Understanding Humanity Through the Healing Power of Pets and Unconditional Love with Carol Mithers

Air Dates: November 11-November 17, 2024   

When many of us think about animal rescue, we think about abandoned pets looking for a new home. But Carol Mithers chronicles the work of one woman in Los Angeles who challenges us all to understand that animal and human suffering are connected.

Mithers is writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, L.A. Weekly, Smithsonian, O, the Oprah Magazine, Architectural Digest, Ladies’ Home Journal, Glamour, The Nation, Los Angeles, Salon, The Daily Beast and many other outlets. Her Village Voice cover story, “My Life as a Man,” was syndicated internationally and made into an NBC movie of the week. Mithers is also the author of four books including “Mighty Be Our Powers,” written with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Leymah Gbowee. Her fourth book, “Rethinking Rescue: Dog Lady and the Story of America’s Forgotten People and Pets,” tells the story of Lori Weise, known in Los Angeles as the Dog Lady, who’s spent decades caring for people in poverty and the animals that love them.  

On this episode of “Story in the Public Square,” Mithers discusses Weise’s efforts to provide pet care resources for those homeless or living in poverty. Mithers highlights why this work is so vital, saying, “it’s unconditional love. If you are homeless, there are a lot of people that won’t talk to you. You may be alone a lot of the time. You don’t have a job to go to. You don’t have places you need to be. Pets impose structure. You have somebody to answer to. You have somebody who needs to be fed, needs to be walked, who is thrilled to see you, who is your companion when you’re living, maybe alone in a tent.” 

“Story in the Public Square” broadcasts each week on public television stations across the United States. In Rhode Island and southeastern New England, the show is broadcast on Rhode Island PBS on Sundays at 11:00 a.m. and is rebroadcast Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. Check your local public television listings for air times near you! An audio version of the program airs Saturdays at 8:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. ET and Sundays at 4:30 a.m. ET on SiriusXM’s popular P.O.T.U.S. (Politics of the United States), channel 124. “Story in the Public Square” is a project of the Pell Center at Salve Regina University. The initiative aims to study, celebrate and tell stories that matter.