Animal Advocate Spotlight

At 11 years old, Girl Scout Ava Toomey asked legislators to support a bill restricting the use of rodenticides. Ava learned about the dangers of rodenticides when she saw a wildlife sanctuary video of Hawkins the fox receiving treatment for secondary rodenticide poisoning. Fortunately he was able to be rehabilitated and released into the wild. Ava reached out to the bill sponsors to ask how she could help. From there, Ava began her advocacy work, tabling at farmers’ markets, creating a PSA, and testifying at the legislation’s public hearing.

After having won a successful campaign in Weston to ban the retail sale of fur, Nirva Patel turned her focus to Lexington. Working closely with her father-in-law, who lives in Lexington, and her kids, Nirva was able to help Lexington bring their own fur ban bylaw across the finish line, this one with even more protections than the Weston ban. Click through to read our interview.

In April 2022, college student Lauren Nesralla led a successful campaign to ban the retail sale of fur in her hometown of Plymouth. Lauren had been involved in animal advocacy for several years, including on the topic of fur, and when she saw the passage of a fur ban in Brookline by a local teen, she decided to do the same for her community of Plymouth. Read on to learn about Lauren’s experience.

In December of 2021, Brookline became the third municipality in Massachusetts to ban the retail sale of fur. This ordinance was passed by Brookline 9th grader, Ezra Kleinbaum. Read on to learn about Ezra’s experience. You’re never too young to make a difference. As Ezra puts it: “Just because you’re young doesn’t mean your voice isn’t powerful.”

In October of 2020, Wellesley became the first municipality outside of California to ban the retail sale of fur. Advocate Liza Oliver spearheaded this campaign by immersing herself in the issue, and learning what it takes to pass a bylaw in a municipality with a representative town meeting style of government. Read on to learn about her success and her biggest takeaways.

Animal advocate Jenne Sindoni was tired of seeing exploited, exotic, circus animals come through her town every year – so she did something about it. Read our interview with her, and how she was able to spearhead the effort to end exotic animals in traveling acts from performing in Wilmington, MA – even during the COVID-19 pandemic. (ISSUE UPDATE: In 2024, we banned traveling exotic animal acts in Massachusetts!)

Tara Buonanno Williams and Leslie Luppino were both critical in the passage of ordinances that ban the sale of puppies and kittens in pet shops – Tara in Stoneham and Leslie in Pittsfield. Read on to learn about their experiences, how they became involved with this issue, what tactics they found to be most effective, and advice for other Massachusetts residents who would like to become more involved in animal advocacy.

Animal Advocate Martha Sanders introduced the victorious bylaw that banned the use of exotic animals in traveling shows in the town of Topsfield in May, 2019. Read about her experience, what surprised her the night of the vote, and what advice she would give others thinking about taking on a municipal ordinance effort in their own community. (ISSUE UPDATE: In 2024, we banned traveling exotic animal acts in Massachusetts!)

Carole Dembek, a citizen animal advocate, became an integral part of the successful campaign to end wildlife killing contests in the Commonwealth. Read on to learn about Carole’s experience, how she became involved, what tactics she found to be most effective when making change through a state agency, and her advice for other Massachusetts residents who would like to become more involved in animal advocacy.