NFL/NBA Sports Celeb. Bonnie-Jill Laflin Explains Being an Animal Rights Advocate ‘Right out of the Womb’

(EnviroNews California) — Round Valley Regional Preserve, Contra Costa County, California — Bonnie-Jill Laflin may be one of the most recognized women in men’s sports, having gained notoriety in both the NBA and NFL. She holds the distinction of being the first NBA female scout and first NBA female front-office executive (LA Lakers) as well as the owner of six championship rings – five in the NBA and one Super Bowl ring as a cheerleader with the 49ers in the NFL. She is currently a sportscaster for CBS. But growing up, Laflin’s earliest passion was helping animals. That passion continues to this day across her numerous activism and lobbying efforts as well as through her participation in several animal charities, earning her a reputation as one of the nation’s most formidable animal rights champions. In late 2021 Laflin sat down on camera with EnviroNews Editor-in-Chief Emerson Urry in Northern California and shared details about how her upbringing inspired her love for Earth’s creatures.

As far back as she can remember, helping animals has always been a way of life for Laflin.“My family was rescuing animals at a very small age,” she said. Laflin continued, telling EnviroNews this:

I didn’t know anything else. We were always going to the dog shelter. We’d be rescuing dogs and cats, and then rescuing horses off the track: thoroughbreds and different horses that needed homes — [horses] that [had] been abused or other circumstances where they needed to be rescued. I was the little girl that would be out rescuing baby raccoons, a squirrel that fell out of a tree, you name it. There was this connection that I had with animals, you know, right out of the womb and there was a bond that I had where I felt like I could relate to animals better. They were like my friends.

These friendships are evident in Laflin’s social media feed too. Photos show her kissing a deer, sharing a helicopter seat with a working military dog, feeding a goat, and much more. Her accounts also showcase her involvement with several political efforts aimed at promoting the health, well-being, and protection of animals and wildlife.

Laflin is the founder of Hounds and Heroes, a nonprofit that she started in 2010. Hounds and Heroes is dedicated to lifting the spirits and morale of active, wounded, and veteran military troops worldwide. “We rescue dogs from the shelters — high-risk dogs that would otherwise be euthanized,” Laflin explained. “We pair them up with combat veterans that are suffering from PTSD, TBI [and] amputees.”

In addition to pairing canines with combat veterans, a secondary focus of the NGO is to increase community awareness and promote education, with the aim of inspiring people to care for critters in need through rescue, foster, and adoption. Laflin noted the organization also rescues wild horses – animals she and others have saved from slaughter.

Hounds and Heroes also organizes equine therapy retreats in Texas for combat veterans. The activity is a natural fit for Laflin, who grew up around horses and is also a competitive barrel racer.

“Horses have been a part of my family [since] before I was born,” said Laflin. “It just kind of came naturally that horses would be part of my life and [it has] stayed [that way]. I’ve rescued horses to this day and I’m fighting for them.”

Laflin’s equine-focused efforts don’t just stop with rescue and therapy. She’s one of the country’s top advocates for the SAFE Act — federal legislation that, if passed, would prevent the horse-slaughter industry from reestablishing operations in the U.S. and prohibit the export of American horses for slaughter. She is also involved with numerous efforts aimed at maintaining a stable wild horse population through humane sterilization efforts rather than controversial government-sanctioned roundups.

Branching out further, Laflin teamed up with headliners such as Ed Harris, Willie Nelson, and Robert Redford at Horses on the Hill — grassroots lobbying events aimed at benefiting wild equines through legislative change.

“Celebrities, musicians, people that are big in the public eye are able to talk about their stories from rescuing horses and talk about what we can do now to support the horses,” she continued. “You’d be surprised how much a celebrity voice goes a long way up there on the Hill. They get very enamored and they get really excited.”

Laflin has also capitalized on her connections with other professional athletes and celebrities and has recruited many of them to join her in her lobbying efforts, which she says are always peaceful and lawful.

“As much as I am an advocate, I still know that I have to be reasonable and approach is everything,” Laflin explained. “You can’t go into an office when you’re lobbying and start screaming at people and say: I want this or that,” she continued. “I’ve been told so many times by congressmen and senators that animal activists, they yell and scream. That doesn’t do anything.”

Even with bipartisan support from members in both the House and Senate, Laflin said working for progress can be “frustrating,” but affirms she is committed to continuing the fight. In conclusion, Laflin said this:

Horses can’t speak, they can’t go to Capitol Hill. They can’t say what’s going on. So they need us humans to help. I’m always just trying to get more people involved and I always tell my friends who love their dog and cat: love your dog and cat like you’re going to care about the cow, the pig, the wild horse, the tule elk, the goldfish. You have to care about all animals, not just the ones that happened to be nestled in your home.

More segments from this EnviroNews feature story series with Bonnie-Jill Laflin can be viewed in the links down below. The transcript to this article’s main video above reads as follows:

Emerson Urry: We’re here with Bonnie-Jill Laflin on a very chilly, Bay Area, winter day. Thanks for making the sacrifice and coming out.

Bonnie-Jill Laflin: It is. I know, thank you. Now you can tell why I’m all bundled up, right? People watching, they’ll say: why is she so bundled up like she’s in Alaska?

Urry: It’s cold out here.

Laflin: It kind of feels like we’re in Alaska right now.

Urry: Okay. Well, thanks for coming out. I do appreciate it. We’re here to talk about the animals. So, in addition to your many accomplishments in sports, having six championship rings that span two men’s sports, being the first NBA female scout [and] a front-office executive, we’re here to talk about your accomplishments with animals today and animal advocacy. Ahead of this interview, I was looking at your social media and I saw you kissing a deer.

Laflin: Yeah (laughs).

Urry: What’s up with that? How did you get into animal advocacy and what’s going on these days?

Laflin: Yeah, if you look at my social media it’s basically my career and animals and supporting the military. That’s basically it for me. Those are my passions and it started as a little girl. My family was rescuing animals at a very small age. I knew: okay, this is what you do. I didn’t know anything else. We were always going to the pound, which they called the “dog shelter” back there. We’d be rescuing dogs and cats, and then rescuing horses — off-the-track thoroughbreds and different horses that needed homes that had been abused or other circumstances where they needed to be rescued. So, I was the little girl that would be out rescuing baby raccoons, a squirrel [that] fell out of a tree, you name it.

Urry: My daughter told me on the way down that you’ve rescued 13 dogs and 26 horses.

Laflin: Yes. Yeah. That’s just now. I mean, if you went back to when I was little, it maybe could be in the hundreds. Hundreds and hundreds (laughs). I would rescue everything when I was little. I mean, my poor father, he was always like, “Why are you always bringing home all these animals, and I’m always nursing them back to health or finding a place to bring them?” There was this connection that I had with animals, you know, right out of the womb and there was a bond that I had; I felt like I could relate to animals better. They were my friends. There was just something different, and to this day, I always feel like when there’s a dog running through the highway or a hurt injured animal [or] wildlife, they will stop for me. It’s weird.

Urry: What is Hounds [and] Heroes?

Laflin: Hounds and Heroes? That is my nonprofit that I started in 2010, and we rescue dogs from the shelters — high-risk dogs that would otherwise be euthanized, and we pair them up with veterans – combat veterans that are suffering from PTSD, TBI, amputees. And then we also rescue horses that I’ve saved from slaughter and we do equine therapy retreats in Texas.

Urry: Good lookin’ out.

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NFL/NBA Celeb Bonnie-Jill Laflin Dunks on Cattle Ranchers at Protest to Save Point Reyes Tule Elk – EnviroNews | The Environmental News Specialists

(EnviroNews California) – San Francisco, California – Bonnie-Jill Laflin has six championship sports rings – spanning two men’s sports: five NBA rings and one NFL Super Bowl ring. She earned those as a cheerleader with the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL, and as an executive in the NBA with the LA Lakers.

TAGS
Animal Rights, Animals, Bonnie-Jill Laflin, Dogs, Ed Harris, Equus ferus, Horses, Horses on the Hill, Hounds and Heroes, LA Lakers, National Basketball Association, National Football League, NBA, NFL, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, Robert Redford, SAFE Act, San Francisco 49ers, Super Bowl, Wild Horse, Wild Horse Roundup, Wild Horse Roundups, Wild Horses, Willie Nelson, Zoe Zorka