Activism

"In 1972, amidst my misery with Mills' possessiveness, I convinced him to move from Vegas to Los Angeles so that I could pursue acting. He was very jealous of the time I spent at my classes and anything else that did not include him. 

"About that time, I learned about atrocities being committed against non-human animals via a tv show called "George Putnam's Talk Back". I witnessed  shocking  experiments under government oversight and university approval and learned the word "vivisection". I got involved with the L.A. chapter of Fund for Animals. I began volunteering at the South L.A. County Animal Control shelter. I attended an event for Actors & Others for Animals at the Burbank Studios and heard the screams of an undercover video of a slaughterhouse and immediately became vegetarian. Mills called his 70-year-old mother to complain that I would not cook steak for him."

"In the 80s, divorced from Don and living in L.A., I became aware of an animal rights organization whose members participated in Direct Actions. I got involved with its efforts to pass legislation to ban cosmetic and household product testing on animals. My tenacity and dependability earned me a spot as a key volunteer activist, later coming onboard as a staff member. I served as a literature creator, writer/editor, campaign coordinator, protest monitor, and otherwise key contributor to the missions of the movement. I had been vegetarian since 1975, but became vegan in 1988 when I learned the cruel hidden ealities behind the dairy and egg industries."

"I protested circuses, rodeos, zoos, 'abuse' meant park venues like SeaWorld, fur, factory farming, pet theft, vivisection in the University of California system and Cedars Sinai, and worked on public outreach and humane legislation. I've been arrested and jailed 4 times for my involvement and dedication (charged with "trespass")."

"I moved to the Phoenix area in 2001 to be near my family members who had moved from Michigan many years ago.  I sought out animal rights activities in my new environment and in 2006 was charged with my first leadership role. With encouragement and coaching from Dr. Alka Chandna of PeTA, I took over coordination of local efforts to prevent the controversial animal toxicity-testing company Covance (renamed from Hazelton after their Ebola scandal years ago) from building a new site in my city, Chandler, Arizona. This was pursuant to their failure to set up shop in Alameda, California due to public outcry.

"I recruited and coordinated community meetings, presentations, protests, and served as Media Spokesperson for Citizens Against Covance. 

[Insert media interiew from protest at Chandler Gilbert CC]

"In 2008, I initiated a local effort as part of a national campaign against the cruel, deceptive puppy mill trade and their retail pet store outlets. Due to our successful outreach, the public has become more aware of the realities behind the cute faces in the pet store windows... the suffering of the parent dogs in cages, the sicknesses puppies endure, and the lies, consumer fraud, and 3rd-party loan companies that trap unknowing buyers into high-interest financial commitments. Prospective pet parents are increasingly choosing to forego this unscrupulous industry and have taken the "Adopt, Don't Shop" pledge to save a life by rescuing from a shelter or adoption organization."