I have always been an animal person. I’m known to chat with lizards and crows in the wild, stop traffic for geese and turtles to safely make their way across the road, charm the cats, and spoil the dogs. I chose to become a vegetarian over 15 years ago, after a chance encounter with a pig, realizing I could no longer eat someone I had just had such an amazing conversation with…and with each day, I eliminate more and more animal products from my life. Even before these changes, I had been fiercely outspoken about protecting wildlife. For me, every encounter with other animals is a Heart-felt experience and the sacredness of that affects me profoundly. And the more I connect with them…well, the more I connect with them.

I support a variety of organizations that help animals, from sanctuaries to eco-fashion. These lists are organic and I will add as I find more. Here are some of the organizations:

Animal Sanctuaries, Conservation, and Shelters

• Esther The Wonder Pig – I am rather obsessed with the adventures of Esther and her dads. She is responsible for expanding my love for pigs. Her dads also created a sanctuary, Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary , a large sanctuary for an assortment of farm animals rescued from farms and other unsafe living situations. They are located in Canada and are an exceptional organization.
• Central Texas Pig Rescue – a great pig sanctuary outside of Austin, Texas.
• Austin Farm Sanctuary – a farm sanctuary in Austin, Texas. I found this after following Central Texas Pig Rescue and realizing there was another sanctuary with pigs in the Austin area. And like many of these sanctuaries, they’ve got a lot more than pigs!
• Panthera – The only world organization devoted to conservation of all wild cat species. In another life, I knew one of the founders of this organization, back before he helped to found Panthera. Hearing the stories of all that he had done in search of endangered cats around the world was incredibly inspiring.
• Austin Pet’s Alive – a great animal shelter in Austin, Texas that goes above and beyond for cats, dogs, and more.