Kindness is Everything

Gretchen Primack joins Anitha to talk about the historic march she helped organize. A march to abolish animal testing. A march across 207 miles, for 14 days from September 12-26, 2026. A march from Albany to Marshall BioResources.On the heels of the successful protest to close down Ridglan Farms, a dog breeding and animal testing facility, Gretchen moved her sights to the biggest animal breeding for research facility in the United States—Marshall BioResources. This facility breeds thousands of animals, from cats to ferrets to pigs and dogs.Gretchen talks about the conditions these animals endure. The moms are bred over and over and over. Each time their babies are taken away. Babies who are then shipped to facilities where they are subjected to cruel and unnecessary testing and experiments.Gretchen explains that over 90% of drugs tested on animals fail in human trials. She and Anitha talk about the motivation behind this business that propagates cruelty when there are so many better, cruelty-free testing options available. She speculates where society might be in terms of medical advancement had we directed resources away from animal testing and into cruelty-free options. Options that may have cured diseases we are still struggling with. And if human healthcare isn’t benefitting from animal testing, who is?  Gretchen also talks about what is next for her. More marches. More protests. She won’t stop until all the cages are empty.To learn more about the protest and how you can be involved in the next one, check out their website.March For Animals WebsiteTo follow Gretchen and her kindness mission, click here:Gretchen Primack WebsiteAs a thank you to Gretchen for sharing her story, Anitha donated to MAAT— March to Abolish Animal Testing.

Rich Padulo joins Anitha to talk about a wonderful initiative called Treat Accessibly. Halloween is a magical and fun time for many children, but for some, knocking on doors and navigating stairs can be a challenge. Rich and his family wanted all children to enjoy Halloween so they moved their treat table to the bottom of the driveway.Soon neighbours followed along allowing the community to connect while also making Halloween accessible to all children.To learn how you can make your house treat accessible, click on the following links:WebsiteHow To Treat Accessibly At HomeSocial media:InstagramFacebookTikTokTikTok

Samantha Knox, the founder of Itty Bitty City Kitties, joins Anitha to talk about how caring for a stray mom and her kittens turned into caring for hundreds of orphaned kittens!Samantha’s kindness doesn’t end with caring for the tiniest of kittens, Itty Bitty City Kitties works with local caretakers to trap, neuter and release local cats to reduce pet overpopulation. She also extends compassion to pet parents struggling with veterinary costs. Itty Bitty City Kitties has created a Community Welfare Foundation to assist in providing low-cost veterinary services and access to free spay/neuter for low income pet parents in need.The conversation pivots slightly from kittens when Anitha asks about Samantha’s social media posts where she shares her political views. Samantha speaks up for people of colour and those in the LGBTQ+ community. She speaks out against the current US administration's policies on immigration and the deployment of ICE.She and Anitha talk about why she does this and the response she’s received. Fortunately, most of her followers support her decision to be kind to all beings!To learn more about Itty Bitty City Kitties, check out their website:Itty Bitty City Kitties WebsiteAs a thank you to Samantha for sharing her story, Anitha donated to Itty Bitty City Kitties.

Ariana Spate joins Anitha to talk about how she uses social media to help dogs in shelters find homes. Ariana partners with shelters to give overlooked dogs a break from their shelter life and a chance to be seen as who they truly are. She takes these dogs on outings, allows them to decompress and shares videos and photos so potential adopters can see the true nature of these dogs.Ariana shares stories of some of the transformations she has witnessed, such as dogs who bark and bark inside a shelter but are so calm and quiet once they are outside, or dogs who seem withdrawn in a cage and become cuddle bugs once they can relax.Such incredible and worthwhile work.To follow Ariana and see videos of the dogs she helps, check out the following links:Arianas Doggos WebsiteArianas Doggos on InstagramAs a thank you to Ariana for sharing her story, Anitha donated to Pause 4 Change, a Calgary based dog and cat rescue dedicated to helping animals in the western provinces of Canada. To learn more about their work, check out their website:Pause 4 Change Website

Amber Sager joins Anitha to talk about New Leash On Love, a dog sanctuary and rescue she co-founded. Amber is passionate about helping dogs find their forever homes, especially those who are overlooked—senior dogs, dogs with disabilities, and dogs surrendered by their humans.In addition to working with local rescues to place at-risk dogs, Amber also partners with international rescues to help dogs in other parts of the world find loving homes.As a registered psychotherapist, Amber discusses how her professional training helping humans overcome trauma allows her to help dogs suffering from traumatic experiences.To learn more about New Leash On Love and how they differ from other rescues, check out the following links:WebsiteInstagramAs a thank you to Amber for sharing her story, Anitha donated New Leash On Love.

Author/Illustrator, Anoosha Syed joins Anitha to talk about the many aspects of her life. From creating books that showcase underrepresented characters to an honest account of being a working mom to what it’s like to live in the United States as a person of colour.Anoosha and Anitha also talk about what brought them together—their book, SARI SISTERS. Anitha wrote the words and Anoosha created the art. Normally, authors and illustrators don’t get to meet, but not only did they meet, a lovely friendship was born.To learn more about Anoosha (a mom, author/illustrator, art educator and so much more) click on the following links:Anoosha's websiteAnoosha on InstagramAs a thank you to Anoosha for sharing her story, Anitha donated to ARCO—Activating Reading Communities Organization. Located in Dallas Fort Worth, Texas, they help communities by creating an inclusive reading culture. To learn more about their work, click on their website:Read With ARCO

Lev Goldberg joins Anitha to talk about being the first openly trans person to swim the Great Lakes. In 2025 Lev swam across Lake Ontario and then in August of 2026, he swam across Lake Huron! His goal is to swim across all five Great Lakes in an effort to raise awareness and funds for the LGBTQ+ youth.An inspiring conversation about determination, physical and mental strength and helping others.To follow Lev, check out the following links:Lev Swims Lakes WebsiteLev On InstagramLev Swims Lakes LGBTQ Youth Go Fund MeAs a thank you to Lev for sharing his story, Anitha donated to the LGBTQ YouthLine. This is an anti-racist, youth-led organization that connects 2SLGBTQ+ youth across Ontario to resources and community. To learn more about what they do, check out their website:Website

Sangita Iyer joins Anitha to talk about how an encounter with a captive bull elephant in Kerala India grew into a lifelong mission to help these magnificent begins.Sangita shares memories of being very young and creating a friendship with an Asian bull elephant whose feet were shackled. Despite the cruelty he endured by humans, Sangita tearfully remembers how he gently placed his trunk around her.  She and Anitha talk about the dichotomy of the relationship South Asians have with elephants. On the one hand, many worship Ganesha—an elephant-headed Hindu God, yet they subject actualelephants to cruelty. Sangita, an award-winning wildlife filmmaker and author, depicts this abuse in her film and book, both titled GODS IN SHACKLES.During the making of the film, Sangita realized that raising awareness alone wouldn’t be enough to help stop the abuse, so in 2016 she founded Voices For Asian Elephants. VFAE has a dual mission—raise awareness AND take direct action to improve the lives of endangered Asian elephants.Sangita shares some of positive strides VFAE has made for improving the lives of elephants.A truly remarkable woman going to remarkable efforts to save these remarkable beings.To learn more about Sangita, click on the following links:VFAE WebsiteVFAE on InstagramAs a thank you to Sangita for sharing her story, Anitha donated to Voices For Asian Elephants.

Jen Hillenga joins Anitha to talk about how she combined her passion for dogs and her talent for photography to create not only a career but a way to help dogs find their forever homes.She shares how her two rescue dogs, Rocco and Nala inspired her to leave the corporate world and pursue her love of photography, focusing the camera on dogs and their humans.Jen talks about how a great photo can show a dog’s true personality and help them find a loving home. Jen offers her photography services to many rescues. She was also the photographer for Isabel Klee, a well-known content creator, animal advocate and the bestselling author of DOGS, BOYS AND OTHER THINGS I’VE CRIED ABOUT. Jen had the privilege of taking Isabel’s author photo. As a dog lover, Isabel's photo included her soul dog, Simon. Sadly, Simon passed away not long ago. Millions of people around the world, many of whom had never met Simon, shared their love and grief for Simon.  Jen honoured Simon's life by offering a free studio session and 8x10 print to anyone who made a $100 donation to an animal rescue. Jen raised over $11,000 and is now busy fulfilling her promise.  Such a lovely story of community and caring.To learn more about Jen and her amazing photography, check out her website:The Ways Of The Dog WebsiteAs a thank you to Jen for sharing her story, Anitha donated to Rain or Shine Rescue. This non-profit cares for the most vulnerable dogs and cats, from seniors to animals with special needs to those requiring medical treatment. To learn more about this animal rescue, check out their website:Rain or Shine Rescue

Lori Cohen, the executive director of The Beagle Alliance, joins Anitha to talk about this incredible organization that helps beagles, who were once the victims of the animal research industry, find loving homes. The Beagle Alliance also advocates for the release of all animals from scientific study.Lori shares the inspiration behind her journey into animal advocacy. She also talks about her strong belief to not blame or criticize folks who conduct research on animals, but rather try and work with them to rescue as many animals as possible.Lori shares some success stories of beagles who have been rescued and are now living a life full of love.To learn more about the The Beagle Alliance, click on the following links:The Beagle Alliance WebsiteBeyond The Lab PodcastAs a thank you to Lori for sharing her story, Anitha donated to The Beagle Alliance.