Breaking Free to be Effective

Sometimes it feels like I live my life terminally online, in meetings, or traveling between meetings. Nearly everyone I speak with wants to talk about animals: their care, their needs, and how we can help them find homes.

My social media feed follows suit. Animals in distress. Animals thriving. Animal memes, rescue stories, marches, and arguments about what people should eat or believe.

The world I care about is served to me so consistently that it becomes easy to forget how much exists outside it.

Over the last few months, I have spent quite a bit of time in Ubers and taxis, traveling between airports and hotels. Those rides have taught me something. Among the drivers I spoke with, not one knew about Envigo or Ridglan Farms. None seemed familiar with the part of animal research that fills my days and my social media feed.

I have had similar conversations in grocery stores and hotel lobbies. Again and again, I meet people who have never heard of the work we do.

These conversations are a useful reminder: something can occupy nearly my entire world and barely register in someone else’s.

A July 2026 Gallup poll found that roughly 2% of American adults identify as vegan. An Ipsos survey published that summer found that more than 60% supported biomedical animal research when veterinarians oversee it to ensure the animals are treated well. Those are different questions, but both offer some perspective on how far my feed can be from the broader public.

If you scrolled through my social media, you might think nearly everyone was vegan, knew all about animal testing, and strongly opposed it.

If Kindness Ranch wants to continue to grow and be effective we need to do three things:

1. Build trust with you, the animal lovers who support our work and our methods.

2. Help animals leave research through nonadversarial relationships that can be sustained for as long as they are needed.

3. Have conversations with people who are unfamiliar with this work, support animal research, or simply see animals differently than we do.

Some of my favorite recent conversations have been with people who had no idea who I was or what I did.

I usually begin with something simple: “I work for Kindness Ranch, a sanctuary that takes in former research animals.”

Often, the response is, “Oh, you mean like monkeys and stuff?”

And a conversation begins. We talk about beagles, the other animals who come to us, and the complexities of helping them move into a different life.

There is no audience to win over or comment section to defend. Just two people talking.

If I meet you at an animal welfare conference or a Kindness Ranch event, we probably already share some understanding of this work. You may already be looking for ways to help. 

The person driving me to the airport may be hearing about it for the first time. Their unfamiliarity gives me an opportunity to share something I care about, and their questions give me an opportunity to listen.

I have mentioned Uber drivers quite a bit here, so let me add that mine have been wonderful. I am grateful for those conversations.

They have also left me asking how we break free from the constant repetition of our own views. How do we reach more people and grow our mission responsibly?

Are we willing to enter a conversation knowing it may end with agreeing to disagree? Can we listen to another person’s perspective without spending the whole time preparing our response? Can we believe deeply in our own mission while treating someone who sees things differently with respect?

At Kindness Ranch, our work depends on that willingness. We need to be able to sit down with people whose views and experiences differ from ours and find opportunities to help animals. We do not need agreement on every issue to agree that an animal deserves care and an opportunity for a life after research.

Some of you will choose public advocacy, raising your voices and demanding change. Others will volunteer at a sanctuary, offering patience and comfort to animals beginning a new chapter. Some will write emails, share stories, adopt, or help fund the care that makes these opportunities possible.

Whatever way you choose to be involved, may you do it in kindness.

May you make room for conversations with people you would not ordinarily meet. May you be willing to listen, even when you disagree. And may our efforts come from love and respect for the animals we hope to help.

That is how I want Kindness Ranch to keep moving forward. Every human and animal who comes through our doors gives us another reason to keep having those conversations.