Animal Rescue and Storytelling as Activism: Michelle Lerner on Her New Book, “A Series of Opinionated Animals”

In this episode of the Our Hen House interview, Jasmin and Mariann sit down with animal lawyer, rescuer, and activist Michelle Lerner to discuss her new book A Series of Opinionated Animals (Bancroft Press). Michelle shares how a childhood bond with a rescue horse named Shire set her on the path to Harvard Law School, where she co-founded the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund and helped lobby for the school’s first animal law course — despite facing intense hostility from some classmates. The conversation explores how Michelle uses humor and individual animal stories — from a neurologically impaired squirrel named Monster to a bossy chicken named Stephanie — as a Trojan horse for deeper policy issues around wildlife rehabilitation laws, the legal status of animals as property, and the power of recognizing animals as individuals rather than abstract species. The episode also features an Our Hen House exclusive: the never-before-told story of Isaac, Michelle’s 22-pound cat and the elaborate enclosure system she built to keep everyone safe.

• From Harvard Law to animal law pioneer: Michelle recounts putting an animal rights sticker on her locker at Harvard Law School, the hostile backlash it triggered, and how she channeled that experience into founding one of the first Student Animal Legal Defense Fund chapters — paving the way for what is now the Harvard Animal Law and Policy Program’s 25th anniversary.
• Storytelling as activism and the case for animal personhood: Michelle explains why she shifted focus from changing animals’ legal status as property to showing readers that animals already possess genuine personhood, using individual biographies — funny, heartbreaking, and specific — to break through in ways that graphic factory farming footage often cannot.
• Wildlife rescue and the law: The story of Monster, a neurologically impaired squirrel Michelle illegally took in after discovering how state fish and game councils — dominated by hunters and trappers — systematically undercut wildlife rehabilitation, leaving disabled wild animals with nowhere to go.
• Grief, love, and the cost of caring for animals: Michelle opens up about how losing her horse Shire shaped her understanding of grief, how those experiences informed her novel Ring (longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize), and why the depth of her relationships with animals makes the inevitable loss worth it.
• Where to find the book: A Series of Opinionated Animals is available in hardcover, e-book, and audiobook. Click here to buy the book and Our Hen House will receive $10 per hardcover or $5 per e-book sale!

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Michelle Lerner is a former public interest attorney, animal law pioneer, and author. A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, she co-founded the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund, successfully lobbying for Harvard’s first animal law class. She later drafted municipal and state legislation, co-chaired the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Animal Law Committee, and founded a local rescue that achieved no-kill status. After a disabling illness, she turned to writing stories. Her critically acclaimed debut novel, Ring, was published in 2025 and her latest book, A Series of Opinionated Animals, is available now from Bancroft Press.

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