In this episode of the Animal Law Podcast, host Mariann Sullivan speaks with Amal Bouhabib, senior staff attorney at FarmSTAND, about a landmark federal lawsuit involving three young men from Guatemala who were recruited to the U.S. on J-1 cultural exchange visas and subjected to dangerous working conditions, fraudulent promises, substandard housing, and coercive threats at an industrial swine operation in Nebraska. The conversation reveals how the very legal structure meant to facilitate international exchange is being weaponized to exploit vulnerable workers — and why this should matter deeply to the animal law community.

• J-1 visa fraud and labor trafficking in animal agriculture: Three Guatemalan agronomists were recruited under false pretenses to work at a Nebraska hog farm, facing a classic bait-and-switch scheme involving unpaid training, unsafe conditions, and threats of deportation — conduct that FarmSTAND argues meets the legal standard for forced labor under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA).
• The intersection of worker exploitation and animal suffering: Without proper training, workers were forced to perform procedures on pigs — including tail docking, oxytocin administration, and farrowing assistance — resulting in animal deaths and injuries, illustrating how the mistreatment of workers and animals in industrial agriculture are deeply intertwined.
• RICO claims and systemic fraud: The lawsuit names the recruiting agency (Worldwide Farmers Exchange), the farm (LEI/Livingston Enterprises), and individual defendants under the RICO Act, arguing they conspired to commit visa fraud and underpay workers for mutual financial gain — with the U.S. State Department identified as an “unwitting” participant.
• The broader crisis of temporary agricultural visas: The episode examines how industrial animal agriculture deliberately targets TPS holders, refugees, and J-1 participants as a legally compliant but deeply exploitative labor pipeline, and what the potential expansion of H-2A visas to dairy and hog operations could mean for workers, animals, and food system accountability.
• Why animal lawyers should engage with farmworker justice: Improving conditions and wages for farmworkers directly pressures industrial animal agriculture to slow down, reform and absorb the costs of appropriate working conditions — making labor rights litigation a powerful, complementary tool for the animal law movement.

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Amal Bouhabib is a Senior Staff Attorney at FarmSTAND, where she engages in strategic litigation to combat and expose forced labor, discrimination, and other workplace abuses impacting workers in the industrial animal agricultural system. Amal’s practice centers on holding powerful industry actors accountable while elevating the experiences of frontline food workers. Prior to joining FarmSTAND, Amal was the Managing Director of Southern Migrant Legal Services in Nashville, where she fought for the rights of migrant farmworkers.

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!

On this week’s Hen Report, Jasmin and Mariann cover a packed week of animal rights news, kicking off with a cringe-worthy DM urging a vegan to accept “happy” backyard eggs — and why you don’t owe anyone a debate. They explore the theory that the meat industry, like Big Oil, is seeing the writing on the wall and quietly trying to squeeze out its final profits before a plant-based future arrives. The conversation ranges from joyful to hopeful to legally fraught. They also unpack mixed news on fur at Milan Fashion Week, the eternal frustration of the foie gras ban battles, and a genuinely exciting development: Oregon’s IP28, a sweeping ballot initiative that could eliminate all exemptions to the state’s animal cruelty laws and effectively make Oregon a sanctuary state for animals.

• Animal activism strategy: Why vegans don’t owe anyone a debate — and how to decide when engaging is worth your energy
• Meat industry decline: The case that beef and other animal ag are following Big Oil’s playbook, fighting a rearguard action against an inevitable plant-based shift
• Ridglan & open rescue: Wayne Hsiung, Aditya Aswani, Michelle Lunsky, & Dean Wyrzykowski face up to 31 years in prison after new charges in the landmark Ridglan Farms case
• Fur & foie gras policy: Milan Fashion Week issues voluntary (not mandatory) anti-fur guidelines; New York’s foie gras ban faces a governor-led appeal, while Colorado activists push a new ballot initiative
• Oregon IP28: The most ambitious animal rights ballot initiative in U.S. history nears the signature threshold — and could ban hunting, fishing, and slaughter statewide

RESOURCES

• • • • • NoPalm Ingredients Shortlisted for World’s Largest Environmental Food Prize
        • Attorney Faces Felony Burglary Charges After an ‘Open Rescue’ Action to Save Beagles At Ridglan Farms
        • Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade
        • Voters for Animal Rights on Bluesky
        • BREAKING: New Footage Captured At Hudson Valley Reveals Ducks Force-Fed With Metal Tubes, Living In Filth
        • Yes on IP28
        • 3 Day Vigil Event.
  •  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 powerful episode, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan sit down with Tim Woodward, Executive Director of Animal Rescue Corps (ARC), an organization founded the same year as Our Hen House — 2010 — that has since conducted over 200 large-scale rescue operations saving thousands of animals from neglect, abuse, and crisis situations across the country.

• Large-scale animal rescue operations: ARC has rescued approximately 10,000 dogs, 1,200 cats, 461 farmed animals, 461 farmed fowl, and hundreds of other species — all with a euthanasia rate of less than 1%
• How ARC works with law enforcement: From undercover evidence gathering to on-site triage and expert court testimony, ARC serves as a critical resource that empowers law enforcement to act on cruelty cases they’d otherwise lack the capacity to address
• The shelter crisis, transport debate & spay/neuter culture: Tim discusses the ongoing challenges of overcrowded Southern shelters, the north-south animal transport controversy, and why inter-organizational collaboration is essential to making progress
• Puppy mills, backyard breeders & industrial animal farming: Tim draws parallels between the industrialization of dog breeding and factory farming, explaining why large-scale commercial operations remain nearly impossible to penetrate — and why ARC fights to rescue every animal on a property, including farmed and exotic animals
• A vegan organization with a rescue mission: Tim shares that Animal Rescue Corps operates with an explicitly vegan philosophy — serving plant-based meals to volunteers, hosting vegan events, and advocating that animals should not be harmed or used for any purpose — with Tim himself eating a plant-based diet

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Tim Woodward is the Executive Director and a founding member of Animal Rescue Corps, which he helped launch in 2010 after recognizing the critical lack of resources for large-scale animal suffering situations. Before dedicating himself full-time to animal protection in 2009, Tim spent over 30 years in operations and administration, building financial service startups in the San Francisco Bay Area. Now leading ARC’s staff, programs, and mission impact, he is equally at home conducting fieldwork alongside law enforcement as he is behind a desk — a versatility recognized in 2020 when the Animal Legal Defense Fund named him one of America’s Top Ten Animal Defenders. Tim lives in Virginia with his husband and their rescued animals, and is a passionate advocate for plant-based living.

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 poet, activist, and friend Gretchen Primack for a raw and deeply personal conversation about how animal advocates sustain themselves emotionally in a world that can feel overwhelmingly bleak. From the ground-level account of the Ridglan Farms beagle rescue to the growing momentum around Marshall BioResources in upstate New York, the episode weaves together urgent activism news with a candid discussion of despair, “respair,” and what it actually takes to keep going.

• Ridglan Farms & Marshall BioResources – Gretchen shares a firsthand account of the Ridglan beagle rescue that freed 1,500 dogs, and the hosts discuss why Marshall BioResources—home to an estimated 20,000–23,000 animals near Rochester, NY—is a next major target, with a public vigil planned for May 28–30.
• Hope vs. “Respair” – The conversation challenges the idea that activists need hope to keep going, introducing the 16th-century term “respair”—the joy that can emerge from despair—as a more honest and sustainable framework for long-term advocacy.
• Three pillars for surviving – Gretchen outlines the personal strategies that keep her going: prioritizing deep relationships (with humans and animals), staying immersed in activism, and actively seizing joy—without requiring happiness.
• Culture, not ethics, is the real battleground – Drawing on a Washington Post piece, the trio argues that plant-based food and animal advocacy won’t go mainstream until they feel culturally cool and cross-political, pointing to the bipartisan appeal of the Ridglan rescue as a model.
• Poetry as activism – Gretchen highlights her book Kind and the new anthology The New Sentience: Reimagining Animal Poetry, making the case that art and literature are powerful, underutilized tools for shifting how people relate to animals.

RESOURCES

• • • • • The missing ingredient in plant-based food isn’t taste or nutrition
        • Gretchen Primack’s website
        • 3 day vigil at Marshall Bioresources
        • The New Sentience
  •  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 agriculture industry had a busy week proving it can always find new depths to plumb. From North Carolina State University researchers congratulating themselves on shaving four minutes off the time it takes to suffocate chickens, to the beef-on-dairy pipeline quietly turning male calves into a supply chain “opportunity,” to a USDA food safety apparatus held together with 9% fewer staff and apparently a prayer — there’s a lot to unpack. Oh, and plant-based food is quietly staging a comeback, which is the best reason to keep listening.

• Ventilation shutdown with humidity gets an endorsement — researchers found it kills broiler chickens about four minutes faster than heat alone, because apparently “slightly less horrific” is now a publishable finding
• Beef-on-dairy cattle are booming — and with them, a spike in bovine respiratory disease, because confining newborn calves in plastic hutches within days of birth has predictable consequences that take studies to notice
• USDA food safety complaints jumped nearly 40% after the Trump administration cut 9% of FSIS staff and shelved new salmonella standards for raw poultry — turns out fewer inspectors means more things slip through
• The Animal Agriculture Alliance is sounding the alarm about animal activists “posing as farmers” by supporting laws like Prop 12, a concern so elaborate it includes outrage over a goat yoga practitioner being counted in a farm coalition
• Plant-based food is returning to growth — a new Systemiq/ProVeg report says UK plant-based protein share could double by 2040, and retailers (not consumers) are the key lever; Tesco’s plant-based meat is already 33% cheaper than minced beef

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 episode of The Our Hen House Interview, Mariann Sullivan speaks with Andrea Diaz, Executive Director of Dharma Voices for Animals (DVA), the only international Buddhist animal advocacy organization. Andrea shares how DVA is working across Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, and the United States to align Buddhist teachings of compassion and non-harming with the dietary choices of the world’s nearly 360 million Buddhists — and why that work looks radically different in each country.

• Buddhism’s core teachings explicitly oppose harming animals — the Pali Canon’s first precept calls for abstaining from taking the lives of living creatures, and the Buddha specifically named trading in meat as one of five unethical trades
• DVA’s global programs meet Buddhists where they are, from distributing Sri Lanka’s first vegan cookbook and hosting youth Dharma retreats in Vietnam, to securing formal plant-based meal agreements at Thai temples through the Mindful Meals program
• The US is DVA’s most resistant market, where promoting veganism in Buddhist centers is often taboo — leading DVA to launch the Sustainable Sangha Collective to normalize plant-based options and the All Beings Coalition to unite influential Buddhist voices against factory farming
• The Bodhi Project offers a uniquely Buddhist approach to bearing witness, inviting practitioners to voluntarily reveal images of animal suffering in alignment with the Buddha’s own practice of opening himself to the reality of suffering
• Meditation and Buddhist practice can be a lifeline for animal advocates, helping activists move from burnout and anger toward sustainable, effective advocacy — and DVA’s monthly online meditation sangha is open to all, Buddhist or not
• The next 100 people to join DVA’s Dāna (giving) Circle as a monthly donor of $20 or more will receive a wildlife art print donated by artist Carl Brenders (retail value of $100+).

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Andrea Diaz is an animal rights advocate raised on a farm in South Phoenix, Arizona, who holds a Master of Global Animal Law from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a Bachelor of Criminal Justice from Arizona State University. After going vegan overnight in 2016 following exposure to slaughterhouse footage, she channeled her lifelong passion for justice into organizing hundreds of campaigns and working as a factory farm and slaughterhouse investigator across three countries. Drawn to the teachings of the Buddha and a dedicated meditation practitioner, she now serves as Executive Director of Dharma Voices for Animals.

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 Amber Canavan of PETA — and her rescued hen, Rosemary — to discuss PETA’s newly released white paper on the failures of cage-free egg labeling. Amber breaks down the gap between consumer perception and the grim reality of cage-free facilities and offers her conclusion that humane-washing labels are actively deterring people from going vegan. She also outlines how activists can take action on the Farm Bill’s dangerous Save Our Bacon Act and a hidden provision that would use taxpayer dollars to subsidize the fur industry.

• Cage-free isn’t cruelty-free: PETA’s white paper, based on peer-reviewed studies and government reports, reveals that cage-free hens still face overcrowding, poor air quality, higher rates of pecking, and barn fires — conditions Rosemary herself survived before being rescued.
• Humane washing may be blocking veganism: Labels like “cage-free,” “free-range,” and “certified humane” are among the most common reasons people give for not going vegan, making label accountability a critical front in animal advocacy.
• Legal pressure is growing: PETA is pursuing FTC complaints, cease-and-desist letters, and consumer protection litigation over deceptive egg and animal product labels — and is actively seeking people who feel misled at peta.org.
• Oppose the Save Our Bacon Act: Already passed in the House, this Farm Bill provision would strip states of the ability to ban the sale of pork derived from gestation crates and foie gras — contact your senators now by calling them at 202 224-3121 and by using PETA’s action alert at peta.org.
• Stop taxpayer subsidies for fur: A tucked-in provision (Section 3201[d]) would allow the struggling fur industry to use federal funds for foreign advertising — call your senators and oppose this section.

RESOURCES

• • • • • Save Our Bacon Act on Congress.gov
        • The 2026 Farm Bill
        • PETA Action Alert
  •  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 latest episode of Rising Anxieties covers a week of predictable chaos in the animal agriculture world. Billie Eilish said what many of us were thinking — eating meat is inherently wrong — and the left proceeded to embarrass itself with a barrage of bad-faith counterarguments. Meanwhile, the federal government is finally going after Big Beef and Big Egg for antitrust violations (yes, really), industry insiders are losing sleep over animal advocates infiltrating their coalition, and one dairy farmer found cosmic meaning in a calf encountering a butterfly. Truly a week that had everything.

• Billie Eilish vs. The Left — Eilish said the quiet part out loud, and her own fanbase responded with “colonialism” and “no ethical consumption under capitalism.” The Vox article by Kenny Torella that broke it all down is required reading.
• The Meat Industry’s PR Problem — A poultry trade publication gently suggested that calling potential customers “city folk” might not be a winning strategy. The response was profanity-laced outrage. Checks out.
• Wolves in Farmer’s Clothing — Industry insider is very upset that animal advocates are forming alliances with farmers who practice slightly less horrific methods. The fact that it’s bothering her is, frankly, encouraging.
• DOJ and USDA Go After Big Beef and Big Egg — Antitrust investigations into the Big Four beef packers and major egg producers are underway, with a whistleblower program offering up to 30% of recoveries.
• The Herd Is Down, and It’s Your Fault — USDA Secretary blames the “radical left’s ongoing assault on ranching” for declining cattle numbers — not, say, droughts and wildfires, which she mentions separately as if climate change and its consequences are unrelated phenomena.

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 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.