This week Mindi and Kristen dive into a topic that we know many people have been anxious to hear about- our USDA kennel visits. This episode serves as a jumping off point for our team as they intend to spend the next several episodes sharing our experience visiting USDA dog breeders and brokers as a part of our Field Research. We ask you to listen …

This week Mindi and Kristen continue their conversation about the lessons they learned at their recent conference. In this episode, they reflect on meeting two different Stephanies who served as important reminders that we must keep reaching the puppy-buying public with our message. They also discuss the importance of treating everyone with kindnes…

This week, Mindi and Kristen reflect on the conversations they had at a recent conference in Philadelphia. Nonprofit leaders across various fields came together to share their struggles and inspire hope for what the future holds. They also discuss how important it is for organizations to make space for new ideas and opinions if we want to see meani…

It's a full house today! Mindi and Kristen are joined this week by Jalaine and Alexis as we all discuss and reflect on why our volunteers are so amazing and how our grassroots advocacy efforts are very effective on the local level. This fun, 'patchwork' episode was made complete with two zoom interviews with three of our amazing team members! In or…

In this week’s episode, we dive into the powerful role that data plays in exposing the truth about the puppy mill industry. Mindi and Kristen speak with Alexis about our quarterly USDA inspection audit and how those reports have evolved since we began them in 2022. We also discuss the due process of it all and what it takes to actually get a licens…

How many puppy mills are in operation in the United States? Did you say 10,000? We bet you said that there were 10,000. That number has been floating around the internet since around 2015 (as far as we can tell) and it is used everywhere! Would you be surprised to hear that this approximation is more of a ballpark guess and isn't rooted in fact or …

The murky world of companion animal regulation: This week Mindi and Kristen break down the complicated, and often misunderstood, world of licensing in the animal industry. Do rescues and shelters need to be inspected? Are puppy mills licensed? Why is the state and federal government involved? These two explore how different standards (or lack there…

In this week's episode, Kristen sits down with Alexis to discuss her recent trip to Missouri to volunteer at Humane Lobby Day with our volunteers. Alexis talks about the type of research prep she does ahead of these events and what type of information our teams need to be successful when they have conversations in their communities. Jalaine later j…

This week Mindi and Kristen discuss the nuances of working upstream and discuss the various types of organizations that work in the animal welfare space. We talk about our role in educating the puppy-buying public and the importance of investing in prevention before the chaos lands at our feet. Thank you for sitting with us and joining in on the co…

This week Mindi and Kristen sit down to chat about bringing the podcast back and go over some of the conversations we are excited to have in future episodes. Bailing Out Benji is a few years older since our last podcast and we've learned SO much about the puppy mill industry during the hiatus. We are excited to talk and learn alongside all of you a…

Last week you heard about how Bailing Out Benji was founded and some of the amazing work that we have done. This week, tune in as we introduce you to the people behind the scenes who keep this nonprofit running! Alexis, Jalaine, and Kristen are integral to who we are at Bailing Out Benji and each play a unique role in what we do. We are excited to …

Hello, new friends and longtime friends :) Thank you for joining us for our first episode back in the podcast space! Today you will hear about Bailing Out Benji's origin story, how our first protests began, and about how a little documentary changed our world! We might be a small team, but the impact we are having on the commercial dog breeding ind…

So much has happened since we released our last episode nearly three years ago! With the addition of new staff, more volunteers, and lots and lots of hours of new research and networking and important conversations, it feels like the perfect time to reconnect with you all. So we're bringing the show back! In this brief check-in episode, Mindi is he…