Supporter
Spotlight

A – For me, it all started with dogs. I wanted to keep dogs out of shelters, so I created an app called Share A Dog to match busy dog owners with part-time caregivers who are unable to have their own dogs. The service is free on both ends—the purpose is to build relationships. I also self-published two books to help explain the importance of the connection between humans and dogs. 

I was forever changed by the experience with that program. It reaffirmed to me that all animals deserve a good life. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, dairy farms began dumping out milk because distribution shut down, and I remember a famous chef asking the government to help the food industry with the overflow. This, I knew, was focusing on the wrong aspect of the factory farming crisis. What we needed was to stop torturing the animals! It felt like such a missed opportunity to address the system itself. 

I wanted to raise awareness of what’s happening inside these factories, and I believe that all children deserve to know the truth. So I have written three picture books on the subject—Gabriel, Cluck, and now Pickle. I also created a website, Better Life for Animals, to help educate children of all ages about how animals should be loved for their spirits and never seen as a meal.

A – Mercy For Animals shines a light on the horror that industrial animal agriculture wants the general public to ignore, and as a member of the Compassion Collective, I feel I’m part of bringing hope to all caught within this barbaric system. The Compassion Collective showcases real progress and creates reason for optimism. I always leave the webinars and update messages feeling hopeful for the future.

A – Like most of us, I grew up on cows’ milk. I remember a school field trip where we spent the day visiting cows and enjoying their milk. As a child I couldn’t tell you the origin of veal. The harsh realities of how these products found their way into our homes was not discussed. I never gave it a thought. 

I’ve read about the pain farmers and workers suffer, and I have compassion for these often marginalized people. But it’s the cows whose babies are tragically ripped from them within a day of birth. Cows produce milk for the same reason humans do: to feed their young. Mother cows cry out for their calves, who are raised for their milk or their meat. This is not only cruel—it’s unnecessary, wasteful, and a major contributor to global warming. 

It’s our children who are next in line to make real change. So these books are for them, as well as anyone open to participating in making this world a kinder, greener, and healthier planet. 

For me, it’s all about spreading the message. I will be forever grateful to you, Mikael, for encouraging me and for introducing me to Lantern Publishing and Media, who agreed that my stories deserved publishing. Anyone interested can find my books at lanternpm.org.

A – I love all of the initiatives to help animal farmers break out of industrial animal agriculture to grow crops instead. But more and more, I focus on the lobbying efforts that push our legal system’s gaze toward this cruelty. We need laws to make change. That’s why in addition to advocating up close and personal, I feel it’s essential to join forces with an established organization that can get the general public’s attention. Mercy For Animals and the Compassion Collective check all of those boxes.