Species, United. Species unite.

It's almost like the Animal Welfare Act is like a safety, a security blanket because it's like,

we have the Animal Welfare Act to protect the animals like they're okay and they don't

realize that it's actually not very strong and that it's not being very aggressively

enforced. Hi, I'm Elizabeth Navregatz. This is Species Unite. We'd like to thank Lush for sponsoring today's episode.

Lush advocates for people, animals, and the planet.

Through their ethically sourced ingredients and their grants program, they give back locally and around the world.

In February, Eric Klineman from the Animal Welfare Institute was on the podcast. He came on to talk about the Invigo Dogs, the 4,000 beagles that were

rescued in Virginia last summer.

They were at a breeding facility for research animals.

And to talk about trafficked monkeys

and the stories written by Rachel Fobar. Rachel Fobar is a National Geographic reporter who covers wildlife crime and exploitation.

So I asked Rachel to come on the show because I want to better understand why is it that we are allowing the USDA who

almost never does their job to be in charge of the Animal Welfare Act. Rachel, thank you so much. It's awesome to have you here.

Yeah, thanks for having me.

Will you just explain what it is you do and what you report on?

Sure, yes, I'm a reporter for Nat Geo's Wildlife Watch team

which is an investigative unit that focuses on wildlife crime and exploitation. I didn't go into

journalism knowing I wanted to cover animals I actually

start off covering criminal justice and potentially wrongful convictions.

Do you write wildlife crime and exploitation?

Right. A lot of animals that you wouldn't really think of are covered under that.

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