For nearly a decade, one Philadelphia advocate has worked to end horse-drawn carriage rides in the city—not with outrage, but with strategy.

In this episode, I speak with Janet White, founder of Carriage Horse Freedom, about how she moved from street protests to drafting legislation, building scientific credibility, and proposing a viable replacement model that changed the political conversation.

We examine what it really takes to push for a legislative ban on a long-standing practice—and why persistence, data, and creative problem-solving matter more than credentials.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why incremental "welfare improvements" weren't enough

• How veterinary science shaped the case for a ban

• The public safety and liability issues cities must consider

• What it means to draft legislation instead of just demanding change

• The "ban-and-replace" model—and how electric carriages reframed the debate

Key Takeaway:
When you ask legislators to end a harmful practice, you need more than moral conviction—you need facts, strategy, and a workable alternative. Turning "stop this" into "here's something better" can make all the difference.

If you're interested in building your own effective advocacy campaign, start with my free private podcast series, The Four C's of Legislative Advocacy for Animals. It walks you through the framework behind successful animal policy reform efforts.

Get access here:
👉 animaladvocacyacademy.com/fourcs

What kind of advocacy really improves the lives of animals? Is it public education? Is it passing laws? Is it litigation? Host Penny Ellison spent nearly two decades trying to figure out which one mattered most — and the answer she's come to may surprise you: public opinion has to move first. When it moves far enough, everything else follows. Sometimes that makes a law possible. Sometimes it makes a law unnecessary. And that second outcome is often better than people realize — because laws require enforcement, and enforcement is chronically underfunded.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why the USDA has roughly one inspector for every 150 licensed facilities — and what that tells us about relying on laws alone
• How local circus bans made Ringling Brothers' business model collapse before any federal law was passed
• What the documentary Blackfish accomplished that years of litigation against SeaWorld could not
• Why the global fur market declined through consumer attitudes, not legislation
• The difference between practices that happen behind closed doors (where you need laws) and those that happen in public view (where opinion can do the work)
• Why shaming people never works — and what does

Key Takeaway: The most effective advocacy isn't always a new law. For practices the public can see, shifting how people feel about them can be more powerful than passing a law that never gets enforced. The sequence often goes: public opinion shifts first, practices change, and laws follow to lock in the progress.

If you want to learn more about how to talk about animal issues in ways that open minds instead of closing them, download The Four C's of Legislative Advocacy for Animals — a free private audio series at AnimalAdvocacyAcademy.com/fourcs.

Subscribe for more episodes on animal law, effective advocacy, and practical solutions for change — because compassion is great, but compassionate action is infinitely better.

Contact us anytime at podcast@animaladvocacyacademy.com

Passing animal protection laws is rarely as simple as drafting a good bill and building public support. In this episode, Penny Ellison speaks with Shelby Bobosky of the Texas Humane Legislation Network about what legislative advocacy really looks like in one of the toughest political environments in the country.

They explore the unglamorous but essential work of stopping harmful bills, why unexpected allies—from sheriffs to hunters—often determine success, and how enforceability shapes whether laws help animals or quietly fail. Drawing on Texas examples, including the Safe Outdoor Dogs Act and efforts to shut down the puppy mill pipeline, this conversation offers a grounded look at how real progress happens.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why defeating bad bills is as important as passing new ones

• How enforcement realities should shape legislative drafting

• What advocates misunderstand about statewide spay/neuter mandates

• How compromise can still lead to meaningful protection for animals

Key Takeaway:
Effective animal advocacy depends on patience, coalition-building, and laws designed to be enforced—not just passed.

If this episode made you think differently about how animal laws are made, I created a short private audio series called The Four C's of Legislative Advocacy for Animals. It lays out a practical framework for advocates who want laws that work in the real world. You can download it free at AnimalAdvocacyAcademy.com/4Cs.

Encore episode: This conversation onte different types of animal shelters and how they function has come up repeatedly in recent discussions about social media, advocacy, and public expectations — so we're resurfacing it for new listeners as well as longtime listeners.

In this episode of The Animal Advocate, we dive into animal sheltering. Learn about the different types of shelters - from municipal facilities to private SPCAs to foster-based rescues - and understand their unique roles, challenges, and contributions to animal welfare. We explain how these organizations work together as an ecosystem to serve animals and communities, while addressing common misconceptions and criticisms of shelters. The episode includes practical guidance on evaluating local shelters and ends with actionable steps for listeners to become more informed animal advocates in their own communities.

(2:32) Online criticism of Animal Shelters

(3:11) Animal Sheltering as an "Ecosystem"

(3:30) Municipal Animal Shelters

(6:34) SPCA's and Humane Societies

(8:41) Enforcement of Animal Cruelty Laws

(9:35) Rescue Organizations, #adoptagrownup

(12:30) Definition (and criiticisms) of No Kill

(14:30) Evaluating Your Local Animal Shelter

(15:30) Using the terms "Euthanasia" and "Kill shelter"

(16:13) Listener Q&A about responding to online criticisms of animal shelters

If you follow your local animal shelter on social media, your engagement can help save lives—but some well-intended comments and shares make things harder for shelter staff and reduce the chance that animals find homes.

In this episode, Penny Ellison shares what shelter staff say actually helps on social media—and what doesn't—drawing on feedback from people who manage shelter accounts every day and years of experience inside animal welfare organizations.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How comments can unintentionally stall adoptions

• Why "cross-posting" and tagging rescues often backfires

• What kind of sharing reaches people who can actually help

• When concerns should be raised privately instead of publicly

• How tone, trust, and specificity affect outcomes for animals

Key Takeaway:
Social media is a powerful advocacy tool, but helping animals online requires intention—small changes in how we comment, share, and engage can make a meaningful difference for shelters and the animals they serve.

🔗 Full episode and resources: AnimalAdvocacyAcademy.com/podcast

You don't need to walk dogs, handle animals, or commit to weekly shifts to help shelters. But thinking you do? That's why shelters are buried in work volunteers could easily handle.

Many people want to help but feel limited by time, emotional bandwidth, or training requirements. This episode looks at the behind-the-scenes support shelters consistently say they need—administrative work, laundry, food programs, creative help, community outreach—the kind of work that keeps shelters functioning day to day.

In this episode:

• Why some well-intended volunteer help creates more work instead of less
• The non-animal-handling support shelters regularly struggle to staff
• How remote, flexible, and short-term volunteering can still make real impact
• Why asking shelters what they need matters more than guessing

Key takeaway: The most effective way to help isn't offering what you assume they need—it's asking what would help right now and doing that.

🔗 Full episode and resources: AnimalAdvocacyAcademy.com

Everyone loves French Bulldogs. But behind those adorable bat ears and smushed faces lies a troubling reality: many of these dogs struggle to breathe every single day of their lives.

Host Penny Ellison, animal law professor and advocate, examines how selective breeding for appearance has created dogs predisposed to suffering—and what we can do about it.

In this episode, we explore:

• What selective breeding is and how the shift from breeding for function to breeding for looks has harmed dogs
• Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome (BOAS)—why flat-faced dogs can't breathe properly and what those "cute" snorting sounds really mean
• The health consequences beyond breathing: eye problems, dental issues, sleep apnea, inability to regulate body temperature, and reproductive failure
• How Bulldogs looked in the 1850s versus today—and what that transformation reveals
• Other breeds paying the price. of selective breeding: Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, German Shepherds, Great Danes, and Dachshunds
• The shelter irony: why flat-faced dogs get adopted in minutes while healthy mixed breeds wait for months
• How other countries are responding—from Germany's constitutional protections to Norway's breeding ban to the UK's new respiratory testing requirements at Crufts

Key Takeaway: We created these breeds, and we can reverse the trend. Every time we choose health over appearance, share information about these issues, support breeders who prioritize welfare or, of course, choose a shelter dog, we move closer to a world where loving dogs doesn't mean condemning them to struggle.

Resources Mentioned:

• British Veterinary Association's "Breed to Breathe" campaign
• UK's "End the Trend" campaign targeting brachycephalic breeds in advertising
• "Can the Bulldog Be Saved?" – New York Times Magazine article on how bulldogs have changed over time

What can animal advocates learn from the world of wine?

At first glance, the connection isn't obvious. One is associated with pleasure and tradition; the other with reducing suffering and changing law and policy. But the comparison turns out to be more revealing than it seems.

This episode examines what the world of wine understands about persuasion, patience, and human behavior—and what animal advocacy can learn from it. Not wine itself, but the way the wine world has learned how to invite people in, keep them engaged, and let interest deepen over time.

Drawing on examples from animal law and advocacy, the episode looks at why advocates often overwhelm people at the point of entry, why context matters more than we like to admit, and how insisting on one-size-fits-all solutions can undermine otherwise good policy. It also reflects on the long time horizons required for real change—and why some of the most meaningful advocacy work won't show results right away.

Key themes include:

• Why lowering the barrier to entry matters for persuasion

• What "terroir" can teach advocates about local context and strategy

• The difference between seriousness and effectiveness

• Why focus and curation are strategic, not indifferent

• How storytelling shapes identity in ways data alone cannot

• What thinking in decades looks like for animal advocacy

As the year comes to a close, the episode also outlines a new rhythm for The Animal Advocate and reflects on patience, consistency, and human connection in advocacy work.

You can find more resources and past episodes at AnimalAdvocacyAcademy.com.