The Animal That Changed You Katya Lidsky

Spurred by a bothersome text exchange between Jenny’s rescue friend and a local person who wanted to rehome four puppies, in this week’s episode, Katya and Jenny find themselves discussing what it takes emotionally to be in the field of animal welfare. The toll, the toil, and the tribulations.They share their feelings about how to deal with privileged people and the ways in which humans justify their ideas about animals, the struggle to resist the urge to numb out in this line of work, as wel...

Bully breeds - we love them, we’ve taken the time to educate ourselves about them, and we can talk about them until we’re blue in the face. But not everyone is as open-minded when it comes to these particular kinds of dogs.Because of two upsetting meet and greets Jenny had to deal with recently, this week Katya and Jenny find themselves discussing how peoples’ negative biases can affect Pitbulls, even when they’re precious little wee pups. The duo shares about their own positive experiences w...

Whether you’re in the rescue world as a non-profit business or a for-profit business wanting to help non-profits, there are two common driving forces: passion and community. To dive into these topics more, Katya and Jenny are joined by Jonathan Weiner of The Mutt Dog, a clothing and apparel brand that helps raise funds for shelters.With Jonathan’s perspective from a for-profit business and Jenny’s perspective from a non-profit, the three of them discuss the possibility of blending passion and...

The ability to see all dogs as perfect just the way they are -- this the blessing and the curse of an animal rescuer. To them, no dog is unsavable despite their challenges, but even though the rescuer may not find things problematic, others often do. And rescuers need adopters to keep on going.This creates a delicate balance within the animal welfare community. Honesty is essential in order to build trust, in order to find each animal their right match. But that doesn't mean it's an easy or q...

Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and let go of all that pressure you’re putting on yourself to create a perfect environment as a foster, as a rescuer, as a human with an animal you love! Okay, whew, we all needed that! Especially for this week’s episode where Katya and Jenny get vulnerable about the strenuous emotions surrounding animal welfare and animal activism.From Katya acknowledging how weighed down she can get by negative thoughts (and normalizing that no one is above being affecte...

Opting to take a holistic approach to care for your dog or any animal versus utilizing conventional medicine might seem too ”woo-woo” for some people. But not for Katya, Jenny, and this week’s guest, Dr. Heather O’Leary, a holistic veterinarian with her own practice, TessaLoo Veterinarian Services, in Olivebridge, NY.Dr. Heather joins Katya and Jenny to share stories about how she came to be a holistic veterinarian and the animal who led her down this path. She also shares what practicing hom...