Rappaport To The Rescue

It's a celebrity-packed celebration of compassion as award-winning animal advocate Jill Rappaport takes you LIVE from the green carpet at the Humane World for Animals To The Rescue Gala! Jill catches up with gala host Neil Patrick Harris, who shares his family's love of rescue dogs and the unconditional love animals bring into our lives. Supermodel, actor and passionate animal advocate Christie Brinkley discusses groundbreaking technology that could help eliminate animal testing, while renown animal advocate Beth Stern shares heartwarming stories of the incredible rescue work she and husband media giant Howard Stern are doing, from fostering kittens and rabbits to saving baby squirrels! Jill also speaks with longtime gala chair Suzy Welch about her dedication to animal welfare and the joy of her own rescue dogs, and Kitty Block, President and CEO of Humane World for Animals, about exciting advances in ending animal testing and the importance of protecting animals everywhere. It's an inspiring, entertaining, celebrity-packed episode celebrating the people making a difference for animals!

Listen to Episode #94 Now:

Transcript:

Hi, welcome to Rappaport to the Rescue. I'm Jill Rappaport. So excited to be at the Humane World for Animals to the Rescue Gala.

This is such an incredible event every year filled with celebrities. We're gonna have Neil Patrick Harris hosting, Christie Brinkley presenting the big award tonight, and so many more. Bernadette Peters, Amy Sedaris, the list goes on and on.

So you do not wanna miss this episode of Rappaport to the Rescue when we come back. Hi, welcome back to Rappaport to the Rescue. I'm Jill Rappaport, live from the Humane World for Animals to the Rescue Gala.

Ladies and gentlemen, the one, the only, Neil Patrick Harris, who's hosting this event tonight. What an honor, right? Thank you so much, yeah. I'm a huge animal lover.

We have four dogs. I've grown up with dogs and cats and birds and all kinds of fun things. So it's really nice to be here tonight.

And everybody was so excited when they announced that you were going to be the host. Oh, really? Oh my goodness, there was such a buzz that Neil was gonna be here. Good, I'll try not to curse.

I love it. And we've talked about your love of animals before and how you instilled that, not only with David, but to Harper and Gideon, your children. Tell me the importance of rescue.

Wow, rescue is super important. There's so many dogs that are in desperate need of homes. And there's so many wonderful families that once they have a dog or cat, realize that their whole family was incomplete.

We live in a world now where our animals are our family members. We don't live in that age where you just like undo a can of like slop and like feed it to them and keep them in like a pen. Dogs sleep in beds now, eat regular food as they should.

When I come home and I'm sad for whatever reason, these dogs are unconditional love. They come up and they provide such emotional support for me, for our kids, for my husband, for everyone. It's so beautiful to say it that way.

And it's so important that you are at this event because you can send the message, the importance of animal welfare by hosting something. And you know, technologies are advancing rapidly. And so we don't really need to be like testing things on animals to see how far we can take things in a bad way.

Now we have much better techniques. So get some attention to that, I think is really smart. Absolutely, Neil, thank you.

Oh, so great to see you. Neil Patrick Harris, ladies and gentlemen. I am so excited to be here with the one, the only, Christie Brinkley.

Hi, my BFF. And she is the presenter tonight for this very important award. So I'm giving an award tonight to a company called Emulate.

And it's so interesting. They do this special technology that would completely eliminate animal testing. And I think to liberate the animals from the cages would be so amazing.

This is such a special award because it's literally genius on a chip. Yes, it is. It's really amazing technology.

And now they need us. And we need to sign the petitions and we need to call our reps and we need to do everything in our power to protect them. Oh, such an important message, brilliantly and passionately put, Christie..

And now I'm with the animal advocate extraordinaire, Beth Stern. She and I have been animal advocates since we could talk. And we were bonded the minute we met.

And we always email each other when a new addition comes to the family. Because this is the house and I panic. This is the first one.

Who are you gonna call? Her. It goes back to when I was born. I think it was, I was born, it's in my blood.

Always had animals. My parents had animals before my brothers came into the world. We've been rescuing since, I don't know life without rescuing.

That's what my family did. And right now my husband Howard is at home taking care of 36 fosters. So we've got five rabbits, actually four are now in our new rabbit.

We've got a guinea pig. We've got a million kittens. It's just, you know, but I have homes for everybody.

So that's the beauty of, there are good people out there. There's some horrific stories. There are the people like you that welcome rescues into their home.

And it's so great. And can I just share that I have been so hooked on the videos where she actually, she and Howard rescued these baby squirrels smaller than my hand. Five of them.

And they're actually getting to be released. I saw them, they're moving around. Well, I'm so excited.

And Ginny from Wildlife. We love Ginny. She's the most amazing wildlife rehabber.

So that's really amazing. And you've chronicled some of your amazing journeys with your best-selling books. Thank you.

The most recent one about the most adorable bunny rabbit Cocomelon, and my disabled kitten. And they fell in love and they were living in the Stern household. Happily ever after.

I love it because, you know, most people would think squirrels, rabbits. Howard and I rescued a vole. Do you know what a vole is? What is a vole? It's a rodent.

It's a little black rodent. He was on our walkway. We drove him to the Wildlife Rescue Center.

And I think they used him for, don't ask, but we tried, we tried. And I love that Howard would do this because he seems like he might be a little easy. You know, we bought the contraption where you allow bugs, if there's a bug or a spider, that humanely rescues them.

And you put them in this little contraption and you can look at them with the magnifying glass and you take them outside and release them. He now is obsessed with using that. He will not kill any little bug or anything, not even a flea.

I love it. And for the world who doesn't know her husband, the one and only Howard Stern, who I have said years ago was the best interviewer. I'll relate.

I'll love that coming from Jill Rappaport. Also supporting what you did, because when you got together, he wasn't exactly incubus. You know what? He always had it in him.

He was an animal lover. I don't think I would have gone on the second date had he not been an animal lover. I think that came up.

So I don't think he knew his world was going to be like this though, but he loves it. Thank you, Jill. I'm so thrilled to be with Susy Welch, who I've known for years through NBC.

And you are so involved with this gala. There's so many people who are responsible for this gala. I'm just very happy to be here, happy to chair it.

It's a great honor. And you've chaired it for many years. Yes, I have.

I'm afraid to count how many years it's been. I co-chair it with Georgina Bloomberg and this year Caren Fleit is joining us. Well, it's such an incredible honor.

And I remember in 2012, I was up on that stage receiving the first voice for the Voiceless Award. It was the most incredible honor. Along with Cory Booker.

What a great advocate you are. So I feel in the presence of greatness. Oh, you're so sweet.

And meanwhile, you are a force to be reckoned with, Suzy. What you have done and what you are working on, you never stop. Tell us a little bit about what's on your plate these days.

I'm a professor at NYU Stern School of Business where I teach management. I teach a class called Becoming You. So it's a wonderful experience me helping people find their purpose.

But my passion is for animals. And so I'm still on the board of the Humane World for animals and involved in all of their projects. And we had a phone conversation a couple of years ago and we talked about your big, beautiful dogs.

You were having some serious health issues. Tell me, who are you the pet parent to now? I have two big German Shepherds, Sir and Audrey, and I have a little Dachshund who came from a hoarding case. I feel like I love them too.

So we're very lucky that way. And all rescues, obviously. And I always say, and I don't have human children, but they give us more joy, these animals, and compassion.

As I have four children and grandchildren. But be honest. But they give me a great deal of joy.

They certainly do. And they need our help now more than ever. So many animals in need.

We have to speak for them. They cannot speak for themselves. We have to speak for them.

Well, Suzy Welch, I am so excited to catch up with you. Congratulations on doing such a stellar job. Thank you.

Now I'm here with the CEO and president of this great organization, Kitty Block. And you have really done an amazing job. Thank you so much.

We've got an amazing staff around the world. It is a beautiful night. I'm thrilled you're here.

And this event, as you know, is very special to my heart. I remember being up on this stage and feeling like this was the greatest honor in the world. It really is such a special event, Kitty.

It's such a special event. And it really honors the people and the work because a lot of it happens behind the scenes. And a lot of people don't know what's happening.

And this showcases all of it in such a beautiful, compelling, loving way. Last year, when I interviewed you, we talked about the state of animal welfare and what's been going on. And have we made strides this year? What can we look forward to and where do we need to be? Well, what I'm most excited about is what we're featuring here tonight, which is animals and testing and research.

There has never been a time in history where public opinion, the science, and government action have come together all over the world to change this. So the science, getting animals out of it, better science for humans without animal suffering. What more can we want? So we are pushing hard and we're gonna drive this one and end this.

That is such fantastic news. And now with our blue-nami, the blue wave, do you think that'll even help it more? It does on some issues, but really the good thing about our work is everybody loves animals. And so- Knows no political divide.

It knows no political divide. They have friends and allies in every party and they need that. And so that's what we really focus on.

Those who will lead on animal issues and that's what matters to the animals. Well, you are kicking butt in this role. You have the most important job in the organization.

Talk about stress and pressure. And she always does it, ladies and gentlemen, with the most beautiful smile and the best attitude. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you.

Always wonderful to see you and hear what you're telling the world. I love it. I love it.

Oh, we love you. Thank you so much, Kitty. And that is a wrap.

Live from the Humane World for Animals to the Rescue Gala. What a great event featuring so many amazing people doing so much to give back to our animals in need. And a reminder that November is Adopt a Senior Dog Month.

So please open up your hearts and homes to a senior dog in need. It is the best gift you can give not only them, but yourself. And thank you again for joining us on Rappaport to the Rescue.

"Rappaport to the Rescue" Theme Song Written & Produced by Mark Winter
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