Chris
So if you buy Kirkland brand stuff for yourself and your human family, I'm pretty sure the Kirkland brand stuff for your dog will be okay. So just a small cost saving thing, see if you could check it out and maybe a few of you, some of these, store brand products. Hop in the comments and, let us know how that's going.

00:43:10:21 - 00:43:28:22
Chris
I'm actually really curious to see how they're measuring up, because it is kind of a new thing in the pet industry, these these store brands. So that's that's it. That's that's the product of the week. Go to Costco, pay the $4 or whatever it is for the membership. Get the dollar hot dog. It's great.

00:43:29:00 - 00:43:30:22
Voice Over
Q and A's

00:43:31:00 - 00:43:31:12
Chris
Kristen.

00:43:31:12 - 00:43:54:05
Chris
Now it's time for my actual favorite part of the show. Genuinely favorite, because this is the part of the show where we answer your questions. That's right. Listen, if you want your question answered on this show, head on over to PetsAddlife.org/podcast. Scroll on down to the bottom of that page, past our beautiful faces, and go ahead and fill out that form to enter.

00:43:54:10 - 00:44:25:21
Chris
Submit your question. Or if you are feeling as brave as the service animals helping our veterans, you can record a voice memo and your question will be played live on the Powell podcast. So without further ado, Kristen, I do have a question here from Tom in Minneapolis. Tom, thank you so much for your question. Tom asks as the weather gets colder, my two dogs seem unhappy being outside saving, for a long.

00:44:25:23 - 00:44:39:20
Chris
And it's becoming a challenge to get them enough exercises. Exercises? What am I doing? I really need to get some rest. What are some good options to keep them active and comfortable during the winter months?

00:44:39:22 - 00:45:01:00
Kristen
That is such a thank you, Tom. Thanks for the question. And yes, I can imagine it's getting chilly up there in Minnesota. So, and it will be for for most of us here before we know it. You're right. It's basically, you know, in the summertime, we say, walk, exercise, your pet, your dog, walk them in the earlier part of the day.

00:45:01:00 - 00:45:26:21
Kristen
Well, it's kind of the opposite in the in the winter months and the warmest part of the day is typically in the mid afternoon. So you'll want to limit the amount of time you spend outdoors, especially when it's really cold. And of course, you know, if you're, if your dog needs any special gear like booties or a coat, that's really important to to keep them more comfortable when they are out on those briefer, briefer out, catching whatever you have, Chris.

00:45:26:21 - 00:45:27:04
Kristen
I mean.

00:45:27:04 - 00:45:31:18
Chris
Time, in fact, it's it's it's it's a blessing and a curse. The things I say, they just catch on.

00:45:31:19 - 00:45:54:18
Kristen
So, I have some I have some really great suggestions for what you can do inside to replace the exercise that your dogs would be getting outdoors if it was warmer. So try some hide and seek games. I actually do this with tulip. Quite often I get those little boxes from Amazon. I save them and I, I'll put treats in them, and then I'll hide them around the house.

00:45:54:18 - 00:46:14:19
Kristen
And she has to find the boxes. So that's a great way to engage the both physically and mentally. Play tug of war. If your dogs are tug of war kind of dog. If you have a staircase in your home or in your building, you can do stair climbs with your dog, assuming that they are, you know, that they're healthy and don't have arthritis and that sort of thing.

00:46:14:21 - 00:46:40:15
Kristen
There's always puzzle toys for great mental stimulation. And then you can also opt to if, if in your area there are daycare facilities for dogs or indoor dog parks, you can take advantage of those. But I think you're ultimately going to have to engage your dog in more frequent and shorter bursts of exercise or playtime to kind of make up for the time they would have spent outdoors.

00:46:40:17 - 00:47:02:03
Kristen
But, yeah, that should get you through the winter months. Some of those ideas, oh, one of the thing, you can also take them to those pet friendly stores. So if you've got to do some shopping, you know, take Fido along for the ride. If you can go into, you know, like HomeGoods allows dogs, Lowe's, or maybe Costco to Costco or so PetSmart, you know, any of those.

00:47:02:03 - 00:47:07:20
Kristen
So, that's a great way for you to spend some good bonding time together and to get them out and about when it's chilly.

00:47:07:22 - 00:47:20:12
Chris
It's a great answer. Some of those indoor dog parks are awesome. They're really cool. So if you if you have one in your area, having checked it out, might be a good time to. Yeah. All right, all right. Kristin, what do you got for me?

00:47:20:17 - 00:47:36:21
Kristen
I have a question for you. It is from Maria in San Diego. All right, so Maria says I've heard a lot about microchipping for cats, but my cat is indoors only. Is it still necessary to microchip her? And if so, what are the benefits?

00:47:36:23 - 00:48:03:16
Chris
Yeah, it isn't necessary. My question would be how squirrely is your cat? So Tiger is not microchipped, but we only have one front door and we never leave our like sliding back door open. And Tiger cares not for the outside world. She. Every now and again she might look out the window, but, you know, if we open the front door, she doesn't try to go out.

00:48:03:18 - 00:48:24:09
Chris
She doesn't. She's not a high energy cat. So she's not trying. There's never been a jailbreak attempt. Although there was one time she wound up, like, in the, like, lobby of our condo. And I'm like, how do you manage, Tiger? But nonetheless, the the point I'm trying to make is, the a microchip is always there for emergencies, right?

00:48:24:09 - 00:48:52:03
Chris
That is the entire purpose of the microchip is so that if your cat is lost and there's an emergency, you can find them quickly and easily. And if somebody else finds the cat, they could be identified. So there's some great, tracking microchips that are both tracking, like a GPS type situation and also, like a registration, basically like a collar, but on the inside of their skin.

00:48:52:05 - 00:49:12:04
Chris
So, you know, indoors only cats is a broad term because there's some cats that are indoor only and it's not their choice. They want to go outside and they want to go outside real bad. I have a friend. He's got a, cat named, minestrone. And it is when you come over to his house, you have to get through that front door quickly.

00:49:12:06 - 00:49:39:10
Chris
Because if it's open for more than a half second, minestrone is making his move. He sees the light of day, and he's making his move. But also, you know, cats who don't typically do that. If they if there's an accident, if they just find themselves outside, you accidentally leave a door window open. In indoor cats, especially as they get older, their instincts dull, and they're not going to do as well outside as an outdoor or an indoor outdoor cat.

00:49:39:10 - 00:49:51:19
Chris
So really, what your microchipping for is in case of emergency. And if you have anxiety like me, maybe it's best to just go ahead and do that so you have that peace of mind.

00:49:51:21 - 00:50:12:09
Kristen
Yeah, I, I agree with that. And I would just add to that, if you do have one of those squirrely cats like minestrone, it it's very important to have an identification tag on the outside of your cat, so. And you can and they make collars. Now that, you know, do break up that break away so that your cat can't get caught up on them and, you know, something bad happens.

00:50:12:10 - 00:50:20:16
Chris
He went like this. I was like, they make colors that are a little bow ties, and they'll be so. Muddy. You.

00:50:20:16 - 00:50:24:22
Kristen
Know, the little elastic thing that you see. Okay.

00:50:25:00 - 00:50:27:02
Chris
For formal occasions.

00:50:27:04 - 00:50:27:15
Kristen
Right?

00:50:27:15 - 00:50:48:03
Chris
Right, right. Oh, man. Well, thank you, Tom and Maria for your wonderful, wonderful questions. And that brings us to the end of this episode. I'm going to go sleep for 30 hours, something like that. I gotta get something is going on with the brain. It ain't working. So if you made it through this episode, you're a champ.

00:50:48:06 - 00:51:09:17
Chris
Thank you. Sure. Jim, thanks for sticking with us. We drop new episodes every single Tuesday, so if you're out there listening, tell your friends, jump in the comments, share it with a friend. And, tell everybody how wonderful we are and how funny and handsome and just genuinely great charismatic people. That's what you should be, not you.

00:51:09:17 - 00:51:23:01
Chris
Don't say, I found this great podcast sound. I say, I found two new pals and you need me. Yeah, that's the way it goes. But until then, be kind to yourself and be kind to your pets. And we will see you next week.

00:51:23:03 - 00:51:24:01
Kristen
Meow! For now.

00:51:24:05 - 00:51:25:01
Voice Over
Pets add life.