Refinery29: You've always been passionate about protecting animals, but how did that first develop?
Whitney Cummings:"I think it's two-pronged. Growing up — I don't think I'm the only person whose parents probably dropped the ball — but I really only had animals around me, so I developed a bond with animals kind of early. And then, I wrote about in my book, but I'm a sexual assault survivor. When you have something like that happen, seeing something that's voiceless and innocent being forced to do something it doesn't want to do doesn't sit well.
And now you've directed this series, about pet care and rescue animals. Why was this project something you wanted to take on? "The VCA has saved many of my dog's lives and it's a brand that's important to me; they do adoption drives and they encourage rescue and adoption instead of buying through breeders. So when this kind of came across my desk, I knew someone was going to do it and I just wanted to make sure no animals were harmed in the making of it. Of course, I knew the VCA would be supportive and they would never allow that.
"There's sort of this moment on Instagram where we just want — and I'm as guilty as anybody — likes, we want followers, we want attention, we want love, we want to win. We're getting competitive, all sort of comparing our lives to everyone else's highlight reel.