In this powerful episode, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan sit down with Lindsey Soffes, Head of Programs at Rise for Animals, to explore the growing movement to end animal experimentation. From the explosive Ridglan Farms story to landmark federal legislation, Lindsey breaks down why this moment may be a turning point for animals in laboratories — and what advocates can do right now to accelerate change.

• Ridglan Farms and the national spotlight: How years of grassroots activism, open rescues, and public outcry led to the rescue of 1,500 beagles from a Wisconsin dog breeding and research facility — and what it means for the broader animal research industry
• Shifting public opinion and bipartisan support: A 2025 Gallup poll found fewer than half of Americans find animal research morally acceptable, with opposition cutting across political lines — and what that means for federal policy
• The science of alternatives (NAMs): Why new approach methodologies like organoids and human-relevant in vitro systems are outperforming animal models, and why Rise for Animals is pushing back against industry efforts to frame NAMs as a “complement” rather than a replacement
• Federal legislative action: Updates on the FDA Modernization Act 3.0 and the SPARE Act — two bills that could fundamentally reshape how animal research is funded and regulated in the U.S.
• ARLO, the transparency database: How Rise for Animals’ public database of 40,000+ records exposes the systemic violence of the animal research industry — and how you can use it to investigate labs in your own community

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Lindsey Soffes is Head of Programs at Rise for Animals, a national animal rights organization working to end animal experimentation through exposure, advocacy, and public mobilization. With a background in law and mission-driven non-profit work, she leads investigative, educational, and community engagement initiatives that expose the hidden realities of the animal research industry, raise public awareness, support grassroots advocates, and advance animal liberation as a matter of justice.

We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today. Contributions of any amount are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

In this episode of The Hen Report, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan are joined by Matthew Dominguez, U.S. Director for Compassion in World Farming, for an urgent deep-dive into the Save Our Bacon (SOB) Act — dangerous preemption language hidden inside the Farm Bill that could strip states of their right to pass and enforce farm animal protection laws, wiping out decades of hard-won legislative progress.

• Save Our Bacon Act / EATS Act explained: The factory farming industry has embedded roughly 100 words into the Farm Bill that would federally preempt state-level animal welfare and food safety laws — including cage-free and gestation-crate bans in California, Massachusetts, and beyond.
• Call your senators now: The Senate Ag Committee is drafting its version of the Farm Bill with a target vote by end of May; call the congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121, ask to speak to your senator’s office, identify yourself as a constituent, and ask your senators to oppose any Farm Bill containing Save Our Bacon Act language.
• Broader implications: Harvard Law’s Animal Law Program identified up to 1,000 state laws — covering food safety, environmental protection, and consumer rights — that could be nullified if this preemption language passes.
• Bipartisan opposition and a growing coalition: Family farmers, food safety advocates, and even the MAHA movement are joining animal protection groups in fighting the bill, with Republicans and Democrats alike opposing the language.
• Incremental reform vs. abolition: Matthew addresses the debate over whether cage-free progress is meaningful, arguing that incremental wins — such as removing 140–150 million birds from barren battery cages — build the momentum needed for deeper systemic change.

RESOURCES

• • • • • Save Our Bacon Act on Congress.gov
        • Compassion in World Farming
  •  We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today.

Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

In this episode of Rising Anxieties, Mariann digs into the uncomfortable gap between what institutions say and what they do — starting with Harvard Law School’s baffling decision to shutter its fully-enrolled Animal Law Clinic. From there: the industry’s coordinated PR campaign against plant-based alternatives (spoiler: they’re scared), the ongoing farce of in-ovo sexing technology being “not ready” for the US market, and a children’s book about chickens that ends with a recipe. Listen in and then bring your spirits back up with five actual reasons to feel good about being vegan in 2026.

• Harvard Law School is closing its Animal Law Clinic despite full enrollment and a waitlist — raising serious questions about who’s pulling strings at one of the country’s most prestigious law schools
• The meat and dairy industries are playing offense against plant-based and lab-grown alternatives, and their own trade press admits it’s because they watched dairy lose 15% of sales to oat milk
• In-ovo sexing technology — which could end the mass killing of male chicks — is being dismissed by egg producers not because it doesn’t work, but because it might not be good enough forever
• A Saskatchewan chicken industry book for children promises “an accurate picture” of chicken farming and ends with a recipe — a bold choice
• Chris Bryant’s YouTube video “5 Reasons for Vegans to Be Optimistic in 2026” is worth watching immediately after this episode, as a palate cleanser

We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today. 

Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

In this week’s interview, Jasmin and Mariann sit down with filmmaker Ray Cruzzola, founder of World Change Media, to discuss his moving documentary I’m Trying — a tribute to Canadian animal rights activist Regan Russell, who was killed in 2020 while protesting outside a pig slaughterhouse. Ray shares how he uses cinematic storytelling as a tool for social change, why he chose to center Regan’s story to connect audiences to animal advocacy, and what the film’s title means for all of us who want to make a difference but don’t know where to start.

• Regan Russell’s legacy: Who she was, how she died protesting Canada’s ag-gag Bill 156, and why her story resonates globally with animal rights activists and everyday people alike
• Film as activism: How Ray deliberately crafts each scene in I’m Trying to address audience fears, build empathy, and inspire viewers — especially passive vegans — to take meaningful action for animals
• Strategic storytelling for animal advocacy: Why leading with human stories (rather than graphic animal footage) can be a more effective bridge for reaching non-vegan and vegan audiences
• The Plant-based Treaty connection: How I’m Trying supports The Plant-based Treaty’s mission of policy-level change, with endorsement from Regan’s own family

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Raymond Cruzzola is a Toronto-based documentary filmmaker and founder of World Change Media, creating cinematic, story-driven content for nonprofits and social impact organizations. With over a decade of experience, his work spans documentary and short-form campaigns rooted in the belief that the power to reduce suffering carries a responsibility to act — inviting audiences not only to bear witness, but to respond.

We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today. Contributions of any amount are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

In this episode of The Hen Report, Jasmin and Mariann cover a wide range of topics: Jasmin shares behind-the-scenes moments from her theater rehearsal, including an organic conversation about veganism, tallow lotion, and gelatin that unfolded among cast members without any agenda-pushing on her part. She also pays tribute to the legacy of Tommy Raskin, animal rights activist and son of Congressman Jamie Raskin, drawing from Jamie’s memoir Unthinkable. The hosts then dig into the story of marine biologist Emma Smart, who liberated a lobster from a UK fishmonger and faced a shockingly heavy-handed legal response, before closing with a rich discussion on Project Slingshot — a new UK campaign challenging factory farming with the slogan “Don’t Buy It” — and what it means for animal advocacy strategy.

• Project Slingshot & the anti-factory farming movement: Mariann breaks down this new UK pressure campaign, its broad definition of factory farming, its “Don’t Buy It” slogan, and the ongoing debate about whether explicit vegan messaging helps or hinders progress toward animal liberation.
• The lobster liberation story: Marine biologist Emma Smart rescued a lobster from a UK fishmonger, was strip-searched, and faced five criminal charges — raising urgent questions about how society and law enforcement respond to peaceful animal advocacy.
• Tommy Raskin’s legacy: A reflection on Congressman Jamie Raskin’s memoir Unthinkable and his son Tommy, a passionate animal rights activist whose final words called on people to care for animals and the global poor.
• Vegan identity vs. vegan options advocacy: Mariann draws a key distinction between advocacy that encourages people to go vegan versus advocacy that simply seeks to make vegan options more accessible and normalized.
• Kickstarting for Good & other opportunities: Applications are open for the Kickstarting for Good 2026 incubator (apply by May 31) and the Anima International 2026 Fellowship in Warsaw (apply by May 17); the Grassroots Animal Rights Summit is also coming to DC, May 15–17.

RESOURCES

• • • • • I liberated a lobster and got crushed
        • Don’t Buy It Why Factory Farming Need Cultural Pressure, Not Just Education
        • Kickstarting for Good
        • Anima International Fellowship
        • Grassroots Animal Rights Summit
  •  We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today.

Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

The animal rights movement has found its big tent: everyone hates factory farming, right? In this solo rant, Mariann Sullivan ponders “anti-factory farming” as a unifying movement strategy — specifically, the inconvenient fact that being against something isn’t the same as having a plan to replace it. She also takes on a growing narrative that out-and-proud veganism is somehow the movement’s own worst enemy, and why she’s not buying it.

• The anti-factory farming “big tent” truly is a compelling rallying cry — but what’s actually inside the tent when you ask what comes after cage-free?
• Pricing meat truthfully would require raising its cost significantly, yet corporate campaigns tend to sell themselves on not raising the price of meat 
• Passionate activists are often quietly (but not silently) shifting culture and the food scene in a vegan direction every day without blowing up the room
• Does abolishing factory farming without a clear vision of what replaces it risk reorganizing exploitation rather than ending it?

We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today. 

Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

In a landmark ruling, a federal court in the Northern District of California struck down four of six challenged Trump administration regulations that had significantly weakened the Endangered Species Act’s core enforcement mechanisms. Host Mariann Sullivan speaks with Noah Greenwald, Endangered Species Program Director at the Center for Biological Diversity, about the case — what was challenged, what the court decided, and what it means for wildlife protection amid ongoing regulatory rollbacks under the current administration.

• Federal court invalidates four ESA regulations: The Northern District of California ruled that changes to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act were both facially inconsistent with the statute and arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act.
• “Reasonably certain to occur” standard struck down: The court rejected a heightened evidentiary standard for evaluating effects of federal projects on listed species, restoring the lower “likely to occur” threshold that better reflects the statute.
• “As a whole” critical habitat language invalidated: Adding three words to the adverse modification standard would have allowed death-by-a-thousand-cuts destruction of critical habitat for wide-ranging species like the Northern Spotted Owl — the court found this directly contrary to the ESA.
• Enforceable mitigation commitments required: The court upheld that project proponents cannot escape ESA obligations through vague promises; terms and conditions to protect listed species must be binding and enforceable.
• Fish and Wildlife Service duty to flag reinstated: The ruling reaffirmed that FWS has an affirmative obligation to notify action agencies when consultation must be reinitiated — it cannot simply wash its hands of its expert role.

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Noah Greenwald is the Director of the Endangered Species Program at the Center for Biological Diversity, where he has worked since 1997 to protect imperiled wildlife, strengthen the Endangered Species Act, and raise public awareness about the biodiversity crisis facing North American wildlife.

We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

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You can listen to the Animal Law Podcast directly on our website (at the top of this page) or you can listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher. Also, if you like what you hear, please rate it on Apple Podcasts, and don’t forget to leave us a friendly comment! Of course, we would be thrilled if you would consider making a donation or becoming a member of our flock (especially if you’re a regular listener). Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Don’t forget to also listen to the award-winning,  weekly signature OHH podcast — now in its fifteenth glorious year!

In this episode of The Hen Report, hosts Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan speak with Julia Reinelt, Executive Director of AVA International, about the upcoming Animal and Vegan Advocacy (AVA) Summit in Toronto (May 21–24). Julia walks listeners through what first-timers can expect, highlights the conference’s Whova app for networking and scheduling, and previews standout speakers — including documentary photographer Zed Nelson and nonprofit thought leader Vu Le. The conversation also covers AVA’s Grantee Day (which connects emerging advocacy groups with funders), the global reach of AVA’s summits and academies, and the organization’s commitment to making the conference accessible through travel awards and diverse programming for both professional advocates and grassroots volunteers.

• AVA Summit Toronto (May 21–24): The Animal and Vegan Advocacy Summit returns to Canada — a sold-out, multi-day conference for farm animal advocates, vegan activists, and animal rights professionals from around the world; register at avainternational.org
• Networking & Tech Tools for Advocates: The Whova conference app lets attendees browse profiles, schedule one-on-ones, and find meetups before arriving; the Hive Slack community hosts pre-conference orientation calls to help first-timers prepare
• Keynotes & Programming: Featured speakers include documentary photographer Zed Nelson on humanity’s impact on wildlife and habitat, nonprofit fundraising expert Vu Le (Nonprofit AF), plus a dedicated full-day fundraising track and film festival by We Animals Media
• AVA Grantee Day — Connecting Grassroots Groups with Funders: AVA’s matchmaking program facilitates meetings between emerging animal advocacy initiatives and 16+ funders and major donors; last year 100% of funders reported discovering organizations they’d never have found otherwise
• Global Reach & Accessibility: With summits across five world regions and ~$500,000 per year in travel awards, AVA serves a diverse mix of full-time advocates, volunteers, students, and career-changers — welcoming anyone committed to advancing change for animals

RESOURCES

• • • • • AVA International
        • AVA on Instagram
        • AVA on Facebook
        • AVA on LinkedIn
        • AVA on YouTube
        • AVA on TikTok
  •  We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today.

Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

This week on Rising Anxieties, Mariann doesn’t let you look away — from the chaotic and heartbreaking Ridglan “rescue” that wasn’t, to a Yale study proving that just showing people a picture of a pig reduces meat orders by 22% (yes, really). Along the way, she covers a vegan vendor pushed out of Time Out Market for refusing to serve dairy, cancer rates running 4–8% higher near factory farms in Iowa, Texas, and California, a $750 million sterile fly breeding program meant to stop New World Screwworm, a new pig disease that looks alarmingly like foot-and-mouth, and a 20-year-old lawsuit about chicken feces in Oklahoma’s waterways that the cattle industry understands is a problem for them.

• Ridglan fallout is just beginning — The weekend’s activist action in Wisconsin ended in arrests and legal uncertainty, not a rescue; the real battle will play out in courtrooms now
• A pig photo reduced meat orders by 22% — A Yale cafeteria study found that simply displaying an image of the animal next to a meat dish significantly shifted diners toward vegetarian options
• Factory farms are a cancer risk — California, Texas, and Iowa all show 4–8% higher cancer rates in areas with heavy industrial animal agriculture, with Iowa holding the second-highest and fastest-rising rate in the U.S.
• Your tax dollars are breeding sterile flies — $750 million is going toward a Texas facility producing infertile flies to combat New World Screwworm, which is now within 200 miles of the U.S. border
• Animal ag’s waste problem just got a court ruling — A federal judge rejected Oklahoma’s too-cozy settlement with Tyson Foods over decades of chicken litter pollution in the Illinois River Watershed, sending a message that nutrient management plans actually have to mean something

We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today. 

Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

In this interview episode of Our Hen House, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan sit down with vegan zoologist, author, and activist Jordi Casamitjana for a wide-ranging conversation about the philosophy, legal landscape, and long-term vision of the vegan movement.

• Ethical veganism as a protected belief: Jordi shares the full story behind the landmark 2020 UK legal case that held that ethical veganism is a protected philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2010 — and what that means for vegans around the world.
• The five core axioms of veganism: From ahimsa and animal sentience to anti-speciesism and vicariousness, Jordi breaks down the philosophical framework that underpins his book Why Vegans Don’t and explains why veganism is a sociopolitical movement, not just a diet.
• Radical and idealist — and proud of it: Jordi makes the case for holding firm to long-term vegan goals rather than diluting the movement to gain short-term acceptance, and why he sees radical idealism as essential to meaningful change.
• Autism, black-and-white thinking, and the vegan mind: In a candid and rarely shared revelation, Jordi opens up about being AuDHD and how neurodivergent thinking may be uniquely suited to the clarity and moral consistency that veganism demands.
• Finding your role in the movement: Jordi offers grounded, personal advice on how vegans can discover their own unique contribution — without compromising their values or shrinking their goals to fit in.

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Jordi Casamitjana is a Catalan-born vegan zoologist and animal behaviour specialist based in the UK, whose decades of activism span undercover investigations, zoo closures, illegal hunting prosecutions, and the banning of bullfighting in Catalonia. He is best known for the landmark 2020 legal case that established ethical veganism as a protected philosophical belief under Great Britain’s Equality Act 2010. He is the author of Ethical Vegan: A Personal and Political Journey to Change the World and Why Vegans Don’t: A Philosophical Guide to Vegan Behaviour, and works as a freelance writer, video creator, and public speaker on veganism and animal rights.

We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today. Contributions of any amount are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.

In this episode of The Hen Report, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan cover a range of stories at the intersection of animal rights, activism, and culture. They dive deep into the ongoing Ridglan Farms beagle rescue situation — with a planned April 19th action drawing thousands — and the support from Congressman Mark Pocan, who pushed back on Ridglan’s request for protection from activists. The hosts also revisit the largely forgotten history of the Hegins pigeon shoot, celebrate Ann Esselstyn’s Guinness World Record dead hang at age 90, share a heartwarming story about Poland’s Citizen Frog Patrol, discuss the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade’s latest victory against Visa’s sponsorship of Milan Fashion Week, and review World Animal Protection’s Moving the Menu report grading fast food chains on plant-based options.

• Ridglan Farms beagle rescue — Activists plan a mass rescue on April 19th; Congressman Mark Pocan publicly urges Ridglan to prioritize rehoming dogs under their court settlement
• Hegins pigeon shoot history — A look back at one of the animal rights movement’s defining moments of open rescue and direct action in 1990s Pennsylvania
• Ann Esselstyn’s Guinness World Record — The 90-year-old plant-based advocate sets a dead hang record, highlighting the power of a whole-food, plant-based diet
• Poland’s Citizen Frog Patrol — Community volunteers carry migrating frogs across dangerous roads each spring, a ritual that Mariann connects to the need for meaningful community practices in animal advocacy
• Fast food & fur industry accountability — World Animal Protection’s Moving the Menu report gives nearly all major U.S. fast food chains failing grades on plant-based options; CAFT wins another major victory as Visa drops its sponsorship of Milan Fashion Week

RESOURCES

• • • • • Save the Ridglan Beagles
        • Ridglan Farms activists plan return amid increased security measures
        • Ann Esselstyn’s World Record
        • Citizen ‘Frog Patrol’ helps amphibians survive a dangerous road journey in Poland
        • The Afterlife Project by Tim Weed
        • Moving the Menu report
        • VISA INC. DROPS MILAN FASHION WEEK!
  •  We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here to read this episode's interview.

_____________________________________________

Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today.

Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content!

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review!

Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.

Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Bluesky.

The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.