Episode Description – Coffee & Conservation with Rita Santas

In this episode of Coffee & Conservation, Mike sits down with Rita Santas, conservation K9 handler and founder-owner of Dogs for Nature in Portugal.

Rita shares her journey into the world of working dogs for conservation—how she got started, what inspired her to build Dogs for Nature, and what it really takes to train and deploy K9s for wildlife protection, research, and environmental monitoring.

They dive into what conservation K9 work looks like on the ground, from field deployments to training methodologies, and the realities of building capacity in a growing but still under-resourced field. Mike and Rita also unpack the challenges facing conservation K9 programs globally—funding gaps, operational hurdles, misconceptions about working dogs, and the broader challenges facing conservation practitioners today.

Expect honest insights, practical lessons, and plenty of banter between two people passionate about dogs, conservation, and building more effective tools to protect wildlife and wild places.

Grab a coffee and join the conversation.