Dog Talk ® (and Kitties Too!)

#969A: Greger Larson, Director of the Palaeogenomics & Bio-Archaeology Research Network of the School of Archaeology at Oxford University, tells the amazing true history of how cats found their way into human society in Egypt, where travelers making a pilgrimage to the tombs needed to present a mummified cat as an offering — so local entrepreneurs bred them on an island in the Nile in order to...

#969B: When Sherri Franklin first rescued old dogs from the San Francisco city shelter and brought them to her own home, nobody wanted senior dogs. Now, two decades later, she is stepping down as the leader of Muttville, arguably the nation's most vibrant and successful rescue nonprofit for senior dogs, leaving behind 600 regular volunteers, 80 foster homes, thousands of oldster dogs happily...

#968A: Dr. Elsey started his company on behalf of cats, who cannot speak for themselves. He innovated litters to solve Out-of-Litter-Box problems and then created a revolutionary food called CleanProtein to meet their health and nutritional needs — a lifetime of work on behalf of the kitties.

#968B: Sindhoor Pangal in Bangalore India — anthrozoologist and author of "DOG KNOWS: Learning How to Learn From Dogs" — laments about the current crisis for the "streeties" — also called Free Living Dogs — who are facing wholesale extermination in a misguided bureaucratic legal attempt to control rabies by destroying millions of dogs who people care for and care about across t...

#967A: Tracie shares her awe and admiration for Dwayne Betts, who, as a result of being incarcerated as a teenager, discovered the power of reading in prison. He came out to become a lawyer and a published poet, founding Freedom Reads in 2020. The nonprofit has put custom made wooden libraries into over 560 prisons nationwide, transforming the lives of many prisoners. His pandemic puppy Taylor, a...

#967B: Rebecca Van Laer's memoir “Cat” is a slim little book that speaks volumes about the life the author spent as a child feeling closer to cats than to humans and explores how her relationships with her cats have been the through line in her life.  She also shares her opinion that referring to a kitty as your “baby” does a disservice both to cats and human children.  

#966A: Katya Lidsky, author of “Be Your Dog’s Best Friend: the Benefits of Mutual Bonding and Relationship Building,” discusses what we can learn from our bond with dogs to improve our interactions with humans.

#966B: Dr. Lisa Radosta, one of the rare board certified veterinary animal behaviorists, discusses the issue of early spay/neuter and how it affects both physical and emotional development — and what is lost when a dog does not have the opportunity to fully grow mentally and physically.

#965A: Melanie Kaplan wrote “Lab Dog: a Beagle and His Human Investigate the Surprising World of Animal Research” after adopting Hammy, a Beagle “retired” from being a research subject. She wanted to find out how tens of thousands of Beagles were bred for often pointless and cruel experiments — done at University veterinary colleges, funded by US government agencies — and how all humans can contri...

#965B: Sy Montgomery’s fourth book about octopuses (yes, not “octopi!”) “Secrets of the Octopus,” is filled with stunning National Geographic photographs and brimming with anecdotes and scientific discoveries about the multitude of abilities and superior intelligence of these otherworldly creatures, who are having their moment in the sun. 

#964A: Sherrie Hines is an animal welfare lawyer — and professor at the University of Georgia Law and new director of the Practicum in Animal Welfare Skills (PAWS) — discussing legal solutions and remedies in cases involving dogs and how they differ from state to state.

#964B: Dustin Crummett is the Executive Director of the Insect Institute and co-author of research that questions the economic, environmental and animal welfare concerns of farming insect protein for pet food.

#963A: Jen Danna — writing "Deadly Trade" as Sara Driscoll — takes the team to Hawaii in her newest thriller in her FBI K-9’ series, which is focused on protecting endangered birds from deadly poachers. 

#963B: Taylor Waters from the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, who also teaches animal law and policy at the Vermont Law & Graduate School, worries about the "infantilization of animals” and the public desire for breeds like French Bulldogs, chosen for their big round eyes and round, flat faces like human babies — when the health of these overbred dogs has become a serious concern. She wa...

#962A: Sean Sheer created his blog UrbanDogNYC about living with dogs in NYC ten years ago. The calendar shows all the places and events to which dogs in the city are welcome, as well as dog-centric events for humans. Sean’s articles about many canine topics are well written, informative and fun for dog owners, even if you live in a different urban area! 

#962B: Travel writer and cat lover Jeff Bogle wrote the book “Street Cats & Where to Find Them: the Most Feline-Friendly Cities and Attractions Around the World,” to inspire cat lovers to plan a trip to almost anywhere in the world to include visiting community cats.

#961A: Jennifer Mowdy (The Literary Cat Bookstore and Cat Lounge) brings books and reading to people in a lower socio-economic environment (Pittsburg, Kansas) who otherwise might not have access to it.

#961B: Internationally celebrated DNA specialist Ludovic Orlando wrote “Horses: a 4,000-Year Genetic Journey Across the World,”  illuminating his collaboration with hundreds of other scientists worldwide to discover where, when and how horses have been part of the human story, but also how science will write the future of The Horse — whether through the (ongoing) cloning of whole strings of Argent...

#960A: These are the actual names of some of the 60 sea creatures Cara Giaimo describes in her gorgeously illustrated precious little book “Leaving the Ocean was a Mistake: Life Lessons from Sixty Sea Creatures,” from whom she has extracted great nuggets of wisdom like “Don’t let anyone tell you your relationship is weird” (White’s Seahorse), “Dress up, whether or not anyone can see you” (Bloody-b...

#960B: Filmmaker John Semper made the charming animated tale "The Singular Affair of the Missing Ball," which delighted the NYC audience at the recent premiere of the 10th Annual NY Dog Film Festival. After decades of producing and writing shows, particularly the iconic Spiderman series, using AI was a fun artistic experiment for him. Semper discusses general fear and confusion about AI...

#959A: Dr. Mark Mamula at the Yale School of Medicine is part of a team developing an immunotherapy vaccine that can cure cancer in dogs — the way it has similarly revolutionized human cancer treatment. Information about their work (with trial sites) is available at https://therajan.com/joomla/, a company that will ultimately manage this therapy.

#959B: Krysta Fox talks about developing her unique, award-winning pet store Pug & Hound Apothecary with her husband as a place pet owners can come to find the most natural and pure products she has curated.

#958A: Margaret Mizushima talks about "Dying Cry,” the newest member of her Timber Creek K-9 Mystery series, this one as edge-of-the-seat dramatic as any we've come to expect from her brave heroine Mattie, and valiant search and rescue dog Robo.

#958B: Alan Fausel, the Curator of the AKC Museum of the Dog, talks about the delightful collection of original New Yorker magazine covers that is now a special show on display at the museum.

#957A: Jonny Maderson, the co-director of the charming documentary “Hustle & Run” in the NY Dog Film Festival, talks about the sport of Flyball as either “the F1 of dog sports or a posh game of fetch,” as his film follows a ragtag team of whippet owners who go after the biggest brass ring in the dog show world at Crufts.