Rappaport To The Rescue

Jill Rappaport brings together celebrities and animal advocates for a special rescue-filled edition of Rappaport to the Rescue from the Hamptons. Christie Brinkley, Dylan Lauren, Broadway producer Daryl Roth and Best Friends Animal Society CEO Julie Castle join Jill at her ranch to celebrate pet adoption and Best Friends’ lifesaving mission to “Save Them All.” Julie also shares exciting news about Best Friends Animal Society expanding its rescue efforts on Long Island with a new center designed to help animals in need find loving homes.

Then Jill heads to the Hampton Classic Horse Show for Adoption Day, where Georgina Bloomberg and Valerie Angeli shine a spotlight on horse rescue, equine welfare and the many ways animal lovers can help horses in need. Plus, cat correspondent Deborah Cribbs visits the Humane Society of Greater Dayton to explore how progressive shelters are changing the way they care for cats, including community cat programs, fostering and innovative approaches to cat adoption.

It’s a star-studded celebration of rescue animals, pet adoption and the people working to give dogs, cats and horses the second chances they deserve.

Listen to Episode #90 Now:

Transcript:

Hi, welcome to Rappaport to the Rescue. I'm Jill Rappaport, and as we close out summer, which I have to admit I am very, very sad about, we want to bring you a wonderful, exciting, and exclusive show today with two amazing events that I had the honor of hosting, starting with one right here at my ranch for Best Friends Animal Society. Now, this is an incredible organization that I had the honor of working with for my Home for the Holidays campaign, and I can tell you all firsthand, it was a blessing to work with this amazing organization and the wonderful, dedicated people that are part of it.

And now there's very big news because they are spreading the love, the joy, and their life-saving message to Long Island. We will hear all about that firsthand from Best Friends CEO Julie Castle coming up, and we had an amazing discussion. But the best part is that she was right here at my ranch where we threw a boot scootin' bash filled with rescue dogs from Little Shelter, we had amazing birds from the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Center, and of course, my beautiful horses, Grace the Backdrop.

It was such a wonderful event filled with folks that really walk the talk for our animals in need, including many well-known faces like Christie Brinkley, Broadway legend Daryl Roth, Candy Queen Dylan Lauren, and one of the most amazing photographers, Bruce Weber, philanthropist Jean Shafiroff, and of course, all of the executives and amazing donors to Best Friends. And co-founder Francis Battista was also here to celebrate what this organization does and continues to do every day to change the world for animals in need. Now, if that wasn't enough, earlier in the day, I hosted Adoption Day at the Hampton Classic Horse Show again.

This year, I believe, was my 16th appearance being part of this wonderful event at one of the most coveted horse shows in the country. Every year, thanks to Valerie Angeli and Georgina Bloomberg, who sponsors this event, we're on the field with incredible horses up for adoption, and also there's several local shelters that were there with dogs and cats just waiting for their forever homes. So needless to say, this has been a huge end of summer week, and when we come back, you will hear from Best Friends CEO Julie Castle, Christie Brinkley, Dylan Lauren, Daryl Roth, Georgina Bloomberg, and so many more in this special Giving Back in the Hamptons edition of Rappaport to the Rescue.

I am so thrilled to be hosting this event for Best Friends. Julie, to bring you here from Utah, welcome to the Hamptons, and spreading your joy and love. We are so happy to have you.

I am so excited to be here representing Best Friends and our no-kill mission to save them all, and we are looking forward to doing more adoptions, saving more lives, getting more heathen homes, all the good things that all the animals deserve. And you've got some very big news that we on Long Island are very excited about. Can you share a little, break some news? So this is breaking news.

We are building a center in Long Island to support our life-saving work in New York. The center is designated for animals coming from the Southern United States to be rehabilitated until they can be adopted in the Lummi homes in the Northeast. And of course, we will take animals from all over the country, not just the South.

We'll be taking them from the Northeast as well, wherever there's a need. And from Julie Castle's important message to one of my favorite cowgirls on the East End, it's Christy Brinkley. All decked out in her Western paraphernalia, and we're celebrating Best Friends coming to my ranch to educate people on the joys of adopting and saving our fur angels.

Yes, and it's a lot of fun, and we love the animals, all of them. Dogs, there's birds, horses, all kinds of animals here, and it's pretty wonderful. Isn't it great? Because this organization, their motto is save them all.

Save them all. While you're on camera, anything else you want to plug? Any new projects? Well, I'd like to mention that I have a small, she's a little far, in American Summer, coming to a theater near you on September 4th. And with Steve Goodler, Steve Goosberg, and Mia Tallarico, definitely run to the theater near you.

It's a nice little picture that's great for the whole family. It's a great grandma and grandpa. You can bring the babies and have a great time with the newbies.

That's so great. Christy, thank you. Thank you for being such an amazing animal advocate.

Adopts don't shop. That's right. I'm so excited to have the one and only Daryl Roth at my ranch.

What an honor to have you here, and for Best Friends. I'm so happy to be here, and I'm so proud of you for everything you do for our beloved animals, horses, dogs, cats, apparently birds. I see birds here today.

But it's really wonderful. I mean, you have the biggest heart, my friend, and I am proud to know you. Oh, Daryl, I love you so much.

You're such a huge animal advocate. What I love about Best Friends, they're models. Save them all.

I know. If they get rid of all these pill shelters, we'll be in great shape, and that's their mission. They're doing it.

They are doing it. They are doing it. It's a problem that actually has a solution.

It just needed these people with such big hearts and know-how to make it happen. Absolutely. And on a final note, if you saw the Tony, Daryl just took home her 14th Tony Award.

Oh, thank you. You are a legend besides being a true blue animal advocate. Thank you, my friend.

Those are the two things I love. Theater and dogs. What more could a person want other than a really good friend in you? And now I'm here with the one and only Dylann Lauren, the candid queen, but most important animal advocate extraordinaire.

Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for hosting this at your gorgeous house. It's amazing.

And what does Best Friends mean to you, and how did you get involved with them? I think it's an amazing sanctuary, and Utah kind of looks like your property here. And they have an amazing facility now in Oyster Bay that they're opening and trying to raise awareness for it to help other animals that need help and need medical care before they can be adopted. And so you were so kind to the host because there's a lot of people who want to adopt dogs, don't know how to care for them, can't pay to care for them.

So this is to raise awareness. And it's a chat about a whole new audience who is closer to Long Island and see the dogs at their new facility and also New York City where they have another sanctuary. And you've been giving back your whole life to animals in need.

Yeah. And even with your candy business, which is amazing, you have Dylann's Candy Barn. That's right.

Yes. And I just love like, you know, being as helpful as I can. And so our customers in the candy, you know, they're all actually animal lovers as well.

So why not, you know, remote rescue to people who love something sweet? Well, you are doing God's work. And thank you so much for being here. And we really need everybody to step up to the plate and help.

Yes, yes. And I think that this is a great, not not a great start is a great continuation of everything you've done. And we honestly, a lot of people are loving not just this event, but there's dogs here that need homes and they're so cute and people would never see them otherwise.

So it's amazing that you get this. So thank you so much. Everybody's been saying my home and me were homage to Ralph Lauren.

Yes. I mean, I show other people the inside. They were used to our family's ranch.

They would see it matches. And we did such a beautiful down here. Oh, thank you, Dylan, for those very kind words and continued amazing work for our animals in need.

Now we are off to the horse show, the Hampton Classic Horse Show, where I will be hosting Adoption Day with Georgina Bloomberg coming up. Welcome back to Rapport to the Rescue. I am here on location at the Hampton Classic Horse Show, and this is Adoption Day.

And I'm joined with the person who created this very heartwarming event, Valerie Angeli. This is truly a labor of love. It's beyond a labor of love.

It's something that I'm most passionate about. And actually, I rode here once as a kid with the one and only horse I ever owned, and he taught me so much about horse welfare. And it's been a dream to come back here and present the message of what happens to horses when they're not showing it anymore? What happens when they need another home? And sometimes it's not a pretty story.

So I'm very involved in horse adoption and horse welfare and helping all the groups that do great things in their own unique way. And they're all here. Like, no, I take that back.

A lot of them are here representing what they do around the globe for horse welfare and how you can get involved. There are adoptable horses here, too. There's a Long Island University equestrian team.

There's the Long Island University Vet School, College of Vet Med. There are veterinarians here, and we can teach you how to be a vet if you want, or how to go about being a vet student, careers with animals, how to help. It's engaging horse people who love horses in taking the next step and being a champion for horses that need our help.

And a lot of them do. And you, my friend, have helped me put this together and put it in the spotlight because I couldn't have done it without you, without Georgina, without Brianne Goutal, and also Sinead, the Executive Director of the Hampton Classic, which gave us this day and gave us permission to run with this. And she's helped us make this a destination for animal lovers.

And only horse show I know that does this. People need to come out and be inspired on how we can make the world a better place for those that can't speak for themselves. Now I'm so thrilled to be with this special lady, a top equestrian and a world-class animal advocate, Georgina Bloomberg.

George, here we are again. No, and favorite day of the year. I love being able to be here and to do this for the animals and to have you for joining us.

And it's so great that we have such amazing horses. Yeah, yeah. And let's talk about what's available for adoption and what people don't realize what you can get.

Yeah, no, absolutely. I mean, I think this is the perfect day to come out and see it. People don't really think about adopting horses and it's such a necessary thing to give these horses second opportunity to give them a job.

But, you know, it's not all the horses that you see in the ring. They sometimes need something else to do afterward. And sometimes even some of the horses that you can adopt here can end up in the ring here as the Hampton Classic.

You never know. Yeah. And people have to also understand because it is a big ask to open up your heart and home to a horse.

But you could do many other things like donate. Yeah. Open up your wallet.

Yeah. Yeah. And even just doing your time or, you know, spreading the message really.

No, no matter who you are, what you can do and give, there is a way for you to be able to help this cause. And on a final note, George is here every year showing and your son has become such an accomplished rider. Talk about the apple not falling far from the very talented tree.

And your beautiful little girl is here. Is she a horsewoman too? She's obsessed more so than the boys. She sees a horse and she just immediately needs to go for them.

She loves being at our barn. And I am very confident that she will be, you know, the main rider of the family one day. Oh, I love it.

And I wish you the most incredible luck this week. I know that you never really get nervous, but it's a tense time for you this week. Yeah, it's a big week.

You know, it's a horse show that has so much tradition and meaning and, you know, it means a lot to me to be able to be here and to go well. And I always try my best no matter what. And George, to many, many more years collaborating with you on this amazing event.

I'm so proud to be working with her. You are a hero. You are the reason this is happening.

Thank you. Well, that's a wrap for Rappaport to the Rescue at the Hampton Classic Horse Show Adoption Day. But wait, we have a lot more to this show.

It's time for the kittens and the cats with our cat correspondent, Deborah Cribbs, coming up. Welcome back to Rappaport to the Rescue. I'm Jill Rappaport.

And it's that time again where we are joined by our cat correspondent, Deborah Cribbs, who is at the Humane Society of Greater Dayton, where new models of cat care are telling the story of how animal sheltering is changing across this country. At a time when cats were once overlooked in many shelters, but now new strategies around their intake and care are driving some of the most progressive ideas in animal welfare. And, you know, Deborah, it's so interesting because you immediately think when you look at the overcrowded shelters, you see dog after dog after dog.

But the situation with cats seems to me to be a little worse. Hi, Jill. Thanks again for having us here at Dayton Humane.

I'm back. You know, I don't know that I would say it's worse, but cats and dogs are both in peril in the United States, potentially in a shelter. Now, this shelter, Dayton Humane, they have a very high live release rate.

And what that means is that the animals that come into the shelter leave alive one way or another. But let's talk about cats versus dogs. Now, I know, Jill, you're the dog person and the horse person.

I love cats, too. I'm just allergic. Allergic to cats, totally a common thing.

It's okay. I'm the cat correspondent, so I'm going to talk about cats. But there is something really revolutionary over the last, say, 50 years in the United States sheltering system.

When you think about a shelter, you do kind of think about the dog, dogs, and the dog pound. And yes, overloaded with dogs. And that is still a challenge nationally.

When cats started to be companion animals to humans in the United States, it became known within the shelter community that cats and dogs have different needs in a shelter. So what happened? I would say, really, this is over the last two decades, that we've turned into more of a progressive model of sheltering in large parts of the United States. And again, here in Dayton, Ohio, that is absolutely the case.

So what does that mean, progressive sheltering? Cats and dogs are different, right, Jill? They're different animals. When you go to a shelter and you see a dog, generally, dogs, what? Wag their whole body. They come up to you.

They lick your hand, your face. They're happy to see you, right? Even in a shelter environment, not all dogs, but many. What do cats do? They cower in the back of the cage.

They sit on their litter box. They cover their face because then they think nobody can see them. Cats do not, and I'm going to use a term that I don't love, but it's true.

Cats do not show well in a shelter environment. So, Jill, your family decides you want to adopt a cat. You go to your shelter.

You walk into the cat side of the shelter, and you may even hear barking dogs. That's bad too. Cats don't like that.

But how do you and your family even choose when you can't even interact with the cat because the cat's buried in the shelter? But most cat people know that, right? So, when they go in to look for a cat, they're not expecting a wagging tail and the kisses that you can get from many shelter dogs, which is amazing too considering their situation, and they're still filled with so much love waiting to get out. Very true. But cats and dogs, since they are different, you're right.

A cat lover is not going to come in looking for tail wagging for sure. But what do the shelters do to address that? And over the years, we've come up with a model that works way better for cats. The most important element, I think, is really what we call diversion.

We actually don't want cats in shelters for all the reasons we just said. So, the biggest part of diversion is really community cat programs within every city in the United States. That means if a cat is living outside and healthy, whether in a colony or in your backyard, as long as they're healthy, make sure they're fixed and let them be where they are.

That keeps those cats, and that number is in the millions, out of shelters. So, that immediately takes the heat off of the shelters. But another tool, and we talked about this last month, Jill, fostering.

We don't actually want cats in a shelter. If they have to be somewhere, we'd rather them be with volunteer foster families. That works way better.

And if anybody cares to listen, go back to our August show and listen to all the information about fostering. But also, nowadays, when we have adoption events, like big adoption events, again, cats are not going to respond well to being put in a cage in a gymnasium with a bunch of other cats and barking dogs, right? So, we found better ways to address that, like maybe doing them virtually, where we have cameras on cats, sometimes even in foster homes. It just works better for cat adoptions.

And I will say, I just read an interesting fact, Jill. In fact, over the last couple of years, cat adoptions in the United States have now surpassed dog adoptions. Now, many people have multiple cats in their household.

So, that, we believe, is part of it. And we love to say, get a cat for your cat. Cats do great, if there are two of them or more in a household, of course.

But yeah, there are more cat adoptions nationally now than dog adoptions. All the good work that we're doing, that our friends at Date and Humane are doing, that you're doing by talking about this, perhaps we can all move the needle a little bit. Well, Deborah Cribbs, you have made this your mission, to speak out for kittens and cats everywhere.

And thank you so much. I love when you're on location and we can actually witness and hear firsthand what these facilities are doing to make a difference. So, thank you so much, Deborah.

You're welcome. And thank you always for having me, Jill. And thank you all for listening to this Labor Day edition of Rappaport to the Rescue.

Please have a very safe holiday. And please think about opening up your heart and home to an animal in need.

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