017: Bridging Ethics, Faith, and Compassion: Dr. Lisa Kemmerer’s Call to Action for Animals and the Earth
Release Date: 06/16/2025
049: Grant Writing for Sanctuaries: From Overwhelmed to Funded with Stephanie Mathers
Better Life for Animals
Across the United States, most farmed animal sanctuaries operate with limited staff, inconsistent funding, and an overwhelming daily workload. Many rely almost entirely on donations while carrying the emotional and financial responsibility of caring for animals society has discarded. As Stephanie Mathers, Founder and CEO of Grants for Animals, says, “The sanctuaries already have 200 percent heart.” What is often missing is structure, and that gap is where sustainability is either built or lost. In this episode of the Better Life for Animals Podcast, Kathleen Gage talks with Stephanie...
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048: Lighting a Lamp in the Darkness: Robin Singh’s Mission to Reduce Animal Suffering
Better Life for Animals
Billions of animals suffer each year because of human choices. While rescue saves individual lives, preventing suffering at its source creates lasting change. In this episode of the Better Life for Animals Podcast, Cheryl Moss talks with Robin Singh, co founder of Peepal Farm, an animal rescue, veterinary clinic, and awareness organization in India. Robin shares how his pursuit of happiness after leaving the tech industry led to emptiness, until meeting an elderly woman caring for abandoned dogs shifted his life toward purpose. That experience became the foundation for Peepal Farm’s mission....
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047: Designing Sanctuaries Around Animals: How Piedmont Farm Animal Refuge is Transforming Rescue Care
Better Life for Animals
What would sanctuary life look like if animals were not housed for human convenience, but instead were given environments designed around their instincts, ancestry, and emotional well being? In this episode, Cheryl Moss speaks with Lenore Braford and Paul Drake of Piedmont Farm Animal Refuge in North Carolina. Lenore is the Founder and Executive Director, and Paul is the architect behind the refuge’s innovative approach called animal centered design. You will discover how studying animal behavior changes everything about how sanctuaries are built. For example: Cows avoid enclosed barns...
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046: How to Heal After Losing a Beloved Animal — A Conversation with Kaleel Sakakeeny
Better Life for Animals
Why Losing a Pet Hurts So Deeply — with Animal Chaplain Kaleel Sakakeeny Did you know that more than 20,000 people every month search for help coping with the heartbreak of losing an animal companion? That number tells a powerful story. The grief that follows the loss of a beloved animal is real, intense, and often misunderstood. For many, it is one of the deepest emotional wounds they will ever experience, yet society doesn’t always acknowledge the depth of that pain. This is the life’s work of Kaleel Sakakeeny, grief educator, ordained pastor, animal chaplain, and Executive Director of...
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045: Dana Wilson on Ending a 400-Year Tradition of Dancing Bears and Saving Begging Elephants
Better Life for Animals
Ending a 400 Year Tradition of Dancing Bears: How Wildlife SOS is Transforming Animal Protection in India What happens when someone leaves a long corporate career to follow a calling rooted in compassion for animals? In this episode of the Better Life for Animals Podcast, host Cheryl Moss talks with Dana Wilson, Director of Marketing and Communications for Wildlife SOS, about what real animal protection looks like on the ground in India. Dana shares how his early volunteer work with animals eventually led him into full time nonprofit work. Today, Wildlife SOS operates inside one of the...
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044: From Local News to National Reach: Animal Sanctuary PR Strategies with Heather Ripley
Better Life for Animals
What if national media coverage for your animal sanctuary did not start with a big pitch or a major publication, but with your local newspaper? In this episode of the Better Life for Animals Podcast, host Cheryl Moss sits down with Heather Ripley, founder and CEO of Orange Orchard PR, to unpack what actually works when it comes to media visibility for animal sanctuaries. Heather shares how a successful career in traditional public relations evolved into purpose driven work after she went vegan and aligned her professional skills with animal advocacy. That shift led her to create Orange Orchard...
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043: From Restaurants to Rescue Work: Deborah Blum on Goatlandia Farm Animal Sanctuary
Better Life for Animals
Goats can see nearly 340 degrees around them. That single fact alone changes how most people think about goats and farm animals. In this episode of Better Life for Animals, host Cheryl Moss talks with Deborah Blum, founder of Goatlandia Farm Animal Sanctuary in Sebastopol, California. Deborah shares how her life shifted from the restaurant world to farm animal rescue and what goats have taught her about behavior, trauma, and trust. In this conversation, you will learn: • Why goats are browsers, not grazers, and how that shapes sanctuary care • How rescued animals experience trauma and what...
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042: Rescuing the Forgotten: How Tim Woodward is Transforming Massive Animal Hoarding Cases into Hope
Better Life for Animals
When the mortgage industry collapsed, Tim Woodward took a hard look at his life and realized something was missing. A volunteer role with In Defense of Animals exposed him to the hidden crisis of animal suffering across the country and set him on a path that would change everything. Seventeen years later, Tim is the Executive Director of Animal Rescue Corps, a national organization built to serve communities with no shelters, no animal control, and no resources when cruelty strikes. ARC works directly with law enforcement, responds at no cost, and steps in whether the case involves ten animals...
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041: From Bullying to Brave Change: Michele Fasnacht’s Journey to Solid Rock Community School
Better Life for Animals
Discover how compassionate education is transforming the lives of children and rescued animals in this powerful conversation with Michele Fasnacht, founder of Solid Rock Community School and the Sanctuary at Solid Rock. Michele shares how her personal journey through childhood trauma, chronic illness, and a life changing shift to plant based living shaped an education model unlike anything else in the country. In this episode, you will learn how rescued pigs, primates, ducks, and other farmed animals have become mentors for students, teaching empathy, responsibility, and emotional awareness...
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040: The Gift of a Safe World: How Buddhist Compassion Inspires Vegan Action
Better Life for Animals
What if compassion could change the world again, just like it did more than two thousand years ago? In this episode, you will meet Rayane Laddi, a Buddhist vegan who is proving that kindness is not an idea. It is a practice. His work shows how ancient teachings can transform modern problems, from animal advocacy to fundraising to environmental health. This conversation takes you inside Dharma Voices for Animals, the first organization to align Buddhist teachings with vegan living. What started with one simple question has become a global movement grounded in mindfulness, non harming, and...
info_outlineAnimal sanctuaries are lifelines for creatures rescued from exploitation, yet their existence often remains overlooked. Pair that with the fact that fewer than 2 percent of Americans identify as vegan, and the urgency for education and advocacy becomes undeniable. Dr. Lisa Kemmerer, a global leader in animal ethics and founder of the educational nonprofit Tapestry of Peace, brought this message to life as a featured expert on the Better Life for Animals Podcast, hosted by Cheryl Moss.
From Scholar to Activist: A Life Devoted to Justice
Dr. Kemmerer holds a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard and a PhD in philosophy with a focus on animal ethics from the University of Glasgow. After two decades teaching at the university level, she retired in 2020 to dedicate herself fully to activism through Tapestry. Her work explores how religious belief, environmental awareness, and gender oppression intersect with the treatment of animals.
Whether kayaking solo for a month or teaching students in a ranching town in Montana, Dr. Kemmerer has lived a life of immersive learning. Her extensive travel through Asia, the Middle East, and the South Pacific, including studying at the Dalai Lama’s school and staying in remote monasteries, shaped her holistic approach to animal advocacy.
Animal Sanctuaries and the Power of Daily Connection
Lisa’s life in a peaceful coastal setting, where she walks with her dogs daily and rescues injured wildlife from nearby beaches, speaks to her grounding in nature. “It’s essential,” she said. “Time outdoors is reflection, peace, and happiness.” Her connection with animals extends beyond academic theory into tangible acts of care.
Sanctuaries, she noted, are crucial reminders of the world we must create, where animals are seen as individuals with needs, personalities, and the right to peace. Her activism includes direct rescue work and local vegan initiatives, like the Hospitality Challenge, which encouraged restaurants to add clearly labeled vegan options. “In just a couple of months, our town became much more vegan-friendly,” she said.
The AMORE Framework: A Tool for Advocacy
Dr. Kemmerer’s latest work distills decades of research into an accessible format with the acronym AMORE, which means “love” in Italian. It represents:
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Animals – Their suffering and the ethical imperative to protect them
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Medical – The health implications of consuming animal products
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Oppressions – The connection between animal exploitation and other systemic injustices
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Religion – How faith traditions often align with vegan principles
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Environment – The urgent need to protect ecosystems from the impacts of animal agriculture
Designed for activists and educators alike, the AMORE model serves as a concise yet comprehensive guide for making the case for veganism in any setting.