Vicki Deisner from Ohio Animal Advocates joins us to share with our listeners the Real Ohio Tours 2024 schedule and the advocacy efforts supported by these programs. From birds to foxes to farm animals, there is an opportunity to visit and learn about the places that care for these animals, how we can help support them, and the advocacy efforts occurring to change laws affecting their welfare.

For information about Ohio Animal Advocates, visit www.ohioanimaladvocates.org or follow them on social media. 

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Hi, and welcome to the Animal Welfare Junction.

2

This is your host, Dr.

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G, and our music is written

and produced by Mike Sullivan.

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Today, we have a repeat guest.

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We have Vicki Deisner with

Ohio Animal Advocates.

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Welcome back, Vicki.

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Oh, thank you for having me again.

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Appreciate the time.

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So I'm really excited about this,

uh, this talk because we're going

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to talk about the Real Ohio Tours.

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And I'm sure that there's

a lot of our listeners that

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have no idea what this means.

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So can you explain what the.

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Real Ohio tours are?

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Vicki Deisner: Absolutely.

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Um, it's an opportunity for folks to

get out and see on the ground animal

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sanctuaries, the people that own them,

the people that take care of the animals,

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and what really happens in Ohio to

help either farm animals, wildlife, or

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companion animals in these situations.

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It's a wonderful time.

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To be out and meet other people with

like interests, and actually we started

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this during the pandemic because there

were limited opportunities for people to

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get out and interact with people safely.

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And this was a way that we could,

you know, make that happen, and

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we've continued to do it because the

interest of the people who come in

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the various types of animals, their

stories, you know the history of the

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sanctuary is how they got into it,

and, you know, actually connecting it

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to policy efforts we are working on.

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DrG: So what was the, what was the

original purpose or drive behind it?

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Like, what is, what is Ohio

Animal Advocates hoping to

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achieve by, by doing these tours?

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Vicki Deisner: Well, what we find is

it's very important for people to have

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ways to engage with an organization

that they find that their mission

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to be, uh, passionate for them.

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And yet, you know, if you were a

regular animal welfare organization

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where people could interact.

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directly with the animals because

they're in a shelter, they're in

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a rescue, you know, that would be

one thing, but we work on policy.

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We work at statewide changes,

um, to reduce cruelty throughout

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the state for, you know, all of

Ohio's animals, but it doesn't give

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people that opportunity to connect.

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But yet, if we, uh, Go ahead.

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And we prepare these trips to allow

them to see the types of animals

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that do come in that are removed from

cruelty that are given another life.

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They're rehomed.

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They're interactive with other animals.

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They have gained quality

back of their life.

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And indeed, you know, it makes a

lot of people happy to see that.

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They enjoy the opportunity to

connect with like minded people, you

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know, people who belong to the Ohio

animal advocates or choose to join.

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And you know, it's really an opportunity

to interact them and talk about policy

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issues we're working on in relation

to those animals that people see.

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DrG: One of the things that I

think that is really cool is that

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the different sanctuaries offer

different experiences, right?

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So it's it has a lot of different

animals and a lot of different

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ways in which these sanctuary work.

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So, uh, do you want to give us

a rundown of the places that

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we will be visiting this year?

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Absolutely.

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Vicki Deisner: Um, June 1st, we will

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Ohio Tours by going down to Glen

Helen Raptor Center in Yellow Springs.

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And this particular sanctuary

has been around for a while.

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actually process over 200 animals,

raptors that come in per year that

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have been hurt, um, you know, need to

go ahead and be, um, either rehomed,

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you know, fixed, um, taken care of.

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But, you know, um, hopefully a lot of

them are released back into the wild

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because they actually are mended.

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But for the ones that don't, they

stay there as ambassadors, um,

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that are taken care of so very

well by the staff that is there.

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But actually, then there's stories

to tell for people to come in.

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It's humane education as to what

has happened to these birds, what

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we need to do in the wild to protect

them and you know what their lives.

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really should look like, you

know, not exactly behind bars.

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One thing people will absolutely love

is the first, you know, raptor we will

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meet is this wonderful crow, Macy,

who actually, she starts talking to

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you when you hear her, when she hears

you come up the path, and she has so

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much to tell you and so many tricks to

show you, and when you start to leave

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her cage to go, it's the same thing.

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She's very upset and wants

you to come back, but they

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are very interactive animals.

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Um, we also, you know, hope to

share at that time with folks that

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actually, you know, there's been

a federal bill that has passed in

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2024 was signed by the president.

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On April 17th.

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And actually what it does, it's

part of the migratory birds of the

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American Conservation Enhancement Act.

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I know that's a mouthful, but at any

rate, what it will actually do once it's

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enacted is the migratory birds of the

American Conservation Enhancement Act will

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actually increase the federal cost share.

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of the Neotropical Migratory Bird

Conservation Act program from 25

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percent to 33 percent and also

change it from a one to three

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public, um, cost share to one to two.

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What this really means on the ground, um,

and I'll make it simpler, is it's going to

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generate a wide variety of projects, um,

reduce barriers to conservation action and

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actually give us the opportunity to really

address issues with migratory birds.

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And, um, this was a bipartisan bill

and we're so glad to see that it

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passed the federal government and

we'd like to talk to people about it.

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DrG: That's amazing.

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That's really great.

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So then after, after the Yellow

Springs, what do we have next?

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Vicki Deisner: What we have next is one

of our favorites, actually the first

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one we ever went to, and it's Walking

Wild Fox Rescue and Wolf Dog Sanctuary.

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It is in Newark, Ohio, just east

of Denison, and it actually,

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we have the largest fox

sanctuary in the United States.

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In the United States, we have one

over 100 foxes in there, and the

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couple that runs it, Molly and David

Schultz, Molly is a former marketer,

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and she knows how to get out in public

and negotiate and work with people.

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So what she's done is reached out

to the Fox farms around the Midwest

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and we do have a lot unfortunately,

but actually the animals that they

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wouldn't even utilize because they

were not happy with their coats

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instead of those animals being killed.

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Unfortunately, the way that that's

done is anal electric electrocution is

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basically these animals will be removed

by rehomed at walking wild and actually

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have a chance to live a normal life.

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And also what the sanctuary does is

bring attention to the fact that there

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still is, you know, for farming going

on, you know, a lot of people in the

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United States would be surprised by that,

because they don't see people were first.

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But these are shipped, you

know, to other countries.

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And there is more going on

that you would think and we

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want to bring attention to it.

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In fact, at one point, Molly and David

hosted with Columbus fashion week.

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Um, a, it was a, you know, time on the

runway with the foxes where models were

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in beautiful outfits carrying the foxes.

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It was a little difficult

for them in their heels, but

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it was very exciting to see.

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And, you know, really, um, there's

many opportunities to educate people.

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And one thing we are working on that

we want to, on that particular event

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is bring some of Columbus city council

is because we are working with, um, the

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council to actually see about a fur ban.

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In this area, and it would be for

new first, this wouldn't affect

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people who have old first from before

from thrift stores or whatever.

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But, you know, really looking at, can

we actually close down the need to

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sell new first and there's actually

only four stores in the Columbus area.

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So, we're working on that and trying

to educate folks along the way.

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DrG: That would be great because I

mean realistically with everything

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that we have available there is

absolutely no need to kill animals

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just for their, just for their fur.

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I mean and even people that

like the look, there are fake

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materials that look just the same.

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So you can still look fancy without

being cruel to animals, right?

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Vicki Deisner: Absolutely.

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And what you will see at Walking

Wild is a lot of the foxes are home

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together in families as they've learned

to get along with different ones.

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And you see, you know, actually in many

ways they will resemble our domestic

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dogs and how they interact with the staff

there and the volunteers at Walking Wild.

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And they have their own personalities

and they're just as cute as a button.

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DrG: That's amazing.

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Looking forward to that one as well.

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So after the foxes, what do we have?

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Vicki Deisner: Then the next one

is Sunrise Farm Sanctuary and

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that will be in September 21st.

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That's always a good time to wait actually

until a lot of the rains in Columbus are

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over in central Ohio because otherwise

it can be pretty muddy out there.

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But, um, it is actually the largest

farm sanctuary we have in Ohio.

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Uh, they have over, um, 150 animals

and of every type from horse, Horses

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to cows, to donkeys, to sheep, to pigs,

to chickens, to roosters, to mules,

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um, to geese, to, um, cats and dogs.

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And they all live together much

better than we do in society.

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Um, though they have their personalities.

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And last year when we went, it was

very interesting to see when we

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first walked in and were introduced

to two pigs at the gate, we were

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informed that these are two new.

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relationships because one of the

pigs had been with another pig for a

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long time and they had a falling out.

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And as they explained, there were

kind of two sides to the farm where

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the various animals went to be in

their families, their social groups.

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And as we met the various families, it

turned out that one of the families,

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um, was led by one eyed horse.

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Who had a very dominant personality

and she rolled the roost over the

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other horses and the sheep and some

of the donkeys and some of the pigs,

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and you know, it was kind of split.

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But what we found out is.

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the cows were afraid of her.

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And so in the other group on the other

side of the farm, there were the cows

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and other pigs, you know, the pigs

that had split and hadn't made up yet.

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And, you know, various donkeys

and sheep and just everybody

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was in their social groups.

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So, you know, even animals do that.

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So when we go back this year, I'll

be interested to see if the pigs

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But one thing that's very important

is they really do a lot of on the

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ground, a humane education, um,

with schools, you know, in the area

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and, uh, really do a lot of rescue.

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And indeed, um, they need to expand and

they need to improve some of the, um,

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you know, facilities that they have.

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And there was a very fair and, uh,

giving donor that offered them last fall.

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100, 000 match if they could

raise it in six months.

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And literally it was just a month

ago that that six months was over.

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I know I put in money on that last day to

see them get over that top and they did.

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They raised $104, 000.

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So, um, it'll be great to see and

hear where some of that money is going

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to go and what more opportunities

there can be for farm animals,

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um, at Sunrise Farm Sanctuary.

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DrG: Yeah, I think that there's a lot of

education that people need as far as the

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needs of farm animals and how I'm going

to say how they affect the environment and

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how we need them, but how a lot of their

use is actually damaging our ecosystem.

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So, I mean, it's very,

very, very important trip.

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I

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Vicki Deisner: did want to add one more

thing about that to inform the audience.

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Um, one thing that's important to

think about is, You know, we want

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to share this at that trip is that

Ohio has livestock care standards.

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And a lot of people didn't even

know that or know what that's about.

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But 10 years ago or 10 plus years

ago in California, they did a

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ballot initiative that was prop 12.

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And I know when I heard about it, I

thought it was absolutely amazing.

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And I knew it would be a game changer,

because what it was going to do

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is actually get rid of gestation

crates for pigs, battery cages

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for chickens, and veal crates.

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And, um, it would apply to both in

state and out of state producers.

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And since California at the time was

number five in the world for gross

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domestic product, this would have a

big impact on wider than California.

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And then right afterwards, both Michigan

and Ohio passed livestock care standards.

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And, um, indeed a lot of other

states kind of stopped at that point.

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And there's been pushback by

Midwestern attorney generals on this.

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Now, mind you, um, the California

ballot initiative was going to give

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10 years for the state to phase it

in, which seems ample time, but you

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know, there was a fight all the way up

to the end, including at the support.

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US Supreme Court last spring, which,

um, actually, you know, was debatable.

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How would that go?

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Um, the case was brought by the, uh,

pork industry in Iowa, and actually

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the Supreme Court went in favor of

keeping the ballot issue initiative.

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Based on the Commerce Clause.

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And so it's going into effect

in California now is the fourth

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largest economy in the world.

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So this will have, um, you might

say repercussions down the line.

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Um, we are close to an Ohio

actually working on phasing in

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the livestock care standards.

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And indeed, at the last minute last

summer, there was a pork producer

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that wrote to ODA, Ohio Department of

Ag, Saying they felt it was unfair.

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You know, they weren't ready.

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They weren't going to be able to do this.

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And we were so glad to hear that the

pork Ohio pork council wrote a letter

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saying we committed to doing this 10

years ago, and there's no reason there's

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been 10 years for this to phase in.

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We stand strong with what our commitment

was to ODA to be a partner in this.

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And we want to see this happen.

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And so I think that's a real breakthrough.

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And then one.

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Even in my mind, bigger breakthrough is

just recently the new organic standards

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came out from USDA and what they did

in my mind is, you know, the culture is

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changing and they decided to pick it up

at what they said is any, um, well, these

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were the requirements for the producers.

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No gestation crates.

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No battery cages, no forced molting

of chickens, no face branding

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on any animals and, you know,

a number of other things too.

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So in my mind, it seemed what happened

is the changes are happening because

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what happened in California has now

become the standard for organic farming.

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You know, producers, and I think

we're, we're getting somewhere on this.

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And when I say this, we need to move

away from the factory farms that

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are actually, you know, causing 80

percent of the antibiotics in this

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country to be used on farm animals.

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And why are we as humans

seeing a resistance?

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That's why we need to go

back to traditional farming

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that is humane for animals.

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And, um, you know, certainly When you go

to sunrise, you see what that can mean.

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But, um, you know, it's good

to see that there are changes

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happening in that respect.

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DrG: That is really, that is really

amazing because yeah, you would expect

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like, you know, like the pushback.

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I expect that.

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It's really nice for the, for the

big group to say, no, this is what

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we, that's what we committed to.

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And this is what we're going to do.

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So that's, that's really great.

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Vicki Deisner: Yes, some progress.

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Yes.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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And then the very last, um, tour

of this year that we have planned

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is to, uh, fox tail sanctuary.

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And actually, uh, we don't

have a definitive date, but

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we're looking at October 12th.

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We still have time.

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And this is actually another fox sanctuary

in Medina, a smaller one, um, kind

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of see, you know, we'd have a chance

to see more like what happens when a

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fox, um, Fox Sanctuary gets started.

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You know, how do you build up

to be what walking wild is?

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So it gives people an opportunity

to, you know, make that comparison.

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And again, we need to tell that

story about the need to ban furs.

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And, you know, Columbus is a great

place to start, but, you know,

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that's not the end of the road.

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DrG: These are all amazing places

that, you know, have been selected.

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So if there are any other

sanctuaries in Ohio that would

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like to be part of the Real Ohio

Tours, how can they be considered

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for like the 2025 Real Ohio Tours?

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Vicki Deisner: Oh, all they need to do

is get hold of Ohio Animal Advocates.

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We're glad to take in a new

player, so to say, in the game.

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In fact, one thing we'd like to do, too,

is talk to other sanctuaries because

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what we've also done Is create a network

of sanctuaries now that are talking

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to each other and sharing, you know,

how they, you know, how they created

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their model, how they've gotten to a

certain point, um, you know, and what

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they can do to help each other grow.

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And so that's very important.

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So they just need to contact

me at Ohio Animal Advocates.

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Um, my email is Vicki, vicki.deisner,

D E I S N E R at gmail.

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com.

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.

DrG: And for anybody of our listeners that are interested in finding more

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information, not just about the real

tours, but about the different advocacy

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efforts that Ohio Animal Advocates

does, how can they get information?

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Like, what are their, their resources?

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Vicki Deisner: I hope folks will

go to, um, ohioanimaladvocates.org.

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You will find a very, um, full, robust

website that has a lot of information.

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We have a number of key

program areas we work in.

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We work on puppy mills, community

cats, breed discrimination, um,

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anti tethering and the issue

of animals being left outdoors.

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Ah, wildlife, um, pet assistance.

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And what that really means is, you

know, Addressing the issue of low

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income and the homeless in regard to

not only their situation in dealing

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with eviction bans, the high rent that's

going on, you know, whether it's, you

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know, central Ohio or throughout Ohio.

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And what happens when they have

a pet, you know, is there co

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sheltering and homeless shelters.

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Is there opportunities to declare animals,

um, animals, you know, that are, you know,

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emotional support so they actually can

get over issues of rental discrimination?

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You know, how do we deal with these

issues and what opportunities there are?

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And then also we have pet protection

because there's an issue in domestic

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violence situations, uh, where

unfortunately animals are considered

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part of the family, but they become.

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The first sentinel warning that family

escalation, um, the violence is increasing

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because indeed, unfortunately, animals

being voiceless will be the first

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often to be controlled and be hurt.

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And so it's actually a time of

collaboration for people, different,

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you know, humane and human agencies

to work together to intervene early.

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In fact, in 2021, we got passed

Um, the nation's strongest, most

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comprehensive cross reporting bill

that requires veterinarians, social

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workers, caseworkers, therapists, and

counselors to report animal abuse.

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And then on the other side of the

coin, law enforcement, humane agents,

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dog wardens, animal control officers

to report child and elder abuse.

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And indeed, um, you know, I'm still

training on this six years later,

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because there's new people coming

into place, there's new opportunities

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to educate people on this.

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In fact, um, come this September,

there's going to be an international

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conference where this will be discussed

in Cleveland, as one of the topics.

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It's the International Association

of Veterinarian Social Workers.

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And I think, Dr.

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G, both you and I are planning on

going, so, and, and probably speaking.

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So, you know, it's an opportunity

to keep spreading the word.

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In fact, I had an opportunity last summer

to go to Lisbon, where actually countries

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in the European Union were asking for

folks to come over to explain what we're

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doing in America to address the link.

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And indeed, they looked at Ohio

as actually the model for the type

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of law they would want passed.

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very much.

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So we got a gold star.

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DrG: Yes, that is amazing.

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We need more gold stars because

we have like a not a gold

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star on the puppy mill issue.

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So we need, uh, we, you

know, at least we have this.

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So hopefully more, more to come.

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Vicki Deisner: I hope we can address

that topic in another podcast.

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DrG: Oh, absolutely.

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I mean, you know, I, I hate puppy mills,

so I definitely love to talk puppy mill.

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And for anybody that's listening to,

if you are on Facebook, if you're

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on Instagram, if you're on threads,

like Ohio Animal Advocates has a

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voice on all of those social media,

so you can check it out and get

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information on what's happening.

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Vicki Deisner: Oh, and one last program

area that I got off sited by is Humane

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Education, because one thing we have

learned is on a number of levels, it's

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very important to start children, and

when they're most absorbent, you might

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say, in their development stage between

third grade and sixth grade to really

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grab hold of compassion, which can

extend later in life to their family

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to their friends to their communities.

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Indeed, if you can teach

them humane education.

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It's a place a lot of times where kids

connect, and it can make a difference

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in a child's life, and as they grow up.

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And so we have a number of programs

we talked about as far as Red

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Rover readers and other educational

materials that can be used.

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We also talked about.

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You know, actually looking at what we

can do to get rid of animal testing

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in schools and universities and,

and, you know, add on the research.

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So, um, we're actually looking

also at a bill in Ohio, as far

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as a banning cosmetics testing.

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So, you know, please also look

at that particular program.

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That's actually where

Real Ohio Tour sits at.

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And one of the tours we did

two years ago was so wonderful.

375

It was a sanctuary in Gahanna that

is not there anymore because they

376

got bigger and moved to Pennsylvania

where there was more land, but they

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had the children come out and read to

the pigs because the pigs loved it.

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So, you know, it's wonderful to see that

sort of, you know, opportunity to expand,

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you know, compassion in the community.

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DrG: That is amazing.

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So ohioanimaladvocates.

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org, please visit and join and

check it out because there's a

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lot of great information and a lot

of great ways that everybody can

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help be an advocate for animals.

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So thank you so very much,

Vicki, for being here.

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Again, we will talk soon about puppy

mills and other, and other issues that are

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happening in Ohio, but I really appreciate

you taking the time to be here today.

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Vicki Deisner: Appreciate you having me.

389

DrG: Excellent.

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And for all our listeners,

thank you for taking the time.

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Thank you for listening

and thank you for caring.