IHAC Ally Marlon Reis

Students, faculty and staff at the Institute for Human-Animal Connection (IHAC) are involved in a wide variety of policy and advocacy activities, attending legislative sessions and testifying before legislative committees. On May 19, 2019, IHAC students and faculty joined Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and First Gentleman Marlon Reis to announce Colorado Animal Welfare Day.

Reis is a longtime animal welfare advocate and IHAC ally who shares our commitment to advancing animal welfare and elevating awareness and understanding of the value of healthy human-animal-environment relationships.

"Over the course of the past nine months serving as First Gentleman of Colorado, my interactions with the animal advocate community have revealed two unique challenges to achieving better treatment for all animals," Reis says. "Many among us are great allies to the cause, with only our passion exceeding our focus on creating a kinder world. Passion together with focus makes for a potent combination, but the tool is lesser when not forged upon a bedrock foundation of scientific knowledge."

"As a person who believes wholeheartedly in the value of telling captivating stories, here's one: The Institute for Human-Animal Connection is exactly the answer to all among us who – as a matter of morality – know that animals deserve better, but who lack either the data or the training to interpret the data that would allow us to take our case to the next level," he adds. "Through IHAC's extraordinary certificate program, students hone an airtight message on the value of all animals, learning how to speak for them passionately, with a well-informed voice, and the unstoppable power of knowledge rooted in science. I am profoundly grateful that the Institute for Human-Animal Connection is here, in our great State of Colorado, where so much of the work we do at the government level hinges on the belief that animals deserve dignity and respect. With IHAC at the helm, new generations of highly effective animal advocates are entering the world, and they are succeeding in making the case for laws that honor and protect all animals."