The Hen Report: “When Is This Gonna Change?” | Animal Rights Wins, Farm Bill & Carriage Horses

The Hen Report: “When Is This Gonna Change?” | Animal Rights Wins, Farm Bill & Carriage Horses

This is a week packed with animal rights wins and sobering setbacks. Jasmin & Mariann open with a review of The Sheep Detectives, a fun animated film with some meaningful (if imperfect) animal messaging, then dive into a string of legislative victories: Portland’s foie gras sales ban, New York State’s octopus farming ban headed to the governor, and promising momentum around the Save Our Bacon Act, which would protect state-level farmed animal welfare laws from federal override. They also report on a damning follow-up undercover investigation at Cooke Aquaculture in Maine—exposing broken promises by the company’s CEO—alongside disturbing revelations about the University of Wisconsin’s purchase of Ridglan beagles for research, and yet another carriage horse collapse in New York City, prompting renewed calls for Rider’s Law. * Legislative wins for animals: Portland bans foie gras sales, New York State passes an octopus farming ban, and the Save Our Bacon Act—protecting Prop 12-style state laws banning gestation crates—shows strong momentum in the Farm Bill fight. * Corporate accountability in animal agriculture: A follow-up undercover investigation at Cooke Aquaculture reveals ongoing fish cruelty despite a public apology, underscoring why animal agriculture companies cannot be trusted to self-regulate. * University of Wisconsin & the Ridglan beagles: Records reveal UW-Madison purchased beagles from the recently exposed Ridglan Farms for invasive research, and the university is now under fire for investigating the student animal advocacy club that publicized the rescue. * NYC carriage horses & Rider’s Law: Another horse collapses and dies on New York City streets, reigniting calls to pass Rider’s Law, legislation that would retire carriage horses and transition the industry away from animal use. * Know your rights as an animal activist: A highlight from the Grassroots Animal Rights Summit—a YouTube talk by lawyers Chris Carraway and Darius Fulmer—offers practical guidance on protest rights and legal protections for activists. [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/948-OHH-2photos-2quotes-template-360x360.png]https://www.ourhenhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/948-OHH-2photos-2quotes-template-360x360.png RESOURCES * * * * * Portland City Council Narrowly Passes Foie Gras Ban [https://www.wweek.com/news/city/2026/06/04/city-council-narrowly-passes-foie-gras-ban/] * Octopus Farming Ban Passes New York Assembly [https://www.instagram.com/p/DZMX6LilgL_/?img_index=1] * Michael Storer’s Wikipedia [https://www.instagram.com/p/DZMX6LilgL_/?img_index=1] * Warning for Senate Republicans: MAHA voters oppose Save Our Bacon Act [https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/op-eds/4592670/warning-senate-republicans-maha-oppose-save-our-bacon-act/] * Meat companies keep promising to do better. They almost never do. [https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/490786/fish-farm-cooke-meat-industry-trust] * School Investigates Student Organization Connected to Ridglan Farms Beagle Rescue [https://www.instagram.com/p/DZXfGY4lEFR/] * Records show Ridglan beagles at UW-Madison were injected with blue dye, then euthanized and dissected [https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/beagle-research-experiments-uw-madison-2023/] * UW-Madison details anesthesia study involving dogs sourced from Ridglan Farms [https://www.wmtv15news.com/2026/06/05/uw-madison-details-anesthesia-study-involving-dogs-sourced-ridglan-farms/?fbclid=IwY2xjawSWOWxleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFxbGVzVjFtUU5tZEwwb2Z0c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHg7ugReujl8_tYcd9eeyoWb3vvlHSSzZs-wvcitLtOF9D3g9MyVd07nIU9fF_aem_DiWBydRE9J-UhHzYmqaQ-g] * Another Carriage Horse Collapses and Dies in New York City [https://www.instagram.com/p/DZYwa3RG5ur/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==] * House Committee Includes Horse Slaughter Ban in Transportation Bill [https://www.instagram.com/p/DYpVfShm4gj/?img_index=1] * Know Your Rights w/ Chris Carraway and Darius Fullmer /// Grassroots Animal Rights Summit 2026 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOR4zv_5NiQ] *  We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/ep948/#pod-transcript] to read this episode's interview. _____________________________________________ Donate Now! [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/donate-button2-2-300x111.png]https://www.ourhenhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/donate-button2-2-300x111.png [http://ourhenhouse.org/support] Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/support]. Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content! Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/our-hen-house/id350069146] YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@ourhenhouse], or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review! Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/animallaw/], The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/cooking/], and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/audio-series/]. Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on Facebook, [https://www.facebook.com/OurHenHouse/]Instagram, [https://www.instagram.com/ourhenhouse/?hl=en]TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@ourhenhouse], or Bluesky. [https://bsky.app/profile/ourhenhouse.org] The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren. [http://michaelharren.com/]

Screwworms, Spy Drones, and a Ballot Initiative That Could Break the Meat Industry | Rising Anxieties

[https://www.ourhenhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/947-RA-QUOTE-TEMPLATE-360x360.png]https://www.ourhenhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/947-RA-QUOTE-TEMPLATE-360x360.pngThe meat industry is having a week — and not the good kind. Screwworm has officially crossed the U.S. border into Texas, turning what was once a theoretical threat into a two-case-and-counting reality, while your tax dollars are already being mobilized to save an industry that created the conditions for this mess. Meanwhile, Oregon is inching toward a ballot initiative that could criminalize the industry’s most cherished “management practices,” the TSA is cheerleading for rotisserie chicken carry-ons (yes, really), and animal ag’s drone panic is revealing exactly how worried the industry is about people simply looking at their facilities. * Screwworm arrives in the U.S. — Two confirmed cases in Texas, a government response already in overdrive, and the industry insisting there’s “no food safety risk” (translation: please keep buying beef) * Oregon’s PEAC ballot initiative could criminalize dehorning, castration, artificial insemination, and — oh yes — slaughter, sending shockwaves through an industry that somehow thought Prop 12 was the worst thing that could happen * The TSA declared war on your senses by encouraging passengers to bring rotisserie chickens aboard flights, prompting the National Chicken Council to formally thank them “for their service” * UK poultry industry vs. planning regulations — factory farm operators are furious over strict permitting laws that are slowing their expansion, threatening to import even-worse-welfare chicken if they don’t get their way * Drones are the new undercover investigators, and Big Ag is losing sleep over “misleading narratives” — also known as footage of their facilities We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/ep947/#pod-transcript] to read this episode's interview. _____________________________________________ Donate Now! [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/donate-button2-2-300x111.png]https://www.ourhenhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/donate-button2-2-300x111.png [http://ourhenhouse.org/support] Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/support].  Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content! Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/our-hen-house/id350069146] YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@ourhenhouse], or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review! Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/animallaw/], The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/cooking/], and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/audio-series/]. Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/ourhenhouse/], Facebook, [https://www.facebook.com/OurHenHouse/]Instagram, [https://www.instagram.com/ourhenhouse/?hl=en]TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@ourhenhouse], Threads [https://www.threads.net/@ourhenhouse], or Bluesky. [https://bsky.app/profile/ourhenhouse.bsky.social] The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren. [http://michaelharren.com/]

The Truth About “Top” Zoos: Dr. Liz Tyson of Born Free USA on Animal Captivity, Happy the Elephant, and Why No Zoo Is Good for Animals

This week, Jasmin and Mariann welcome back Dr. Liz Tyson, Director of Animal Welfare and Advocacy at Born Free USA, for a wide-ranging and eye-opening conversation about the reality of animal captivity in zoos — including the “best” ones. Using the recent death of Happy the Elephant at the Bronx Zoo as a launching point, they dig into Born Free’s ongoing investigation of AZA-accredited zoos, the debunked myths of zoo conservation and education, the pipeline that moves animals from “top” zoos to roadside facilities, and why community-led conservation is the only path forward for truly protecting wildlife. * Happy the Elephant & Nonhuman Rights: Dr. Tyson breaks down Happy’s nearly 50 years of captivity at the Bronx Zoo, her landmark self-recognition mirror test, and the Nonhuman Rights Project’s groundbreaking — though unsuccessful — legal effort to grant her personhood and freedom. * Born Free’s Zoo Investigation: Born Free USA has already released reports on the Bronx Zoo, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and Audubon Zoo as part of a two-year investigation of 10 top AZA-accredited zoos, finding that so-called “elite” zoos fail animals in the same fundamental ways as roadside zoos. * The Conservation and Education Myths: Dr. Tyson dismantles zoos’ core justifications — insurance populations, species preservation, and educational value — with data showing the vast majority of zoo animals are not threatened in the wild, and that visitors spend an average of 69 seconds at enclosures. * Deceptive Zoo Architecture: From moats disguised as open savannahs to trees wired off from the animals they appear to offer, Dr. Tyson explains how modern zoo design is engineered to make visitors feel good while masking the reality of confinement. * SANCTUARIES VS. ZOOS & THE PATH FORWARD: DR. TYSON CONTRASTS TRUE SANCTUARY CARE — INCLUDING BORN FREE’S OWN 208-RESIDENT PRIMATE SANCTUARY IN TEXAS — WITH ZOO OPERATIONS, AND ARGUES THAT COMMUNITY-BASED, LOCALLY LED CONSERVATION IS THE ONLY APPROACH THAT CAN ACTUALLY PROTECT WILDLIFE IN THE WILD. ABOUT OUR GUEST [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/946-OHH-quote-template-360x360.png]https://www.ourhenhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/946-OHH-quote-template-360x360.pngDr. Liz Tyson is Director of Animal Welfare and Advocacy at Born Free USA, where she leads both the organization’s advocacy work and its primate sanctuary in Texas — home to 208 rescued monkeys. Over the course of her career, she has helped animals across the globe: establishing the first locally run sterilization program for street dogs in the Middle East, partnering with indigenous communities in the Colombian Amazon to end the hunting of wild primates, running a UK charity dedicated to ending animal exploitation in circuses and zoos, and helping design a rehabilitation complex for rescued monkeys at Ensessa Kotteh, Born Free’s sanctuary in Ethiopia. In 2018, she earned her doctorate in animal welfare law, and in 2020 published Licensing Laws and Animal Welfare: The Legal Protection of Wild Animals with Palgrave Macmillan/Springer Nature — to date the most comprehensive study of the legal protection of wild animals in English zoos. We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/ep946/#pod-transcript] to read this episode's interview. _____________________________________________ Donate Now! [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/donate-button2-2-300x111.png]https://www.ourhenhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/donate-button2-2-300x111.png [http://ourhenhouse.org/support] Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/support]. Contributions of any amount are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content! Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/our-hen-house/id350069146] YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@ourhenhouse/videos], or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review! Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/animallaw/], The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/cooking/], and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/audio-series/]. Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/ourhenhouse/], Facebook, [https://www.facebook.com/OurHenHouse/]Instagram, [https://www.instagram.com/ourhenhouse/?hl=en]TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@ourhenhouse], Threads [https://www.threads.net/@ourhenhouse], or Bluesky. [https://bsky.app/profile/ourhenhouse.bsky.social] The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren. [http://michaelharren.com/]

The Hen Report: “Vegan-Colored Glasses” | Beagles, Angela Davis & Plant-Based Athletes

In this week’s Hen Report, Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan cover a lively mix of animal advocacy news, pop culture, and vegan messaging. They discuss Sangamithra Iyer’s new memoir Governing Bodies and its LA Times review, celebrate vegan powerlifter Katya Gorbacheva’s post-partum championship win, and unpack Angela Davis’s shout-out to animal rights at a college commencement. The episode also digs into a Faunalytics study showing that simply asking people to take an animal’s perspective can meaningfully shift their dietary choices — and closes with the ongoing good news out of Ridglan Farms, where another 135 beagles are being rescued. * Sangamithra Iyer’s Governing Bodies: The Our Hen House alum’s new memoir earns a glowing LA Times review for weaving veganism, nonviolence, and animal rights into a personal and political narrative * Vegan athlete spotlight: Russian powerlifter Katya Gorbacheva wins Best Lifter at Moscow Lights just eight months postpartum — proof that plant-based eating builds elite strength * Angela Davis on animal rights: The iconic activist used her Pitzer College commencement address to endorse PETA’s dining-hall memorial campaign and call out the “absolute horrific treatment of animals” * The power of perspective-taking: A Faunalytics study finds that asking people to view footage from the animal’s point of view produces a reduction in meat consumption * Ridglan Farms rescue update: 135 more beagles are being freed, adding to the 1,500 already released — and Mariann urges advocates to channel this momentum toward all animals, not just dogs [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/945-OHH-2photos-2quotes-template-360x360.png]https://www.ourhenhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/945-OHH-2photos-2quotes-template-360x360.png RESOURCES * * * * * Losing Our Cruelty [https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/sangamithra-iyer-governing-bodies-memoir-confluence-watershed-interview/] * The Lines We Draw Kindle Edition [https://www.amazon.com/Lines-We-Draw-Sangamithra-Iyer-ebook/dp/B00HYM92UG/] * Vegan Strong Powerlifter Wins ‘Best Lifter’ 8 Months After Giving Birth [https://plantbasednews.org/culture/sport/vegan-strong-powerlifter-wins-best-lifter/] * Angela Davis’s Pitzer College Commencement Speech [https://www.facebook.com/reel/2432637757218851] * New Film Highlights The ‘Hidden Human Cost’ Of The Meat Industry [https://plantbasednews.org/culture/film/new-film-human-cost-meat-industry/] * This Netflix Film About An Octopus Could Make You Rethink Seafood [https://plantbasednews.org/culture/film/netflix-film-about-octopus-rethink-seafood/] * ‘Smoky, rich and umami-filled’: the best supermarket veggie burgers, tasted and rated [https://www.theguardian.com/thefilter/2026/may/30/best-supermarket-veggie-burgers-tasted-rated?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=bsky_gu&utm_medium=&utm_source=Bluesky#Echobox=1780145081] * Reducing Prejudice Can Lead To Dietary Changes [https://faunalytics.org/reducing-prejudice-can-lead-to-dietary-changes/] * Another 135 dogs are getting out of Ridglan this week. [https://www.instagram.com/p/DZGEsg7j0YS] *  We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/ep945/#pod-transcript] to read this episode's interview. _____________________________________________ Donate Now! [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/donate-button2-2-300x111.png]https://www.ourhenhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/donate-button2-2-300x111.png [http://ourhenhouse.org/support] Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/support]. Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content! Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/our-hen-house/id350069146] YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@ourhenhouse], or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review! Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/animallaw/], The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/cooking/], and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/audio-series/]. Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on Facebook, [https://www.facebook.com/OurHenHouse/]Instagram, [https://www.instagram.com/ourhenhouse/?hl=en]TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@ourhenhouse], or Bluesky. [https://bsky.app/profile/ourhenhouse.org] The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren. [http://michaelharren.com/]

Vegan Accusations, Cancer-Causing CAFOs, and the Screw Worm Cometh | Rising Anxieties

[https://www.ourhenhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/944-RA-QUOTE-TEMPLATE-360x360.png]https://www.ourhenhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/944-RA-QUOTE-TEMPLATE-360x360.pngThis week on Rising Anxieties, we’re covering the full spectrum of animal agriculture chaos — from the political circus surrounding James Talarico’s (alleged) veganism to the unsurprising news that living next to a factory farm might be slowly killing you. Plus, a meat industry columnist accidentally makes the case for abolishing animal agriculture, and the screw worm is getting uncomfortably close to Texas. Business as usual, folks. * Trump vs. Veganism: The President and Texas AG Ken Paxton are using “vegan” as a slur against Senate candidate James Talarico — who, in turn, distances himself from salad with uncomfortable enthusiasm. * Better Chicken = Worse Planet: A meat industry writer lays out exactly why the Better Chicken Commitment is environmentally unsustainable — and somehow doesn’t connect those dots to the obvious conclusion that factory farming itself has to go. * Factory Farming Causes Cancer: A Yale study confirms that living near a CAFO significantly raises cancer risk, which is bad news for literally everyone, including vegans. * “Factory Farm” Is Just a Word: The Farm Babe does not like the term “factory farm” and would prefer you say CAFO, a phrase no one understands and that is presumably the point. * Screw Worm Watch: The New World screw worm is now 52 miles from the US border, active cases in Mexico are surging, and the USDA is releasing sterile insects into the void and hoping for the best. We are thrilled to expand the accessibility of our podcast by offering written transcripts of the interviews! Click here [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/ep944/#pod-transcript] to read this episode's interview. _____________________________________________ Donate Now! [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/donate-button2-2-300x111.png]https://www.ourhenhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/donate-button2-2-300x111.png [http://ourhenhouse.org/support] Thank you for listening to the Our Hen House podcast! If you enjoy our podcasts, believe in our mission to effectively mainstream the movement to end the exploitation of animals, find community and solace in our shows and resources, and would like to show your support for vegan indie media, please make a donation today [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/support].  Contributions of any amount will go towards our fundraising goal and are hugely appreciated. Our Hen House is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so it’s tax-deductible. Thank you for helping us create quality content! Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/our-hen-house/id350069146] YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@ourhenhouse], or your favorite podcatcher, and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review! Check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/animallaw/], The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/cooking/], and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series [https://www.ourhenhouse.org/audio-series/]. Follow us on social media! You can find Our Hen House on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/ourhenhouse/], Facebook, [https://www.facebook.com/OurHenHouse/]Instagram, [https://www.instagram.com/ourhenhouse/?hl=en]TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@ourhenhouse], Threads [https://www.threads.net/@ourhenhouse], or Bluesky. [https://bsky.app/profile/ourhenhouse.bsky.social] The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren. [http://michaelharren.com/]