Truth, Lies, and Puppy Mills

What a night! Delicious food, amazing conversation, and fundraising fun- all to benefit your favorite anti-puppy mill nonprofit!  On this week's episode, join the whole office crew as we share highlights from our Gala and talk about why this work is so special to us. Being in a room full of friends and supporters helps us stay on mission and share our work with some of the people who make sur...

Last week members of the USDA, DOJ, HHS, and others gave a surprise press conference to lay out their plan to crack down on puppy mills, animal testing, and dog fighting. The internet had a lot of opinions and so do we! On this week's episode Mindi and Kristen sit down to go through the press release, discuss the press conference, and share what we are working on behind the scenes!  Our resea...

This week we are revisiting an episode we released back in February of this year! Kristen and Mindi sit down after the Westminster dog show to talk about "pedigrees, popularity, and perception". This unplanned conversation focuses on how consumers and every-day people view dogs and view obtaining dogs. We also talk about various industry talking points that often contradict themselves an...

We are literally DAYS away from our annual Gala at Mainframe Studios in Des Moines on September 19th! Join our whole team for this fun episode as we chat about our favorite things that we are going to feature this year, including a behind-the-scenes look at some of our field research and some really cool silent and live auction items. There is nothing more exciting than being in a room full of peo...

Last week we chatted about our Field Research, which is a very small part of what we do. Today we are sitting down and talking about our academic research, which is the fun data work we do that takes up most of our time!  Join Mindi, Alexis, and Kristen as we talk through some of our research and discuss the maps that we have been releasing on social media this month. We also highlight the importa...

On this week's episode of "Truth, Lies, and Puppy Mills", Mindi and Alexis share some details, statistics, and stories from our Field Research trips, seeing as this summer marked 2 years since we were first welcome 'inside'.  This is part of our work takes us into businesses that we've only seen on paper and gives us a deeper understanding of the very industry we are...

On this week's episode of "Truth, Lies, and Puppy Mills", we discuss a disturbing case out of California regarding a "no-kill", "animal sanctuary" that is currently under investigation for the unthinkable. This facility was getting paid transfer fees to take animals in from desperately overcrowded shelters in order to find them homes- but a large number of the do...

For more than 60 years, Ridglan Farms in Wisconsin bred beagles for research. These dogs spent their entire lives in windowless barns, stacked in metal crates, many subjected to painful "cherry eye" and vocal cord surgeries performed without anesthesia by staff who weren't veterinarians. Undercover footage, whistleblower testimony, and a judge's own finding of probable cause fo...

On this week's episode of "Truth, Lies, and Puppy Mills", Mindi and Alexis sit down to chat about a recent animal seizure that happened at a USDA facility in Iowa. 32 dogs (and a cat and rabbit) were seized by the USDA and Department of Justice after a USDA broker/breeder had multiple violations and two years worth of missed inspections. We talk about the process leading up to a sei...

We say we were on a break, but were we really? Join Mindi and Kristen for this 'junk drawer' episode where we catch you up on everything the BOB team was up to while we weren't releasing episodes of our show! We had a really busy summer and had some enlightening conversations along the way.  Thank you for being here with us this week! We are excited to be back :)  To become a sponso...

Join us this week for a short episode as we share our plans for the summer and announce a short break before season 3! We are working on some big things behind the scenes and we can't wait to unleash them on the world :)  Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or LinkedIn to stay up to date on all that is Bailing Out Benji! 

On this week's episode, Kristen and Mindi sit down to recap the latest conference we attended! At the end of May, Mindi and Alexis hit the road to attend the Canine Welfare Science Conference at Purdue University, where they met up with a Bailing Out Benji volunteer attending in person while another joined virtually from home. What happens when animal welfare advocates pull up a chair at tabl...

On this week's episode of "Truth, Lies, and Puppy Mills" we chat about the community vaccine clinic that our little nonprofit fully sponsored! We do this annually in partnership with our city shelter, and this year we had a record-breaking year. After the spots filled up within a day, the shelter asked us if we could sponsor twice the amount of animals! This isn't a cost they a...

Through our work, we are blessed to be surrounded by amazing people who are doing amazing things for animals (and the humans that love them!)- like Austin and Jodi with the Animal Rescue League of Marshalltown. This dynamic duo has done incredible work in getting their rural shelter noticed by their community and by national organizations!  Tune in this week to hear more about the issues that shel...

This week, Mindi and Kristen kick off the episode by chatting about our experience with a local company that spent time with us to create videos and PSAs for our social media channels. We've learned a lot about what gets picked up on different platforms the best, and we've also learned to let ourselves look a little silly online (if that means more people see our message!)  This episode...

Y'all this week we are TIRED! Kristen flew across the country to table at her first ever national conference and then we recorded this one day after she got back (and one hour after our monthly free pet food pantry!)  So you are most definitely getting our sharpest thoughts and sweaty selves today :)  Tune into this fun episode where Kristen shares the information she learned while being out...

On this week's episode of "Truth, Lies, and Puppy Mills", Alexis, Kristen, and Mindi talk about the recent puppy mill bust in Indiana and how lax laws across the country allow for animals to fall between the cracks. We discuss our research into the recently cancelled licensed breeders and talk about what steps can be taken to make laws more uniform across the country.  To view the n...

Our little baby organization is officially 15 years old! So much has happened during that time and we have already accomplished so much. Tune in this week as Kristen and Mindi walk back through time and chat about some of the biggest ways that our work has had an influence on the world- and vice versa. We have lofty goals for the future and we can't do it without you!  Please consider making...

For years, “animal rescue” meant putting animals first no matter what. But the conversation is quickly changing and, because of that, so is the impact. In our latest podcast episode, Kristen and Jalaine sit down with Cayla from The Pet Project Midwest and Abbey from The Animal Rescue League of Iowa to discuss how our organizations work together regularly to share food and resources so we can help...

On this week's episode, Mindi and Kristen take a closer look at the conversation around animal rights and animal welfare. These two approaches are often talked about, but are not always understood or recognized as two different belief systems. We explore where these perspectives come from, where they overlap, and how they shape the way people work to help animals. As always, we are having ano...

What happens when the work you love starts to shape who you are or when the baggage you carry dictates where you go? In this week's episode, Jalaine and Kristen dig into something we don’t talk about enough in animal welfare: trauma. Not just the heartbreak we witness, but how it compounds over time with case after case and story after story. All of that begins to live in us and influences ou...

As our research has expanded over the years, our understanding of the industry has deepened. With that came a strong sense of responsibility to turn away from generalizations and approximations, and instead focus on what we know... The research and the data that comes from it.  Alexis says it perfectly: "With great research, comes great responsibility".   Tune in this week as Jalaine, Al...

On this week's episode of "Truth, Lies, and Puppy Mills", we invite you to step outside of the usual outrage cycle and into something a little more nuanced and hopeful. As the USDA proposes changes that could reshape oversight of the commercial breeding industry, we go back to the question that drives our work: what if real change isn’t about calling out individuals, but about creat...

After a busy few weeks, Mindi and Kristen are back in the nook talking updates! On this week's episode we chat about Mindi's trip to DC and how she was able to learn from a few Chiefs of Staff about effective advocacy and how to get your message heard. We also talk about Kristen's first experience tuning into a hearing about a puppy store ban and we talk about the negative side effe...

This week Alexis and Kristen sit down with our intern/part time employee Clarisse to talk about her passion for animals and how she found our organization! We met Clarisse through the group she volunteered for "Students Helping Rescue Animals".