Paul Shapiro—Vice President, Farm Animal Protection, at The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)—recounts his formative years as an animal lover and advocate, including launching Compassion Over Killing and how that organization’s undercover video investigations in the pre-Internet age served as an important precursor to the more sophisticated ones later undertaken by HSUS, Mercy For Animals, PETA and others. 
He addresses his move from COK to HSUS in 2005 at the behest of then newly-named CEO Wayne Pacelle, and describes his key responsibilities there, framed as one of the most effective legislative campaigns he’s helped orchestrate—the 2008 gambit in California to pass Proposition 2. Shapiro also discusses so-called “Ag-Gag” laws, that none passed in 2013, and how a pending such bill in Tennessee sits on Governor Bill Haslam’s desk to sign or veto in mere days. He responds to some outcry surrounding HSUS’s awarding of an animal welfare award (the Henry Spira Humane Corporate Progress Award) to Burger King, as well as listener calls and e-mails—the final one commenting on the photo of Shapiro at his laptop with a cat resting on his chest; he tells us her name is Emma. (www.humanesociety.org, www.facebook.com/humanesociety, http://www.cok.net)
ALSO: We speak briefly with Glen Hatchell (a friend and colleague who hosts the Thursday Morning Show at WMNF) about the dog playgroups he conducts at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, and the various virtues of the playgroups for these dogs, including boosting their prospects of adoption. (http://humanesocietytampa.org)
Listen Online Now:
COMEDY CORNER: Brian Regan’s “Flipper & Gentle Ben” (http://brianregan.com)
MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals
NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: The Rolling Stones with Tom Waits’ version of “Little Red Rooster” (recorded at the Oracle Arena in Oakland May 5, 2013)
