Talking Animals

David Ebert–the founder of Weeping Elephant Project, which, according to its website, “focuses on the awfulness of the use of captive elephants for zoos, circuses and other forms of supposed entertainment,” but has great ambitions for rectifying the plight of these pachyderms—recalls his 33-year career as a commercial litigation attorney, exploring opportunities, as he approa...

Gretchen Primack–the poet, teacher, and animal activist who first appeared on “Talking Animals” a dozen years ago, discussing her animal-focused collection of poetry, Kind—catches me up on her undertakings in recent years, including the prison education program she’d decided to step away from after 20 years of teaching, so as to have time for other […]

The post

Elizabeth Olson–who lives in Palm Harbor, and is the founder of not one, but two animal organizations, with intersecting missions—recalls even as a toddler, making a beeline for any animal she’d see. Over the ensuing years, her passion for animals has remained unwavering, but she’s also clearly cultivated a protective bent for them, too. One […]

The post

Ron King, co-founder of Oscar’s Place—a California-based nonprofit which rescues, rehabilitates, and rehomes donkeys—discusses not being an animal fan earlier in his life, but having transformed into a veritable donkey zealot, a point underscored by King nuzzling a pair of donkeys: 5-day-old Sherlock and his Mom, Maisy. Tranformation of lives—or, maybe more precisely, reinven...

Marc Bekoff–professor emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who’s written or co-written more than 30 books; his latest, “Love in Their Hearts: A Celebration of Animal Emotions and a Guide to Compassionate Action,” features a foreword by the late Jane Goodall—recounts his long friendship and various professional collaborations wit...