This episode is sponsored in part by Cats of the Wild Podcast, Doobert.com, and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Stacy speaks with individual animal rescuer and advocate, Nancy Robison. After receiving help to TNR the cats outside her home in Long Island, NY, Nancy made it her personal mission to gather all the information she could on low-cost or free services for animals, including spay/neuter and TNR resources. She shares those resources whenever she has the chance, to minimize obstacles and help even more people get the help they need.
Today, Nancy works with two local organizations and continues to support TNR efforts in Long Island. She also works closely with caregiver and rescuer, Cathy Moore, in upstate New York to provide as much help as she possibly can.
Stacy and Nancy talk about the role of individuals in animal rescue, and stepping up when something needs to be done. They talk about compassion, and how it impacts our approach to animals and people with unique needs and challenges.
A teacher for 35 years, Nancy strongly believes in the importance of teaching children compassion for animals. She and Stacy talk about the children’s books she has authored, which were inspired by the bedtime stories her own mother used to tell about her childhood cat, Stubbs.
Nancy’s books are available for sale on Amazon. All proceeds from her books are donated to animal-related charities:
To get in touch with Nancy, send an email to nanrobison@gmail.com or connect with One At A Time Cat Rescue via their Facebook group.
This episode is sponsored in part by Cats of the Wild Podcast, Doobert.com, and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Stacy interviews Yvethe Tyska, Vice President of Marketing for H&H Group, whose mission is to make millions of people and their pets healthier and happier. The H&H Group houses many brands, including Zesty Paws pet supplements.
Yvethe talks about the recent support Zesty Paws gave to the Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando, covering all adoption and related fees during the grand opening of their new cat facility in September 2022. She recalls what it was like to be a cat parent or cat lover in Orlando when the Pet Alliance’s former cat facility caught fire in 2021, and how the community came together to support the organization and see it back on its feet.
Yvethe shares her insight as a marketing professional, her recommendations for nonprofits looking for support from for-profit corporations, and the important role that passion has to play for all involved.
Zesty Paws supplements are available for sale online or in most retail locations. You can also purchase products from their website at www.zestypaws.com. For questions about events or product donations, email bark@zestypaws.com. Follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com, and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Stacy sits down with Janet Vormittag, founder and publisher of Cats and Dogs, a Magazine Devoted to Companion Animals, and author of multiple books about animals, including You Might Be a Crazy Cat Lady If…(volumes 1 & 2) and Cat Women of West Michigan: The Secret World of Cat Rescue.
Janet shares a few of her favorite stories from her career as a reporter, writer, and animal advocate. She talks about the euthanasia numbers for her community, and how drastically things have improved over the past 15 years.
Stacy and Janet chat about her most recent book, Cat Women of West Michigan, and the incredible women who are making the community a better place for cats. Janet highlights a few of the women readers will encounter in the book, including women who start rescues, women who serve cats as individual volunteers and caregivers, and women who support cats in other unexpected – but equally significant – ways.
To learn more about Janet and see the complete list of books she’s written, visit her website at www.janetvormittag.com. Books can also be purchased directly from Amazon:
- Cat Women of West Michigan: The Secret World of Cat Rescue
- You Might Be a Crazy Cat Lady If…
- You Might Be a Craz Cat Lady If… (volume 2)
Some of the groups Janet mentions in this episode are:
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com, and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Stacy chats with KJ McGill, Kitty Correspondent for the nationally syndicated show, Pet Pals TV, and author of the book, Raised by Cats: Behind the Mic and the Meows.
Stacy and KJ talk about her work with cat-focused groups in Indianapolis, and how she has used her platform as a radio personality to promote positive stories about cats, and the people and organizations helping them. KJ talks about the importance of community education, and the positive impact of collaboration and support between TNR organizations, cat rescues, and animal services in Indianapolis.
KJ talks about her book and her hope that sharing her own story with cats will help others have a better story with their own cats. Stacy and KJ talk about compassion fatigue and burnout, and KJ’s belief that at the end of the day, we’re all working toward the same goal.
To learn more about KJ and her work, visit her website at www.kjtodayshow.com or join her Facebook group, KJ’s Cat Club.
During her interview, KJ refers to these organizations:
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com, and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Stacy talks with Louise Holton, Founder of Alley Cat Rescue, and Deborah Holzer, Development Assistant at Alley Cat Rescue. Louise founded National Cat Protection Association in 1997 as the nation’s first national cat protection association and an organization that advocates for all cats.
In their conversation with Stacy, Louise and Deborah talk all about community cats. The pair touches on some of the campaigns spearheaded by Alley Cat Rescue. Debbie describes the Global Feral Fix Challenge, an annual initiative promoting the spaying and neutering of community cats. Louise highlights some of the resources available on the Alley Cat Rescue website, including the contact information for Cat Action Teams in each state.
Louise and Deborah touch on how Alley Cat Rescue educates the general population about TNR. They also discuss veterinary challenges, cat behavior, and how to get involved in TNR.
To learn more about Alley Cat Rescue, visit their website.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com, and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Stacy chats with Marlene Sharp, a TV and film writer and executive and proprietor of Pink Poodle Productions.
In her discussion with Stacy, Marlene talks all about her work in the animation industry and details some of her cat-related projects. She describes her recent experience at CatCon, as well as her collaboration with Linda Malik (author of Willow’s Tale).
Additionally, Marlene describes her work as a mentor at the Center for Learning Unlimited, where she collaborates with students on the autism spectrum in the school’s animation program. She likens the unfair perception of black cats to the perception of those with autism.
To learn more about Marlene and her work, visit Pink Poodle Productions. You can also connect with her through LinkedIn.
During her interview, Marlene mentions the following organizations:
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com, and Maddie's Fund.
On this special 500th episode of Community Cats Podcast, Stacy is joined by Dr. Jeff Young, star of Animal Planet’s Dr. Jeff: Rocky Mountain Vet. Dr. Young is also the founder of Planned Pethood Plus, a low-cost spay/neuter clinic known for its mobile neutering clinics.
In their conversation, Stacy and The Rocky Mountain Vet elaborate on the services provided by Planned Pethood. He also touches on the state of veterinary practice, including recent challenges and obstacles.
Dr. Young emphasizes the need for TNR and strongly encourages all humane groups to have a TNR program. He explains the consequences that arise from failing to implement an effective program. Dr. Young also stresses that fixing your cat is “the most important thing you can do” in caring for them.
To learn more about Dr. Young and his work, visit his Instagram or YouTube. Dr. Jeff: Rocky Mountain Vet airs on Animal Planet and can be streamed online.
To learn more about Planned Pethood International, visit their website or Facebook.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com, and Maddie's Fund.
On this episode, Stacy chats with Harris Baker, founder of Catfluence, a social media platform that promotes everything feline related.
In their discussion, Stacy and Harris talk all about social media. Harris describes how rescue organizations and individuals can use social media to generate awareness about their efforts, and he strongly encourages all rescue organizations to have a social media presence.
Harris touches on the importance of posting meaningful content, engaging with the community, and utilizing different social media platforms to reach every demographic. He also describes how to use hashtags to reach a larger audience and provides tips on attracting more followers.
To learn more about Catfluence, visit their website, Instagram, or TikTok.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com, and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Stacy follows up with Tabitha Kucera, a registered veterinary technician, certified cat behavior training consultant, and former guest of the show (CCP Episode 319).
Stacy and Tabitha discuss numerous cat health and behavioral issues. She provides tips on identifying whether a cat is in pain (which she created a handout for). Tabitha explains that a cat’s physical and mental health are often intertwined. She stresses the importance of minimizing anxiety and stress by employing Fear Free techniques, trap training, and cooperative care.
Additionally, Tabitha talks about her podcast Tails from a Vet Tech, where she highlights, educates, and advocates for veterinary, shelter, and behavior animal professionals. She also previews her upcoming presentation for Community Cats Podcast’s 2023 Online Behavior Day on April 8.
To learn more about Tabitha and her work, visit Chirrups and Chatter.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com, and Maddie’s Fund.
In this episode, Stacy chats with Dr. Rachel Geller, a cat behaviorist and prior guest of the show (CCP Episodes 18, 146, and 310), to discuss her new project, All Cats All the Time. This nonprofit is dedicated to promoting the adoption of cats and preventing their surrender and abandonment by providing free cat behavior counseling to cat animal shelters and cat owners.
Dr. Geller describes the situations she often encounters as a cat behaviorist. She covers some of the most common behavioral issues, many of which will stem from declawing. She explains how removing a cat’s claws removes a layer of comfort, stresses out the cat, and causes sensitivity issues.
Dr. Geller also touches on Fear Free and on her book, Saving the World, One Cat at a Time, the proceeds of which go to shelters and cat advocacy organizations. Additionally, she provides advice on socializing cats. She underscores the importance of going at the cat’s pace and giving them time and space to adjust.
To learn more about Dr. Geller and her work, visit her website. There is also a submission form here where you contact her for advice.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com, and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Stacy talks with Dara Sklar, the founder of Synced with Dara and producer of the Get Productive with G-Suite program. Dara’s work focuses on helping people streamline their work processes, which allows them to become as efficient and productive as possible.
In chatting with Stacy, Dara talks all about Google Workspace (formerly G Suite). She describes how organizations and small nonprofit groups can utilize this set of communication and productivity apps to become more efficient.
Dara also provides tips on managing passwords through LastPass and emails through filtering and archiving. She further discusses her program Get Productive with G-Suite, an online course that serves as a comprehensive, step-by-step, way of learning to use Google tools, apps, and integrations.
To learn more about Dara and her work, visit her website. You can learn more about Get Productive with G Suite and Top 40 Time-Saving Google Hacks on her website as well.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com, and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Stacy speaks with Laurren Darr, founder of Left Paw Press and the Pet Fashion Guild and author of the Pet Business Marketing Almanac.
In her discussion with Stacy, Laurren talks about her involvement in managing her son’s racing career. She talks about the “Racing for Rescues” initiative, which entails delivering supplies to the pet shelters in the cities where he races.
Laurren also talks about the Pet Business Marketing Almanac, which is a marketing planning tool for pet businesses or businesses wanting to incorporate pet themes in their marketing. She discusses the inspiration behind this book. Additionally, Laurren touches on social media, where she emphasizes the importance of consistency.
To learn more about Laurrenn and her work, visit the Left Paw Press website.
The Pet Business Marketing Almanac 2023 is available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
This episode is sponsored in part by TervaPet, Doobert.com, and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Stacy speaks with Sheila Massey, president and founder of Hard Hat Cats and former guest of the show (CCP Episode 98). Hard Hat Cats, headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, places working cats with organizations seeking non-toxic rodent control.
In her discussion with Stacy, Sheila talks all about Hard Hat Cats and the working cats that inspired her to found this organization. These former community cats are rescued from the New York City public animal shelter and placed with organizations that provide food, shelter, healthcare, and TLC in exchange for the cats’ expertise and a poison-free work environment.
Sheila describes how she matches the cats with the right site and touches on the integration process as well. This program, she explains, is a win-win-win for the cats, the employers, and the planet. Hard Hat Cats work in breweries, distilleries, hotels, parks, and gardens and are always seeking new employers.
To learn more about Hard Hat Cats, visit their website or Instagram. You can also connect with Hard Hat Cats by email at hardhatcats@gmail.com.
This episode is sponsored in part by TervaPet, Doobert.com, and Maddie's Fund.
Meet Anne Montgomery, former sportscaster, newspaper and magazine writer, teacher, author, and amateur sports official. Anne currently works as an author and has published several fiction novels in various genres, including historical fiction and mystery/suspense.
In her discussion with Stacy, Anne talks about all things cats, from breeding to veterinary care costs. She talks about her introduction to TNR and touches on some of the issues that arise in its absence. Anne stresses the necessity of effective communication and teaching to enlighten the public on the importance of TNR and animal welfare.
Additionally, Anne discusses her work experience and explains how it has impacted her approach to animal welfare. She strongly encourages all listeners to “give a black cat a chance.” She also discusses her work as an author, as well as the inspiration behind her stories.
To learn more about Anne’s work, visit her website.
This episode is sponsored in part by TervaPet, Doobert.com, and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Stacy talks with Sally Williams, the founder, and president of Mission Meow and former guest of the show (CCP Episodes 104 and 324). Sally was also the founder and executive director of the now-retired Brodie Fund, an organization that raised money to provide financial assistance to families with pets fighting cancer.
Sally reflects on her time with the Brodie Fund and the difficult decision to close the organization. She celebrates the organization’s accomplishments, which included over 70 grants and over $200,000 distributed, and explains how it inspired her to found Mission Meow.
Mission Meow works to increase the level of charitable donations for small feline-centric nonprofits, including TNR groups, to help create meaningful change for cats in need. Sally describes the specifics of this program, which entails recruiting businesses for quarterly donations and then distributing these funds to a different nonprofit each month. She also explores some of the challenges and aspirations for Mission Meow.
To learn more about Mission Meow, visit their website.
The following organizations/programs were also mentioned during this episode:
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com and Maddie's Fund.
In this special episode, Stacy chats and co-hosts with Molly DeVoss, a Certified Feline Training and Behavior specialist, Certified Cat Behavior Consultant, and Fear Free Certified Trainer. Molly is also the founder of Cat Behavior Solutions and host of Cat Talk Radio, where she addresses cat behavioral issues.
In Stacy and Molly’s conversation, they discuss all things cats, including cat behavior, community cats, declawing, TNR and return-to-field programs, and the veterinary shortage. Molly highlights the importance of acclimating “working cats” (or barn cats) to their new environment and the engagement required to keep these cats safe. She also touches on distinguishing and identifying behavioral issues from medical issues that would require veterinary care.
To learn more about Molly’s work or to listen to her podcast, visit Cat Behavior Solutions.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com and Maddie's Fund.
On today’s episode, Stacy talks with Dr. Mikel Delgado, an Applied Animal Behaviorist and Certified Cat Behavior Consultant. Dr. Delgado is the co-owner of Feline Minds, a cat behavior consulting group, co-author with Jackson Galaxy of the 2017 book, “Total Cat Mojo” and the author of the forthcoming book “Play with Your Cat!”.
In her conversation with Stacy, Dr. Delgado talks all about cat behavioral issues, which she saw were increasingly prevalent throughout and following the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic. She provides some helpful tips on addressing behavioral issues, litter boxes, and more.
Dr. Delgado discusses some of the limitations of her practice, the veterinary shortage, and the importance of having an established relationship with your veterinarian. She also touches on her work with Flabush Cats, a TNR-focused rescue organization based in Brooklyn, New York, and with the San Francisco SPCA. Additionally, she previews her upcoming book, which focuses on the importance of playing with your cat.
To learn more about Dr. Delgado and her work, visit Feline Minds.
If you liked this episode, you might also enjoy Stacy's conversation with Tabitha Kucera, Chirrups & Chatter Cat Behavior Consulting and Education, in episode 319.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Stacy connects with Anne Levin, Executive Director of Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition and founder of the Brooklyn Cat Cafe, a non-profit cat cafe that serves as an adoption center and community space working to reduce animal homelessness through education, TNR, and outreach.
In her conversation with Stacy, Anne discusses the current landscape of community cats in New York City. She touches on how the lack of protection for community cats inspired her efforts in the cat welfare field. Anne talks about the origins of the Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition and the Brooklyn Cat Cafe. She explains how the cafe setting allows the cats to be situated in a more comfortable compared to adoption events.
Anne explores some of the challenges these organizations and cat care in general encountered during the height of the Covid pandemic. She also stresses the importance of a collaborative effort in addressing animal issues.
Visit the websites of Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition and Brooklyn Cat Cafe to learn more about these organizations.
If you enjoyed this interview, you might also enjoy Stacy's conversation with Darlene Duggan, Director of Operations at Tree House Humane Society, in episode 265.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Stacy chats with Cheryl Richardson, the author of several books and audio programs, including her recent audiobook How to Survive the Loss of a Pet, which helps listeners navigate the journey of grief, acceptance, and renewal after a pet passes.
In her conversation with Stacy, Cheryl discusses the strong bond that we have with our pets and how they can play such major roles in our lives. She describes how her late cat, Poupon, taught her about love and how, towards the end of his life, the most profound act of love was to let him go as gently as possible.
Cheryl discusses her book “How to Survive the Loss of a Pet”, and talks about how her role is that of a grief coach. She emphasizes the importance of giving yourself space to grieve and explains how each person handles grief differently. She believes it’s critical to respect and honor your own unique way of grieving. Most importantly, Cheryl wants listeners to know that if you’ve lost a pet and are grieving: you are not alone and will get through this.
To learn more about Cheryl and her work, visit her website.
To purchase How to Survive the Loss of a Pet, visit Sounds True, Audible, or Amazon.
This episode is sponsored in part by TevraPet and Maddie's Fund.
On this episode, Stacy chats with Bryan Kortis, Programs Director at Neighborhood Cats, who frequently collaborates with the CCP in running the Neighborhood Cats TNR Certification Workshops.
In his discussion with Stacy, Bryan talks about the rise of the community cat coordinator position in shelters. He provides a preview of the 6th Annual Online Cat Conference, which will take place from January 27th through January 29th, 2023. This conference, Bryan explains, will further explore the community cat coordinator position.
Bryan discusses the increasingly popular return-to-field programs. He describes the differences between these programs and trap-neuter-return programs and discusses the collaborative efforts and interaction between those running the programs.
Bryan also talks about Cat Stats, a TNR program management tool developed and offered by Neighborhood Cats, which allows non-profit organizations to track colonies and caretakers in their service area. He discusses his partnership with Tomahawk Live Trap and the collaborative efforts in developing traps. Additionally, Bryan touches on the DC Cat Count and the upcoming Maui Cat Count.
To learn more about Neighborhood Cats, visit their website.
To learn more about or register for the 6th Annual Online Cat Conference, click here.
If you enjoyed this episode, you might also be interested in listening to Stacy's interview with Mary Howard, Community Cat Coordinator at McKamey Animal Center, in episode 356.
This episode is sponsored in part by TevraPet and Maddie's Fund.
On today’s episode, Stacy chats with Dr. Kelly Deihl, the Senior Director of Science and Communication at Morris Animal Foundation and a prior guest of the show (CCP Episode 425).
In her conversation with Stacy, Dr. Deihl discusses the foundation’s Happy Healthy Cat Campaign. She explores the initiatives and research campaigns that the foundation has undertaken, including one that looks at non-surgical spay-neuter options. She also provides a preview of an ongoing study that is looking at the effects of chronic inflammation, and cognitive behavior and health.
Dr. Deihl shares her perspective on the veterinary shortage and how she believes we should address it. She also discusses her podcast through Morris Animal Foundation, where she explores animals scientific and research issues.
To learn more about Morris Animal Foundation, visit their website, Instagram, or Facebook.
Dr. Deihl’s podcast can be found through Morris Animal Foundation here.
If you enjoyed this episode, you might also be interested in listening to Stacy's interview with Marvin Mackie, DVM, Co-Creator of the Quick Spay Technique, way back in episode 40.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert and Maddie's Fund.
Meet Esmeralda Alvarez, a TNR advocate and cat foster who performs TNR on a weekly basis. Her efforts began back in 2015, and she strongly believes that TNR is a social justice issue. In her conversation with Stacy, she discusses the importance of TNR and explains how its performance saves future generations of cats.
Esmerelda also discusses the many difficult choices that trappers encounter, such as deciding whether to return or keep a trapped cat. She encourages trappers to make these decisions based on what is ultimately best for the cat. “I always tell people just listen to what the cat has to say and try to the best of your ability to remove your personal feelings . . . [and] to prioritize them over your feelings.”
Additionally, Esmerelda touches on her participation in the recent film “Crazy Cat Lady”, which is a documentary that focuses on the feral cat crisis in Los Angeles and the dedicated (though often mischaracterized) volunteers who are on the front line.
To learn more about Esmerelda and how to get involved in TNR, visit her Instagram or TikTok.
To learn more about the documentary “Crazy Cat Lady”, visit their website or Instagram.
If you enjoyed this episode, you might also be interested in listening to Stacy's interview with Tina Traster, an award-winning filmmaker, writer, and documentarian of “Catnip Nation”, in episode 186.
his episode is sponsored in part by Doobert and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Stacy chats with Corinne Bourgoin, who serves as the Operations Coordinator at the MSPCA Boston Adoption Center. Her efforts have resulted in a program that has a feline reclaim rate that is eight times the national average of these programs.
In her discussion with Stacy, Corinne explains how the MSPCA reunites lost pets with their owners. She details what goes on behind the scenes once a stray cat is brought in. She stresses that in order to have a successful program, there needs to be an organizational mindset shift.
Corinne discusses some of the challenges in differentiating lost cats from neighborhood cats; she also provides some helpful tips on how to effectively distinguish these cats. Additionally, she talks about low-cost spay/neuter programs and TNR.
To learn more about the MSPCA, visit their website.
To get in touch with Carin, you can email her at lostpet@mspca.org or call her at (617) 522-5055.
If you enjoyed this episode, you might also be interested in listening to Stacy's interview with Kat Albrecht-Thiessen, a police detective turned pet detective and the founder/director of The Missing Animal Response Network, in episode 450.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert and Maddie's Fund.
Meet Brian Vermeire and Kristina Hughes, stand-up comedians and entrepreneurs based in Los Angeles. The pair grew weary of the sight of cat trees and decided to take action to create more aesthetically pleasing cat furniture. Together, they developed the Feline Frame Ensemble, which combines a cat shelf with a portrait frame.
In their conversation with Stacy, Brian, and Kristina describe some of the features of the Feline Frame Ensemble, which include interchangeable frames and customizable artwork. They also discuss some of the lessons that they have learned as avid listeners of the Community Cats Podcast.
Additionally, Brian discusses his company OneBite Creative, which provides website design, logo design, social media branding, and graphic services. He stresses the importance of having an up-to-date website and one that is periodically updated. He also explains how OneBite Creative can help those that are feeling overwhelmed with their maintaining their website or social media presence.
To learn more about Frame your Feline, visit their website or Instagram. And to learn more about OneBite Creative, visit their website.
If you enjoyed this episode, you might also be interested in listening to Stacy's interview with Chelsea White, Comedian and Host of “Show Me Your Kitty”, in episode 321.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert and Maddie's Fund.
On today’s episode, Stacy chats with Marisa Hernandez, one of the co-founders of Ruff Haven, an organization that helps people encountering crisis situations remain united with their beloved pets. Marisa recognized the growing need for temporary crisis sheltering services in the community, which compelled her to take action.
In her discussion with Stacy, Marisa discusses how she and several friends with unique backgrounds came together to create this organization. She discusses the specifics of the program, as well as the rapid growth of the organization.
Marisa explains that Ruff Haven focuses on helping both pets and people. She stresses the importance of changing the mindset of judging homeless pet owners. Marisa talks about how COVID was beneficial in shifting the public’s mindset regarding these individuals and also details some of the challenges that Ruff Haven encountered during the pandemic as well.
To learn more about Ruff Haven, visit their website, Facebook, or Instagram.
If you enjoyed this episode, you might also be interested in listening to Stacy's interview with Carol Novello, founder of Mutual Rescue, a national initiative that highlights the power of human-animal relationships, in episode 303.
This episode is sponsored in part by Kensington Books, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
This is a special audio presentation of our free webinar Colony Caretaking Tips and Tricks presented by Neighborhood Cats. Join Bryan Kortis for part two of this unique webinar and find out how to deal with folks who don't like cats and keep your cats out of their yard, get health hacks to control worms and fleas, and the best ways to build cozy winter shelters. All that plus many more colony caretaking challenges will be addressed by the experts from Neighborhood Cats with their 20 years of experience dealing with all things community cat.
If you would like to watch the video version of this webinar or download the handouts and slides referred to in the podcast, just visit our Colony Cat Care Training and Education page and scroll down to the bottom for media and downloads for all our free webinars.
*A Quick Note from the Production Team - There is a sound quality issue during the Q&A portion at the end of the podcast. (You'll know it when you hear it.) We felt the information given in this section was important so we left it in instead of cutting it entirely. We hope it doesn't impact your enjoyment of the show too much and thank you for your patience.
This episode is sponsored in part by Kensington Books, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
This is a special audio presentation of our free webinar Colony Caretaking Tips and Tricks presented by Neighborhood Cats. Join Bryan Kortis for part one of this unique webinar and find out how to keep your colony cats healthy with good nutrition and hydration, establish feeding patterns, keep water from freezing or evaporating, and how to keep slugs, ants and more out of your kitties' food. All that plus many more colony caretaking challenges will be addressed by the experts from Neighborhood Cats with their 20 years of experience dealing with all things community cat.
If you would like to watch the video version of this webinar or download the handouts and slides referred to in the podcast, just visit our Colony Cat Care Training and Education page and scroll down to the bottom for media and downloads for all our free webinars.
This episode is sponsored in part by Kensington Books, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Stacy talks with Winter Miller, an award-winning playwright living in Brooklyn. She recently published Not a Cat, a children’s picture book, inspired by the life of her extraordinary cat Gato.
In her conversation with Stacy, Winter provides an overview of Not a Cat and explains what inspired her to write a children’s book. She also explains how writing helped her with the grieving process since her beloved Gato had recently passed away. Winter discusses some of the themes of the story, which include acceptance.
Winter also talks about her work as a playwright, provides her thoughts on TNR, and discusses some of her upcoming projects.
To learn more about Winter Miller, visit her website.
Not a Cat can be found here.
If you enjoyed this episode, you might also be interested in listening to Stacy's interview with Deb Barnes, Author and President of the Cat Writers’ Association, in episode 313.
This episode is sponsored in part by Kensington Books, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Stacy chats with Janice Cobb, the creator of Zinzie Pie’s Save My Pet ID Tag, which is an identification tag for pet owners customized with information about the owner, their pets, and trusted contact. The Save My Pet ID Tag can be made as a necklace, bracelet, or keychain. This product offers peace of mind and reassurance, that in an emergency, your pets will be attended to.
In her conversation with Stacy, Janice talks about the inspiration behind this idea. She talks about some of the unique features of the Save My Pet ID Tag. She emphasizes the importance of being prepared and acting proactively. Janice also talks about cats in general and how she is able to keep her home stress free.
To learn more about Zinzie Pie’s Save My Pet ID Tag, visit their website.
If you enjoyed this episode, you might also be interested in hearing from Frances Carlisle, an attorney, discuss estate planning for your pets in episodes 227.
This episode is sponsored in part by Kensington Books, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Doobert.com’s Chris Roy returns to the show to share some of the projects he has been working on since the pandemic. Chris is a tech guy who loves solving problems for folks in animal welfare.
It has been several years since Chris was on the show and he is eager to share what is new at Doobert.com. Doobert Forward is a fundraising platform that works like Amazon Smile, but the percentage of the sale that is donated back to the organization is 5% vs less than 1% at Amazon Smile.
Stacy asks Chris to share more details about the Case Management module and if it can help manage situations where a cat or litter of kittens might be turned away from one organization to be helped with another. Each situation turns into a “Case” so that it can be transferred to other organizations therefore potentially ensuring that everyone will get help in the community.
Want to catch the past interviews with Chris on episode 433 and episode 131
To learn more about Doobert visit the Doobert Website and check them out on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
This episode is sponsored in part by Kensington Books, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Stacy speaks with Valerie Benka the Director of Programs for Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs (“ACC&D”), and John Boone, who serves on the Board of Directors at ACC&D and is the Research Director at the Great Basin Bird Observatory.
The mission of ACC&D is to advance non-surgical sterilants and contraceptives for cats and dogs and to promote their global accessibility. The organization recognizes that some communities do not have the necessary resources for safe animal sterilization surgery and seeks to address this issue.
In their discussion with Stacy, Valerie and John talk about the research and projects that ACC&D has conducted. They detail the findings of these studies and provide tips on population management and the most effective TNR strategies. Valerie and John also discuss some of the resources available on ACC&D’s website, which can serve as useful tools for individuals and organizations.
To learn more about ACC&D, visit their website.
If you enjoyed this episode, John was also a guest on CCP in Episodes 258 and 331.
This episode is sponsored in part by Kensington Books, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Stacy chats with Melody Kwan, aka Melocat, a cat rescuer and re-homing volunteer based in Hong Kong. Through her network of volunteers, Melody is able to get cats to their ideal homes. She also lives with her 9 rescued and adopted cats in her 555 sq ft apartment.
In her discussion with Stacy, Melody explains how she’s able to keep her house clean and her cats happy, calm, and comfortable. She talks about the unique systems she has in place that help her save time and create a better lifestyle for both cats and humans. She emphasizes that “vertical space beats floor space”. She’s currently developing a course to help others create the same ecosystem in their own lives.
Melody also provides insight into what life is like for community cats in Hong Kong and outlines some of the challenges they encounter. She touches on how she got into vlogging, discusses some of her future plans, and shares some cat tips and tricks.
To learn more about Melody, visit her YouTube channel, Instagram account, or Facebook page.
If you enjoyed this episode, check out our interview with Mary Peng, CEO & Founder of International Center for Veterinary Services, in episode 132.
This episode is sponsored in part by Kensington Books, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Stacy speaks with Mikkel Becker, a certified trainer and behavior consultant, that serves as the lead trainer for Fear Free Pets and Fear Free Happy Homes. She is also the co-author of From Fearful to Fear Free
In her conversation with Stacy, Mikkel talks about her experience training cats through using positive reinforcement and encouragement. She explains why she believes they can be trained more easily than dogs and how training is based in every day interactions with our cats.
Mikkel speaks in depth about Fear Free, which was founded upon the mission of preventing and alleviating fear, anxiety, and stress in pets. She talks about the benefits of utilizing Fear Free programs. One of these programs is Fear Free Shelters, which is a free program available to rescues and shelters.
Mikkel also provides an update on her father, Dr. Marty Becker, who recently spent time at the Ukraine border helping people and their pets that were transitioning across the border. She spoke with him further about his experience on her podcast, Happy Paws.
To learn more about Fear Free, visit Fear Free Pets or Fear Free Happy Homes.
If you enjoyed this episode, check out our interview with Dr. Marty Becker, “America’s Veterinarian” and Founder of the Fear Free Initiative, in episode 121.
This episode is sponsored in part by Dr. Pussum's Cat Nip, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
After dropping out of film school and being kicked out of his aunt’s house, Caleb Curtis found himself without a home. Rather than staying at a homeless shelter, he opted to get a bicycle and learn how to tour. Along the way, he found two-month-old Marilyn Monroad, and over the next 8 years, the pair would cycle over 12,000 miles across 32 states
In his conversation with Stacy, Caleb talks about how he got into touring and sheds some light on what life is like on the road for Marilyn. He discusses some of the lessons that he learned during his first year of running Calico Cats and touches on some of his long-term goals for the brand.
Caleb also provides insight on how he funds these trips, along with the type of content that he produces. One of his projects includes a book about these trips, which is written from Marilyn’s perspective.
Caleb and Marilyn’s journey serves to remind us all that our companions along the ride can be just as important as our destination. Caleb strongly believes that what matters most to Marilyn is that they’re together.
To learn more about Caleb and Marilyn, visit their website.
Listener Note
During his interview, Caleb mentions 1bike1world.
If you enjoyed this episode, check out our interview with Michele Tilford, an experienced cat-assisted therapy handler, in episode 249.
This episode is sponsored in part by Dr. Pussum's Cat Nip, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Stacy chats with Angela Campbell, a USA Today best-selling author in the romantic suspense genre. Her book series, The Psychic Detective, heavily features rescue pets as supporting characters. In addition to writing professionally, she serves on the board of directors for Feline Lifeline.
In her conversation with Stacy, Angela talks about her experiences as an author and a board member. She shares her preferred method of trapping, along with some helpful TNR tips and tricks. She also strongly encourages TNR training for those interested in trapping (as opposed to trial and error).
Angela believes that a crucial component of TNR is in how we interact with the community, and she stresses the importance of learning to work with them. “When you are calm, understanding, and polite, a lot of people react to that, and you can work out a deal.”
To learn more about Feline Lifeline, visit its website, and to learn more about Angela and her work, visit her website.
If you enjoyed this episode, check out our interview with Steven Morelli, CEO and founder of Waggle, in episode 358.
This episode is sponsored in part by CARE, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Stacy converses with Caitlin Quinn, who has been the Director of Operations for HeARTs Speak since 2015. HeARTs Speak develops resources that help shelter animals to be seen and find homes, ultimately transforming public perceptions of pet adoption, shelters, and animals in need. Caitlin discusses her role and shares the backstory of how she got involved in marketing.
She highlights some of the communication challenges present in the community cat field and explains how those involved in the community cat field are often largely unaware that these problems exist. She conveys the importance of communication with others in the community that aren’t involved in caring for the community cats. “We’re so close to the issue that sometimes we’re forgetting to back out of it a little bit and have those more basic understanding conversations.”
Caitlin talks about social media campaigns; she emphasizes the need to start with baby steps and to be repetitive with your messages. She also shares her thoughts on the best strategies, platforms, graphic design tools (Canva), and scheduling tools (PLANOLY and Later) for social media, as well as on how frequently and the type of content you should be posting.
Caitlin also sheds some light on what the social media algorithm is and provides an abundance of helpful hints that are bound to help any person or organization looking to bolster their social media game and reach more of their community.
To learn more about the work that Caitlin and HeARTs Speak perform, visit the HeARTs Speak website.
If you enjoyed this episode, check out our interview with Karen Hollish, the director of development and marketing at Pima Animal Care Center, in episode 202.
This episode is sponsored in part by CARE, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Stacy chats with Daniel Maigler, a licensed clinical social worker, who also serves as the Mental Health Advisor for Paws for Patrick, which is a nonprofit organization that connects young people with mental health issues to animals. Daniel provides insight into his role with Paws for Patrick, the array of services that the organization provides, and the inspiration behind this organization’s creation.
Daniel discusses the benefits of emotional support animals, and clarifies the differences between a service animal, a therapy animal, and an emotional support animal (“ESA”). He talks about the process of obtaining an ESA letter, as well as the benefits and limitations that this letter has. Daniels touches on some of the trends involving ESAs, including their presence on college campuses, and clarifies some of the misconceptions surrounding these trends.
Daniel and Stacy also talk about his podcast, Not Allowed to Die, where he discusses mental health and answers any questions that listeners have related to the field. He also discusses mindfulness and provides some useful mental health tips.
To learn more about Paws for Patrick, visit their website. You can also check out their Instagram and Facebook pages. Daniel’s podcast can be listened to through Google Podcasts or Apple Podcasts.
Listener Notes
During his interview, Daniel mentioned the following studies/works by these individuals:
- Janet Hoy-Gerlach, PhD;
- Alfred Adler; and
- The Courage to be Disliked (written by Fumitake Koga and Ichiro Kishimi).
If you enjoyed this episode, check out our interview with Kristen Hassen, Maddie’s® American Pets Alive! Director overseeing Human Animal Support Services (HASS) in episode 424.
This episode is sponsored in part by CARE, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
Stacy speaks with Emily Miethner, who is the co-founder of Travel Cat, which produces products used to travel safely with your cat, including backpacks and harnesses. The company, founded in 2017, has become a global 7-figure e-commerce brand with 60,000 customers in 75 countries.
In her conversation with Stacy, Emily shares information about Travel Cat’s founding, marketing, and grant program, Forever Home Heroes. As a serial entrepreneur, she has focused on community building, social media, and digital marketing.
Emily discusses what it means to be a strong digital marketer and stresses the importance of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion). She reminds us that the “love of cats has no bounds” and emphasizes the importance of inclusion of people from all backgrounds that love cats.
To learn more about Travel Cat, visit their website or Instagram.
Listener Links
During her conversation with Stacy, Emily mentions the following organization: NYC Pet Nanny
If you enjoyed this episode, check out our interview with Jenny Hart, Travel Writer & Cat Mom in episode 318.
This episode is sponsored in part by CARE, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Mario Abore returns to the show (he previously appeared on CCP Episode 338). Since 2014, Mario, through his company, Square Paws, has been creating stunning and unique creations and habitats for cats and people to enjoy. His work spans a range from making single cat towers to outfitting cat cafes and animal shelters.
In his conversation with Stacy, Mario provides an update on some of his new projects, including his incredible work with the Ladew Cat Sanctuary in Oyster Bay, New York. He discusses the inspiration behind this project, as well as the designing and construction process of this and some of his other projects.
He and Stacy also have an in-depth conversation about TNR, including a discussion about different traps, techniques, and baits. Sterling also shares his approach to trapping colonies and emphasizes that even if you’re trapping just one cat, you’re still helping. His primary goal with TNR is to elevate the wellness of the cats in the community and to be able to provide resources to help those cats.
Mario provides recommendations for older shelters and rescues that are looking to upgrade their facilities and emphasizes the importance of planning now. He discusses the longevity and lifespan of cat furniture and projects and notes the importance of using sustainable materials. Mario also points out some of the things you should be looking for when shopping for cat furniture.
To learn more about Mario’s work, visit the Square Paws website. You can also check out their Instagram and Twitter pages.
If you enjoyed this episode, check out our interview with Ashley Shoults, a principal at Animal Arts, an architecture firm in Boulder, Colorado in episode 359.
This episode is sponsored in part by CARE, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
This week, The Community Cats Podcast is excited to bring you part two of a special audio version of Drop Trap: A Trapper’s Best Friend Presented by The Neighborhood Cats. If you want to watch this presentation's recording - complete with videos, visuals, and great examples of many of the scenarios and equipment discussed - you can check it out on our YouTube channel by clicking here.
What will you learn this week? Advanced skills like how to catch many cats at once in your drop trap, the "drop trap 360", plus a couple of unusual bait hacks to attract tough-to-trap queens and toms. Join Neighborhood Cats, co-designers of the first commercially available drop trap, as they discuss how to use this invaluable tool and improve your trapping efficiency.
You can learn more about Bryan Kortis and Neighborhood Cats by visiting their website or consider registering for Bryan's next TNR workshop to discover basic techniques to help you trap, neuter, and return community cats and create a healthy, safe environment for them to thrive in.
This episode is sponsored in part by CARE, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
This week, The Community Cats Podcast is excited to bring you a special audio version of Drop Trap: A Trapper’s Best Friend Presented by The Neighborhood Cats. If you would like to watch the recording of this presentation - complete with videos, visuals, and great examples of many of the scenarios and equipment discussed - you can check it out on our YouTube channel by clicking here.
What will you learn this week? Are you trying to catch the last cat in your colony who isn’t fixed? Got a wily feral who just won’t go into a box trap, no matter how much you spend on roasted chicken? How about catching a litter of kittens all at once—with their mom? All these tough trapping situations and more can be solved if you know how to use a drop trap! Join Neighborhood Cats, co-designers of the first commercially available drop trap, as they discuss how to use this invaluable tool. Plus tips and tricks for advanced drop trappers, too.
You can learn more about Bryan Kortis and Neighborhood Cats by visiting their website or consider registering for Bryan's next TNR workshop to discover basic techniques to help you trap, neuter, and return community cats and create a healthy, safe environment for them to thrive in.
If you enjoyed this episode, check out our interview with Steven Lawrence, Co-Director of The Cat Rescuers, and Tara Green, TNR volunteer of Brooklyn Animal Action in episode 178.
This episode is sponsored in part by CARE, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, “Trap King” Sterling Davis returns to the show to share some of the projects he has been working on since the pandemic. Sterling, a former rapper turned trapper and TNR advocate was previously on the show on CCP Episode 243 and Episode 360.
One of the new projects that he and Stacy discuss is his new podcast, Same Team Podcast, that he co-hosts with Shannon Jackson (mom to internet superstar cat, Smush), which focuses on “fixing the fixers”. During the pandemic, Sterling expanded his focus to healing the fractured relationships among some of the rescuers and rescue organizations. One of the podcast’s segments, titled “Smush the Beef”, has these rescuers and/or rescue organizations coming together to settle their differences and try to find positive solutions.
Sterling discusses some of his past projects, including Tabby Dates and Pawject Runaway, as well as some of his upcoming plans for the year, including a potential TV show and continuing to tour the country advocating TNR.
He and Stacy also have an in-depth conversation about TNR, including a discussion about different traps, techniques, and baits. Sterling also shares his approach to trapping colonies and emphasizes that even if you’re trapping just one cat, you’re still helping. His primary goal with TNR is to elevate the wellness of the cats in the community and to be able to provide resources to help those cats.
To learn more about Sterling and the work he does, visit his website, Instagram, or Facebook.
If you enjoyed this episode, check out our interview with Michael Bricker, Chief of Engagement of Companions and Animals for Reform and Equity in episode 440.
This episode is sponsored in part by CARE, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
Stacy speaks with Angéline Fahey, who is the Community Cat Program (“CCP”) Manager at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona. The CCP provides trapping assistance, guidance, resources, and education for several counties in Southern Arizona. It also hosts weekly trapping events and hosts regular Zoom meet-ups, where members of a larger coalition of community cat trappers and advocates can discuss ways to improve the quality of outdoor cats’ lives.
Angéline discusses her role as the CCP Manager, which involves frequent interaction with the public regarding community cats. She discusses the type of calls that she receives and how she responds to them. She stresses the importance of spreading awareness about community cats, which includes breaking racial barriers.
Angéline also talks about the CCP’s trap rental process, its goals moving forward, and its construction of a community cat center. She encourages those in the Southern Arizona region that are community cat trappers or are interested in becoming a trapper to connect with her.
To learn more about the Humane Society of Southern Arizona’s CCP, visit their website.
If you enjoyed this episode, check out our interview with Anna Murrin and Valerie Kajko, Project Manager and TNR Coordinator, Metro Denver CAT Project in episode 162.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Stacy chats with Joe Federico, co-founder, and director of Stray Paws Animal Haven. After over two decades as a restaurant owner, Joe decided to leave the industry to embark on a journey driven by his passion for animal welfare.
After moving to Southern California, he noticed an abundance of stray and feral cats in his neighborhood, and his search for a solution to their suffering and overpopulation of neighborhood cats brought him to the nonprofit organization FixNation, where he was a full-time volunteer for 8 years.
Seeing the need for more capacity, Joe decided to establish Stray Paws Animal Haven in 2018, along with co-founder Melissa Bento. The organization, based in Los Angeles, California, focuses on reducing the stray animal population through TNR, medical rehab, transport, relocation, adoption, networking, and education. Their team of over 70 volunteer trappers is responsible for spaying/neutering an average of over 150 cats per week.
In his conversation with Stacy, Joe details how he became involved in TNR and provides insight into the services that Stray Paws Animal Haven provides. He discusses his encounters with community members and how he has helped sway those who previously only saw the cats as a neighborhood problem.
Joe also shares some of the challenges he encountered with covid, how the organization overcame them, and how it forced them to become more efficient.
To learn more about Stray Paws Animal Haven, visit their website or Instagram.
If you enjoyed this episode, check out our interview with Audra Farrell, Community Cares Program Supervisor at the San Francisco SPCA in episode 101.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
Stacy chats with Dr. June Long, who has been a high-volume spay/neuter surgeon for over six years. She was formally trained at the ASPCA Spay/Neuter Alliance in 2016. Dr. Long routinely performs 30-40 surgeries daily and has performed over 27,000 sterilization surgeries.
In her conversation with Stacy, Dr. Long details how she got into the high-volume spay/neuter field and provides a glimpse into what happens behind the scenes in spay/neuter clinics. She shares her thoughts on the need for high-volume spay/neuter services and on the veterinary workforce shortage. She also gives advice to veterinarians that are interested in the spay/neuter or shelter medicine field.
Additionally, Dr. Long provides an overview of the Six Minute Spay, an online course she developed, which helps spay/neuter surgeons become more efficient in performing surgeries. The course is self-led and covers everything from the basics of preparing the surgery to performing some of the more complicated procedures.
To learn more about the Six Minute Spay, visit the program’s website or Facebook page. You can also contact Dr. Long through email.
If you enjoyed this episode, check out our interview with Marvin Mackie, DVM, the co-creator of the Quick Spay Technique episode 40.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
Stacy chats with Cameron Greig, the Community Cat Coordinator for the Humane Society of Huron Valley (HSHV) in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Cameron shares information about the specifics of HSHV’s Community Cat Program. To date, this program has served over 18,000 cats, averaging around 1,500 spay-neuter surgeries annually.
Cameron talks about how he got into this field and how he has approached handling his position. He shares some of the strategies that the program employs. He also details a recent collaboration with the University of Michigan School of Information, where students performed a deep dive into HSHV’s Community Cat Program to figure out ways it could improve its efficiency and systems.
Cameron discusses instances where he has had to deal with difficult property managers while TNRing and provides suggestions on how to appropriately handle these situations. He also provides a few tips for trapping.
Listener Notes
- To learn more about HSHV’s Community Cat Program, visit their website.
- You can also connect with the HSHV’s Community Cat Program through Facebook.
If you enjoyed this episode, check out our interview with Alice Burton, Program Manager, Animal Control and Shelter Liaison episode 36.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
Edwin Plotts is the Director of Marketing at Pawlicy Advisor. He is also involved with fostering and TNR in Chatham County, Georgia. Prior to moving to Georgia, he was a volunteer and foster with Flatbush Cats in Brooklyn, New York.
In his interview with Stacy, Edwin describes the services of Pawlicy Advisor, which he likens to Priceline for pet insurance. This free resource assists pet owners in finding the right insurance so that they can afford veterinary costs.
Edwin explains how there is no one-size-fits-all pet insurance and details how Pawlicy Advisor utilizes the Coverage Score and the Lifetime Pricing Score to rank the insurances most appropriate for the pet owner. He also more broadly explains pet insurance, including what it covers and its evolvement over the past five years.
You can connect with Edwin through Linkedin. To learn more about Pawlicy Advisor, visit their website.
Listener Notes
During his interview, Edwin mentioned Flatbush Cats
If you enjoyed this episode, check out our interview with Nathan the Cat Lady in episode 388.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
Kristen Levine is a nationally acclaimed pet expert and influencer with over 30 years of experience in the industry. Her early work with the SPCA led her to a lifelong career in the pet industry, advocating for pets and their parents on her blog and in the media. Through her blog, she helps pet parents provide the best care for every stage of a pet’s life.
In her discussion with Stacy, Kristen shares some of her experiences in the pet industry and how she got into blogging. Many of the questions that she receives through her blog pertain to behavior. Kristen discusses her efforts in educating cat parents and raising overall awareness about fear, stress, and anxiety in cats, which includes founding the Pet Anxiety Awareness Event and the Pet Anxiety Awareness Month.
Kristen provides insight on how to identify some of the stress symptoms in cats and what you can do to address these issues so that they can feel comfortable and safe in your home. She also provides her perspective on the Fear Free concept in veterinary medicine and provides several tips on how small organizations can handle PR.
To learn more about Kristen and her work, visit Pet Living with Kristen Levine.
If you enjoyed this episode, check out our interview with Nathan the Cat Lady in episode 388.
Drawing from over 20 years of experience working with feral cats, the folks at Neighborhood Cats have gathered together their favorite ways of catching the wiliest of felines. Join Neighborhood Cats' director of national programs, Bryan Kortis, as he offers a collection of helpful, problem-solving tips! Whether it's putting in a clear rear door, using Spam or KFC as bait, wrapping your trap with green garden netting, or training a cat to enter a trap, you're bound to learn something new to improve your trapping success!
Links for Listeners
- View the full Trappers' Tips & Tricks video and slides on our Community Cat Care and Training page (just scroll to the bottom for recordings) or on YouTube.
- Learn more about Neighborhood Cats.
If you enjoyed this episode, check out another great special episode, Colony Caretaking Tips & Tricks Part 1.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
Drawing from over 20 years of experience working with feral cats, the folks at Neighborhood Cats have gathered together their favorite ways of catching the wiliest of felines. Join Neighborhood Cats' director of national programs, Bryan Kortis, as he offers a collection of helpful, problem-solving tips! Whether it's putting in a clear rear door, using Spam or KFC as bait, wrapping your trap with green garden netting, or training a cat to enter a trap, you're bound to learn something new to improve your trapping success!
Links for Listeners
- View the full Trappers' Tips & Tricks video and slides on our Community Cat Care and Training page (just scroll to the bottom for recordings) or on YouTube.
- Learn more about Neighborhood Cats.
If you enjoyed this episode, check out another great special episode, Colony Caretaking Tips & Tricks Part 1.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network, Doobert, and Maddie’s Fund.
Linda Chitwood is the volunteer director for the nonprofit charity Homeless Animals Relief Project (“HARP”), located in Senatobia, Mississippi. HARP’s mission is to reduce cat suffering and overpopulation by providing free or very low-cost spay/neuter surgery to those with low income or caring for community cats. Since its inception in 1997, HARP has fixed over 20,000 cats.
After moving from Memphis to rural Mississippi, Linda encountered a community without any animal welfare programs and she was compelled to take action. In her conversation with Stacy, Linda shares some of her experiences from her 25 years in animal welfare work and in operating a small nonprofit.
Linda also discusses the book that she published, $5 For A Cat Head, which provides guidance on how to get started with TNR and what you can do as an individual in the community. This book also provides helpful advice in dealing with community members while trapping in different environments and other practical hands-on tips.
In this discussion, Linda reminds us all to “never lose sight of the beauty and the wonder and the joy of the animals we’re trying to help.”
To learn more about HARP, visit their website. Linda’s book can be found on BookBabyand the Kindle version can be found on Amazon. All of the proceeds from the sale of the book go to the animals served by HARP and will be used to fund spay/neuter surgeries.
If you enjoyed this episode, check out our interview with Chris Roy, pilot, and creator of Doobert.com in episode 131.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
Marta Negro, a lifelong pet lover and avid traveler, faced a difficult task when the COVID pandemic forced her to return home to Spain without her dog. Fortunately, she was able to find a flight volunteer who could reunite her with her dog. Following this experience, Marta recognized the need for this service on a grander scale, which prompted her to develop the platform Help the Dog Fly. This service connects individuals trying to get their pet home with transport volunteers.
In her conversation with Stacy, Marta provides details about the behind-the-scenes work. She also shares the organization’s values, some of the challenges as a new organization, and her goals for Help the Dog Fly’s future.
To learn more about Help the Dog Fly, visit their Facebook, Instagram, or website.
If you enjoyed this episode, check out our interview with Chris Roy, pilot, and creator of Doobert.com in episode 131.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
Dr. Sara Pizano returns to the show (a previous CCP guest on episodes 56, 171, 246, 247, 306, and 335) to provide updates on her work, including her involvement with municipal shelters. She recently provided her 117th consult in 22 states. These shelters were able to decrease intake and lower euthanasia rates. Over the period of one year, one particular shelter, Danville-Boyle County Humane Society, was able to decrease its intake from 908 cats to 19.
She stresses the importance of all organizations utilizing the community foundation model to help bridge funding gaps and shares her perspective on addressing veterinary shortages.
Dr. Pizano shares information about Maddie’s Million Pet Challenge, which evolved from the Million Cat Challenge (a campaign that saved over 3.5 million cats). UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program, Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program at UF, Open Door Veterinary Collective, and Team Shelter USA came together to found this initiative, which provides consultative mentoring services at no cost.
Dr. Pizano also discusses Human Animal Support Services, which is a movement to transform animal services through innovative programs and services built to support people and pets within their communities.
Listener Notes
Dr. Pizano’s book, The Best Practice Playbook for Animal Shelters, can be found on Amazon.
During her interview, Dr. Pizano mentions these organizations:
- Best Friends
- Learniverse
- Open Door Veterinary Collective
- Team Shelter USA
- The Joanie Bernard Foundation
- Woodstock Animal Foundation
If you enjoyed this episode, hear more from Dr. Pizano on episode 171.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network, Doobert, and Maddie's Fund.
Joe Elmore has served as the President and CEO of Charleston Animal Society since 2012. When he joined, he brought 25 years of experience in the nonprofit sector to an organization in turmoil. Since his time at Charleston Animal Society, the organization has become the state’s top-rated nonprofit 7 years in a row. Joe also organized the statewide initiative No Kill South Carolina and led the effort to pass the first felony animal cruelty law in the U.S.
In his conversation with Stacy, Joe describes the similarities and differences between the models of human service organizations and animal welfare organizations. He explains the challenges that animals face given their vulnerability and lack of fundamental rights.
Joe also details how he was able to gather support from the public and policymakers in creating a TNR program and discusses the effectiveness of this campaign and the resulting program. Additionally, he highlights topics regarding the management of cat colonies.
To learn more about the Charleston Animal Society, visit their website.
Listener Notes:
During his interview, Joe mentions these organizations/programs:
This episode is sponsored in part by Telecom Consultants, Buzz to the Rescues, and Maddie's Fund.
Stacy chats with Dr. Jon Geller, DVM, who worked as an emergency veterinarian for nearly 25 years. He is also the national founder and director of The Street Dog Coalition, which provides free veterinary care to pets of those experiencing homelessness. The Street Dog Coalition runs mobile veterinary clinics in over 50 cities across the U.S.
Dr. Geller talks about the services that The Street Dog Coalition provides to cats, as well as to their owners in their efforts to care for both ends of the leash. He also discusses the challenges that many of these individuals can face when seeking refuge in homeless and women’s shelters when accompanied by their pets.
To learn more about The Street Dog Coalition, visit their, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube channel, or website.
If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy Stacy's earlier interview with Amanda Arrington, Director of Pets for Life Program at The Humane Society of the United States. | Episode 69.
This episode is sponsored in part by Telecom Consultants, Buzz to the Rescues, and Maddie's Fund.
Stacy speaks with Carla Betlem, a professor at Rochester Institute of Technology where she has been performing TNR for nearly 15 years. Carla along with several RIT students came together to establish a campus club, Caring Hearts For RIT Cats, which provides care, comfort, and security to the feral cats on and surrounding RIT’s campus.
Caring Hearts, which became an official college club in 2019[1], has over 400 student members involved. The club operates as a nonprofit entity and has a board of directors, along with various committees and subcommittees.
Carla describes how this club was founded, how its members communicate, and the importance of training others to become leaders. She stresses the importance of educating students about the resources available in caring for their pets, as well as the importance of having them involved in caring for RIT’s cats. Carla also provides advice for individuals that would like to begin a similar program at their own university.
To learn more about Caring Hearts for RIT Cats, visit their Facebook, Instagram, or website. You can also connect with them through email at caringhearts@rit.edu.
If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy Stacy's earlier interview with Dr. Emily Cobb. | Episode 50.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network, Buzz to the Rescues, and Maddie's Fund.
Stacy chats with Erica Danger, a pet photographer, designer, and cat rescuer located in the San Francisco Bay area. She fosters kittens, practices TNR, and volunteers with a number of rescue-focused organizations. With her business, The Catnip Dispensary, she designs and creates catnip toys, facemasks, and more to fund her rescue work.
Erica shares her experience with photography, volunteering, nonprofit organizations, and TNR. She discusses the importance of sharing TNR through social media and provides helpful tips and tricks for good photography. Additionally, Erica previews her upcoming collaboration with the Community Cats Podcast.
To learn more about Erica and her work, visit her Facebook, Instagram, or website. Her store, The Catnip Dispensary, can be found here.
Listener Links
During her interview, Erica mentions these organizations:
If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy Stacy's earlier interview with author and photographer, Tamar Arslanian. | Episode 145.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network, Buzz to the Rescues, and Maddie's Fund.
Stacy talks to Kat Albrecht-Thiessen, a police detective turned pet detective and the founder/director of The Missing Animal Response Network. Since 1997, Kat has worked with search dogs trained to find lost pets and is widely known as the leading authority on lost pet behavior and pet detective training. Kat has authored two books, “Pet Tracker: The Amazing Story of Rachel the K-9 Pet Detective” and “Dog Detectives: How to Train Your Dog to Find Lost Pets”.
Kat talks about how she transitioned from police detective to pet detective. She had previous training in search management as part of search and rescue and found that many of the techniques for finding lost people can be applied to finding lost pets. Kat also has a blog that dispels myths about what to do if your pet is lost, for example, putting out a cat’s litter box to help bring the cat home (a myth). Finding a lost cat takes a lot of work by the owner including getting neighbors' permission to search their property (and not just handing them a flier and asking them to look) and that looking for a lost pet “gets you familiar with your neighbors and community.”
Kat takes a closer look at the behavior of lost pets and how even pets that are outgoing and friendly with their owners, act differently when lost outside the home. She feels that more cats could be found if owners knew what to do and she stresses the “need to educate people in the proper things to do when a cat is lost.” She describes the “difference between how an indoor-only cat behaves when they are lost versus an outdoor access cat”, how they are often hiding close to their home, and the differences between the time frame for recovery of a cat that accidentally escapes and a cat that escapes and is injured.
Kat and Stacy briefly discuss the training of pet detectives, and how there is a need for pet owners to be trained, even if they are not going to work as pet detectives. Kat talks about what a cat recovery team consists of and what they will do for the owner if they are hired. She mentions how some TNR groups may accidentally trap a lost cat because it may be exhibiting “feral” behavior and how it’s important to start a search for a lost cat within 24 hours and not treat indoor/outdoor cats differently based on past experiences with wandering.
Kat thinks that microchips are important and explains how they work and repeats what to do within the first 24 hours to successfully recover a lost cat.
Listener Links
- Missing Animal Response network www.missinganimalresponse.com
- Kat’s books are available on Amazon.com
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network, Buzz to the Rescues, and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Stacy interviews her “Dream Team” of cat behavior experts, who are presenting at the 2022 Community Cats Podcast Online Behavior Day, which takes place on April 09, 2022. The panel features Pam Johnson-Bennett, certified cat behavior consultant and author; Dr. Rachel Geller, certified cat behavior and retention specialist, and executive director of the Cat Connection; Tabitha Kucera, CCBC, KPA-CTP, Fear-Free, and Low-Stress Handling certified registered veterinary technician; and Arden Moore, dog/cat behavior consultant, master pet first aid instructor, radio host, and author. The presenters give an overview of what they will present at Behavior Day, including cat behavior issues and concerns, vet visits and enrichment, litter box, and multi-cat household issues.
Listener Links:Pam Johnson-Bennett
- www.catbehaviorassociates.com
- Facebook – www.facebook.com/Pam.JohnsonBennett
- Twitter - @ThinkLikeaCat
- Pam’s Books are available at numerous online retailers including Bookshop.com and Amazon.com (see Pam’s website for other online retailers)
Dr. Rachel Geller
- www.drrachelcatbehavior.com
- Facebook – www.facebook.com/rachel.geller
- Twitter - @DrRachelGeller
- Rachel’s book “Saving the World, One Cat at a Time: What I Know About Cats – And Why You Should Know It, Too” is available on Amazon.com
Arden Moore
- www.ardenmoore.com
- Facebook – www.facebook.com/ArdenMoore
- Instagram - @ardenknowspets
- Arden’s books are available on Amazon.com
Tabitha Kucera
- www.chirrupsandchatter.com
- You can learn more about Fear Free techniques and stress-free handling at www.fearfreepets.com
If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy Stacy's earlier interview with feline behaviorist, Tabitha Kucera. | Episode 319.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network, Buzz to the Rescues, and Maddie's Fund.
Stacy speaks to Jonathan Howe, who is a public defender in Bronx County Family Court and has declared his candidacy for Congress in New York’s 14th Congressional District. Jonathan and his wife were trained and certified in TNR during the COVID lockdown and now manage a small colony in Astoria, Queens. The couple shares their home with two of their own cats, Clara and Art Bell, and have helped two other kittens from the colony find new homes.
Jonathan recounts his story of never having had a cat of his own but first seeing a lot of hungry outdoor cats at a friend’s house about eight years ago. Fast forward to the COVID lockdown and Jonathan noticed the outdoor cats in his neighborhood and realized he needed to take responsibility for them. His early efforts at trapping were somewhat unsuccessful but he eventually trapped and fostered his first kitten. He got tips and advice from Neighborhood Cats and Astoria Cat Rescue on how to manage the colony, feeding, and trapping and attempted to get the colony cats spayed and neutered, even though some vet clinics were not open during COVID. Jonathan and Stacy briefly discuss the shortage of vet appointments and the decision that was made to determine that some vet clinics were considered non-essential services during the COVID shutdown.
With the help of a court clerk Jonathan happened to speak to in a virtual meeting, he was able to get some colony cats fixed at an open clinic in Westchester, NY, and then pursued TNR certification. Jonathan encourages anyone interested in this work to get certified first before trying to learn the hard way. He tells Stacy, “Anyone who heard about what we were doing was eager to help”, including members of the community who dropped off supplies to feed and house the colony cats.
Jonathan would like to see support for TNR at the Federal level and believes local government can also help by “giving vouchers for spay/neuter to local vets.” He thinks that anything that can be done on a legislative front to “make it clear that this [TNR] is a policy that works and is a policy that works to address a problem that we as humans have caused” will help to show that managing outdoor cats can be done in a humane way.
Managing the colony and connecting with his neighbors through his work has made him feel “part of the community” and at the end of the process, he knew everyone in the neighborhood. He is currently fundraising for his campaign and is hoping, for every one hundred dollars he raises, to be able to put out one winter cat shelter he purchased from a company in Long Island, for the colony to use in the winter months ahead.
Listener Links:
- Jonathan’s campaign website www.howe2022.com
- Neighborhood Cats www.neighborhoodcats.org
- Astoria Cat Rescue www.astoriacatrescue.com
- To sign up to attend the Community Cats Podcast TNR certification, go to www.communitycatspodcast.com and click on Virtual Education
If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy Stacy's earlier interview with animal rights lawyer, Camille Labchuck. | Episode 346.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network, Buzz to the Rescues, and Maddie's Fund.
Stacy talks to Tracie Hotchner, author, podcaster, animal wellness advocate and founder of The Radio Pet Lady Network, a network of informative radio programs, co-hosted by Tracie with top veterinarians and other pet experts. Tracie is also the founder and director of the annual NY Cat Film Festival and NY Dog Film Festival, which feature short cat-centric and dog-centric films. Premiering in New York City every year, the festivals then travel across the country, partnering with local animal welfare groups in every location that receives a portion of every ticket. Tracie lives in Vermont with her two rescue dogs and enjoys playing tennis.
The discussion partially focuses on the results of a recent British research study, which surveyed pet owners to rate their cats’ level of psychopathy as defined by human psychological standards. Tracie explains how using certain words and labels can contribute to viewing cats in a negative way. Tracie agrees with Stacy that standard field terminology (such as TNR) and messaging in the animal welfare community needs to be consistent and simple to make it accessible and easily understood by a wider audience. She believes in “elevating the status of cats” since society’s view of community cats as the cause of problems like the decimation of birds and wildlife and even cartoon depictions of cats as “clever and slightly villainous” has led to negative stereotypes of cats. Tracie ponders whether that is partly based on the ability of community cats to thrive and survive outdoors.
Notes:
- To learn more about Tracie Hotchner, find links and information about her podcasts, and sign up for her newsletter, visit www.radiopetlady.com
- To learn more about the Cat Film Festival www.catfilmfestival.com
- Connect with Tracie on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/traciehotchner or
- Twitter @traciehotchner
- Film – “Kedi” (documentary about Istanbul’s street cats and the community that cares for them)
- Research study on cat psychopathy published in Journal of Research in Personality, Volume 95, December 2021 (A domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus) model of triarchic psychopathy factors: Development and initial validation of the CAT-Tri+ questionnaire)
- Tracie’s books are “The Cat Bible: Everything Your Cat Expects You to Know” “The Dog Bible: Everything Your Dog Wants You to Know”
If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy Stacy's earlier interview with Tracy. | Episode 184.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network, Buzz to the Rescues, and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Stacy speaks with Amy Davila Sanchez, Marketing Manager for strategic initiatives for Best Friends Animal Society. Raised in a family that loves cats and dogs, Amy has grown up with a special connection to animals, especially with cats. Her passion for animals started at a young age when she was in Puerto Rico. She currently has two rescue dogs and two rescue cats and loves to travel, cook and hike in her downtime.
In her day to day at Best Friends Animal Society, Amy works with her team to provide resources and education for shelters and rescue organizations. Across the country, she helps provide these solutions and education materials. Amy and her team develop toolkits, courses, and resources to help individual people provide life-saving solutions for cats and dogs within their own lives. Best Friends also hosts adoption and foster locations across the country to better assist on the ground.
When it comes to the greatest challenges facing community cat caretakers, Amy says, “Everybody is overwhelmed. There are a lot of cats out there, there are limited resources and there is still some misinformation or not a clear understanding from community members.” While some states within the country openly provide solutions and resources for community cats, other states are more challenging for community cats.
Amy tells us more about the community cats' situation in Texas, California, and North Carolina, and how there is limited to no access to veterinary care and spay/neuter services. Best Friends is focused on these three states to identify communities that specifically need help and support them with marketing and educational materials. The goal is to inspire communities to want to take action themselves. If you’re a small grassroots organization helping community cats, you’ll want to tune in as Amy shares advice on how to support your local community and access resources from Best Friends Animal Society!
Notes:
- To learn more about Best Friends Animal Society and their work across the country, visit their website here.
- You can also learn more about community cats and ways you can take action by visiting their Community Cats page here.
- If you’re a rescue organization looking to partner with Best Friends Animal Society and access the network partner program, visit their website.
Jessica Evans is a certified cat communicator and founder of Feline Ascension, which offers on-demand energy healing for cats and their owners. Jessica has been a cat lover all of her life and now dedicates her life to helping kitties be welcomed into homes with open arms and not be returned to a shelter due to behavior issues.
It began with her first cat Dora and for Jessica, it was love at first sight. Ever since then, she’s always had cats in her life. Her childhood dream was to talk to cats and now she does! She discovered energy healing while she struggled with her own health issues in 2018. She learned how to communicate with her own body through energy healing and eventually became a certified healing practitioner. Over the past few years, clients started coming to her and asking for help with their felines. Now, she’s dedicated to working with clients to help them live the best life possible.
Her mission as a cat communicator is to help shift unhealthy energies, reduce stressors that might be triggering negative behavior, give cats a way to communicate their boundaries, and translate messages from cats to their owners. Jessica and Stacy talk more about energy healing overall and discuss the meaning and impact of reiki, emotion code, and body code to help us uncover the best versions of ourselves. Jessica also teaches classes on cat communication to help cat owners and advocates develop a stronger connection to the cats they’re working with.
Notes:
- To learn more about Jessica Evans and Feline Ascension, visit her website here!
- You can also connect with Jessica on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube to learn more about her work.
- For more info on courses, live events, and additional support for you and your amazing felines, visit her cat-alog here!
If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy Stacy's interview with Karen Anderson, Animal Communicator, Afterlife Expert, and Coach | Episode 291.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network, Doobert.com and Maddie's Fund.
In this episode, Stacy speaks with Jane Kennedy and Adrienne Lefebvre of Two Crazy Cat Ladies, an all-natural feline product line designed to help kitties live longer and healthier lives. In addition to their products, they also host a blog and podcast called “Back In The Closet,” to help bring cat parents together and raise awareness for the health and well-being of all kitties. They also host regular Facebook and Instagram lives, connecting with cat parents and sharing helpful tips.
Jane and Adrienne always thought they were dog people. That all changed when cats started coming to them and they found themselves enthralled in the care of the kitties in their lives. In 2015, they realized how much they didn’t know about nutrition when one of their cats went through a heartbreaking situation with feline leukemia. They searched for more answers and solutions but couldn’t find much information.
They ended up building their own community to support cat parents and address cats’ specific needs. Oftentimes, it feels like we live in a dog-dominated world and there are negative stereotypes associated with being a cat parent. Jane and Adrienne are changing this and inspiring cat lovers to fully embrace their love for cats. They tell us more about how they started their business, what they learned along the way and how they use social media to build this supportive community. “Cats really are some of our best teachers. We’ve all had that special cat in our life that helps us be a better human and helps us better take care of the cats that come into our lives.”
Notes:
- To learn more about Jane Kennedy & Adrienne Lefebvre of Two Crazy Cat Ladies, visit her website!
- You can also follow them on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to follow their latest tips
- For their Back In The Closet podcast, learn more and tune in here!
If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy Stacy's interview with Bridget Bowhay, Director of Content and Social Media for Cuddly | Episode 394.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network, Doobert.com and Maddie's Fund.
Meet Molly Kelsey, a former vet nurse who worked with in-patient care and clinic administration, and now runs The Cat Counsellor as a feline behavior consultant, offering 1-on-1 support for cats and their owners. She’s based in New Zealand where it’s tough being a community cat. TNR practices are more restrictive and led by only grassroots volunteer-run organizations. In addition, there is public scrutiny regarding TNR due to ongoing concerns for local wildlife.
In this episode, Molly tells us more about the community cat situation in New Zealand and shares more about how she started The Cat Counsellor as a way to advocate for and empower people to become more effective cat companions.
She also shares important tips on how to understand and find solutions for common problem behaviors that might be happening at home. Molly tells us more about house soiling, litter box issues, and aggression to other pets and people in the home. Here’s one tip that Molly shared with us: “If you’re playing with a laser toy, finish the laser beam on a tangible item. A physical toy they can touch or a treat, and this prevents frustration from not getting anything from the chase.”
Notes:
- To learn more about Molly Kelsey and The Cat Counsellor, visit her website here.
- Follow her on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with her feline behavior tips and 1-on-1 sessions.
- To book a session with Molly, visit her booking link here!
If you enjoyed this episode, you may also enjoy Stacy's interview with Suzy Langer (President Bifford) | Episode 423.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network, Doobert.com, and Maddie's Fund.
In part two of the Return-to-Field & Targeting: The Community Cat Program webinar Bryan Kortis explores what fears people have prior to starting a return-to-field and targeting program and some of the studies and statistics that will put those fears to rest. Bryan also touches on how to discuss RTF programs with public officials and how to find common ground with bird enthusiasts and environmentalists so RTF can be used to effectively and humanely control the free-roaming cat population. Bryan also answers questions from attendees moderated by Stacy.
Session Presenters:
- Susan Richmond Executive Director, Neighborhood Cats
- Bryan Kortis National Programs Director, Neighborhood Cats
Notes:
Learn more about Neighborhoodcats.org. Follow them on Facebook, Instagram and view more of their content on Vimeo. Be sure to follow the Community Cats Podcast on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network, Doobert.com and Maddie's Fund.
Mike Bricker has spent years in animal welfare improving live outcome percentages, innovating new programming, rewriting policies, and modernizing medical operations as director of operations at Camden County Animal Shelter. He then transitioned to Best Friends Animal Society as the Director of Operations of the Shelter Embed program and used his time to connect with communities and listen to the people he worked with.
Stacy and Mike dive into what makes CARE, as Mike describes, “Unlike almost anything else in Animal Welfare.” He outlines the current divisions of CARE and talks about how CARE Centers, Research and Development, Narrative, and The CARE Circle work together to progress their mission.
Mike discusses the importance of narrative and visibility as a core of what CARE does to highlight Black and Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) doing the unrecognized animal welfare work in their communities.
This visibility also has an impact on the future of BIPOC in the veterinary profession and animal welfare world. He relates, “Once they see themselves in the movement they find it way easier to jump into that movement.”
Mike and Stacy talk about the sustainability of animal transport, creating an organization that reflects the population they serve, and how communities/changemakers can find and work with CARE.
Notes:
During his interview, Mike mentions these organizations:
- Little Earth United Tribes
- Braveheart Animal Rescue
- Jodie Blackwell Fund to develop scholarships/support for Black Veterinarians.
- TrapKing Humane
To learn more about CARE, visit them online or follow them on Facebook,and Instagram. Stay up-to-date with their programs and projects by becoming a member of the CARE Circle. To join, text CIRCLE to 52886.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network, Doobert.com and Maddie's Fund.
Turning her perspective around on being a single pet caretaker inspired Beverly Means to think about what kinds of help she would want if she could no longer care for her pets due to terminal illness or an end-of-life event. After looking for options in her community, Beverly saw the need for supportive services around this common problem, and Transitions Pet Care was created.
Offering services from estate planning to rehoming options, and even supportive pet care in Decatur, GA, Transitions Pet Care is a 501(c)3 foster-based rescue. TPC serves a population of elderly, health-compromised, or terminally ill people and their pets.
Stacy and Beverly discuss estate planning with our animal companions in mind. Beverly outlines options from a formal and legally-binding Pet Trust to an informal written plan including care details, veterinary info, and the pet’s own preferences. She emphasizes the importance of planning for animal companions, especially with multiple pets or even a colony of community cats on your property.
“It doesn’t take that long to have the conversation, to write it down, and to share it with the person who may be managing that,” she advises.
As a trained social worker Beverly is uniquely prepared for navigating the emotional hardships that come with this work and she believes in preparing volunteers of the program for the loss and grief that comes with helping the population they serve.
“At the end of the day, it’s about helping people take care of their pets in a way that helps them keep their pets and keep that pet healthy.”
Learn more about Transitions Pet Care by visiting them online, or by following them on Instagram.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network, Doobert.com and Maddie's Fund.
This week, Stacy checks in with the very accomplished Dr. Gray Richter. Dr. Richter is a certified veterinary acupuncturist and certified veterinary chiropractor. In 2007 and 2008, Dr. Richter and his Montclair Veterinary Hospital team received awards from the community, including Best Veterinarian in the East Bay from Oakland Magazine, East Bay Express, and KRON 4 TV. Dr. Richter’s professional interests are in emergency, general practice, alternative care medicine, and wildlife rescue. He is also the California Veterinary Medical Association’s Alameda county representative regarding animal disaster planning. Dr. Richter is now an international bestselling author of The Ultimate Pet Health Guide.
They discuss the shift in veterinary medicine away from treating cats as small dogs, and what might have prompted this enlightenment, including the Fear Free movement, more owner engagement, and the advantages it has for both veterinarian and patient. Dr. Richter also touches on the ongoing staffing shortages many veterinary clinics are experiencing and how important veterinary technicians are within the industry.
The conversation continues with a discussion about how western and alternative medicine can be integrated for remarkable outcomes and he even offers valuable tips on feline nutrition. Dr. Richter tells Stacy about the importance of diet for outdoor community cats and gives some details about supplements he's created to help enhance the traditional diets we feed cats. As the conversation comes to a close, Dr. Richter shares his thoughts about end-of-life care for animals.
If you'd like more information about Dr. Richter's supplements, you may visit ultimatepetnutrition.com and his book, The Ultimate Pet Health Guide, is available on Amazon. (It includes 50 recipes for dog and cat food you can make at home!) To learn more about integrated care, check out petvetexpert.com.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network, Doobert.com, and Maddie's Fund.
Stacy connects with documentary Filmmaker Aaron Hancox to discuss how he came to find inspiration from his early documentary Catwalk: Tales from the Cat Show Circuit that lead him to his latest documentary, Running Wild: The Cats of Cornwall. Aaron confides that he initially expected the plight of cats in Cornwall to be a unique occurrence. Through his filmmaking, he has since learned that it is a story playing out in rural and underfunded communities all around the world.
Aaron discusses the film’s main characters as they try to reduce the number of un-owned cats in Cornwall. He relates that telling their story looked like a David v. Goliath fight, but yielded insight into possible solutions and community needs in Cornwall and beyond. Much of the progress made was impacted by COVID-19 and the constant need for accessible spay and neuter
Arron touches on municipal support, academic support, and private citizen support as being factors in the lives of community cats, as well as the importance of resources and financial support for education and community buy-in.
“Sometimes it might feel like you are chasing your own tail when you are doing this kind of work, and I hope that is a wake-up call to people who don’t understand this world.”
Watch Running Wild: The Cats of Cornwall now on iTunes, Prime Video, Google Play, Microsoft Xbox, VUDU, YouTube, and other VOD platforms. Follow Running Wild: The Cats of Cornwall on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Notes:
- Visit Tiny but Mighty Cat Rescue in Cornwall, to connect with Mellissa Alepins
- Visit Cattrap to connect with Mary Jane Proulx
- Learn more about Markum Street Films
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network and Doobert.com.
In Part 2 of 2021 Colony Caretaking Tips & Tricks, Presented by Neighborhood Cats, Bryan Kortis offers insight into constructing and maintaining winter shelters for community cats. From purchasing a kit to building your own, to making excellent use of a styrofoam cooler, Bryan covers several options.
Caretaker and neighbor relations can be tricky, but Bryan offers several solutions to minimize complaints. Changing colony traffic patterns through barriers and deterrents can be a solution. Fleas, worms, gut health, and immunity boosters are all healthcare options that Bryan covers as manageable and available to community cats through their caregivers.
Session Presenters:
- Susan Richmond Executive Director, Neighborhood Cats
- Bryan Kortis National Programs Director, Neighborhood Cats
Notes:
Learn more about Neighborhoodcats.org and follow them on Facebook, Instagram and view more of their content on Vimeo. Be sure to follow the Community Cats Podcast on Facebook, Instagram , and YouTube.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network and Doobert.com.
In part one of the Colony Caretaking webinar Bryan Kortis explores the bond between the cat and caretaker. He covers best practices such as feeding patterns, types of food, and nutritional content for the value of the food offered. He talks about what caretakers can do so as not to disturb neighbors or create a neighborhood nuisance at the feeding site.
Bryan explains the variables like weather and wildlife (feral chickens? Yep!) that must be factored into both a trapping session and the colony’s well-being. Feeding stations and locations are covered as well as the specific needs that caretakers face with winter feeding, watering, and care.
Session Presenters:
- Susan Richmond Executive Director, Neighborhood Cats
- Bryan Kortis National Programs Director, Neighborhood Cats
Notes:
Learn more about Neighborhoodcats.org. Follow them on Facebook, Instagram and view more of their content on Vimeo. Be sure to follow the Community Cats Podcast on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network and Doobert.com.
As Kristen Bell is to sloths, so Jon Dunn is to cats. Senior Specialist of Communications and Host of the Best Friends Podcast by Best Friends Animal Society, Jon just really loves cats. He joins Stacy for his first-ever podcast sitting in the guest chair and answers questions instead of asking them.
Jon and Stacy talk about TNR and how the mindsets around community cats have evolved. They touch on reunification challenges faced by cats and current conversations about how and who is able to adopt.
Jon offers some insight into what it takes to have a successful podcast and how BFAS, as an organization, embraced podcasting as a timely communication vehicle to launch its first episode in April of 2020.
Listen and subscribe to Best Friends Podcast. You can also follow Best Friends Animal Society on Facebook, Instagramand YouTube.
Quick Notes:
- Jon mentioned VeganGR.com, his Grand Rapids, Michigan guide to vegan life.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network and Doobert.com.
What started out as one man’s system to record and coordinate his own animal transport work has since transformed into an online software platform, custom-built for animal rescuers. Chris Roy and Stacy talk about the creation of Doobert.com and the recent re-build which added new modules and optimized it for mobile use.
Chris and Stacy discuss his podcast, The Animal Innovations Show, which explores innovations that are helping people to help animals. The podcast incorporates video, live stream, and IGTV to make it more interactive.
While re-connecting, they examine barriers created by the “nonprofit mentality,” designing scale-able animal welfare programs, and using technology “for what it is good for.” Chris makes some predictions on what the next 3-5 years will look like for cats, based on the trends he’s seen as a result of COVID.
Dive into the world of Doobert.com and subscribe to the Animal Innovations Show hosted by Chris Roy. You can also follow Doobert.com on Facebook, Instagram, and their Youtube channel.
Quick Notes:
- The Animal Innovations Show has new episodes on Tuesday & Thursday night.
- To be a guest on The Animal Innovations Show, complete the application.
- Chris Roy referenced the crowd-funding platform for animal care, Waggle.org.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network and Doobert.com.
Dr. Jaquie Rand is currently using research to tackle issues around community cats and the criminalization of Trap, Neuter, Release practices in Australia. After navigating significant resistance for over a year and a half, she was able to launch a research project to negate arguments about disease spread by cats, the impact of cat predation on native wildlife, and the benefits of sterilization. In the midst of COVID, data collection turned to neighborhood surveys which revealed paradigm-shifting data that challenged notions about the human element in the community cat equation.
Stacy and Dr. Rand discuss barriers that are faced by cats' owners⸺especially those with limited financial resources⸺to access spay and neuter procedures. They chat about the value of research in finding possible solutions, prioritizing municipal support based on need, and educating stakeholders to make TNR a more viable option.
To learn more, visit the Australian Pet Welfare Foundation’s website or email them at: info@petwelfare.org.au. To see the impact that Dr. Jacquie Rand’s work is making, follow the APWF’s Facebook, Instagram, or connect with them on Linked In.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network and Doobert.com.
A few notes played on a toy piano by his showstopping cat Ricky, changed Steve Dale’s understanding of cat behaviour, forever. Steve Dale began to “clicker train” Ricky the Devon Rex and the two became an inseparable duo. They continued to work together and began dispelling myths about what cats can be through public appearances and media spots.
Steve discusses Ricky’s diagnosis of feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and shares the legacy he created for Ricky by establishing the Ricky Fund for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Research. Stacy and Steve chat about Trap Neuter Vaccinate Return (TNVR) for community cats and benefits to the emotional and physical health of Fear Free™ practices.
The Ricky Fund was established through Winn Feline Foundation, now Everycat.org and has raised over $200,000 for HCM research.
Research from the Ricky Fund for HCM Research has produced a simple cheek-swab test to determine genetic predisposition for HCM and has been vital in understanding this disease.
Steve recommends learning more by visiting fearfreehappyhomes.com, stevedale.tv, or following him on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Linked In and Twitter.
*A brief note from the production team: this episode features a fantastic interview, lots of interesting information...and unfortunately, some slightly dodgy audio quality. Despite the audio glitch, we decided to share it because we found the content both fun and incredibly valuable. We hope you do as well.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network and Doobert.com.
Emily discovered the joy that adventuring brought to cats—and their people—when she and her husband took their own cat with Cerebellar Hypoplasia outside for enrichment.
From catio to stroller, to harness training, Emily and Stacy chat about the best steps to take when preparing your cat to go adventuring outside. Emily talks about pet tracking devices and which features she recommends especially for cats. For the holiday season, Emily offers tips on traveling with cats and adventure cat gift ideas.
Adventure Challenge is a list of different tasks for human and cat adventure teams. Teams that complete the tasks are entered in a drawing to win a prize.
To join the adventure, as well as find resources on how to bring your cat with you, visit Emily’s website and follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network and Doobert.com.
Seven years into her work in veterinary clinics and with animal welfare organizations, Sarah Swanty learned a fact that devastated her. Of any 10 cats that were admitted to the local shelter, only four would make it out. A 60% euthanasia rate for cats drove Sarah to co-found Fort Collins Cat Rescue in 2006 which merged with Animal House Rescue in 2020 to become Animal Friends Alliance.
Stacy and Sarah discuss the highs and lows of starting a cat rescue, the necessity of adding a low-cost spay/neuter clinic, and the organic growth that lead to merging two organizations. Sarah outlines the impact that spay and neuter have had on adoption and transport programs at Animal Friends Alliance in relation to regional animal homelessness.
To learn more about Animal Friends Alliance visit their website follow them on facebook and instagram, or call (970)484-8516.
In this special episode, Pam Johnson-Bennett, Certified Cat Behavior Consultant and best-selling author, joins Stacy to discuss how Covid has changed cat behavioral concerns and her participation in the ARM & HAMMER™ Feline Generous program. This year, the program will host the ‘Unsung Heroes’ Awards which will recognize the most inspiring staff and volunteers at cat welfare organizations; those who have gone above and beyond to help “purrfectly impurrfect” shelter cats.
Pam discusses how winners will be chosen in a variety of categories and details how $30,000 will be awarded to the winning shelters, plus each unsung hero will receive an award and a year’s supply of ARM & HAMMER™ cat litter. This program holds a special place in Pam’s heart as they serve the same kinds of cats she meets in her practice and who, in a shelter environment, are often hard to adopt to forever homes.
If you would like more information or would like to nominate an unsung hero, you may visit the Feline Generous website. To learn more about Pam Johnson-Bennett’s books and her practice, you may stop by her site at catbehaviorassociates.com.
This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network and Doobert.com.
Home Heart Vets was founded in 2017 by two cat-loving Veterinarians passionate about improving end-of-life care for cats in New York City, New Jersey, and Philadelphia.
Stacy and Dr. Birse discuss the emotional toll of practicing Veterinary medicine as well as the rewarding aspects of the profession, counseling owners in making end-of-life decisions for their pets, and advocacy around humane euthanasia. Dr. Birse outlines some common signs of end-of-life stages in cats across different conditions and illnesses.
Resources about end-of-life and the decision-making surrounding it can be found on the HomeHeart website and they offer free consultation phone calls to help guide pet parents in the process.
To learn more about Dr. Birse and HomeHeart Vets, visit their website or follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
This episode is sponsored in part by Smalls Fresh Cat Food and Doobert.com.
Beginning her life as a dog person, Allison talks about the value of using dog training methods to benefit cat behavior modification, and vice-versa. After losing her first companion cat in 2014, Allison focused on making cats lives better through behavior as a labor of love. Volunteering with Husker Cats changed Allison’s idea of a “feral” cat and inspired her passion for working with community and companion cats.
Allison and Stacy chat about how environment, body language, and building a cat’s confidence are all factors that directly affect the emotional life of cats. Allison identifies cat aggression, due to miscommunication and fear, as a common issue that she works with. She tells Stacy,“I love the teaching aspect. I love seeing the people grow and love seeing the changes in the cats.”
To learn more about cat behavior visit: Allison Helps Cats LLC. Follow her on Facebook and keep up with the life and times of Rainy, her therapy cat, on Instagram.
This episode is sponsored in part by Smalls Fresh Cat Food and Doobert.com.
If dogs and cats could choose a psychiatrist it would be Dr. Nicholas Dodman. With a drive for advocacy, a gift for research, and a never-say-quit treatment philosophy, it is no surprise that he is one of the world’s most noted veterinary behaviorists. Co-founder of the Center for Canine Behaviour Studies, Dr. Dodman describes himself as a “secret cat person,” as well.
In this episode, Dr. Dodman and Stacy chat about enrichment for indoor cats and how clicker training with cats positively enhances their relationship with their people. Dr. Dodman takes us through behavioral conflicts that are common in cats and some that are uncommon—like separation anxiety. He outlines how pharmaceutical solutions treat behavioral issues like territorial spraying, pica, and compulsive behavior (OCD) in cats.
To learn more about Dr. Dodman’s current and previous work, visit the Center for Canine Behavior Studies online, and for feline-specific content visit Cat’s Corner. Follow the CCBS on Facebook and Instagram.
This episode is sponsored in part by Smalls Fresh Cat Food and Doobert.com.
Dr. Kelly Diehl left private practice as a Small Animal Internal Medicine Specialist to join the Morris Animal Foundation which funds research that benefits animals directly.
Dr. Diehl and Stacy discuss the Happy, Healthy Cat campaign which continues to shape protocol around low-stress housing in shelters today. Dr. Diehl relates some surprising common ground uncovered in a study about bird people v. cat people and gives us a preview into an ongoing study that looks at the effects of chronic inflammation in feline behavior and cognitive health.
To learn more, visit the Morris Animal Foundation website for information on studies, webinars, and videos. Find out about their FIP initiative and how the foundation determines which projects to fund. You can also follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
Kristen Hassen is the Maddie’s American Pets Alive! Director overseeing Human Animal Support Services (HASS) and serves as a board member of the National Animal Care & Control Association. Kristen describes HASS as the result of almost 1,000 animal welfare professionals coming together to recognize that the current animal services system is broken. Focusing on community-driven services as opposed to traditional shelter-driven services, HASS defines itself as a collaborative project to reimagine animal services to keep families together.
In this episode Stacy and Kristen touch on how fostering benefits the physical and mental health of cats as opposed to the stress encountered in conventional shelter stays. They also discuss a surprising reaction to a recent statement issued by the National Animal Care & Control Association and how community cat programs create a more humane existence for animals, and animal control officers.
To keep up with Kristen Hassen and all things Human Animal Support Services, follow HASS on Facebook and Instagram or learn more on their YouTube channel.
This episode is sponsored in part by Smalls Fresh Cat Food and Doobert.com.
Suzi Langer is a vet tech with a soft spot for specially-abled cats. Just a few hours into fostering her first cat with Cerebellar Hypoplasia (CH), a neurological condition that affects balance and coordination, she was hooked. Now Suzi and her kitty, Bifford, are on a mission to educate people and advocate for cats with this non-progressive condition.
Stacy and Suzi discuss muscle memory, busting stigmas around specially-abled pets, and the unexpected benefits of adopting a cat with CH. Suzi’s website provides resources and tools to make veterinary visits and everyday life more friendly for kitties with CH and their people.
Get to know Suzi’s self-described “blended house of misfit toys,” including Bifford, on Instagram, Facebook, or her website.
This episode is sponsored in part by Smalls Fresh Cat Food and Doobert.com.
Mandy Evans has spent over a decade as the executive director of Better Together Animal Alliance—formerly Panhandle Animal Shelter—in Ponderay, Idaho, and hosts the podcast People are animals too, Darnit! When Better Together experienced an increase in owner surrenders, the Home to Home program was born. As a result the shelter saw an astounding 33% decrease in owner surrenders and Mandy knew it was something that needed to be shared with other shelters.
In this episode, Stacy and Mandy discuss big programming changes that shift perspectives on traditional sheltering mindsets. Mandy also shares tips on executive director longevity, creating a board of directors that doesn’t favor fear, and the future of sheltering as she sees it.
Hear more from Mandy Evans on her podcast, People are animals too, Darnit! Find out about the Home to Home program by visiting their website. Check out the Better Together Animal Alliance Website or follow them on Facebook and Instagram to see what they develop next.
This episode is sponsored in part by Smalls Fresh Cat Food and Doobert.com.
Hannah Senser is the cat foster manager for Ruff Start Rescue. RSR is a foster-based rescue with a network of 1,000 active foster homes instead of a brick-and-mortar shelter. Overseeing up to 300 cats/kittens and their foster families across the state of Minnesota, Hannah tells us it is vital that she can “manage a mean spreadsheet.”
Stacy and Hannah discuss empowering fosters, removing barriers faced by adopters, the challenges of working in a rural community, and the impact of COVID-19 on Ruff Start Rescue’s fostering and adoption programs.
Learn more about Ruff Start Rescue at their website or follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.
This episode is sponsored in part by Smalls Fresh Cat Food and Doobert.com.
In 2017, Caron Tuttle answered a call for fostering help from a local rescue group in Pleasanton, Texas. Intending to foster one kitten, Caron left the shelter that day with five very sick kittens and one mama cat. Shortly thereafter, she and four friends founded Atascosa Animal Allies.
Atascosa Animal Allies has since grown to provide a robust TNR program and a subsidized monthly spay and neuter clinic for community-owned pets. Stacy and Caron discuss the importance of sterilization in community cat populations and the value of inviting the community to take an active part in the process.
To find out more about Atascosa Animal Allies, visit their website. You can also connect with them via email or follow them on Facebook.
This episode is sponsored in part by Smalls Fresh Cat Food and Doobert.com.
Michelle Major is a USA Today best-selling author of romance novels. She is passionate about animals and fosters kittens and promotes her local shelter in her free time. Her newest book, The Last Carolina Sister, the third book in the Magnolia Sisters trilogy, has a focus on animal sheltering as the protagonist, Meredith, runs an animal shelter.
Stacy and Michelle talk about bringing the challenges of working in animal welfare into a pop culture setting like a novel, how Michelle uses her platform to promote animal welfare, and her tips for building a social media following.
You can buy The Last Carolina Sister on Michelle’s website, and you can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagramto keep up with author news as well as pet and foster news.
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This episode is sponsored in part by Smalls Fresh Cat Food and Doobert.com.
We all know cats are great at hiding pain, but what if there was a way to monitor your cat’s pain just by taking a photo of her face? That is the goal of Sylvester AI’s new app Tably. Today Stacy is talking with Sanja Massey of Sylvester AI about the app and the implications for cat health as it continues developing.
The Tably app uses the Feline Grimace Scale, a medical study that identified 5 facial cues that indicate whether a cat is in pain. The app reads those cues from a photo. Sanja shares some success stories from the app’s development and how the app can be used by veterinary clinics to monitor how a cat is doing after a surgery or treatment.
You can find them in the app store as Tably, online on the Sylvester AI website, and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
This episode is sponsored in part by Smalls Fresh Cat Food and Doobert.com.
Basel Nassar is an entrepreneur with many years of experience creating products designed to boost human digestive health. He has recently made the switch to pet digestive health with his company Boss Nation Brands. Boss Nation creates raw pet foods that act as full nutritional meals, as well as treats full of healthy supplements. Boss Nation also has a charity platform called Boss Cares which partners with local charities to support different initiatives such as TNR, animal training, and adoption.
Stacy and Basel discuss the best ways to transition your pet to raw foods and the health benefits he’s seen in his own pets. Basel also shares his best advice for entrepreneurs and how to cultivate the right team by developing and training people who have the right attitude, instead of trying to hire the perfect candidate.
To find out more about Boss Nation’s pet foods, visit their website.
This episode is sponsored in part by Smalls Fresh Cat Food and Doobert.com.
Rick DuCharme has worked for many years as a no-kill advocate, working on the Mayor’s Task Force for Animal Control, founding First Coast No More Homeless Pets, and now founding RLD Consulting LLC, which works to help organizations working to save animals. Rick specializes in access to veterinary care, spay/neuter clinics, nonprofit startups, and more.
Stacy and Rick discuss his journey from the business space to the nonprofit world, trends in animal welfare as a result of COVID-19, the vet shortage and how to use vets more efficiently, as well as ahow to retain vets already working in nonprofit, working together with groups across the welfare space, and advice for nonprofits starting up. They also chat about Rick’s work with Dr. Micheal Blackwell from the University of Tennessee and what they’re doing to help provide access to veterinary care to low income pet owners.
To learn more about RLD Consulting LLC, visit their website or contact Rick directly by email. Rick has been on the show before, listen to Episode 46 here.
This episode is sponsored in part by Smalls Fresh Cat Food and Doobert.com.
Lisa got involved in animal welfare through volunteering at shelters. She first began transporting animals from high-kill areas in the south, but then shifted her focus to the root of the problem: access to spay and neuter services.
From that was born Fido Fixers, a nonprofit providing low-cost spay/neuter for dogs and cats with mobile clinics in underserved areas. With their seven mobile clinics, they partner with local groups which operate the clinic and provide the vet.
Stacy and Lisa talk about the logistics of working with local groups, the vet shortage, and how the spay/neuter clinics can expand to cover wellness, vaccines, and microchips as well.
Learn more about Fido Fixers on their website, though to contact them, use their email. You can also find them on Facebook.
This episode is sponsored in part by Smalls Fresh Cat Food and Doobert.com.
Christi Metropole, founder of the Stray Cat Alliance shares with Stacy how she got started with TNR in the 90s and how trapping her first cat at her apartment complex gradually blossomed into a movement. They chat about how cats have historically been left out of the animal movement,
The Stray Cat Alliance provides trapping education, trap depots, help for spay/neuter surgeries, advocacy, help and education around unweaned kittens, and empowers community members to make the world better for cats. Stacy and Christi also talk about the history of TNR in Los Angeles and the barriers to TNR that the Stray Cat Alliance and other organizations have worked hard to overcome.
To learn more about the Stray Cat Alliance, to find resource, or to join one of their trainings, go to their website.
This episode is sponsored in part by Smalls Fresh Cat Food and Doobert.com.
Becky Mossor is a registered veterinary technician and the executive director of the Human Animal Bond Association. She and Stacy talk about the differences between certified vet techs, on the job trained veterinary assistants, the challenges veterinarians have been facing during COVID, and ideas to better address the shortage of vets.
Stacy and Becky also talk about the importance of the human-animal bond, which is at the core of the Human Animal Bond Association. The association brings together pet professionals and pet parents to elevate and educate on the benefits of the human-animal bond, to support research on this topic, and to offer resources and support to veterinarians, pet parents, and communities.
To find out more, visit the Human Animal Bond Association website. You can find Becky on Instagram and you can listen to her podcast Making Sense of Pets wherever you get your podcasts.
This episode is sponsored in part by Smalls Fresh Cat Food and Doobert.com.
This week the script is flipped and Stacy is the one being interviewed by Michelle Fern, who hosts the podcast Cattitude on Pet Life Radio. They chat about how Stacy got her start in animal welfare and the origins of the Community Cats Podcast, what they’ve both seen in animal welfare during COVID-19, how TNR is a grassroots movement, the veterinary shortage in the US, and more.
Michelle also shares a little about her background and how she got started with Pet Life Radio and the two shows she hosts, Cattitude and Best Bets for Pets, and her hopes for the future of animal welfare in the US.
You can find Cattitude here and listen to the podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
This episode is sponsored in part by Smalls Fresh Cat Food and Doobert.com.
This week Stacy interviews Chloe DiVita and Jessica Shipman, co-founders of All Pet Voices, a pet-focused media company that creates content for pet lovers in partnership with pet experts and brands. Their mission is to collaborate with other pet industry experts and bring people together to inspire, innovate, and take ideas to the next level.
Stacy, Chloe, and Jessica discuss how they help small businesses and nonprofits share their story in a way that helps them connect with their audience, the best ways to grow that audience, and some of the best tech tools for staying organized.
You can find out more about All Pet Voices on their website and join their Facebook group BlogPaws Community for tools and resources for nonprofits and small businesses.
This episode is sponsored in part by Smalls Fresh Cat Food and Doobert.com.
Juli Cialone and Marla Valentine of Rock N’ Rescue chat with Stacy this week about their unique approach to cat rescue. Juli is the co-founder and executive director of Rock N’ Rescue with a background in professional photography. Marla is a social worker in long term care with over 25 years of experience.
Rock N’ Rescue, located in South Salem, NY, partners with shelters to match cats’ temperaments to their adopters with a focus on placing animals into homes where there is a therapeutic need. They have a strong support system for adopters, resulting in low rates of return. They also do a lot of community outreach with Girl Scouts, high schools and middle schools, as well as bringing kittens to local nursing homes and assisting with occupational therapy.
To find out more about Rock N’ Rescue, visit their website. They can also be found on Facebook and Instagram.
This episode is sponsored in part by Smalls Fresh Cat Food and Doobert.com.
This week’s guest is Andee Bingham, founder of Esther Neonatal Kitten Alliance in North Carolina. Andee noticed a need for a more specialized organization that could focus on neonates and support shelters that weren’t equipped to care for them. Then she realized she was someone who could start that organization and Esther Neonatal Kitten Alliance was born. Her program has a team of highly trained fosters and they work to support shelters by filling the gaps shelters have in neonatal kitten care, as well as helping shelters to build up their own program and foster network.
Andee and Stacy chat about different kinds of fosters and how people find the kinds of kittens they’re passionate about, what to do if you find a kitten outdoors, and Andee gives out some advice for those starting and running nonprofit organizations.
You can find Esther Neonatal Kitten Alliance on their website, and on Facebook and Instagram.
This episode is sponsored in part by Smalls Fresh Cat Food and Doobert.com.
In this episode, Stacy talks to Rita Reimers, a cat behavior consultant, writer, and podcast host. Rita writes a column for Catster Magazine and the Litter Genie website, and hosts the Pet Life Radio show 19 Cats and Counting with Linda Hall. She is also a cat rescue volunteer and cat owner (sharing her home with 19 cats!).
Stacy and Rita discuss common behavior issues such as litter box problems and how to introduce new cats into your household. They also touch on the differing mentalities around spay/neuter and letting your cat outside that exist around the country, the importance of targeting owned cats as well as community cats with spay/neuter programs, and the problems surrounding owner surrenders.
You can find out more about Rita on her website, and you can listen to her podcast here. To read her column and join a community of cat lovers, subscribe to Catster Magazine.
This episode is sponsored in part by Smalls Fresh Cat Food and Doobert.com.
Daralyn Kelleher is an LA-based YouTuber who turned to furniture making during quarantine, documenting the process on her YouTube Channel. Stacy and Daralyn chat about Daralyn’s cat-themed, mid-century modern furniture, the possibility of venturing into making tiny furniture for cats, and making shelters for feral cats.
Daralyn is also a trapper and cat colony caretaker. She shares about the difficulties of getting used to trapping, especially when the cats react poorly to being trapped.
You can find Daralyn on her YouTube Channel or on her Instagram or Twitter.
This episode is sponsored in part by Smalls Fresh Cat Food and Doobert.com.
Anita Kelsey is London’s only accredited cat behaviourist (BA Hons, MCFBA, CIDBT) after studying feline psychology and behaviour with renowned cat expert and biologist Roger Tabor and achieving a first class honours degree at Middlesex University based on her work practice. Anita is also qualified as a master cat groomer has a long list of regular mobile cat grooming clients in and around London.
Anita is the author of two books, Claws: Confessions of a Cat Groomer and her newest book Let’s Talk About Cats, which we reviewed in our last book review blog. Stacy and Anita talk about some of Anita’s favorite interviews with cat professionals in Let’s Talk About Cats and the varying perceptions about cats around the world.
You can find out more about Anita and get the books on her website. You can also find her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
This episode is sponsored in part by Smalls Fresh Cat Food and Doobert.com.
This week’s guest is Canadian actress, singer, and writer Reagan Pasternak. Reagan is the author of Griffin’s Heart: Mourning Your Pet with No Apologies. An avid animal lover, Reagan works with several rescue groups based in L. A.
The book Griffin’s Heart came about when Reagan was mourning the loss of her cat Griffin. The loss of a pet is often not treated the same way as the loss of a human in your life, but the grief is very much the same. Reagan’s book is a memoir, a healing journal, a grief guide, and a keepsake for helping you work through mourning a pet and to help you remember the wonderful things about your life together.
Stacy and Reagan touch on compassion fatigue in the animal welfare industry and the importance of community building as a way to validate feelings of grief.
To find out more about Reagan, visit her website. To buy the book, visit Griffin’s Heart website. You can join her community on Instagram.
This episode is sponsored in part by CDE Cages and Doobert.com.
This week Stacy talks to Carol Novello, founder of Mutual Rescue, a national initiative that highlights the power of human-animal relationships. She is also the author of Mutual Rescue: How Adopting a Homeless Animal Can Save You, Too. Carol worked in corporate America before transitioning to the nonprofit space, where she spent a decade as the president of the Humane Society of Silicon Valley. She is a recipient of the Maddie Hero Award and a member of the board of directors of Cuddly.
Mutual Rescue was born of the idea that helping animals helps people. They created films that showcase stories of people who were saved by their rescued animal and published a book that combines those stories with the science behind the human animal bond. Now Mutual Rescue is working on creating programs in collaboration with local shelters and rescues that can provide tools and messaging that can be used by organizations all over the country and collaborating with corporate sponsors to provide national funding to local organizations.
Stacy and Carol chat about what expertise in business and leadership Carol brought from her corporate jobs into the nonprofit world, how to create a culture of philanthropy, and how COVID-19 is affecting operations.
To find out more about Mutual Rescue, to watch some of their inspiring videos, or to find their book, visit their website(Carol recommends the film on Josh and Scout for cat lovers).
Find out all the details about Care Dare, taking place this May, in this special episode! CARE will be sponsoring the first ever CARE DARE Community Cat Challenge. Sterling the TrapKing will set a record for the most cats trapped in 24 hours by a single person! Our Goal is to set a record, help spay and neuter as many community cats in Atlanta during Kitten Season, and educate more people on the benefits or TNR while having diverse representation.
To learn more visit https://careawo.org/care-dare/ and cheer Sterling on!
This episode is sponsored in part by Kitty Sift and Doobert.com.
Deborah Cribbs, a banker by trade, is the chair of the board of trustees for Joanie Bernard Foundation and the Ten movement, which works in the greater Cincinnati area to help achieve a no-kill community for cats. The foundation’s ad campaigns featuring Scooter the Neutered Cat have helped increase awareness and engagement in the community about spay and neuter and community cats. The work of the foundation has helped improve the live release rate in Cincinnati shelters from just 37% to over 96%.
Deborah and Stacy talk about how Deborah came to the animal welfare industry through the mission to spend the foundation’s money wisely. They discuss how to target impactful spending that drives change in the community, and how to engage the public, giving them ownership of the problems in the community. Deborah shares how with a focus on spay/neuter and community cats, their ad campaigns have been able to drive community members to action.
For more information on the Joanie Bernard Foundation, visit their website, and for information on the Mild Kingdom campaign and for resources on tnr, go to the Ten movement’s website.
This episode is sponsored in part by CDE Cages and Doobert.com.
This week Stacy talks to Rachel Herman, founder and executive director of PAWS (NY). Rachel has worked in development with the ASPCA before she transitioned to working with PAWS (NY) full time.
PAWS (NY), or Pets Are Wonderful Support New York was founded in 2009 to meet the need for support for people who have physical and financial barriers to caring for their pets in New York City. Their goal is to provide services that help keep pets in their homes including vet care, dog walking and litter box maintenance, a pet food pantry, and more. They partner with other organizations in the community that serve the same demographic to help provide comprehensive care.
Stacy and Rachel discuss fundraising and how COVID-19 has affected the work of PAWS (NY). You can find PAWS NY on their website and on Facebook and Instagram.
This episode is sponsored in part by CDE Cages and Doobert.com.
Can you believe it’s our 400th episode? This week we have a very special episode with Danielle Bays. You might remember Danielle from previous episodes or from her presentation at the 2021 Online Cat Conference. Danielle is a senior analyst for cat protection and policy at the Humane Society of the United States. She has more than 20 years experience in animal advocacy and she uses this expertise to advocate for community cat programs.
Stacy and Danielle talk cat policy in Los Angeles where a citywide community cat program has finally passed, Alaska where a wildlife regulation prevents cats from being released into the wild, New Jersey which has passed the Compassion for Community Cats Act, and various states where declawing bans are in the works. They also discuss the Animal Care Expo, which begins tomorrow.
To find out about local policy issues in your state, you can contact your HSUS state director, or you can contact Danielle directly. For more info about the Animal Care Expo, visit their website.
This episode is sponsored in part by TICA and Doobert.com.
Dawn White works as a behavioral psychologist and a massage therapist, but you might be more familiar with her work with Lola the Rescued Cat. Dawn runs the Lola the Rescued Cat Blog and is the author of Lola: Diary of a Rescued Cat. Dawn is also a contributing writer for The Jackson Galaxy Project’s Cat Pawsitive program, Chewy.com, Pet Radio Magazine, the Contemporary Pet, and more.
Dawn shares with us Lola’s rescue story and how it gained momentum on social media, leading to the blog and published book, as well as becoming a platform to raise awareness about adoption and raise money for shelters and rescues. Lola has also been featured in Heroic, Helpful and Caring: Felines Who Make a Difference by Anne Beall, a book about how cats touch our lives.
Stacy and Dawn also discuss Dawn’s partners in the The Jackson Galaxy Project Cat Pawsitive program, Catnip Nation, and the Cat Writers Association. She shares tips for writing about animals, advocacy for adoption and community cats, and how to manage social media.
You can find out more about Lola on her blog or on Facebook, and you can buy Lola: Diary of a Rescued Cat on Amazon, or wherever books are sold.
This episode is sponsored in part by TICA and Doobert.com.
Today’s guest comes to us all the way from the United Kingdom. Stacy chats with Michelle Adams, founder of Chatty Cats Care, a cat sitting company based in London. Michelle specialises in caring for disabled pets, is passionate about rescuing cats, and shares her home with senior cat, Jerry.
Michelle shares with Stacy how during the pandemic lockdowns, her cat sitting business has adapted by adding a podcast, Catmaste Chronicles, and how that has led to her latest business venture: selling eco friendly products like cat-themed beeswax wraps. Not only do Michelle’s products support sustainable living, but she’s also donating 30% of her profits to Feline Friends International, a charity rescuing and helping community cats all over the world.
To learn more about Chatty Cats Care or to listen to the Catmaste Chronicles podcast, visit their website. You can also find Chatty Cats Care on Instagram, and Facebook.
This episode is sponsored in part by CDE Cages and Doobert.com.
Stacy’s guest this week, Gary Evans, works as the Clinic Director for the Humane Society of Huron Valley (HSHV), where he previously worked as a “cat wrangler” or Community Cat Coordinator. Before coming to the world of animal welfare, Gary worked in the entrepreneurial space with tech startups.
HSHV is a high volume spay/neuter and full-service vet clinic, and adoption shelter. They have been working as the leading provider of TNR in Michigan for over a decade and have helped about 16,000 outdoor cats.
Gary and Stacy talk about how Gary has been able to use his background to help scale up the number of cats HSHV helps, including finding better ways to use resources, mobilize volunteers, and provide tools and education to the community. While COVID-19 has slowed them down some, they’re still working toward their goal to make Washtenaw County the best place in the country to be an animal.
To find out more about HSHV and to find resources on community cats, visit their website.
This episode is sponsored in part by TICA and Doobert.com.
This week, an inspiring chat with Peter Elueze, founder of Paw Salvation, a Chicago-based nonprofit that helps homeless people, veterans, and seniors care for their pets. Paw Salvation was founded 3 years ago and has been growing steadily, supporting those who need it by providing pet food.
Stacy and Peter talk about the human-animal bond, the need for including pets when providing housing and writing policy for homeless people, how COVID-19 has affected homeless people, advice for starting a nonprofit, and finding blessings in unexpected places. Peter also shares his plans for a mobile grooming and wellness van and his hopes to be able to include flea treatment and microchipping in the future.
To help Paw Salvation in their mission, donate or follow them on Instagram or Facebook. To find out more, visit Paw Salvation’s website.
This episode is sponsored in part by TICA and Doobert.com.
Stacy chats with Mariah McCulley, Director of Operations at Animal Friends Alliance, a limited admission, adoption guarantee shelter for cats and dogs in Fort Collins, CO. Mariah has experience with TNR, high volume spay and neuter clinics, adoption, and, her passion, fostering feral kittens.
Animal Friends Alliance has a strong focus on providing community resources to keep animals in their homes. They provide subsidized cost spay/neuter, a kibble supply program, and a community cat program. Their work with TNR has seen success in reducing the volume of cats in Fort Collins and has now expanded to cover a wider range around Northern Colorado and into Wyoming and Nebraska.
Mariah’s passion is fostering feral kittens and she shares with Stacy some tips for successful feral fostering and how organizations can support their fosters and adopters. Some of her tips include separating feral kittens from their littermates and using play as a tool for giving confidence to kittens. She also notes it’s important to prepare and support both fosters and adopters for potentially less socialized kittens, encouraging fosters to view the kittens through the lens of an adopter and making sure to be honest with adopters about what to expect.
If you have questions for Mariah, you can reach her at mariah.mcculley@savinganimalstoday.org. You can find out more about Animal Friends Alliance on their website.
This episode is sponsored in part by TICA and Doobert.com.
This week’s guest is Bridget Bowhay, Director of Content and Social Media for Cuddly, a fundraising platform that supports animal rescues. Bridget is also an avid cat lover and kitten foster.
Founded in 2014, Cuddly is a crowdfunding platform dedicated to helping nonprofit shelters and rescues achieve their fundraising goals. Their specific approach matches donors to specific animals, helping to provide medicine or supplies. Cuddly does not charge shelters for their services, but donors are able to tip Cuddly at check out. Cuddly has more than 2100 partner rescues and they have raised $20 million since their inception.
Bridget and Stacy also chat about the podcast, From Tip to Tail, that Bridget runs for Cuddly, which features different animal rescue organizations.
Visit Cuddly’s website to donate or to register your nonprofit shelter or rescue. To listen to the From Tip to Tail Podcast, you can visit the podcast main page, or find them on Apple Podcasts. The episode Bridget mentions on the Little Lion Foundation can be found here.
This episode is sponsored in part by KittySift and Doobert.com.
Aysha Akhtar, M.D., M.P.H., is a double-board certified neurologist and preventive medicine specialist, with a background in public health, and is a U.S veteran. For a decade, Dr. Akhtar was a Medical Officer at the Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Akhtar is a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics. She is the author of the two books, Our Symphony With Animals. On Health, Empathy and Our Shared Destinies and Animals and Public Health, which argues for the need for health institutions to include animals as part of the “public” in public health. Dr. Akhtar is also the founder and CEO of the Center for Contemporary Sciences.
Stacy and Dr. Akhtar discuss the importance of empathy in our society and how stopping infectious diseases, halting climate change, improving medical care, and decreasing violent crime are all connected to our empathy for animals. Increasing empathy for all animals increases our own wellbeing, which means that caring for community cats is caring for the community as a whole, and that public health models that support animals as well as people are essential to healthy communities.
Dr. Akhtar also tells Stacy about her new nonprofit, founded in May of 2020, called the Center for Contemporary Sciences. The Center for Contemporary Sciences aims to end experimental testing on animals, and create a shift toward new testing methods based on human biology. Studies have found that 95% of drugs and vaccines safe and effective in animals fail in human trials. Dr. Akhtar believes the Center for Contemporary Sciences has the potential to help end cruelty to animals in the scientific setting, as well as give us a better understanding of the diseases that affect human biology.
To find out more head over to the Center of Contemporary Sciences website. If you’re interested in buying Dr. Akhtar’s books, you can find links on her website. We recently reviewed Dr. Akhtar’s book, Our Symphony With Animals, on our blog.
This episode is sponsored in part by Tamadori and Doobert.com.
Steve Appelbaum has more than 40 years of dog training and pet industry experience. He is the creator of Animal Behavior College (ABC) which provides many different pet industry certifications. ABC started off with only programs for dog training but Steve noticed a big problem with cats being surrendered or euthanized for treatable behavioral problems, so he set out to fix this problem.
Steve and Stacy debunk the myth that cats can’t be trained and discuss how training cats isn’t about teaching obedience like it is for dogs, but actually treating behavioral problems. Steve gives some tips on how to train your cat for going to the vet and shares how enrichment and training go hand in hand. We in the animal welfare community know there is a shortage of veterinary assistants and veterinarians; Stacy and Steve talk about how ABC’s veterinary assistant program is their most popular program and they expect to have 2200 students enrolled in the next year.
You can find Stacy’s niece and her adventure cat on Instagram @lily.lebaron. To find out more about Animal Behavior College or to register for a course, visit their website or call 800-795-3294.
This episode is sponsored in part by Tamadori and Doobert.com.
Maura Nevel Thomas is an award-winning international speaker, trainer, and author on individual and corporate productivity and work-life balance, and the most widely-cited authority on attention management. Maura has trained thousands of individuals at hundreds of organizations on her proprietary Empowered Productivity™ System, a process for achieving significant results and living a life of choice. She is a TEDx speaker, successful entrepreneur, and author of Personal Productivity Secrets and Work Without Walls.
In this episode, Stacy and Maura talk tips for working remotely including managing attention, email best practices, guidelines for using different communication tools and apps, and how leaders can create a healthy and efficient culture at work.
They also chat about Maura’s book Work Without Walls, which takes her previous book on personal productivity a step farther, helping leaders and managers create a productive environment for whole teams and organizations. Maura also has a series of bite-sized books coming out over the next year or two whose goal is to “spark impact in just one hour.” These will be short reads, giving specific information in an hour or less, and they will break her Empowered Productivity™ System into individual components.
To find out more, get free resources, or buy her books you can visit Maura’s website. To get access to Maura’s on-demand training on empowered productivity, visit this website and use code SNEAKPEEK for a discount.
This episode is sponsored in part by TICA and Doobert.com.
You might remember Sam Wilson, who spoke at our Online Cat Conference in January. Sam is the Program Director at Iowa Humane Alliance, a high volume spay/neuter clinic, where she manages and develops outreach programs like the Iowa Trap-Neuter-Return Resource and Assistance Program (I-TRAP).
Stacy and Sam discuss how a passion for community cats and affordable spay/neuter services led Sam to Iowa Humane Alliance, how COVID has shifted their procedures, how many cities in Iowa are passing community cat friendly ordinances to support TNR and community cats and their caretakers. They touch on mentorship programs that help spay/neuter clinics get started, and the partnerships they have with community cat organizations, shelters, and rescues.
The Iowa Trap-Neuter-Return Resource and Assistance Program helps to support TNR in the community by providing trap rentals, spay/neuter and vaccination packages, as well as training and education.
To find out more visit their website or call (319) 363-1225. To reach Sam directly, you can email her at programs@iowahumanealliance.org.
This episode is sponsored in part by KittySift and Doobert.com.
This week Stacy talks to James Evans, president of CARE and multi-award winning creative strategist and leader with 25+ years of experience connecting organizations with their constituents. He has worked on numerous animal welfare projects including Gulf Spay/Neuter Campaign and HSUS’ Pets for Life, Outdoor Cats Research, Stop Puppy Mills and Spayathon, as well as Best Friends Animal Society’s Outreach Action Team, Maddie’s Fund, and SPCA of Texas’ Let’s Fix This Campaign. Throughout his work, he has always advocated for more diversity and inclusion throughout the field.
James shares how he came to animal welfare organically, marrying his passions for art, mass communications, and animals, and how he discovered animal welfare was an area lacking in services for underserved communities. Stacy and James discuss how to build sustainable community development and what marginalized people bring to the table when they’re included.
CARE, of Companions and Animals for Reform and Equity, is dedicated to saving companion animals through bringing more diversity into the animal welfare industry. CARE hopes to partner with passionate individuals in communities to create CARE Centers, which will help connect people in underserved communities with services from vets and shelters. Ultimately CARE will provide both needed services as well as jobs for communities.
To find out more about CARE, visit their website.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com.
You might already know Nathan Khen from Instagram or Tik Tok, where he is known as @nathanthecatlady. Today Stacy talks to Nathan about cats (of course), building a following on social media platforms, reaching younger audience, balancing social media and mental health, the effects of COVID-19 on the world of cat rescuing, and dating as a cat person.
Nathan is an actor, cat lover, volunteer with Milo’s Sanctuary and the Cat Cafe Lounge, and a spokesperson for Tabby Dates, a new dating app for cat lovers. Studies have shown that men who pose with cats in their profile pictures on dating apps are less likely to get a match. Tabby Dates eliminates that problem, as well as all negative stereotypes related to cat people, since everyone on the app is a cat person.
To find out more about Tabby Dates, visit their website or download the app from the Appstore. You can find Nathan on Instagram, Tik Tok @nathanthecatlady, Twitter, and Youtube.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com.
Our guest this week, Allen Kamrava, has an impressive and widely varied resume focused on both business and medicine. Dr. Kamrava is a colorectal and general surgeon and the founder and CEO of Eusoh, a powerful platform working to change the insurance industry by helping pet owners afford their vet bills.
Eusoh is an online community of pet lovers committed to helping each other with unexpected vet bills. It is an alternative to pet insurance, which Dr. Kamrava notes, only about 1% of pet owners have, though 67% of Americans have a pet in their household.
Stacy and Dr Kamrava talk about how Eusoh is committed to creating a more transparent and efficient system, reducing economic euthanasia, and building partnerships with employers to offer Eusoh memberships to employees in benefit or perks packages.
To find out more, or to get signed up, visit Eusoh’s website.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com.
Mikaela Fleisher is the secretary for a nonprofit spay and neuter organization called PennyFix. She has been involved in animal rescue since 2009, volunteering with various organizations as well as working as a receptionist at a busy animal hospital.
Stacy and Mikaela discuss PennyFix, an organization founded in 2017 whose goal is to partner with pet food companies to add one penny to the cost of each can or bag of pet food sold to fund spay and neuter as well as rabies and distemper vaccines. This would help to take the burden of federal and local governments to help fund spay and neuter. The organization is still young but so far PennyFix has funded 15 clinics in 11 states and they hope to grow to cover the whole United States.
This episode also delves into identifying areas of greatest need for spay and neuter services, the shortage of funding for those services, and the growing trend of animal shelters with food pantries partnering with human food pantries to make sure people are able to feed their pets during the hardships of COVID-19.
To find out more, visit PennyFix’s website. You can also find them on Facebook and Instagram.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com, and KittySift.
Our guest this week has a very impressive bio. Dr. Michael Blackwell had a doctorate of veterinary science as well as a masters in public health. He directs the Program for Pet Health Equity at the University of Tennessee, chairs the Access to Veterinary Care Coalition, and serves as a member of the HSVMA Board of Directors. In the past he has served as dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Tennessee, the chief of staff at the Office of the Surgeon General of the U.S., the deputy director of the Center for Veterinary Medicine at the Food and Drug Administration, and the chief veterinary officer of the U.S. Public Health Service and The Humane Society of the United States. During 23 years of active duty, he achieved the rank of Assistant Surgeon General of the U.S Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. He has owned two private practices and has received numerous awards and recognitions.
Dr. Blackwell chats with Stacy about how veterinary practice and public health can work together to provide a fuller picture of how animals and people are intertwined. Dr. Blackwell’s mission is to increase access to veterinary care to families with limited means. He bases his work on the “One Health” paradigm which works to address the needs of people, their pets, and their ecosystem holistically. He has launched Align Care, a conceptual healthcare system that works from this principle and provides for families that have both human and animal members.
Stacy and Dr. Blackwell talk the billion dollar question of funding and how community cats and spay/neuter initiatives fit into the future of Dr. Blackwell’s work.
To find out more about Align Care and the Program for Pet Health Equity, visit their website.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com's FosterSpace.
In this episode, Stacy chats with Holly Ganz, Ph.D., a micro-ecologist who studies how microbes and mammals interact, with a specific interest in the role that the gut microbiome plays in gastrointestinal (GI) conditions in cats and dogs.
In 2015, Holly founded Animal Biome to create better diagnostics and therapeutics for cats and dogs with GI conditions. She and Stacy discuss how she became interested in this field, and the Kitty Biome Kickstarter that began the whole thing. They review what the term gut microbiome means and how all this relates to animal welfare work.
Today, Animal Biome offers microbiome testing and fecal transplant capsules for dogs and cats that can be given at home. Holly explains what a fecal transplant is, how it works, and what conditions it can be helpful for, and she discusses what’s ahead for Animal Biome.
To learn more, visit the Animal Biome website, where you can find all of their products, as well as a new article on a potential cure for FIP. You can also read a reporter’s chronicle of using Animal Biome’s fecal transplant capsules in his cat with GI lymphoma.
In this information-packed episode, Stacy sits down with Dr. Bob Weedon, a retired veterinarian who is still going strong as a volunteer at the TLC PetSnip low-cost clinic in Lakeland, FL, a board member of the Alliance for Contraception in Cats & Dogs (ACC&D), and in other volunteer posts. Bob worked in private practice and also spent many years teaching in the shelter medicine program at the University of Illinois, including teaching high-quality high-volume spay/neuter techniques to veterinary students. He also holds a Master’s degree in public health. Along the way, he also became involved in TNR. “I just recognized there was such a need,” he says, “and that I had the tools that… could address that need.”
Stacy and Bob discuss why the “V” in trap-neuter-vaccinate-return (TNVR) is so crucial, both for the cats and for proving the value of TNVR programs to community leaders and officials. He discusses the concept of herd immunity in relation to rabies, and also goes into great detail about cats and toxoplasmosis—including how to talk with public health officials about it.
Bob also discusses his work with ACC&D and with the National Feline Research Council (NFRC–an “unbiased central repository of evidence-based information”). He tells Stacy how gratifying it is to be able to provide vet care to folks who can’t afford it, and how his own views have changed over the years from feeling like low-income pet owners shouldn’t have pets at all to realize how important pets can be to those folks’ mental health and well-being.
To learn more about the organizations Dr. Weedon volunteers for, visit the ACC&D website, the NFRC website, and the TLC PetSnip website. You can also check out Dr. Weedon’s presentation entitled “Better Together—TNVR and Public Health,” or email him directly with questions or help with resources.
In this episode, Stacy sits down with Julie Posluns, the founder and owner of Cat School, an online training school for cats that uses clicker training to teach fun and practical behaviors and strengthen the bond between cats and their human in the process.
Julie, who is a trained animal behaviorist, worked entirely with dogs until a small black kitten showed up at her back door. The cat, now called Jones, convinced the humans and the dogs in the family that he should stay—and he soon showed an interest in the training Julie was doing with her dogs. Julie began training Jones as well, and the rest is history!
Stacy and Julie talk about what clicker training is, what its benefits are, and how this kind of enrichment differs from other types. (Hint: This kind is good for both of you!) Julie explains that clicker training is based on positive reinforcement, and she talks about what her program consists of, how the plan works, and how it can work in different situations (training for fun vs. training for behavior medication, for instance).
They also talk about how training can work with multiple cats, how it can work in shelter environments, and about training cats to wash on a leash/harness or ride in a backpack or stroller.
To learn more (or to enroll), visit the Cat School website. You can also check out their Instagram page to see lots of fun videos, including a free tutorial on how to teach your cat to fist bump.
In this episode, Stacy is joined by Camille Labchuk, an animal rights lawyer and the executive director of Animal Justice, Canada’s only animal law advocacy organization. Camille also hosts the Animal Justice’s Paw & Order podcast, which was reviewed in the CCP blog back in February.
Stacy and Camille discuss what’s going on in Canada with regard to cats, including the fact that, as Camille puts it, “People are really waking up to the idea that cat declawing shouldn’t be a practice that we allow any more in society.” Stacy and Camille also chat about community cats in Canada, how Camille would like to see the government give more support to community cat-related issues, and about the relatively new legal concept of putting an animal at risk.
To learn more, visit the Animal Justice website, where you can also link to the Paw & Order podcast. You can find out more about Animal Justice’s conferences, which are open to everyone—not just lawyers—at the Canadian Animal Law Conference website.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com, and KittySift.
In this episode, Dr. Jennifer Conrad, who founded The Paw Project in 1999, joins Stacy to discuss the organization’s mission to end declawing in the U.S. & Canada, using education, research, and legislation. The Paw Project is made up completely of veterinarians and the group compiled the evidence, drafted the legislation, composed the language of the legislation, built the coalition of support, and obtained the representatives for every law prohibiting declawing in the U.S.
Stacy and Dr. Conrad discuss the surprising way Dr. Conrad became interested in ending declawing and educating people everywhere on its devastating effects on cats. “Declawing is a misnomer,” Dr. Conrad tells Stacy. “It is really more appropriately called de-knuckling. It is the amputation of a toe bone.” They discuss the behavioral issues of biting and litter box avoidance that declawed cats have been shown to be prone to, and they talk about the organization’s new “Claw-Friendly” certification for veterinary practices that do not perform declaw surgeries.
With legislation banning declawing passed recently in New York, and more bills in the works around the country, Dr. Conrad encourages listeners to join The Paw Project’s mailing list to stay in the loop on action needed regarding legislation in their area. She notes that, “There is a reason that we need to ban declawing: It actually saves cats’ lives … If we could get these bans all across the United States, we would be saving millions of cats’ lives.”
To learn more, visit The Paw Project’s website. You can also find them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or check out their documentary, The Paw Project on the App Store, Google Play, YouTube, and Amazon Instant.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com.
This week’s guest is Brad Kriser, founder of Kriser’s Natural Pet and Chief Education Officer of Independent Pet Partners. Brad lives in LA with his family and a menagerie of rescued animals.
Stacy and Brad chat about Brad’s role with Independent Pet Partners and how he promotes education around natural pet food both within the company and out in the community. They talk about the 5 Pillars of Wellness, developed with the University of Denver, which include nourishment, play, comfort, companionship and purpose. Brad also shared the great resource Things My Human Knows, a fillable document to leave with a pet-sitter when you go away, or to have on hand in the event of an emergency.
You can find their natural food retailers around the country at Kriser’s (California, Illinois, Texas and Colorado), Chuck and Don’s (Colorado), Loyal Companion (East Coast), and Natural Pawz (Texas).
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com.
Founding member of Archimedes’ Printing Shoppe and Sundry Goodes, Susan Russell has had diverse experience as a writer, attorney, and animal advocate. She has led municipal animal shelters in Chicago and Philadelphia, worked as a litigator, and published an array of books including A Ruff Road Home: The Court Case Dogs of Chicago, several children’s books, and the new series Gata Unbound.
Susan and Stacy discuss Susan’s newest book series (co written with Lucy Nolan and illustrated by Katy Lacy), Gata Unbound: A Series for Ailurophiles of all Ages. Volume One of the series features two stories, Klein's Weird Evening & Archimedes’ Ear. This series aims to introduce children to the important topic of TNR. Stacy and Susan finish up their interview with the importance of bringing joy, humor and kindness to our lives.
To buy Gata Unbound, you can head over to the Archimedes' Printing Shoppe and Sundry Goodes website; you can also find them on their Facebook page. A Ruff Road Home: The Court Case Dogs of Chicago can be found here. Susan’s children’s books can be found on Amazon: We Can’t Go There. We’re Bears, Shelter Dog Kisses, and Mr. Bird and Mr. Cat: How ‘Bout That.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com.
Writer, curator, and design and material culture historian Sarah Archer speaks with Stacy about how her love of her rescue cats led her to her newest project. Sarah is a senior curator at Philadelphia Art Alliance, a contributor to Hyperallergic and many other publications, and has worked with organizations such as Project Meow and Morris Animal Refuge in Philadelphia, PA.
After a cameo by Sarah’s kitten Toast, Stacy and Sarah discuss Sarah’s most recent project, a book called Catland: the Soft Power of Cat Culture in Japan which explores the unique relationship between humans and cats in Japan. Japan has a rich history of cats in arts and crafts, and today images of cats proliferate all parts of Japanese culture. Because of small apartments in big cities, it’s less common for Japanese people to adopt cats, which leads to a more collective style of caring for community cats. Their discussion also touches on overpopulation of cats in Japan, TNR efforts, and the phenomenon of cat islands.
To find out more about Sarah and to learn where you can buy the book, visit Sarah’s website. She can also be found on Twitter and Instagram.
Kawaii!
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com, and KittySift.
Author of Hobo Finds a Home and Huck and Finn, Bookstore Cats and independent bookstore owner Kevin Coolidge is featured in this episode.
The tradition of library and bookstore cats goes back to the Library of Alexandria and Kevin is keeping up the tradition with his two bookstore cats Huck and Finn, who have been featured in Cole and Marmalade’s blog and in Bookstore Catsby Brandon Schultz. Stacy and Kevin talk about how Huck and Finn, and previously a cat named Hobo, found their home in the bookstore and became the stars of Kevin’s children’s books.
You can buy the books at Kevin’s website or from his bookstore From My Shelf. If you can’t make it up to Wellsboro, PA for a visit, Huck and Finn can be found online on their Facebook page.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com, and Heaven Can Wait.
Kathleen O’Malley is a longtime practitioner and educator of TNR. She has worked for the Hudson County Animal League, the ASPCA, the Mayor’s Alliance for New York City Animals, and Bideawee Feral Cat Initiative (FCI).
In this episode Stacy and Kathleen discuss what to do if you see a stray cat, the many ways you can help with TNR, and the challenges facing those assisting community cats. Kathleen shares more about programs provided by Bideawee FCI, including education and outreach around TNR and caring for colonies, as well as support for certified TNR caretakers and the general public to connect with resources, services, and each other.
To find out more, you can email info@nycferalcat.org or visit Bideawee’s website or the NYC Feral Cat Initiative.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com, Heaven Can Wait, and C5.
This week Stacy talks to Meagan King, who has worked in pit bull rescues, animal shelters, and the pet service industry for more than eight years. She is interested in animal fear, aggression, and behavior and has worked with the SPCA of Texas as the Dallas behavior coordinator. She is a champion of fear-free cat-handling techniques. She currently works in Houston helping to identify community cat candidates in the shelter environment, as well as educating staff and the community on fear-free techniques.
Meagan and Stacy discuss dealing with cats with behavior problems in shelters and how to identify the best placement for a particular cat. They also talk about Harris County’s partnership with Best Friends Animal Society to create a robust TNVR, SNR (shelter, neuter, return), and community cat program. They also touch on the effects of COVID-19 on fostering, adoption, and spay and neuter.
To learn more go to the Harris County Pets website or email harriscountypets@bestfriends.org.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com, Boulder Holistic Vet, and C5.
Kathy Black, an all-breed judge from the Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA) for the past 19 years, joins Stacy in this episode. Kathy has bred and shown cats for 30 years, and she also chairs the CFA’s Companion Cat World (CCW), a program that celebrates rescued and non-pedigreed cats around the world.
Kathy shares a bit of the CFA’s history with Stacy, and explains that even though the CFA is “mostly a registry of pedigreed cats, we have always been there to enhance the well-being of all cats and promote education, responsible cat ownership, and proper care for millions of cats worldwide.” CFA’s goal is to reach out to the cat people out there who have never heard of them and let them know who they are, what they stand for, and what they work for.
Stacy and Kathy go on to discuss the CFA’s thoughts on cat overpopulation issues around the world, including how they promote spay/neuter while also working to protect and preserve breeds. They talk about how the coronavirus pandemic has affected CFA, how CFA supports rescue groups, and their anti-declawing stance.
To learn more about the CFA and Companion Cat World, including how you can register your own cat (purebred or not) with the CFA, visit their website.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com, Boulder Holistic Vet, and Kitty Sift.
In this episode, Stacy chats with Sarah Moore, the clinic manager for the Animal Protective League (APL) of Springfield Illinois’s spay/neuter clinic, and with Dr. Teri Kidd, the clinic’s veterinarian. They discuss how Dr. Kidd got into high-quality, high-volume spay/neuter and TNR, and how things have changed in the city, numbers-wise, since the clinic opened in 2006. Stacy, Sarah, and Dr. Kidd also discuss the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on their clinic and how they were able to remain open for all but one day during the spring 2020 outbreak. They also talk about the pandemic’s impact on the shelter and intake numbers and Dr. Kidd offers some thoughts regarding how leaders might better handle veterinary services in the event of another outbreak or similar situation. To learn more about the word APL does, visit their website, or check them out on social media. For more tips on advocating for veterinary services as essential in times of crisis, check out this flow chart from Bryan Kortis of Neighborhood Cats.This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com's FosterSpace, Boulder Holistic Vet, and Community Cat Coalition of Clark County.
In this episode, Stacy chats with Jennifer Barnes, a US Marine Corps veteran who has been colony feeding and trapping cats for TNR for over five years in New Jersey. Known online as “The Trap Queen,” Jennifer largely uses her own money to fund her TNR, and she doesn’t drive—but she still gets the job done. She and Stacy discuss how she became involved in rescue and, eventually, TNR, and Jennifer shares the story of how she found the strength to keep trapping after having to euthanize the first cat she ever trapped.
Jennifer also talks with Stacy about the lack of diversity in animal welfare, and how, as a Black woman, her early experiences with the animal welfare industry made her consider quitting. Though she traps independently, she has since connected up with a nonprofit organization that has a Black CEO, a fact that has made her feel more at ease and like she belongs in animal welfare.
Jennifer shares her advice on trapping without your own vehicle, including tips on using ride-sharing services and public transportation. She tells Stacy about her favorite baits, and about her ongoing colony feeding experiences. While Jennifer funds the majority of the work she does herself, she does accept donations to help with the colonies she feeds and any vet care they require.
To learn more and follow the work Jennifer does, check her out on Facebook, Instagram, or on Twitter under the handle @trapqueen85.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com’s FosterSpace, Boulder Holistic Vet, and Heaven Can Wait Animal Society.
Sarah Dunsmore of CDE Animal Cages, previously featured on CCP Episode 302, joins Stacy to talk about catios, which CDE (a 2020 Online Kitten Conference sponsor) produces in all shapes and sizes for all different applications. Stacy and Sarah discuss the benefits of catios, and why a catio is preferable to letting a cat outdoors.
CDE works with each individual to design a custom catio that works for their location and the needs of both the owner and the cats. They have many different options and price points, and all of their catios can be broken down for re-assembly at a new location if needed. The catio components are designed to last for many decades and are completely cleanable.
To learn more, Sarah encourages you to look at what other people are doing, perhaps through a virtual catio tour, and to visit the catio page at the CDE Animal Cages website.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com’s FosterSpace, C5, and The American Association of Feline Practitioners.
In this episode, Stacy chats with Holly Ganz, Ph.D., a micro-ecologist who studies how microbes and mammals interact, with a specific interest in the role that the gut microbiome plays in gastrointestinal (GI) conditions in cats and dogs.
In 2015, Holly founded Animal Biome to create better diagnostics and therapeutics for cats and dogs with GI conditions. She and Stacy discuss how she became interested in this field, and the Kitty Biome Kickstarter that began the whole thing. They review what the term gut microbiome means and how all this relates to animal welfare work.
Today, Animal Biome offers microbiome testing and fecal transplant capsules for dogs and cats that can be given at home. Holly explains what a fecal transplant is, how it works, and what conditions it can be helpful for, and she discusses what’s ahead for Animal Biome.
To learn more, visit the Animal Biome website, where you can find all of their products, as well as a new article on a potential cure for FIP. You can also read a reporter’s chronicle of using Animal Biome’s fecal transplant capsules in his cat with GI lymphoma.
This episode is sponsored in part by Doobert.com's FosterSpace, Heaven Can Wait, and The American Association of Feline Practitioners.
In this episode, Stacy catches up with Keith Williams of the Community Cat Coalition of Clark County (C5), based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Keith was featured previously on CCP Episode 297, ad in a CCP Trapper Tips & Trips blog post.
Stacy and Keith review C5’s mission and background, and they discuss how the coronavirus pandemic has affected their work. They talk about how they’re bouncing back from that, and why it’s so important for C5 that they focus solely on TNR. “Sterilization, spay/neuter is the way out of this,” Keith tells Stacy. “It truly is the only way out of this.” Keith also tells Stacy about their trapper training protocols, and about how he believes more resources must be directed toward spay/neuter.
To learn more about C5 and the work they do, visit their website.
Anna Raines, currently a community cat program manager at Best Friends Animal Society, has been involved in animal welfare for about 10 years. She started her career as a wildlife rehabilitator, where she learned about complaint mitigation and the importance of spreading the message of coexistence. From there, she became an ACO, a role in which she learned about TNR and community cats. After taking over the Best Friends community cat program in Cobb County, Georgia, Anna helped bring the county’s save rate for cats from 62% to 94%.
Anna talks with Stacy about how she started out vehemently opposed to TNR and RTF after being introduced to it through her wildlife rehab work. “I was being fed a very different narrative on outdoor cats,” she told Stacy, than the one she later encountered as an ACO. Now a passionate advocate for TNR and RTF, Anna is working to help change the ordinances in her area to make TNR and other community cat programs legal.
To learn more about the work Anna is doing, you can email her directly. You can also visit the Best Friends Animal Society website, where you’ll find lots of resources on community cat programming.
Anne Beall, CEO and founder of Beall Research, a strategic market research firm in Chicago, IL, is also an animal advocate who has written extensively about the human-animal bond. In this episode, she chats with Stacy about her most recent book, Heroic, Helpful and Caring Cats: Felines Who Make a Difference, and about how she came to be so passionate about cats after becoming the caretaker for several community cats.
Anne and Stacy discuss why Anne decided to write her first book about cats, Community Cats: A Journey into the World of Feral Cats. “I think that they have a tremendous contribution that they make to the communities that they’re in,” Anne tells Stacy, “and I wanted to give them a voice.”
Anne also shares with Stacy the details of some research her firm did on TNR and people’s perceptions of it and support for it. They talk about the importance of spreading the word about TNR. “[TNR programs] suffer for lack of awareness and for a lack of information,” Anne says, “but most people are very in favor of them once they understand them.”
To learn more, or to purchase Anne’s books, visit her website or her Amazon page.
Stacy chats with Julie Jacobson of Spay Tennessee, who is also the grants coordinator for CCP’s Community Cats Grants program. Julie, a frequent CCP guest (check out Episodes 2, 92, and 268, talks about how great this year’s grant program had been going—until the coronavirus hit.
Julie and Stacy explain how the Community Cats Grants work: They are strictly for spay/neuter of community cats, and they are matching $1,000 grants that a group can earn by raising money through a new fundraising idea that they’ve never tried before. Julie tells listeners that there is a CCP webinar they can view about the grant application process, and she gives some helpful tips about live release rates, and also about Guidestar.
Stacy and Julie go on to discuss the effects that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on animal transport programs, and on spay/neuter, especially in rural areas like the ones Spay Tennessee services. All in all, Julie has deep worries about the effect of many months without spay/neuter. “Here in Tennessee,” she tells Stacy, “we’re going to be set back years in a lot of areas.”
To learn more about the Community Cats Grants program (or to apply for a grant), visit the CCP grants page. To learn more about Spay Tennessee, visit their website.
Pastor Larry Vandever, a former police officer turned pastor, joins Stacy to talk about his nonprofit, the Coalition for Feral Cats of Lehigh Valley (Pennsylvania). His group practices what Larry calls “TNMM-plus,” which means trap-neuter-maintain-monitor—plus they provide other services to their community.
Larry feels that TNR is just the basics and that more is required to ensure a good quality of life for the cats being spayed/neutered. Colonies that are part of the Coalition’s program are fed twice a day by volunteers and are monitored by cameras every few weeks to ensure that the cats are safe from harassment and that there are no new cats, no injuries, and no predators around.
Stacy and Larry talk about how the group operates, including their rigorous volunteer-training process. They also discuss other ways the group helps the community, including through spay/neuter assistance for owned cats. They discuss how Larry’s religious beliefs inform his work, and he tells Stacy that “We are supposed to be stewards of God’s creation, not abusers.”
The Coalition for Feral Cats of Lehigh Valley is working on publishing an operations manual that will soon be available on their Facebook page, or by getting in touch with Larry.
To learn more, email Pastor Larry directly, or visit the Coalition for Feral Cats of Lehigh Valley Facebook page. Their website is currently under construction.
In this episode, Stacy chats with Carrie Gillaspie, a television and podcast host from rural central Wisconsin with a huge passion for helping animals. Last year, Carrie began noticing larger than normal numbers of barn and community cats in her area, and hearing complaints from the farms around her, that the cat numbers were out of control. Taking matters into her own hands, Carrie convinced a local group, The Fix Is In, to bring their mobile clinic to her neighborhood—and she raised the funds to make the surgeries totally free of charge to those bringing cats. That event is now being used as a prototype for six other events planned for this spring and summer.
Stacy and Carrie discuss Carrie’s fundraising strategy for the event, as well as the logistics of the surgery day. They talk about what Carrie feels the impact will be on the local community, and how she is now spearheading The Fix Is In’s effort to get this model out in other communities. The campaign is called The Year of the Cat 2020, with a goal of fixing 2,020 cats this year.
Another of Carrie’s goals is TNR outreach. “That’s my cardinal rule,” she tells Stacy. “If you feed them, you fix them.” She encourages listeners to embark on similar projects in their own communities—and to feel free to reach out to her with questions or for encouragement. “I literally am just an animal lover who saw a need in my community and just decided to do something about it,” she says, “and that’s all you need to be; that’s all you need to do.”
To learn more about Carrie—including about her podcast, Candidly Speaking, visit her website, or follow her on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
In this information-packed episode, Stacy sits down with Dr. Bob Weedon, a retired veterinarian who is still going strong as a volunteer at the TLC PetSnip low-cost clinic in Lakeland, FL, a board member of the Alliance for Contraception in Cats & Dogs (ACC&D), and in other volunteer posts. Bob worked in private practice and also spent many years teaching in the shelter medicine program at the University of Illinois, including teaching high-quality high-volume spay/neuter techniques to veterinary students. He also holds a Master’s degree in public health. Along the way, he also became involved in TNR. “I just recognized there was such a need,” he says, “and that I had the tools that… could address that need.”
Stacy and Bob discuss why the “V” in trap-neuter-vaccinate-return (TNVR) is so crucial, both for the cats and for proving the value of TNVR programs to community leaders and officials. He discusses the concept of herd immunity in relation to rabies, and also goes into great detail about cats and toxoplasmosis—including how to talk with public health officials about it.
Bob also discusses his work with ACC&D and with the National Feline Research Council (NFRC–an “unbiased central repository of evidence-based information”). He tells Stacy how gratifying it is to be able to provide vet care to folks who can’t afford it, and how his own views have changed over the years from feeling like low-income pet owners shouldn’t have pets at all to realize how important pets can be to those folks’ mental health and well-being.
To learn more about the organizations Dr. Weedon volunteers for, visit the ACC&D website, the NFRC website, and the TLC PetSnip website. You can also check out Dr. Weedon’s presentation entitled “Better Together—TNVR and Public Health,” or email him directly with questions or help with resources.
In this episode, Stacy sits down with Sterling Davis again (she talked with him before in CCP Episode 243) to catch up on what he’s been doing for the last couple of years. Sterling is still living up to his nickname of Trap King, doing lots of TNR in Atlanta—but he has also been busy doing educational events and shows. He has been working with scout troops—and hoping to get a TNR badge in place—and he has been touching on the issue of diversity in rescue. He shares some tips with Stacy on dealing with “feral humans,” as well as some trapping tips.
Stacy and Sterling discuss fundraising, and the Patreon page Sterling has set up to assist him with raising funds for his one-man operation. Sterling likes the platform because it allows him to give a little something back to his followers in return for their support, and the proceeds have helped him out tremendously with traps, gas, and TNR surgeries. Sterling is available to travel for speaking engagements and he tells Stacy that his goal has been to make cat rescue and TNR “more fun and popular.” In addition, he’s been expanding on his “you don’t lose cool points for compassion” idea lately, explaining that it’s not just for cats—it’s for people, too.
To learn more, visit Sterling’s website, check out his Facebook page, or follow him on Instagram. You can also visit his Patreon page to learn how you can become a subscriber and support Sterling’s work in the process.
In this episode, Stacy sits down with Ashley Shoults, a principal w/ Animal Arts, an architecture firm in Boulder, Colorado that specializes exclusively in the design of animal care facilities, including animal shelters, veterinary facilities, and pet boarding facilities. Ashley is currently working on the design of a new facility for PAWS Seattle and she recently co-authored a book covering all aspects of animal care design, Practical Guide to Veterinary Hospital Design.
Stacy and Ashley talk about the importance of design in every aspect of animal care, from feral cat feeding stations to the spaces we care for our cats in. As Ashley puts it, “We need to constantly be thinking about how the people use the space, and how the animals use the space and how do we make it an environment that the animals will also thrive in.”
They go on to discuss how community cats should be accounted for in design and planning, which Ashley sees as a big area for opportunity and growth in our shelters in terms of how we house community cats and how we reduce stress for them. Ashley also has some words of advice for proceeding with a new design project from a financial perspective and how you can flex your space by having a variety of smaller “pod” spaces.
To learn more, see photos of their work, and reach out for a consultation, visit the Animal Arts website.
In this episode, Stacy chats with Steven Morelli, CEO and founder of Waggle, a new—and very different—crowdfunding platform to help pet owners and shelters/rescues raise money for animals in need of urgent veterinary care.
Steven, who has a background in finance and data analytics, found himself increasingly angry over the way various crowdfunding platforms operate. Frustrated, he decided to start Waggle to connect people who find themselves considering surrendering or euthanizing their beloved pets because they can’t afford needed veterinary care with people who want to help.
Waggle differs from other platforms in that rather than funds going to the person or group raising money, they go directly to veterinarians. Waggle has a network of participating veterinarians, but they will send funds to any veterinarian an individual or group is working with.
Stacy and Steven go on to discuss matching funds and how vet clinics and shelters/rescues can establish their own funds, as well as how fees and tax deductibility work (hint: there are other areas where Waggle differs from other platforms!). Steven also tells Stacy how Waggle makes sure to send updates back to donors, to be sure that people truly feel like their money is going where they intended it to go.
To learn more, visit the Waggle website.
Stacy talks with Elizabeth Finch, a member of the board of directors and full-time marketing and communications volunteer at Good Mews Animal Foundation in Marietta, Georgia. Elizabeth comes from a varied professional background and began donating her time to Good Mews after early retirement. “It’s my full-time gig,” she tells Stacy, “and I love it more than anything I’ve ever done.”
Stacy and Elizabeth discuss Good Mews’s five-year-old shelter, which is focused on cage-less space, as well as an appropriately separate kitten, intake, and isolation spaces for the 100+ cats that are housed there. The new shelter also has a state-of-the-art surgery suite. That, combined with the hiring of a high-volume spay/neuter veterinarian, put the organization in a great spot to take on expanding into helping community cats, and in the latter half of 2019, Good Mews took over the Cobb County Community Cat program from Best Friends.
To learn more, visit the Good Mews Animal Foundation website, or follow them on Instagram or Facebook.
In this episode, Stacy talks with Mary Howard, the community cat coordinator at McKamey Animal Center in Chattanooga, TN. The program started in 2018 with a grant from Best Friends Animal Society and since inception, the organization’s return to habitat releases has gone up by 145%.
Stacy and Mary discuss the many programs McKamey offers, including a barn cat program, kitten nursery, trapping services, a pet food bank, low-cost vaccine clinics, and an on-site feral colony for cats that cannot safely be released back to the areas in which they were trapped. McKamey is connected with the city’s animal control services, and Mary talks with Stacy about how she works with animal control, and how she maintains good relationships there. Mary also shares some trapping tips and tricks, and discuss how, from 2018 to 2019, the organization’s save rate increased by 12% to 90%.
To learn more, visit McKamey’s website, where you can click on “Services” and then “Community Cats” for information about the Community Cats Program.
Stacy sits down with Mary Tan, owner and chief storyteller at Whisker Media, a boutique strategic communications agency that focuses on marketing and public relations for pet-related businesses and animal welfare nonprofits. Mary, who previously worked as a news reporter and in government communications, is also the public relations manager for Animal Humane Society in Golden Valley, Minnesota, which is one of the country’s largest open-admission shelters.
Mary and Stacy talk about why it’s important even for small organizations to capture and leverage stories, and why it’s important for all groups to have relationships with the media. Mary talks about the concept of “newsjacking,” and gives some advice on how to contact and start relationships with your local media. She also talks about press releases and when to use them, and tells groups that “You need public relations and marketing.”
To learn more about Whisker Media and contact Mary, visit the Whisker Media website.
Karen Little, featured previously on CCP Episode 17 and Episode 112, joins Stacy to discuss the new things going on with the organization she and her husband founded in Louisville, Kentucky in 1999, Alley Cat Advocates. In the 21 years since its inception, ACA has altered over 50,000 community cats and has worked to transform the culture of care provided to community cats in the region.
Stacy and Karen talk a bit about how Karen and her husband came to the idea of TNR and starting ACA, and about how they accomplish their spay/neuter numbers. Karen tells Stacy about ACA’s new facility and their relationship with the city of Louisville, which includes a municipal contract with the city.
Karen shares some advice for people thinking about how to change the culture for community cats in their area and reminds us all that sometimes, “We have to get outside of our comfort zone to help the cats.”
For more information about Alley Cat Advocates and the work they do, visit their website. You can also feel free to email them, or even call, as they are always glad to talk with folks from all over the country about helping cats.
In this episode, Marian Pekar, a software developer based in the Czech Republic, joins Stacy to talk about My Nine Lives, a game he is developing to raise money for cat-related charities. Marian became involved in cat charities after adopting Max, a stray kitten, and earlier this year, he decided to use his skills and passion to find a way to help support those charities.
Marian and Stacy discuss My Nine Lives, in which the player takes on the role of a cat trying to survive by hunting prey and avoiding predators. He explains that it will be suitable for all ages, as there are no gory scenes. He also tells Stacy about how the game will generate revenue through a “pay as you wish” model, and how he will distribute the game.
To learn more about My Nine Lives, visit the game’s website, where you can sign up to be notified when the game is released, and watch a trailer for the game. You can also follow Marian’s progress on Twitter.
Stacy sits down with Lora O’Connor, Executive Director of The National Kitten Coalition (NKC), in this episode to talk about the organization, and about its partnership with Community Cats Podcast on the Online Kitten Conference. Lora has been working in animal welfare for 20 years and is an animal behaviorist. She talks about how things were for cats 20 years ago, and how she felt cats just weren’t getting the same resources dogs were. “We needed to elevate their status,” Lora says.
Lora and Stacy discuss the upcoming Online Kitten Conference and the importance of continuing education in the animal welfare world. NKC offers many webinar training sessions, particularly around caring for neonatal kittens, and they are working to expand their resources for shelters, foster homes, and others. “We want The National Kitten Coalition to be the number one place that you go to when you have any questions kitten-related,” Lora tells Stacy.
To learn more about The National Kitten Coalition and access their webinar archives and Kitten Nursery Manual, visit the NKC website or find them on social media. To learn more about the Online Kitten Conference and buy tickets (or recordings after the event is over), visit the conference webpage. To hear CCP interviews with other folks from NKC, visit the Community Cats Podcast website and type “National Kitten Coalition” into the search bar.
In this episode, Dean Killingbeck of Pets Strong CBD joins Stacy to discuss CBD and Pet Strong’s products. Born and raised on a farm, Dean developed a deep appreciation of nature and herbal medicine, and when his senior dog began to develop mobility issues, Dean decided to try CBD. The results were positive, but Dean was dismayed by the quality of products available for pets, and by the misinformation, he found online. So he decided to start his own company and write a book to help educate pet owners about how CBD can help pets.
Dean explains to Stacy what CBD is, how the products you see on the market may differ from each other, and why some are better than others. Dean and Stacy talk about the issues that CBD tends to be the most helpful with, including pain/mobility issues, anxiety, skin and coat issues, and loss of appetite. Dean tells Stacy what you should look for in a CBD product, and they discuss some tips and tricks on how to give CBD to cats—plus Dean offers CCP listeners a discount code on their first Pets Strong order (and an ongoing discount for nonprofit customers).
To learn more, or purchase Pets Strong CBD products or Dean’s book, CBD for Pets: A Guide to Pet Wellness with CBD, visit the Pets Strong website.
The multi-talented Arden Moore joins Stacy in this episode to discuss all things C-A-T. Arden is a radio show host, author, professional speaker, editor, media consultant, dog/cat behavior consultant, and a master pet first aid instructor. She and Stacy discuss the details of her podcast, Oh Behave, hosted by PetLifeRadio and selected by Oprah as one of her top three favorite pet podcasts for the past two years.
Arden was a reporter and editor at a major newspaper for 20 years before she got into the pet field, and when she did, she realized there was one big thing missing from many training programs: safety—so she set out to change that by becoming a master certified instructor in pet first aid. Arden and Stacy talk about Arden’s cat Casey, her “teaching partner,” who is also a certified therapy cat. Arden believes strongly that cats can learn to do amazing, fun things that are also great for enrichment. As she puts it, “You’ve got a really amazing being there in your house who purrs… let’s work his noodle!”
Arden and Stacy go on to discuss the Fear Free program (including the program’s newest FREE track for shelters), Arden’s newest family member, and why they think that it’s a good time to be a cat right now.
To find out more about Arden, her podcast, and her new book, A Kid’s Guide to Cats, visit her website or her Facebook page.
In this episode, Stacy sits down with Julie Posluns, the founder and owner of Cat School, an online training school for cats that uses clicker training to teach fun and practical behaviors and strengthen the bond between cats and their human in the process.
Julie, who is a trained animal behaviorist, worked entirely with dogs until a small black kitten showed up at her back door. The cat, now called Jones, convinced the humans and the dogs in the family that he should stay—and he soon showed an interest in the training Julie was doing with her dogs. Julie began training Jones as well, and the rest is history!
Stacy and Julie talk about what clicker training is, what its benefits are, and how this kind of enrichment differs from other types. (Hint: This kind is good for both of you!) Julie explains that clicker training is based on positive reinforcement, and she talks about what her program consists of, how the plan works, and how it can work in different situations (training for fun vs. training for behavior medication, for instance).
They also talk about how training can work with multiple cats, how it can work in shelter environments, and about training cats to wash on a leash/harness or ride in a backpack or stroller.
To learn more (or to enroll), visit the Cat School website. You can also check out their Instagram page to see lots of fun videos, including a free tutorial on how to teach your cat to fist bump.
Award-winning journalist, author, and filmmaker Tina Traster, previously featured on CCP Episode 186, joins Stacy again to update us on her documentary, Catnip Nation. The film advocates for TNR through the stories of four Good Samaritans caring for community cats around the country.
Since being on CCP a couple of years ago, Tina has taken Catnip Nation on the film festival circuit, where it won several awards and has successfully landed a distributor. The documentary is available on DVD, and Tina is in the process of getting distribution on streaming services.
Tina and Stacy discuss the need for TNR to become a more widely recognized issue that is taken up by local officials, and how TNR advocates can best work with municipalities. “What we need in this country,” Tina says, “is a grassroots movement where it becomes imperative for politicians to recognize the role of a municipality in supporting TNR.”
To learn more about Catnip Nation or to order a DVD of the film, visit the Catnip Nation website.
In this episode, HSUS Senior Analyst for Cat Protection & Policy Danielle Bays joins Stacy to talk about what’s going on in the world of cat policy issues. Danielle, who has chatted with Stacy in CCP Episode 55, Episode 261, and Episode 293, also shares details about the upcoming HSUS Expo conference. The conference will be held in San Antonio May 6–9 and will feature a whole track devoted specifically to cats.
Stacy & Danielle goes on to talk about the major focus lately in the U.S. on concerns about cat declawing. They also discuss the HSUS’s upcoming publication of a revised guide to community cats for municipal officials. Danielle also talks about ways listeners can get involved in advocacy, including attending the Taking Action for Animals conference in Washington D.C., which will be held July 25–26, 2020.
To learn more about current advocacy issues around cats, or about HSUS Expo and other educational opportunities, visit Animal Sheltering, the HSUS website focused on the shelter and rescue community. You can also email Danielle directly for more information on any of the topics in this episode, and you can visit our 2020 Online Cat Conference page to purchase downloads from Danielle’s (and others’) sessions at the conference.
In this episode, Stacy is joined by Camille Labchuk, an animal rights lawyer and the executive director of Animal Justice, Canada’s only animal law advocacy organization. Camille also hosts the Animal Justice’s Paw & Order podcast, which was reviewed in the CCP blog back in February.
Stacy and Camille discuss what’s going on in Canada with regard to cats, including the fact that, as Camille puts it, “People are really waking up to the idea that cat declawing shouldn’t be a practice that we allow any more in society.” Stacy and Camille also chat about community cats in Canada, how Camille would like to see the government give more support to community cat-related issues, and about the relatively new legal concept of putting an animal at risk.
To learn more, visit the Animal Justice website, where you can also link to the Paw & Order podcast. You can find out more about Animal Justice’s conferences, which are open to everyone—not just lawyers—at the Canadian Animal Law Conference website.
In this episode, Stacy chats with Elaine Spencer and Melanie Gardner from T-Town TNR, an all-volunteer nonprofit dedicated to resolving the feline overpopulation crisis in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Since 2015, the organization has spay/neutered over 3,700 cats. Elaine is the group’s lead support for grant writing, and together, she and Melanie serves as the group’s IT consultants.
Elaine and Melanie talk with Stacy about how they became involved with TNR, and with T-Town in particular, and they discuss the importance of data as it relates to getting grant funding and running an efficient organization. T-Town utilizes a free software program called AirTable to coordinate their spay/neuter appointments, track colonies, microchips, and equipment, and to track requests for assistance. The software updates in real-time and can be accessed in the field via cell phone, as well as by veterinary offices with which T-Town is connected.
T-Town has seen an incredible improvement in efficiency and data collection now that they utilize AirTable, but the process of selecting a software package was a long and challenging one, as Elaine tells Stacy. Elaine encourages everyone to do their homework around software options and to reach out to her if they have questions about AirTable.
To learn more, visit the T-Town TNR website or their Facebook page. You can also email Elaine directly to talk more about T-Town’s experiences with AirTable.
In this episode, Stacy speaks with Alisse Russell, founder and executive director of Puff (Paws Up for Felines) Cat Rescue, Inc., a recently launched grassroots group with an ambition to grow into a nationwide rescue network. Puff Cat is dedicated to helping solve community cat overpopulation, and Alisse, who currently works in the human mental health field, is working toward becoming a humane education specialist.
Alisse and Stacy discuss what Puff Cat hopes to do, which is to reach smaller, independently run rescues so that those groups can expand their reach and get the support they need. The aim is to create a whole new social network for people in this field so they can communicate directly with each other. A dedicated CCP listener, Alisse is currently working with CCP Episode 330 guest Lizz Whitacre of Pawlytics on a software platform.
To learn more about Puff Cat Rescue, visit their website, Instagram, or Facebook pages. You can also visit Alisse’s Instagram page.
In this episode, Stacy talks with Lori Behrman, who runs the day-to-day operations of the Toby Project, including the mobile spay/neuter clinic. Lori has been with the Toby Project since Day One, and she considers her work not just a job, but a mission. She tells Stacy about how Dr. Andy Kaplan, founder of the Toby Project (CCP Episode 339) inspired her to get involved eleven years ago, and about how much she has learned since then about the concepts of spay/neuter, no-kill, and pet overpopulation.
Stacy and Lori discuss the specifics of how the mobile clinic operates, the work it’s currently doing in Yonkers (in addition to its normal work in New York City), and the clinic’s staffing model. They talk about the challenges of running a mobile clinic, including winter weather and equipment issues. Lori notes that “it is an expensive endeavor to run a mobile unit,” and suggests that anyone thinking of starting one takes the time to talk with others who have already done so to learn all they can.
To learn more about the Toby Project, or to get in touch with Lori, email info@tobyproject.org. You can also find the Toby Project online at their website, on Facebook, and on Instagram.
In this episode, Stacy chats with community cat caretaker Debbie Chatenever, who walks several miles each day to feed the community cats in her area. Debbie gets the cats the medical care they need at her own expense, and she shares with Stacy the story of how she got involved with caring for her local community cats.
Stacy and Debbie also discuss how beneficial a support network could be for Debbie and others like her, and they talk about Debbie’s strong belief that there needs to be accountability around abandoning cats. Debbie tells Stacy about how she talks with the children she meets in her neighborhood as she feeds, and how she shares information with them about community cats, spay/neuter, and how we can help.
To learn more about Debbie and the work she does, or to reach out to her, please email Stacy.
Jill Tucker, CAWA and CEO of the California Animal Welfare Association (CalAnimals), joins Stacy in this episode to talk about her career in animal welfare, which stretches back to 2002. They talk about how Jill ended up in animal welfare after being in the software industry for many years.
Jill & Stacy also discuss CalAnimals—how it came to be, the role it plays in the state, and how Jill came to be in a leadership role there. They talk about the diversity of resources in California and the challenges that presents, as well as about community cats and how Jill facilitates work between groups with different approaches to the issue.
To learn more, visit the CalAnimals website. You can also email Jill directly with questions—she’s always glad to connect with others in animal welfare!
Britney Fox Hover, the shelter director at the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society (MRFRS) in Salisbury, Massachusetts, began at MRFRS as a volunteer in 2009. In addition to now running the group’s shelter and medical programs, Brit also oversees the adoption program, including a very successful Feline Leukemia (FeLV+) adoption program.
Brit and Stacy talk a bit about how Brit came to love cats and get involved at MRFRS, and about MRFRS’s history and programs and what makes the organization unique. As Brit puts it, MRFRS “took in animals that other shelters maybe just didn’t know a lot about or didn’t have resources to care for,” including FeLV+, chronically ill, and behaviorally challenges cats.
Brit and Stacy also discuss the MRFRS’s FARS program, a financial assistance program for lower-income owners of injured or ill pet cats, and how that program helps keeps cats in the loving homes they already have. “You see the stress and the heartbreak that goes along with surrendering a pet … for the people and for the animal,” Brit says. “Being able to prevent that and keep people and their animals together is really, really important.”
To learn more about the MRFRS and its programs, visit the MRFRS website, or email the organization’s general email address.
In this episode, Stacy speaks with Dr. Andrew Kaplan, the veterinarian behind New York City’s The Toby Project. Andrew has been an animal advocate since he was a child. Stacy & Andrew discuss Andrew’s journey to becoming a vet and how he came to learn about and become involved in pet overpopulation—including the touching story of Toby, the dog who put a face on the overpopulation issue for Andrew.
The Toby Project has a mobile spay/neuter clinic that splits its time between doing surgeries for low-income pet owners and for feral cats (through TNR-certified rescuers). Andrew would like to devote more of the clinic’s time to feral cats, as he feels like those are the animals who truly have no other option.
He and Stacy discuss the challenging aspects of running a mobile clinic, feedback from other veterinarians, and the struggle of expanding the model, as well as the other animal-related advocacy work Andrew does. “I’m into advocating for any animal in any circumstance,” he tells Stacy. “I happen to be medically trained for dogs and cats, but I’ll do what I can for anything.”
To learn more, visit the Toby Project website.
Mario Abore, the founder and owner of Square Paws, a cat furniture design company, sits down with Stacy to talk about how Square Paws came to be. Mario, an architect by trade, designs all the furniture as art that your cat can inhabit, and it is all hand-crafted in the United States. Square Paws donates 10% of their proceeds to animal welfare.
Stacy and Mario discuss the free-roaming cat rooms that Square Paws designed for the North Shore Animal League America in partnership with Beth Stern, in honor of Billy Joel. Square Paws has designed several other shelter facilities, and Mario talks about the process of learning what kinds of materials do and don’t work in a shelter environment, as well as how much he’d like to do more shelter projects.
To learn more, visit the Square Paws website, check out their Instagram and Twitter feeds, or call them at 844-577-7297. You can also email Mario directly. To see the cat rooms at the North Shore Animal League America, check out the Square Paws blog post about the project.
Jeff Parks, a comedy writer by trade, wasn’t introduced to the world of cats until he was in his 30s, but once he was, there was no going back. He quickly turned into a “cat person,” and became intrigued by the ways in which cats show their affection. Finding mostly scientific answers, he began using his comedy background to come up with funny ways cats show their love that wouldn’t be found in any official studies. Soon, he decided to pursue the idea as an illustrated book and began working with a co-writer and illustrator.
Jeff and Stacy discuss the results of this work, the book You Know Your Cat Loves You Because … The Sweet, Silly, and Scientific Ways Our Cats Show Us How Much They Love Us and Jeff goes into detail about how the book came to be. He tells Stacy that he wanted to write a positive book that didn’t just play on the typical stereotypes of cats being aloof. The book has had a great response, and Jeff hopes it brings joy to everyone who reads it.
To learn more, you can visit the You Know Your Cat Loves You Because Facebook page. You can also purchase a copy of the book on Amazon, or email the book team with any questions or comments—they love feedback!
In this episode, Stacy sits down with Will Zweigart, founder of Flatbush Cats, a nonprofit focused on reducing the outdoor cat population in central Brooklyn, New York through TNR and rescue work. Flatbush Cats teaches TNR classes and offers support and resources for trappers. They are also launching a mobile spay/neuter clinic pilot program to support low-income residents, a project done in partnership with the Toby Project.
Stacy & Will talk about the work Flatbush Cats does and the organization’s goals. Will talks about how he has been inspired by Stacy’s Community Cat Pyramid, which helped him think about how important getting to the root of the overpopulation problem is. As Will puts it, “There’s got to be a way to turn the water off, instead of just scooping buckets out of the basement.”
Flatbush Cats is well known for their visual documentation of the work they do, and Will shares some of his tips and ideas on how best to use visual media. He discusses the idea of proactive fundraising by telling authentic stories and explains that platforms like Instagram help your supporters see exactly where their money is going.
To learn more about Flatbush Cats and see the extraordinary video of how Will and his partners got started, visit their website. You can also follow them on their very active Instagram.
Stacy sits down with Dr. Sara Pizano (a previous CCP guest on Episode 56, Episode 171, and Episodes 246 and 247) to discuss Dr. Pizano’s new book, The Best Practice Playbook for Animal Shelters. The book is a result of the more than 100 assessments Dr. Pizano has done at shelters around the country as a Team Shelter USA consultant. She realized that the shelters she was working with were all struggling with the same issues. More importantly, she realized that the solutions needed to decrease euthanasia rates were always the same—so she decided to write this playbook so that those solutions can be used by anyone, anywhere.
Dr. Pizano’s number one tip, which she shares in this interview with Stacy, is that your shelter space should be used only for animals with no other options. Dr. Pizano discusses with Stacy her belief that there should be no stray hold periods for cats, and her strong belief in Return-to-Field.
She and Stacy go on to discuss the best ways to talk to your elected officials, and what kind of data to focus on. “Get the information,” Dr. Pizano says, “present the facts in a very professional way—not emotional—and just educate your elected officials.”
Finally, Dr. Pizano talks more about her new book. It is for everyone, no matter what role you play in animal welfare, and it includes lots of success stories. The idea, Dr. Pizano tells Stacy, is to change your perspective and inspire you. “This is about the answers that every single sheltering community has at their fingertips,” she says.
The Best Practice Playbook for Animal Shelters is available
In this episode, Stacy speaks with Hasara Lay, founder of Catexplorer, a community, movement, and lifestyle brand for people who explore the world with their cats. Hasara, who is located in Australia, began exploring with her cat as a child and never stopped. When she and her husband adopted two rescue cats, she started Catexplorer as a repository for information on training cats to be explorers, but it has since expanded into more of an online community for those who like to explore with their cats. Hasara also hosts the Catexplorer podcasts, where she interviews Catexplorers about their adventures and cat experts for pro advice.
A Catexplorer, as Hasara explains it, is “either the human or the feline that are exploring together.” She talks with Stacy about determining whether your cat is a good candidate for being a Catexplorer and some basic steps to work on to get your cat comfortable exploring. Hasara discusses harnesses and cat backpacks, as well as the selection process for the items Catexplorer sells in their online store. She also shares details about the Catexplorer page created especially for CCP listeners.
To learn more, including how you can access the Catexplorer podcast, visit the Catexplorer webpage, or check them out on Instagram.
In this episode, Dr. Jennifer Conrad, who founded The Paw Project in 1999, joins Stacy to discuss the organization’s mission to end declawing in the U.S. & Canada, using education, research, and legislation. The Paw Project is made up completely of veterinarians and the group compiled the evidence, drafted the legislation, composed the language of the legislation, built the coalition of support, and obtained the representatives for every law prohibiting declawing in the U.S.
Stacy and Dr. Conrad discuss the surprising way Dr. Conrad became interested in ending declawing and educating people everywhere on its devastating effects on cats. “Declawing is a misnomer,” Dr. Conrad tells Stacy. “It is really more appropriately called de-knuckling. It is the amputation of a toe bone.” They discuss the behavioral issues of biting and litter box avoidance that declawed cats have been shown to be prone to, and they talk about the organization’s new “Claw-Friendly” certification for veterinary practices that do not perform declaw surgeries.
With legislation banning declawing passed recently in New York, and more bills in the works around the country, Dr. Conrad encourages listeners to join The Paw Project’s mailing list to stay in the loop on action needed regarding legislation in their area. She notes that, “There is a reason that we need to ban declawing: It actually saves cats’ lives … If we could get these bans all across the United States, we would be saving millions of cats’ lives.”
To learn more, visit The Paw Project’s website. You can also find them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or check out their documentary, The Paw Project on the App Store, Google Play, YouTube, and Amazon Instant.
Julia Grosz earned the nickname “Cat Hustler” due to her ability to match cats and adopters through strategic copywriting and social media use. So it was only natural that when she developed her skills into a teachable set of cat marketing practices, she would name her organization Cat Hustler. The nonprofit specializes in creative marketing for shelter cats and also hosts community-building events like The Acatemy, a cat conference “for rescuers, by rescuers.”
The next Acatemy will be held January 17–19, 2020 in the Washington DC area, and the cost is $180 for whole weekend. (Be sure to listen to the whole podcast to get a special 15% off discount code for CCP listeners!) The Acatemy started as Julia’s way of trying to make sense of loss after the death of a beloved cat, and it has since grown into a way to try to bring more rescuers together to get face time with each other, and to bring awareness about TNR to different kinds of cat rescuers. The Acatemy, Julia tells Stacy, is her way of doing for others what she wishes had been done for her.
In this episode, Stacy and Julia also discuss some great marketing tips for cats, including what Julia calls the “scratch and dent” specials. She tells Stacy that the most important thing is to keep it light. “You have to make[people] smile,” she says, “or there’s no impact to speak of.”
To learn more about Julia’s organization, visit the Cat Hustler webpage. To learn more about The Acatemy, and to purchase your tickets, visit the Acatemy website.
John Boone, a wildlife biologist previously interviewed on CCP, joins Stacy to discuss new research on how we can use the tools we have to manage cat populations more efficiently and more effectively. This particular study was conducted by a group of people connected with the Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs (ACC&D) and used computer modeling and simulation tools to predict the outcomes of various community cat management scenarios. John and Stacy discuss the methodology of the study in detail, including the new twists it involved, and what the outcomes were.
To learn more, you can read the full paper published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science, or view the story-map version on the ACC&D website. For groups with larger-scale TNR programs, John encourages you to email him so he can put you in touch with resources and people who can help with planning, setting up, and measuring your programs.
This episode is sponsored by Dr. Elsey's Veterinarian Formulated Quality Products for Cats, makers of "litter we're so confident you'll love, your first purchase is on us." Learn more!
In this episode, Stacy is joined by Lizz Whitacre, founder and CEO of Pawlytics, a technology solution to help rescues manage their paperwork and gain insights from their data. Pawlytics is also expanding into the TNR/community cats space in an effort to use technology, data, and innovation to drive lifesaving efforts for community cats.
Stacy and Lizz discuss how Pawlytics came to be, and how its affordable fee structure operates. When Lizz got started working on this project, it seemed to her that all the available software was designed for large organizations. She wanted to come up with something that worked for small groups, and that was accessible to any and all potential users. To do this, her team interviewed over 400 smaller organizations to find out either why they hadn’t yet adopted data management software, or, if they had, what they did and didn’t like about it.
The result is Pawlytics, a stripped-down, incredibly user-friendly piece of software that can still run all the typical reports you’ll need for metrics, grant applications, etc. It also works with all the major adoption platforms, like Petfinder and others, and it can upload all of your pre-existing data—even if it’s in spreadsheets! Plus, they are currently working on adding all kinds of community cat-related functionality to help streamline the logistics of the TNR process for your group.
To learn more and find out how to sign up for a free trial, visit the Pawlytics website. While you’re there, feel free to use their online chat feature for more information!
This episode is sponsored by Dr. Elsey's Veterinarian Formulated Quality Products for Cats, makers of "litter we're so confident you'll love, your first purchase is on us." Learn more!
Valerie Sheppard, Director of Professional Development & Credentialing at the Association for Animal Welfare Advancement (AAWA), joins Stacy to discuss what the AAWA is all about these days, including details on their Learning Center.
Valerie created the Learning Center when she joined the AAWA in 2018, and it offers a variety of webinars (live and recorded) and online classes, most of which are free. Valerie wanted to make sure people from anywhere could access learning opportunities anytime instead of only having access to them at conferences, which aren’t accessible to everyone.
The AAWA is a membership-based organization, but many resources, including the Learning Center, are not limited to members. Members are anyone in the animal welfare world who sees themselves as a leader or emerging leader. The organization’s goal is to help animal welfare professionals advance their careers and be the best they can be to help save more lives.
The AAWA is also excited to announce its latest webinar series, which is a multi-year program in partnership with the Association of Shelter Veterinarians that will include webinars almost every month.
To learn more, visit the AAWA website, or the Learning Center website. You can also email Valerie directly with questions about the AAWA’s programs.
Meagan Larrea is a cat mom and cat lover who works as a civil engineer by day. The rest of the time, she runs Joy 4 Cats, a growing project that puts together toy and treat baskets for shelters to give away to new adopters. The program began in the fall of 2018 when Meagan heard about a local shelter with an overflow of adult cats looking for homes. As a creative way to help, Meagan created adopter baskets to bring joy to cats and to give people an incentive to adopt—and it worked! Since then, Meagan has become a major advocate for ways to keep cats healthy and happy, and Joy 4 Cats has begun helping a number of shelters around the U.S.
While not yet a 501©3, Meagan plans to become one in the future. She requests donations from cat care companies, and her baskets generally contain $50-$75 worth of goodies for new adopters. Partner shelters have found the baskets very helpful in promoting adoptions, and Megan is always happy to help more shelters in need, no matter the group’s size or location—so feel free to reach out!
To learn more, you can email Meagan or check out Joy 4 Cats on Facebook and Instagram.
fostering, which she initially began doing through local shelters, she has discovered a deep passion for TNR and advocacy and now works independently to take in, care for, spay/neuter, vaccinate, and adopt out cats and kittens.
Ashley got involved in fostering kittens after she lost her father to suicide, and she talks with Stacy about how much fostering helped her and her mom through the grieving process. Ashley is a big believer in the fact that fostering can be great for your mental health and notes that the kittens were “an amazing distraction.”
Stacy and Ashley talk about Ashley’s social media presence and how that has evolved for her over the years. She uses social media to facilitate adoptions and to fundraise, and it was through social media that she was nudged toward becoming an independent foster home. Ashley encourages everyone to adopt locally and to consider fostering. As she puts it, “You can change one kitten or one cat’s life just by being willing to give them a space in your bathroom … for a few short weeks.”
To learn more about the work Ashley does, visit her website, or follow her (as Youngest Old Cat Lady) on Instagram,Facebook, and YouTube.
Isa Peraza Martinez began her career at the APSCA as an animal caregiver at the organization’s adoption center. Today, she serves as Community Cats Outreach Manager. In this role, she delivers monthly TNRM (trap-neuter-return-monitor) workshops, held in conjunction with several other organizations in New York City, and she serves as the primary point person for feral cat concerns from the NYPD.
Isa and Stacy discuss what the TNRM workshops consist of, and how things have changed in New York City for community cats since 2011 when Isa began her work in the field. They also discuss a program Isa has developed in which area youth who are part of the NYPD Explorers program assist with building community cat shelters. In 2020, Isa hopes to translate the TNRM workshop into Spanish in order to reach even more caregivers and community members.
If you live in the New York City area, you can get involved or register for a workshop at the ASPCA Pro Trap Neuter Return Certification page. If you have questions about community cats or need support, you can email Isa directly. If you are interested in the Spanish translation of Stacy’s Community Cat Pyramid, click here.
Dr. Kimberley Khodakhah (better known as “Dr. K.”) runs Vetopia, a mentoring, wellness, and coaching business serving veterinarians. With 23 years of experience as a veterinarian herself, Dr. K. knows the business inside and out—including the fact that the animal medical field can come with incredible stresses and challenges. She mentors new and recent veterinary school graduates to help them develop skills and to facilitate success during their first few years of practice, and she also coaches established veterinarians who are experiencing burnout or feeling unsatisfied with their career.
In addition to her coaching work, Dr. K. is known for her incredible skill and patience when it comes to working with frightened patients, especially cats. Dr. K. also coordinates several veterinary outreach programs, where vets, vet students, and vet techs travel to underserved communities to provide veterinary care.
In this episode, Dr. K. and Stacy discuss what led Dr. K. to dive into the field of coaching, and how excited she is about her veterinary outreach programs, which she believes are a great way for veterinarians to reignite their passion for the profession.
To learn more, visit the Vetopia webpage, email Dr. K., or follow her on Facebook.
Sally Williams, who previously chatted with Stacy on CCP Episode 104, is a cat behaviorist and the founder and director of the Brodie Fund. She joins Stacy to talk about her newest effort, the Feline Fine Project, which aims to educate cat guardians and offer solutions in order to get more cats in for annual veterinary exams each year.
Sally shares with Stacy that 55% of owned cats don’t see a vet annually and 9% will never see a vet in their lifetime. The Feline Fine Project aims to change these statistics. Sally and Stacy talk about why so many cats don’t see a vet regularly, and about why annual exams are so important. Sally also offers some great tips on affording exams, and on getting cats used to carriers.
To learn more about the Feline Fine Project, or about the Brodie Fund, contact Sally through the Brodie Fund website, or email her directly.
Colleen Bray, Director of the Boone County Kentucky Animal Shelter, has seen a lot of change with regards to cats in her time in animal welfare. She has worked in many roles in the field, and she joins Stacy to share not only her own shelter’s success stories but also the cumulative success of the northern Kentucky region.
In 2011, Boone County Animal Shelter had a cat live release rate of 26.5%. In the fall of 2012, they began an animal control-administered TNR program, and by 2013, their cat live release rate had gone up to 46%. By 2015, they were TNRing every cat colony they could find, and in 2018, they achieved an incredible 94% live release rate for the 1,135 cats they took in that year.
To learn more about Boone County Animal Shelter, you can visit their website (which is under construction at the time of this podcast), or you can email Colleen directly. Colleen also recommends visiting the Kentucky Animal Care and Control Association’s website to learn more about that organization and the training opportunities it offers Kentucky groups.
Anna Skaya, the CEO of Basepaws, joined Stacy last year on CCP Episode 213, and now she’s back to update Stacy on everything that has happened in the past year—including a successful appearance on Shark Tank! Basepaws is a simple, at-home DNA test for your cat that can give you an idea of the breeds your cat has in its DNA, and if your cat is a carrier for certain genetic diseases. According to Anna, Basepaws is laser-focused on cats, and the Basepaws test represents the first time that so many genetic tests for cats have been combined into one—and that such testing has been made affordable.
Anna and Stacy also discuss feline nutrition, and how genetic testing will affect the personalization of nutrition as more and more data is gathered. There is a lot of research happening at Basepaws, and your cat may even qualify for free testing and reports, depending on breed and health conditions. One of the issues Basepaws is particularly passionate about is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). As Anna puts it, Basepaws is “way more than just a cat genetic company; we are a feline health company.”
To learn more, visit the Basepaws website and check them out on social media to see what other people are saying. If you’re interested in seeing if your kitty qualifies for free testing, visit Basepaw’s Research page. And be sure to sign up for their blog to learn more about upcoming research needs.
Anna and Stacy also discuss feline nutrition, and how genetic testing will affect the personalization of nutrition as more and more data is gathered. There is a lot of research happening at Basepaws, and your cat may even qualify for free testing and reports, depending on breed and health conditions. One of the issues Basepaws is particularly passionate about is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). As Anna puts it, Basepaws is “way more than just a cat genetic company; we are a feline health company.”
To learn more, visit the Basepaws website and check them out on social media to see what other people are saying. If you’re interested in seeing if your kitty qualifies for free testing, visit Basepaw’s Research page. And be sure to sign up for their blog to learn more about upcoming research needs.
Chelsea White is a host, writer, producer, comedian, and cat enthusiast. She currently hosts the Bravo digital series “Adulting by Bravo,” a weekly Facebook live talk show called “What a Delight with Chelsea White,” and the dating podcast “Ghosted Stories.” She is also the creator and host of the “cat-pawsitive” web series “Show Me Your Kitty.” In this CCP episode, Stacy talks with Chelsea about how she came up with the concept for “Show Me Your Kitty,” and Chelsea describes some of her favorite moments from the show.
You can learn more—and watch!—on the show’s website, or search for Chelsea White on YouTube. Note from Chelsea: not all shows are safe for watching at work or with the kids!
Shelly Simmons has worked for Greenville County Animal Care, the largest open-admission shelter in South Carolina, for twelve years now. She sits down with Stacy to talk about how, in the last four years, through the implementation of a variety of community cat programs, the shelter’s cat intake has decreased from 9,000 cats annually to under 3,000 a year.
Most of this was accomplished by offering free spay/neuter for all community cats in Greenville County. A county resolution supporting community-wide TNR and a 2016 grant from the PetCo Foundation helped kick the program off. By focusing on giving the community the resources to help fix the overpopulation problem themselves, Shelly feels they have put together a truly sustainable program—and the great statistics that she shares with Stacy prove that it is also a successful one.
Visit the Greenville County Animal Care Service website to learn more. You can also email Shelly directly at misimmons@greenvillecounty.org.
Tabitha Kucera, a presenter at this past January’s CCP Online Cat Conference, joins Stacy to discuss low-stress cat handling, clicker training, and more. Tabitha is a registered veterinary technician and a certified cat behavior training consultant. She is also certified in feline-friendly handling by both Fear Free and the Low-Stress Handling University. Tabitha has her own company, Chirrups & Chatter Cat Behavior Consulting and Education, along with a dog-related company, Positively Pawsitive Dog Behavior Consulting and Training.
Tabitha knew early on in her life that she wanted to be a veterinary technician. Once she became one, however, seeing cats euthanized for behavioral and other reasons were deeply troubling to her. Tabitha felt, and continues to feel, that cats are often stereotyped and used as scapegoats—even by cat lovers—making it harder for them to get the help they need to stay in their homes. Tabitha feels that “Humans aren’t really set up for success for cats. They love their cats; they just don’t have the education to do their best.” Through Chirrups and Chatters, she hopes to change that.
Tabitha and Stacy discuss low-stress, feline-friendly cat handling in-depth, and they touch on the concept of clicker training cats, including how it can helpful in a shelter environment.
To learn more about Tabitha and the work she does, visit the Chirrups & Chatter website, or follow Chirrups & Chatter on Facebook or Instagram. Tabitha is always happy to share resources and encourages listeners to follow her to learn more about upcoming events, including a fearful kitten webinar coming up in September.
For those interested in learning more about low-stress handling, Tabitha suggests checking out Fear Free, the Low Stress Handling University, International Cat Care, and the American Association of Feline Practitioners websites. Tabitha also recently wrote this article about feline-friendly handling. You can also view a video of feline-friendly handling techniques here.
To learn more about clicker training cats, visit Jackson Galaxy’s Cat Pawsitive program for shelters.
Jenny Hart, a Brooklyn-based travel writer and mom to cat Rajah, is quickly becoming a cat travel expert. Soon after adopting Rajah as a kitten, it became clear to Jenny that he needed more stimulation than life in a New York City apartment could provide. Jenny began training Rajah to walk on a harness and leash shortly thereafter. Since then, the pair has traveled together on planes, trains, and in cars to nine U.S. states and Washington, D.C., with more travel ahead in their future.
In this episode, Jenny talks with Stacy about her must-have cat travel supplies, including a cat backpack and travel litter box. They discuss whether cats are the pet of the Millennial generation, as well as the positive impact that safe outdoor time can have on feline behavioral concerns. In addition, Jenny gives some tips on staying in hotels and rental properties with cats, and the frustration that so many “pet-friendly” establishments are really just dog-friendly—something that she and Rajah are working hard to change.
To learn more, you can visit Jenny and Rajah’s website, or follow their adventures on Instagram. You can also read this recent Wall Street Journal article featuring Rajah and Jenny.
In this episode, Stacy sits down with Will Zweigart, founder of Flatbush Cats, a nonprofit focused on reducing the outdoor cat population in central Brooklyn, New York through TNR and rescue work. Flatbush Cats teaches TNR classes and offers support and resources for trappers. They are also launching a mobile spay/neuter clinic pilot program to support low-income residents, a project done in partnership with the Toby Project.
Stacy & Will talk about the work Flatbush Cats does and the organization’s goals. Will talks about how he has been inspired by Stacy’s Community Cat Pyramid, which helped him think about how important getting to the root of the overpopulation problem is. As Will puts it, “There’s got to be a way to turn the water off, instead of just scooping buckets out of the basement.”
Flatbush Cats is well known for their visual documentation of the work they do, and Will shares some of his tips and ideas on how best to use visual media. He discusses the idea of proactive fundraising by telling authentic stories and explains that platforms like Instagram help your supporters see exactly where their money is going.
To learn more about Flatbush Cats and see the extraordinary video of how Will and his partners got started, visit their website. You can also follow them on their very active Instagram.
In this episode, Stacy talks with Siri Zwemke, author and founder/executive director of the Siamese Cat Rescue Center. The organization has been in operation for over twenty years, utilizing over 900 volunteers to save over 13,000 cats in that time. Siri has also just published a book, Rescue Meez, about her experiences running the nonprofit and rescuing cats over the years.
Siri and Stacy discuss how Siri came to start Siamese Cat Rescue Center, how decreasing shelter populations have affected breed-specific rescues, how SCRC works with breeders, and about some of the particulars of Siamese cats and their traits.
To learn more about Siri’s new book, visit her Facebook pageor email her at rescuemeez@meezer.org. You can order the book from Amazon and other online bookstores. Learn more about Siamese Cat Rescue Center at their website.
Jayne Sage began doing TNR when she moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico around 2002. After TNRing over 70 cats in her own neighborhood, she began looking for ways to help in other areas of the city and before long, she was a major advocate for TNR citywide.
In this episode, Jayne and Stacy discuss how TNR advocates, working in conjunction with the city of Albuquerque, were able to decrease the city’s feline euthanasia rate by 99% between 2009 and 2017. Some of this was accomplished through Best Friend Animal Society’s community cat program, where Jayne worked for several years. After the program ended, she went on to found Street Cat Hub to continue the program’s work.
To learn more, visit Street Cat Hub’s websiteor email them at streetcathub@gmail.com. You can also check out The Impact of an Integrated Program of Return-to-Field and Targeted Trap-Neuter-Return on Feline Intake and Euthanasia at a Municipal Animal Shelter, anarticle by Dan Spehar and Peter Wolfe about the Albuquerque program’s history and statistics.
In this special episode, Stacy talks with Moshow the Cat Rapper about teaming up with Arm and Hammer’s “Double Duty” campaign. Moshow wrote and created a song and video for the campaign, and if it gets two million views on YouTube by October 31, 2019, Arm and Hammer will donate $10,000 to ACCT Philly and to the Cat Adoption Team in Oregon.
In addition to chatting about the Double Duty campaign, Moshow talks very personally with Stacy about the loss of his beloved cat Tali and how he is handling his grief. Moshow also has lots of plans for the rest of 2019 and 2020. To find out more about Moshow and what he has going on, check out his website - iammoshow.com.
In the second part of this two-part episode, Stacy talks more with Betsy Banks Saul, this time about her new business venture, a franchise of house-call veterinary practices called Heal House Call Veterinarian. Betsy began thinking about this idea around 2013, and her top priority was to increase the quality of life for animals and for their people—including their veterinarians.
Around this time, Betsy found herself frustrated and saddened by the fact that her own pets’ veterinarians seemed less than happy, and didn’t have the time to do the work they wanted to do. She started thinking about how hard it is to be creative and do creative problem solving when you’re stressed out. She soon posed this question to herself: “How could we change the trajectory of veterinary medicine in the United States?”
The answer was Heal House Call Veterinarian. The model is driven by the idea that if your vet isn’t happy, they can’t deliver the best medicine—and everything rolls downhill from that idea.
To learn more, visit the Heal House Call Veterinary website—and if you are or know of a veterinarian who might be interested in working with Heal House, email Betsy.
Betsy Banks Saul, a co-founder of Petfinder, and founder of a new business venture, Heal House Call Veterinarian, has been working with animals since she was a teen. She has a background as a park ranger, with an interest in forestry. In the first part of this two-part episode, she talks with Stacy about the path that lead her from that world into developing the Petfnder.comsoftware with her ex-husband in 1996.
Since that time, Betsy estimates that Petfinder.comhas had over two million adoptions annually. It was purchased by Discovery Communications in 2006, and then by Nestle Purina in 2013, and is one of the most successful interest businesses out there. Betsy and Stacy discuss how Petfinder came to be, and they also delve into the topic of compassion fatigue, including a discussion about Bartonella and why, if you work in the veterinary or animal sheltering fields, it may be important to get tested for it.
Learn more about Petfinder and its current programs at Petfinder.com. To learn more about Bartonella, including the testing options Betsy discusses in the podcast, visit Galaxy Diagnostic’s website.
Some of the content you enjoy will be releasing at on a different day of the week. Starting in August, the podcast will be released on Tuesdays instead of Saturdays. (However, being available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Sticher or wherever you listen to podcasts, means that you can listen whenever you'd like!) Meanwhile, the blog will be posted on Thursdays instead of Mondays. We hope this change makes it more convenient for everyone to learn how to turn their passion for cats into action.
Stacy is once again joined by Dr. Rachel Geller, who has previously appeared on CCP Episode 18 and Episode 146. A certified Humane Education Specialist and Cat Behavior & Retention Specialist, Rachel is celebrating the launch of her new book, Saving the World One Cat at a Time.
Rachel tells Stacy that she hadn’t really entertained the idea of writing a book until the Boston Globe featured an article about her work. Shortly afterward, Nancy West, a Globe columnist, contacted Rachel to ask if she wanted to write a book with her. The book is an “as told to” book, meaning that Nancy West interviewed Rachel and then wrote the book. The information and stories, many of which are deeply personal, are all Rachel’s, but, as Rachel puts it, Nancy “really brought my work to life.”
Stacy & Rachel discuss what that work entails, and how Rachel is doing a lot of work with shelter staff and volunteers to help keep cats in the homes they love by addressing behavior problems before they reach a crisis point. Stacy and Rachel discuss the top issues Rachel see in her works, why Rachel is “100% against declawing,” and the five things that Rachel feels are the most important tools you need to have a happy cat.
To learn more, check out Saving the World One Cat at a Time on Amazon. A portion of the sales proceeds will be donated back to cat shelters. You can also reach out to Rachel directly at drrachelgeller@gmail.com.
Amanda Jones, a lifelong cat lover and self-described “totally sane cat lady,” talks with Stacy about opening the Sunshine Kitty Catfe in St. Petersburg, Florida this fall. They get into the details of how the café will operate, as well as how Amanda came to be interested in cat cafes.
At the age of 8, Amanda had her first experience as a “cat whisperer,” in which she charmed a stray kitten at her father’s office into coming to her. That kitten became Amanda’s first pet cat of her own, and a lifetime of love for cats was born. Amanda eventually went on to work as a veterinary assistant, but after visiting a cat café in Seattle, she had an inkling of what she wanted to do with the rest of her life.
Currently working as a nurse (for people), Amanda tells Stacy that she always feels wonderfully calm and peaceful when she visits a cat café. In addition, she feels a real sense of community with other cat lovers, and it is exactly this feeling she plans to bring to Sunshine Kitty Catfe. Opening and operating a cat café is Amanda’s way of bridging her love for helping animals with a way to make a difference in people’s lives.
To learn more, you can visit Sunshine Kitty Catfe’s website. You can also find them on Facebook and Instagram, or you can reach out to Amanda directly at sunshinecitycatfe@gmail.com.
Stacy chats with Mary Chromek, who has been fostering neonatal (bottle baby) kittens for over 10 years now. A cat person since she was a child, Mary found that cats really helped with her depression and anxiety, and as she got older, she decided to give back by fostering for local organizations. She soon realized there was a real need for bottle baby fosters, and learned everything she could about this specialized area of foster care.
Mary and Stacy discuss some specifics around bottle baby care, including Mary’s preferred supplies, and some information on treating fleas on neonates. Mary also offers some great tips on how to determine if kittens found alone outdoors really need help.
One thing Mary has come to believe over her years of fostering is that if more organizations were able to support their foster homes more fully—with all the training and supplies they need—more people would be willing to help, and this, in turn, would save more feline lives. With this in mind, Mary is in the process of starting up her own nonprofit, Foster Purrs, that will specialize in neonates. “I just want to save lives and fully support the fosters so more people are willing,” she tells Stacy.
To learn more about Mary’s work, you can find Foster Purrs (and their Amazon wishlist) on Facebook and Instagram.
Steve Lawrence, an award-winning filmmaker previously interviewed by Stacy on CCP Episode 178, returns to CCP to discuss the documentary film he co-directed, The Cat Rescuers. The film premiered in October 2018 at the Hamptons International Film Festival, where it won an award for “giving voice to the voiceless.”
Since then, Steve and his production company have set about making the film available for community screenings that can be used as fundraisers for rescue and TNR groups. This can be done either directly through the filmmakers, or through an online platform called Tugg, which will take care of the logistical details for you.
Steve tells Stacy that his intention with this film was to make something that would help raise awareness about TNR and adoptions. One of the other points of the film was to make the point that much of this work that is being done to help cats is done on a volunteer basis and that the groups around the country need ways to sustain themselves. Steve hopes that the film allows people to raise awareness in their own communities about what it takes to do this kind of work, and also about why and how TNR is effective.
“Our intention was to make a film that would be of use to the rescue community not only in the U.S. but around the world—but we also wanted to make a film that would be emotionally engaging and sufficiently entertaining that it would grab an average viewer who’s just looking for a good story, for an interesting story with compelling characters—and I think we’ve achieved both.”
To learn more about The Cat Rescuers, including where/how to attend or host a screening, visit the film’s website. To host a screening where the details (like finding a location and ticket sales) are all taken care of for you, go can go through Tugg’s online booking interface.
Stacy sits down with Dr. Sara Pizano (a previous CCP guest on Episode 56, Episode 171, and Episodes 246and 247) to discuss Dr. Pizano’s new book, The Best Practice Playbook for Animal Shelters. The book is a result of the more than 100 assessments Dr. Pizano has done at shelters around the country as a Team Shelter USA consultant. She realized that the shelters she was working with were all struggling with the same issues. More importantly, she realized that the solutions needed to decrease euthanasia rates were always the same—so she decided to write this playbook so that those solutions can be used by anyone, anywhere.
Dr. Pizano’s number one tip, which she shares in this interview with Stacy, is that your shelter space should be used only for animals with no other options. Dr. Pizano discusses with Stacy her belief that there should be no stray hold periods for cats, and her strong belief in Return-to-Field.
She & Stacy go on to discuss the best ways to talk to your elected officials, and what kind of data to focus on. “Get the information,” Dr. Pizano says, “present the facts in a very professional way—not emotional—and just educate your elected officials.”
Finally, Dr. Pizano talks more about her new book. It is for everyone, no matter what role you play in animal welfare, and it includes lots of success stories. The idea, Dr. Pizano tells Stacy, is to change your perspective and inspire you. “This is about the answers that every single sheltering community has at their fingertips,” she says.
The Best Practice Playbook for Animal Shelters is available now through Amazon. To learn more about having an assessment done at your shelter, visit the Team Shelter USA website.
Peter Wolf, previously featured on CCP Episode 74, joins Stacy again, this time to discuss a newly released research paper that he and Dan Spehar (CCP Episode 240) have co-authored. The paper, titled “Integrated Return-To-Field and Targeted Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return Programs Result in Reductions of Feline Intake and Euthanasia at Six Municipal Animal Shelters,” has been published inFrontiers in Veterinary Science, an online, peer-reviewed journal.
For this paper, Peter and Dan pulled a very large set of data (around 73,000 cats) from six of Best Friends’ Community Cat Programs. These programs are staffed by Best Friends and the locations are selected through a highly competitive application process. They all integrate Return-to-Field (RTF) with targeted TNR programs, a combination that Peter feels is vital to success.
Across the board over these programs during the research period, Peter and Dan found a median decrease in feline euthanasia of 83%, a median decrease in feline intake of 32%, and a median reduction in intake of kittens ages eight weeks or under of 41%. All of this data, Peter says, adds to the body of information telling us that community cat programs offer a real benefit to shelters, the community and the cats.
To learn more about Best Friends, their work with community cats, and their upcoming conference, visit their website. You can also contact Peter directly with questions, or read his and Dan Spehar’s full paper here.
Scott Giacoppo (previously interviewed by Stacy on CCP Episode 25) has been involved in animal welfare since 1989. Among other roles, he has worked as an animal control officer and a special state police officer for cruelty investigations. He currently serves as the Director of National Shelter Outreach for Best Friends Animal Society.
In this role, Scott oversees the development of life-saving efficacy and sustainability for animal welfare agencies across the United States. He & his team provide support to each of the eight Best Friends regions, working with the regional teams in each area that are working directly with individual shelters to help them accomplish their missions.
Scott’s team works mostly with municipal agencies, and he tells Stacy that more & more agencies are recognizing what we’ve been doing for decades to decrease the community cat population—trap & remove—is just not working, so more and more agencies are now embracing TNR.
Scott sees this as part of a shift toward animal control becoming more of a proactive resource, instead of just a reactive one, as it has so often been in the past. Scott and Stacy also discuss the “best practices” resources he has helped gather, covering everything from how to do managed intake to how to conduct a dangerous dog investigation. All of these resources are available to download for free on the Best Friends website.
In addition, Scott and Stacy talk about some recent policy changes around cats at the National Animal Care & Control Association (NACA), including abandoning their support for cat licensing and publicly recognizing that trap and remove does not work to control community cat populations.
To learn more, visit the Best Friends website or email Scott directly. You can find the Community Cats best practices manual here and the Humane Animal Control Manual here.
In this episode, Stacy talks with Jackson Cunningham, founder of Tuft + Paw, a modern cat furniture company. Jackson and his girlfriend and business partner both have had cats all their lives, and describe themselves as obsessed with cats. After a trip to South America in which they observed stray cats being treated like pests, they swore that if a business opportunity came along that allowed them to help the stray cat community, they would jump on it.
Fast forward a few months, and Jackson and his girlfriend had just moved into a beautiful new apartment that they wanted to furnish for both themselves and their cat. The problem was, they couldn’t find much in the way of nice, high-quality cat furniture. This was when the idea for Tuft + Paw was born.
Tuft + Paw works with cat behaviorists, veterinarians, and even shelters to design from the ground up. They currently sell both their own products and products made by others, but as they expand their own design and manufacturing, one thing they are very focused on is sustainability. Not only do they try to make sure their products will last for life (or have replaceable parts, like the sisal on cat trees), they are also careful to source materials that are as environmentally friendly as possible, like recycled ocean plastic.
Jackson and Stacy also talk about e-commerce and affiliate programs (and how they can help shelters), as well as the pitfalls of social media in terms of where the best bang for your buck is. Tuft + Paw has recently launched both an affiliate program and a unique referral program benefitting the Stray Cat Alliance in Los Angeles.
To learn more, visit the Tuft + Paw website or follow them on Instagram. Shelters interested in exploring being part of the Tuft + Paw affiliate program, can emailJackson directly.
In this episode, Stacy is joined by Sarah Dunsmore, who co-owns CDE Animal Cages with her husband. Lifelong animal lovers, Sarah and her husband purchased the thirty-year old company several years ago and decided to shift its focus to helping shelter and rescue groups. As a small, family-owned company, CDE wants to help connect shelters and rescues with caging that helps keep their animals healthier, and helps make their staff’s jobs easier.
Sarah and Stacy discuss how changes in cat caging—including the “portalization” of cat cages—have run parallel to the shift from high euthanasia rates saving as many cat lives as possible. CDE cat cages have portals that can connect cages horizontally or vertically, as well as individual panels that can be easily removed, allowing shelters to customize their caging arrangement. In fact, one of Sarah’s favorite things is working with individual groups to truly customize their cages so they can get exactly what will work best for their space and their needs.
Another unique offering at CDE is catios. CDE got involved with the Oregon Feral Cat Coalition’s “Cats Safe at Home” campaign* a couple years ago, and since then, have really become enthusiastic about catios. Sarah and Stacy talk about how catios benefit cats mentally and physically, and also benefit birds and wildlife by keeping them safe from cats. CDE can cater to whatever individuals or groups have in mind for their catios.
To learn more, visit the CDE Animal Cageswebsite. From there, you can also feel free to call or email. Sarah is always happy to start a conversation about how CDE can help you and your group.
*Stacy interviewed Karen Kraus of the Oregon Feral Cat Coalition, along with Bob Sallinger of the Aubudon Society of Portland, in CCP Episode 262. Check it out to learn more about the Cats Safe at Home campaign.
For the 300thepisode of Community Cats Podcast, Stacy is joined by Bryan Kortis, Director of National Programs for Neighborhood Cats. Previously featured on CCP Episode 13, Episode 127, and Episode 218, Bryan is back to talk about how things are going for community cats in Hawaii, and about the new book he has co-authored. And of course, he and Stacy discuss the ongoing webinar series that CCP and Neighborhood Cats are partnering on.
Bryan, who is now located in Hawaii, reports that Neighborhood Cats has established a great partnership with the Maui Humane Society. MHS has a high-volume spay/neuter clinic that handles community cats, and over the past two years, the shelter has seen live release rates for cats go from around 25% to over 90%! He is also seeing some progress on Oahu as a result of working with humane organizations there.
In general, the wildlife and conservation community is still opposed to TNR in Hawaii, and Bryan reports that Neighborhood Cats’ early efforts to sit down with these groups to get on the same page did not meet with success. So they have chosen to focus on the work at hand—how to get the cats under control—rather than on trying to convince the “other side” of the merits of TNR. Bryan feels that people are hungry for practical solutions, so Neighborhood Cats just keeps on doing the work they feel needs to be done. “We don’t ignore the concerns,” he says, “but we’re not going to let the debate stop us from making progress.”
Bryan also has a new book out called The Return to Field Handbook, which he co-authored with HSUS’s Danielle Bays and two other leaders in the community cat world. The book arose as people were starting to think that Return to Field (RTF) was a good idea, but didn’t have a lot of information on how to implement such a program. So the authors decided to put together a handbook to start to build a base of knowledge around RTF.
Stacy and Bryan talk at length about some of the keys to an RTF program, and also some of the sticking points for shelters—particularly dealing with healthy, friendly cats. Bryan cautions against going on an “auto-pilot” or one-size-fits-all approach and notes that each individual cat’s circumstances must be examined carefully. He also notes that “TNR and RTF…are two sides of the same coin; they’re both parts of a good community cat program.”
To learn more or get your copy of The Return to Field Handbook, visit the Neighborhood Cats website’s resource section. You can also get a copy of the book, as well as more information on TNR and RTF at the Humane Society of the United States website.
Lindsay Hamrick, Policy Director for Companion Animals at the Humane Society of the United States, works to support local, state and federal policies protecting pets. She holds an M.S. in Animals & Public Policy from Tufts University and was the New Hampshire state director for HSUS prior to her current role. She spent ten years as CEO at three different New Hampshire animal shelters and, like so many of our guests, knew from a very young age that she wanted to work with animals.
In her operational positions, Lindsay came to realize how much policy can affect the work of animal shelters—even though most shelter workers are so busy they often can’t pause to think about it until they have to. For Lindsay, one of those “have to” moments was in dealing with the New Hampshire state restriction on adopting out FIV and FeLV+ cats. She worked to change that rule, and she is now trying to take her “on-the-ground” experience in shelter operations and apply it on a national, policy level. Lindsay tells us that it’s important not only to make sure that there aren’t negative policies affecting the community cat population but that it’s also critical to be proactive and progressive about policy.
Lindsay and Stacy speak at length about the incredibly successful Spay-a-Thon for Puerto Rico program, as well as the current state of affairs for animals in Puerto Rico. They also touch on some “hot topics” in legislation affecting community cats around the country right now, including some good bills in the works in the Midwest.
To learn more about HSUS and their work with community cats, you can contact Lindsay directly via email or you can reach out to Danielle Bays, Director of Cat Protection and Policy at HSUS.
Dave Hanley, developer of the Tomorrow app, is an entrepreneur who is also a pet (and human) parent. Tomorrow is designed to help anyone set up a legal will quickly and easily—and even appoint guardians for their pets and/or children. The app is free, with no strings attached. (It is funded by the optional sale of life insurance products.)
Dave’s own love for cats began as a child when his parents gave his older sister a kitten one Christmas. Since then, Dave has always felt a connection to cats and currently shares his home with two twin sister cats. He was inspired to create Tomorrow after learning that 50 million children are not protected by legal guardianships providing for their care. Dave’s experiences in wading through his own parents’ outdated estate plans and documents after their deaths provided additional motivation to develop the app, which he hopes will encourage everyone to protect themselves and their families with these important documents.
One experience that really stuck with Dave after his mother’s death was the challenge of finding a new home for her cat. The process took him and his siblings quite a while, and the whole time, he felt certain that someone in his mother’s retirement community would have taken the cat in—but neither he nor his siblings had any idea who might have been willing, because they had never had that conversation with their mother, nor had his mother ever noted the information anywhere. The Tomorrow app would have solved all that, had it been available, as it not only allows you to set up guardians for your pets, it also allows you to enter important information about them and their health, diet, etc.
Dave encourages everyone to have conversations about what will happen to your pets, children, and assets after your death. “It’s not dark,” he tells Stacy; “it’s just having a plan.”
You can learn more on the Tomorrow website , or you can download Tomorrow through an app store—it’s available for both Apple and Android phones.
You may remember Dr. Kate Hurley, Director of U.C. Davis Koret School of Veterinary Medicine and co-founder of Million Cat Challenge, from CCP Episode 47. If not, be sure to check it to hear all about how Dr. Hurley got started in the world of animal welfare.
In this episode, Dr. Hurley is back to talk with Stacy about the amazing success of the Million Cat Challenge (MCC) program that she co-founded with Dr. Julie Levy three years ago. Dr. Hurley talks about what she calls a “stunning transformation” that has taken place in the field of animal sheltering for cats since last time she was on the show, beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. Not only did the MCC hit its goal (a year early!), the program has seen many shelters decrease their euthanasia rates by 80-90% after joining the MCC. These shelters have saved over a million more cat lives compared to their own baselines before joining the MCC.
Stacy and Dr. Hurley discuss the specifics behind the numbers, and how the MCC was set up to amplify successes that were already happening in animal welfare. The idea was to connect people with each other and to make the progress that is happening for cats more visible in order to inspire both commitment and hope. The program has definitely done just that, with nearly 1,311 fewer cats being euthanized per day in the United States now. “This can be the new norm for cats,” Dr. Hurley believes.
She goes on to discuss what’s next for the MCC, which is “the right outcome” for every single cat that comes to a shelter in North America.” She hopes that CCP listeners will help out by visiting the MCC website, making sure that their local shelter is enrolled in the program—and if not, stopping by and taking with them about it!
To learn more, visit the Million Cat Challenge website. You can see if your local shelter is a participant by clicking on “Who’s Involved.” You can also check out Dr. Hurley’s recent webinar presentation on Cats, Birds, and Animal Shelters: Seeking Common Ground.
Nikki Martinez was always a dog person. That all changed one day when a kitten ran in front of her car on her way to a post-surgical doctor appointment. Feeling down and overly focused on herself after her surgery, Nikki poured her heart and soul into nursing that sickly kitten back to health, and eventually found it a new home. In the process, Nikki herself began to heal—and she found herself hooked on helping cats.
Today, Nikki fosters kittens, serves on the board of directors for a Las Vegas TNR organization called C5, traps community cat colonies with C5, manages a popular kitten Instagram page, and runs a side business called Fostering a Purpose. She specializes in caring for critical care and neonatal kittens, and has fostered hundreds of kittens over the years. It took her a while to see the connection between the kittens she was fostering and TNR, but once she did, she devoted even more of her energy to TNR. As she put it, “I’d picture a bucket that’s overflowing with water, maybe it has a hole in it and the water’s gushing out. You can either mop up the water, or you can put a plug in the hole—and TNR really puts the plug in the hole and stops these cats from breeding on the street, which ultimately stops kittens from suffering.”
In this interview, Nikki and Stacy talk trapping—strategy, trap and bait preferences, how to handle injured feral cats, whether there has ever been a cat Nikki couldn’t trap—and even using plumbing “snake” cameras to assist with trapping. Nikki loves working as a volunteer trapper for C5. “It’s such a satisfying feeling to know that these colonies of cats won’t be breeding anymore,” she tells Stacy.
Nikki also has an Instagram account for her foster kittens as a way to share knowledge and information about cats and cat overpopulation with folks who can’t help but click on her cute kitten pictures. The page has blown up and Nikki sees it as a great way to get people involved in fostering and TNR. As a result of her Instagram page and interest in purchasing and selling merchandise there, Nikki started Fostering a Purpose. The company sells high-quality cat-related apparel for people and donates a portion of the proceeds to feline welfare causes.
As part of C5, Nikki has been part of a big change for community cats in Las Vegas over the past decade. The group has TNRed over 35,000 cats, and since 2009, the euthanasia rate at the local municipal shelter has gone down an astounding 90%. “It’s just a small, simple organization with volunteers, making a huge impact in Las Vegas.”
To learn more, you can follow Nikki and her foster kittens@myfosterkittenson Instagram, visit the Fostering a Purpose website, or check out the C5 website.
Danielle Bays, Director of Cat Protection and Policy at the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), is a frequent flyer here on CCP, having appeared before on Episode 55and Episode 261. She joins Stacy again here to talk about what’s going on across the country for cats, and about various events happening in the animal welfare world this spring.
One such event is HSUS’S annual Animal Care Expo conference, being held this year in New Orleans on April 15-18. Danielle tells Stacy that not only will there be a cat track again this year, there will also be a day-long program devoted to kittens, and lots more about cats within the other conference tracks, like behavior and veterinary. Jackson Galaxy will be at the conference as a speaker on cat behavior, and also as part of a roundtable session with attendees. There will be a session in the veterinary track about FIV and FeLV, which will discuss everything you need to know to get those cats adopted like any other cat in your shelter! Several sessions on trapping will also be included, including one focused on return to field, one on how to deal with large-scale colonies, and one on “cat counting.”
Stacy and Danielle also review the 2019 legislative update for cats, including several declaw initiatives making their way through the channels and how people can make the declaw issue a more pressing one for their elected officials. There is also interesting cat-related legislation happening in South Carolina and Illinois, and Danielle feels that each year, the “temperature” for community cats gets better and better across the United States. “We’re just seeing such great work throughout the country,” Danielle tells Stacy. “These ideas that we have about how we handle cats in shelters, how we treat cats outdoors, are really gaining so much traction.”
To learn more about HSUS, legislation, and the Animal Care Expo conference, visit animalsheltering.org. You can also can get in touch with Danielle directly at dbays@humanesociety.org.
Dr. Mikel Maria Delgado, a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist with a Ph.D. in psychology, has quite a list of accomplishments under her belt. She has co-authored the book Total Cat Mojowith Jackson Galaxy, and she currently co-owns a cat behavior consulting business called Feline Minds, which assists both pet owners and shelters. Mikel is also a post doc fellow at the University of California at Davis doing research on cat behavior in multi-cat households and on the health and development of orphaned neonatal kittens.
Mikel was, in her own words, “obsessed with cats” even as a child, though she never had particular aspirations toward being a vet, and it never really occurred to her until much later in life that she could have a job working with cats. Soon after the death of a beloved pet cat, Mikel began volunteering at the San Francisco SPCA, an organization with a robust cat behavior program. Mikel was hooked and ended up working for the SFSPCA for eight years before leaving to pursue her education.
Today, Mikel and her business partner work on many feline behavior cases, most of which, Mikel tells us, are due to an under-stimulating environment. She explains that keeping cats indoors restricts their experiences, and if you don’t replace those outdoor experiences with something else stimulating, it will lead to behavior problems.
Mikel is also conducting some fascinating research on cats—all of it either on pet cats in their homes or on foster kittens in the pre-existing UC Davis neonatal kitten foster program. (In other words, there are no lab cats here!) Tune in to hear the details of Mikel’s research and how it may help future cats and kittens in homes and shelters.
For more information,visit Mikel’s website, or you can follow her on Twitter @mikel_maria.
In this interview, Stacy speaks with Karen Anderson, an animal communicator and afterlife expert who has been practicing for over 20 years. She has received several awards and is a best-selling author of several books as well, including her most recent, The Amazing Afterlife of Animals.
As far back as Karen can remember, she has always loved animals. They were her very best friends and for many years, she thought everyone could understand and talk to them the way she could. It wasn’t until she worked in law enforcement many years later, however, that her animal communication abilities really came forward in a big way. She has no formal training as an animal communicator, just a very deep love of animals. In fact, Karen feels that anyone can learn to communicate with animals, and that you don’t need any special skills. “I can teach most people how to send their first message in 15 minutes; that’s how easy it is,” she tells Stacy.
She and Stacy go on to talk about overcoming negative and doubt-filled thought patterns, and Stacy shares why animal communication has been in her own toolbox for many years now—and why she feels people should be willing to consider it. Karen tells Stacy that most of her clients come to her either during the hospice process, or after they have lost a beloved pet. She loves to work with people going through these incredibly difficult periods and is constantly amazed by how just one message from a pet can bring so much peace and healing to those who are grieving.
To learn more about Karen, her work, and her services, visit her website, or find her on Facebook. You can find her books such as Hear All Creatures! The Journey of an Animal Communicator, The Secret Inner Life of Pets: A Leading Psychologist and an Animal Communicator Bring You the Love and Wisdom of Animals, and Amazing Paranormal Encounters Volume 2 on Amazon and Audible.*
*As an Amazon Associate The Community Cats Podcast earns from qualifying purchases.
Kim Saunders was a practicing attorney when she decided to move into the animal welfare world full-time (after years of volunteering). She spent 15 years at Petfinder before moving into a more hands-on role at St. Hubert’s. She is now the Operations Director at Liberty Humane Society (LHS), the only licensed animal shelter in Hudson County, NJ, which one of most densely populated counties in the state. Hudson County has rich cultural and socioeconomic diversity, with 15% of the population falling under the poverty line. LHS provides all animal control services, as well as shelter and adoption services to the county.
In this interview, Stacy and Kim discuss how the recent government shutdown has impacted shelters, particularly pet retention programs. Kim is passionate about keeping animals that already have a home in those homes, and LHS offers a flexible pet retention program that assists with whatever people need—from super basic supplies like crates and litter to more complex needs like intensive medical care. During the government shutdown, LHS collaborated with another area group to make sure that the needs of local pet owners facing shutdown-related difficulties were being met.
LHS has also recently added a Community Cat Coordinator to its staff. This role, which is currently about 80% outreach, is tasked with coordinating and expanding the subsidized community cat spay/neuter program LHS began last year. They have a mobile spay/neuter clinic and they partner with another New Jersey group to provide services on that vehicle to both community cats and owned pets as well. The Community Cat Coordinator is in charge of community outreach regarding the spay/neuter program and community cat issues in general, and LHS plans to allow the position to grow and change to meet the current needs of the local community.
Liberty Humane is always glad to share what they’re doing and to hear about what others are doing. You can learn more about them or get in touch via their website.
Elena Battles of Shelterluv software has been working for animals in one capacity or another since 1999. It was then that she found Trini, a stray beagle who truly changed her life. Elena had been working as a physical therapist, but after rescuing Trini, she was re-awakened to the issues facing animals, and decided to change paths. She began volunteering, then moved on to several staff roles in animal welfare organizations all over the country. Now, at Shelterluv, Elena helps provide those in the animal welfare world with access to the technology she wishes she had when she worked in a shelter.
Elena knows that working in animal welfare operations is much more complex than just working with animals, so she is so excited to be able to give people the technology tools to help make that job easier. She tells Stacy that considering making a change in systems often starts with asking some important questions about your organization (and she shares what those questions are).
Elena & Stacy talk about configurability vs. customization, and the move towards getting animal welfare software systems to “speak” to each other. Elena also discusses the fact that as far as cost goes, there are a wide range of choices in animal welfare shelter platforms. If you’re thinking about animal welfare software—whether for the first time, or as a change from your existing system, this interview has some great tips for you. In addition, Elena is happy to give you her advice and point you in the right direction, even if it’s not to Shelterluv.
To learn more, visit the Shelterluv website or email Elena. You can also find Shelterluv at many animal welfare conferences, like HSUS and Best Friends.
Kay Stout is the Executive Director of PAAS Vinita in Oklahoma, a multi-faceted group that grew out of the initial shelter that gives the group its name (PAAS stands for “Peaceful Animal Adoption Shelter”). Back in 2015, the shelter opened, but no one was coming in to adopt the animals. That’s when Kay realized they had to do something different. She reached out to animal welfare contacts and soon had a transfer program set up with Dumb Friends Animal League in Colorado.
Today, the group continues large transports of dogs, as well as occasional transport of cats, to Colorado, but it also serves as a local resource center. PAAS offers spay/neuter services to local cats, a TNR program, and is also helping many groups work toward 90%+ save rates through the Save Lives, Unite Oklahoma project.
Kay and Stacy talk extensively about the history of PAAS, including Kay’s successful early strategy of getting a handful of community leaders onboard with what she was doing. Having these people on her side made it easy for her to move her programs forward without encountering a lot of pushback.
Kay feels strongly that folks in animal welfare need to do their best to find common ground with the people they are trying to work with. If that doesn’t happen, she tells Stacy, progress stops, and may never start again—and that means that lives of cats and dogs waiting to be rescued may be lost.
To learn more, you can visit the PAAS Vinita website. To learn more about Save Lives, Unite Oklahoma, contact Kay at director@paasvinita.com.
Sandy Rees, the CEO (Chief Encouragement Officer) at Get Fully Funded and Founder of Arf Club, joins us for her second visit to Community Cats Podcast. If you missed her first chat with Stacy, check it out here.
Sandy’s company shows passionate nonprofit leaders how to fully fund their big visions so they can spend their time saving lives instead of worrying about money. Based in Loudon, TN, Sandy teaches her students to focus on donor outreach, authentic messaging, and relationship building in their fundraising.
In this episode, she talks with Stacy about some of the current trends she’s seeing in fundraising for the small nonprofit (hint: think videos!). She also gives some great tips around what constitutes “authentic messaging,” shares a simple ratio to follow to prevent donor fatigue, and reminds everyone that acknowledgment of donations is “a simple thing, but it is…a critically important thing.”
The Arf Club portion of Sandy’s business is an animal welfare-specific fundraising training program, designed to teach rescues and other animal nonprofits how they can raise the money they need to fully fund their budgets. Arf Club shows you how to put the principles of donor-based fundraising in place. The program even includes follow-up, with specialized nudges about when you need to start thinking about or working on particular campaigns. Sandy has just opened up a way to sample what Arf Club has to offer for just $17 that you may want to check out!
To learn more, visit the Arf Club website or the Get Fully Funded website.
Dr. Angie Kraus, a holistic house-call veterinarian in Boulder, CO, has known since the age of 3 that she wanted to be a vet. She was trained conventionally, but after graduation, she began to explore other, less traditional modalities of treatment, leading her to holistic veterinary medicine. For Dr. Kraus, being a holistic vet means doing anything that works for her patients. In this interview, she tells Stacy, “Not only do I use all modalities that I think can be helpful, I look at my patient as a whole.”
As a result of being a house-call vet, Dr. Kraus sees a lot of cats, since cats often tend to be particularly challenging to transport to traditional veterinary appointments. Dr. Kraus and her technician approach their patients slowly and gently, allowing the cat to evaluate them first before they try to proceed with an exam or treatment.
Dr. Kraus feels that cats are underserved and that both owners and veterinarians can do better for cats in terms of proper feeding and stimulation, as well as developing close emotional connections. “Cats really have all the same potential as part of our families as dogs do,” Dr. Kraus tells Stacy.
Stacy & Dr. Kraus also have an in-depth discussion in this episode about the use of CBD in cats, including issues with which it tends to be particularly helpful. Dr. Kraus offers some tips on what’s important to look for in a CBD supplement for your cat, and Stacy talks about the success she’s had with CBD with one of her own cats.
To learn more about Dr. Kraus, including some of the products she discusses in this episode, you can visit the Boulder Holistic Vet website.
Dana Andresen started as the first executive director of Feline Rescue, a St. Paul, Minnesota-based, no-kill companion cat rescue organization, in April 2016. Dana came to her current role after working with a pet food company and then as the first executive director of the Minnesota spay/neuter assistance program (MN SNAP). She got interested in animal welfare after running a fundraiser with the pet food company she worked for after Hurricane Katrina.
Feline Rescue has three programs: shelter, foster, and outreach. The first two programs are adoption programs, while their outreach program is more geared to pet retention. That program includes subsidized spay/neuter, pet food, and strives to educate people and connect them to the resources they need to care for their cats.
In Dana’s nearly three years as executive director, she has worked with the board of directors and many volunteers on a strategic plan to help determine the organization’s course for the future. One of the top priorities in that strategic plan was bringing vet care onsite to decrease costs and decrease stress on cats, and Feline Rescue is making great strides toward that goal. They now have a vet director on staff, as well as a CVT and a vet assistant, and they will begin doing dentals and basic surgeries soon.
Stacy & Dana go on to discuss the future goals Feline Rescue hopes to work on, as well as the organization’s governance structure—including the challenges of moving the organization’s board from an operational one to a governing one. They also touch upon the kinds of cats that Feline Rescue takes in (“the cats no-one else will take”), and they talk about Dana’s plan to focus more of her time in the coming year on fundraising and development.
To learn more, visit Feline Rescue’s website, or you can email Dana at info@felinerescue.org.
Dr. Graham Brayshaw, a 2004 graduate of Texas A&M’s veterinary school, is both the chief veterinarian and the director of animal services for the Animal Humane Society (AHS), an organization based in the twin cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. Dr. Brayshaw’s interest in animal welfare and community cats began when he did a rotation through local shelters in vet school, and in 2012, he accepted a role at AHS. AHS took in over 23,000 animals last year, including 11,000 cats (which includes some cats transported from partner agencies). The agency has a 96% placement rate and runs an active community cats program, along with a low-cost veterinary care program.
Stacy and Dr. Brayshaw talk about how community cat management differs in a part of the country where frigid winter temperatures make life outside even more difficult for cats, and how this affects programs like return to field (RTF). They also discuss how AHS’s community cat program got started, and how they learned that running a targeted TNR program is not always as easy as identifying an area with a large human population, or even an area where most of your shelter intakes come from. As AHS has moved on from the initial years of their community cat program, TNR has become less of a focus, and instead they are spending more time and energy on RTF and on building relationships with members of community who are already working with cats, like caretakers and rescuers.
To learn more about their community cat and other programs, visit Animal Humane Society’s website.
Sara Kent, the first CEO and paid staff member of Shelter Animals Count (SAC), sits down with Stacy to discuss how SAC came to be, what its mission is, and some of its latest statistics.
Sara began her career in animal welfare close to 20 years ago as one of the first people hired at Petfinder, where she ultimately served as the director of shelter outreach and led the creation of Petfinder Pro. You may remember her (in her Petfinder role) from CCP episode #164. Sara is also the founder of Fiver Cats, an online resource dedicated to community cats and FIV+ cats.
Shelter Animals Count first started as a concept back in 2011, when a number of leaders in animal welfare were trying to figure out how to come up with a good count of the animals coming into and going out of shelters. At that point, there had never been a full database whose sole purpose was to collect shelter data, so they created this collaborative project whose mission is to “create, share, and steward the national database of sheltered animals that provides facts and enables insights.”
SAC collects basic data – just intakes and outcomes – based on the idea that this is the most basic data that any organization taking in animals should be collecting. The database was launched in 2016, and since then, over 5,000 organizations have registered, with over 3,000 actively and regularly participating.
Sara and Stacy review the data collected for 2017, with a discussion about how the data can be useful for grant-writing purposes (and for organizations looking to grant money), as well as how it can be used to former stronger community relationships among organizations and how it can be used to start to put together a picture of what’s going on with animals in a particular area or community.
Sara points out that SAC’s role is to collect, convene, and present data, without putting a ton of context behind it, and that this is intentional. The data, she notes, doesn’t reflect the full spectrum of what organizations are doing. Instead, it’s about being able to collect and share data in a standard way. “The goal,” Sara says, “is to have a standard data set that every organization can follow.”
To learn more, visit the Shelter Animals Count website. You can register, or you can explore datafrom your local community and beyond – the data is available to everyone. Should you need help or have questions, you can also reach out to SAC at info@shelteranimalscount.org.
In this episode, Stacy talks with Larry Shively, owner of ProVetLogic, one of the sponsors of 2019 Online Cat Conference, about controlling the spread of disease among cats, particularly in shelter-type environments.
Nine years ago, Larry & his wife Colleen started ProVetLogic after being called in to assist with a “big cat” situation – and by “big cats,” he means lions and tigers! A zoo’s big cats weren’t eating, and with the help of a veterinarian, Larry discovered that the cleaning products the zoo was using were so strong that the cats couldn’t smell their food anymore. Out of that process was born the idea of a trying to create protocols and products that would be effective and safe for both dogs and cats.
At the time, most shelter and veterinary clinic cleaning products were geared towards dogs, and were simply too strong to use around cats. So ProVet Logic developed products that are effective, as well as protocols for how to safely use their products around cats. They provide discounted pricing to rescue organizations, as well as free equipment and financial support. In addition, they offer a variety of basic animal care sanitation training programs designed to help clinics and shelters make sure their animal care staff can be trained in the basics quickly – and for free!
Larry feels that having simple, strong cleaning and disinfecting protocols – and making sure that those protocols are followed at all times – is the key to keeping disease rates down in shelters and kennels. If there’s a problem, he tells us, it’s usually not the product you’re using; it’s the protocol. They offer laminated protocol charts, and their online classes are available to anyone, whether you use ProVetLogic’s products or not.
Larry & Stacy discuss some vital keys to preventing disease transmission in the shelter environment – from making sure you’re cleaning the “touch points” in your cat care areas (and this doesn’t mean the areas the cats touch!), to keeping good airflow going, to cleaning carriers. They talk about the fact that, as Larry puts it, “humans are the main transmitter of disease to animals” – and about why it’s a good idea to keep the shoes you wear at the shelter or clinic separate from the ones you wear elsewhere!
Larry has seen things improve for cats over the past 10 years, and he hopes that things will continue to change for the better. He hopes everyone will help cats in whatever way they can – small or large – and that everyone who has a municipal shelter near them will make sure to support those folks! He reminds you to not just read the labels of the products you’re using, but also to be sure to ask your sales reps for efficacy datain writing, as a product must be EPA-certified to prove that it works!
As a final note, Larry reminds people that cats are very susceptible to toxic reactions by absorption through their paw pads – so be sure those freshly cleaned floors are DRY before letting cats back on them!
To learn more, visit ProVetLogic’s website, where you’ll find lots of educational tools, as well as their products. Also check their Facebook pagefor a new basic educational video series coming soon. You can also email educationsupport@provetlogic.comif you have a question about disease control or sanitation – Larry promises you’ll hear back quickly!
Durning the month of December, we’re revisiting some of our favorite, most informative shows. This is a rebroadcast of episode 248 featuring Kim Freeman who, with the help of her trained tracking cat Henry, helps find cats when they've gone missing – enjoy!
Kim Freeman turned her lifelong love for cats into a career as a professional missing cat finder. When her own cat Mr. Purr went missing in 2008, Kim realized how little support families with a missing cat receive, and what bad advice they tend to be given. She set out to change this and today has developed a very specific process to help people all over the world find their missing cats.
Kim starts by educating the cat’s owners using a downloadable online booklet and videos on her website. She then asks the owners to fill out an extensive cat profile questionnaire so that she can determine a search strategy. Kim tells us that there are eight probabilities of what could have happened to a missing cat, and her questionnaire, which asks about indoor behavior patterns, helps determine which of those probabilities is most likely. Based on the results of the questionnaire, Kim then coaches the owner on what they need to do to try to find their cat.
When Kim does in-person searches, her cat Henry sometimes accompanies her. Henry is trained to track scent, and she often uses him in cases where an indoor-only cat has escaped outside. Kim knows of only one other trained search cat out there, but she believes that it is a great way to go, as search dogs are more likely to scare off a missing cat than find it.
Kim is also passionate about the role shelters play in reuniting lost cats and their families. Nationally, the return to owner rate once a cat reaches a shelter is a dismal 2%. Kim feels shelters can help get this rate up by becoming a resource for the community around best practices for searching for a lost cat—or by directing the community to resources that can help. She believes strongly in Return to Field, and in microchipping as well. She would love to see shelters offer mobile, low-cost, in-home microchipping! Kim has a presentation on simple system that shelters can use to organize their lost and found data that she is glad to share if folks want to get in touch via her website.
Finally, Kim would like to spread the word about the “litter box myth”—the idea that if your cat goes missing, you should put out her used kitty litter box to attract her back to the area. Not only does it not work, Kim tells us, it is actually a bad idea because it can attract wildlife and predators, as well as territorial bully cats who may chase your cat farther away. As Kim puts it, “your house smells more like home than a kitty litter box!”
Learn more about Kim and her services at lostcatfinder.com. You can also stay up to date on her happy reunion stories on her Facebook page, facebook.com/LostCatFinder.
Durning the month of December, we’re revisiting some of our favorite, most informative shows. This is a rebroadcast of episode 143 featuring the man who has one of the most interesting jobs we've ever heard of, Shaun Sears of Canopy Cat Rescue – enjoy!
You don’t need to call a fireman to rescue your cat from a tree when Shaun Sears is around. Shaun and his partner are certified arborists who have “branched out” (sorry!) into the specialty of rescuing cats from trees. Their firm, Canopy Cat Rescue, has recovered nearly 800 cats from trees over the last two years, and was featured on the Animal Planet program, “Tree Top Cat Rescue.” They operate as a non-profit, relying solely on donations for their work, so that they can rescue any cat regardless of an owner’s ability to pay. Shaun shares the knowledge he’s learned about how to deal with all types of cats —friendly and scared, feral and owned — and busts the myth that a cat will simply climb down when it’s hungry. To find out more about Cat Canopy Rescue go to: canopycatrescue.comDurning the month of December, we’re revisiting some of our favorite, most informative shows. This is a rebroadcast of episode 222featuring The Cat Man of West Oakland, Adam Myatt – enjoy!
Cats have been taking over this amazing guy’s life for the last eight years! What started as a small photography hobby has turned into a life-changing endeavor for Adam Myatt, leading the “Cat Man of Oakland” to dive head first into cat rescue and TNR, and to open the first cat cafe in the United States.
Before he was the “Cat Man,” Adam was a musician and worked in a recording studio. He had a musician buddy who went on tour and started posting cat photos on Instagram with the hashtag #CatsOnTour. So when Adam himself went on tour, he kept the tradition alive and it just never stopped!
Friends were impressed with his cat photos and encouraged him to do something with them, but Adam was determined not to invest what little money had had into cat merchandise. Instead, he decided to start a crowdfunding campaign to get things rolling. Before he knew it, he had people signing up for a calendar he created and it has been wildly successful in the years since!
The 2018 calendar marks Adam’s sixth year selling through Kickstarter and he’s now working on a book & calendar pitch for 2019!
Adam has been stunned by how many people have gotten onboard and ordered calendars and also is blown away by how much the community in West Oakland wants to get involved with cat rescue efforts. Adam focuses his attention on doing more TNR in the community and making an impact on the community cat side of things, rather than on running an adoption center.
In a stroke of irony, the Cat Man won’t be adopting any of his feline friends anytime soon. His roomie of over 12 years is allergic and so having cats in his own home just isn’t in the cards!
So how does Adam get such great pictures of these feral cats? He gets down on their level, even if it means kneeling or lying down in the street to capture their sweet faces. And of course, treats and catnip always help! And believe it or not, those great pics are all taken with just an iPhone!
Learn more and grab your own 2018 Cat Calendar at catmanofwestoakland.com.
Durning the month of December, we're revisiting some of our favorite, most informative shows. This is a rebroadcast of episode 175featuring cat behaviorist and host of Animal Planet's "My Cat From Hell", Jackson Galaxy - enjoy!
It’s the Cat Daddy himself in this special episode of the podcast! Stacy has a fascinating conversation with Jackson Galaxy, the once-musician whose special bond with felines catapulted (sorry!) him to fame as a champion for helping people better understand cat behavior and find creative ways to help them.
Season Eight of his show, My Cat From Hell, opens in late April with Jackson bringing 50 doomed kittens from Los Angeles on a van ride to Denver, accompanied by Kitten Lady Hannah Shaw. Jackson describes a number of the life-saving initiatives his foundation is piloting throughout the country, and gives a treasure trove of advice about what individuals can do to make a difference: “Every something that you do will save somebody."
For more information visit jacksongalaxyfoundation.org.
Photo Credits: All color photos by Andrew Martial. The black and white is Lori Fusaro.
Durning the month of December, we're revisiting some of our favorite, most informative shows. This is a rebroadcast of episodes 256 and 257 which we dubbed “The Mike & Carmine Show” - enjoy!
Stacy speaks with Mike Keiley, the Director of Adoption Centers and Programs at the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA), and Carmine DiCenso, Executive Director of the Dakin Humane Society in Leverett & Springfield MA in this first part of “The Mike & Carmine Show.” You can check out Mike's first visit to Community Cats Podcast in 2016 in Episode 9
Both Mike & Carmine have been in the animal welfare field as long as Stacy has, and the two of them speak together regularly at conferences and programs. Both recognized as leaders and innovators, they discuss many topics with Stacy in this episode, including the trends and changes they have seen with community cats over the years. When Mike started in animal welfare, there was an overwhelming number of cats. In general, people felt that they were simply dealing with an unwinnable situation, with no room for strategy. In the last five years, however, the MSPCA has formulated strategies for their adoption program, their targeted spay/neuter programs, and for dealing with different populations of cats in different ways. “We are now at the point,” Mike tells us, “where, largely, in New England, we are not dealing with an overpopulation of cats any longer.” — which is something he would not have imagined when he first started in the field.
Carmine’s experience has been fairly similar to Mike’s, but he adds some words of wisdom to folks who feel they will never be able to get to where New England is, telling us that it’s good to start to look at trends in numbers. Once you do, you’ll start to see declines and patterns that will help things not seem so bleak. To the people who say that there are pockets of New England where there are still overpopulation issues and people are still overwhelmed, Carmine would challenge them by asking whether what your organization is experiencing is truly overpopulation and being overwhelmed — or whether it is a lack of ability to let go of animals in your care.
Mike & Carmine go on to talk with Stacy about their community outreach programs, and how there is a big need for more low-cost services, particularly around dental care for pets. They also answer this question from Stacy: “You each have $100. You can divide it up between low-cost spay/neuter for cats, TNR, or an adoption program. How would you divide up that $100?” Listen to find out how what they say, and why both Mike & Carmine feel that animal welfare organizations are going to morph more into helping animals where they are — vs. taking them from whatever situation they are in.
To learn more about Carmine DiCenso’s organization and their work, visit dakinhumane.org. You can also email Carmine at cdincenso@dakinhumane.org. To learn more about Mike Keiley’s organization and their work, visit mspca.org, or email Mike at mkeiley@mspca.org.
After bringing you up to speed on how a "virtual conference" works, they chat about a special returning guest, The Kitten Lady, and the line up of brand new guest speakers and the topics they'll be presenting for attendees at this event that takes place January 25, 26, and 27, 2019. You'll learn what fun community building activities will be returning in the second year of the conference and be introduced to some of the new features that will be included this year.
Stacy and Kristen also discuss their scheduled "Best of December". They'll be bringing back some of their favorite, most interesting shows from the past few years!
From the launch date of this podcast you only have SIX DAYS to take advantage of early bird pricing for conference registration. Save $25 now by visiting onlinecatconference.comand registering on or before November 30th for just $50. On December 1st, registration will be $75.
Internet sensation Moshow was born and raised in inner city Baltimore, MD. He didn’t grow up with pets, and it wasn’t until he was in college that what he calls “cat fever” took over. Since then, Moshow has combined his passion for cats and rap to defy the odds and build a name for himself as the “Cat Rapper.” About to release his third album in late November 2018, Moshow is on a mission to share his message with the world—and his message includes raising awareness around lots of issues related to cats.
Moshow believes in rapping about what he knows, and, as he puts it, “I knew that I loved cats, I knew that I loved cat ladies, I knew that I was about peace, love, and positivity, I knew that I was about getting cats adopted, and I know that I’m just generally a positive person, so I figured that the best thing I could do for myself was to only rap about the life that I actually live.”
Moshow’s songs touch on topics like supporting animal shelters, the benefits of not declawing cats, adopting vs. shopping, and adopting black cats in particular. He is also a major advocate for erasing the stigma of the “crazy cat lady,” using his Beautiful Cat Lady Wednesdays campaign as a way to show the world how much he loves cat ladies (including the one he shares his life with in Portland, Oregon, along with their five cats).
Moshow’s latest song, “Slide,” is the result of a partnership with Arm & Hammer, which has agreed to donate $10,000 to a cat welfare group called Mac’s Fund if the video for Slide reaches 1 million views on You Tube by January 31, 2019.
To learn more about Moshow, his cats, his clothing line and his music, visit iammoshow.comor catrapper.com, or find him under I Am Moshow on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat and Twitter. You can find Moshow’s music on all streaming music websites, and don’t forget to check out the video for Slide!
Aaron Hancox and Michael McNamara of Markham Street Films join Stacy in this episode to talk about their documentary,Catwalk: Tales from the Cat Show Circuit, which follows the Canadian competitive cat show world. Aaron is a long-time cat guy whose cat Beau was adopted from a Toronto rescue, but Michael is actually allergic to cats! Aaron stumbled across a local cat show and was surprised and fascinated by how serious and competitive the cat show world was. “If I’m a cat person and I don’t know about this,” he thought, “presumably many people don’t know about this.” And to Aaron, that was the perfect premise for a documentary.
During the year-long process, he and Michael followed several cats and their people through the competitive cat show circuit, and learned the complex rules of how cat shows work. In Canada, the cat show season lasts about ten months, and there are shows basically every weekend. Aaron and Michael tell us that cat shows differ from many dog shows in that they are more like beauty pageants, and they tend to be more technical than dog shows—and have more complicated point structures.
Aaron and Michael talk about the opportunities for non-purebred cats in these shows, and they look at this film as being just one part of a larger conversation about cats. During the filming of the documentary, they came to understand that the people who participate in cat shows see themselves as part of the solution in terms of issues facing cats, and they do their best to help in many ways, from making sure that shows work only with truly responsible breeders to donating cat show proceeds to rescue groups.
For Aaron, the bottom line is that cats bring so much joy to people’s lives in so many different ways that he wanted to share this world with others. “I realized that these animals have such a great power to heal and bring people together,” he tells Stacy, “and anything I could do to spread that joy and love—I’m all for it.”
To see Catwalk:Tales from the Cat Show Circuit, you can download it from iTunes, the Google Play store or other streaming services, or you can visit Amazon to buy a copy.
This week our show is a little different. In addition to hosting The Community Cats Podcast, Stacy LeBaron also appears on HubCats TV, a show on Chelsea Cable Access where she and her co-host discuss animal welfare topics with an aim to educate and raise awareness. Pet health, community cats and services available to pet owners and feral cat caretakers are often the focus.
This week we're bringing you audio from one of Stacy's favorite episodes featuring an interview with Dr. William Snell of Blue Pearl Pet Hospital in Charlestown, MA. On the show, Dr Snell shares what it is like working for an emergency clinic, some of the everyday stresses veterinarians experience, what an ER visit is like for a pet and their owner, and some information about the specialties Blue Pearl offers.
If you'd like to learn more about HubCats and check out HubCats TV visit their website, hubcatschelsea.com.
If you'd like more information about 24 Hour Specialty & Emergency Vet Hospital in Charlestown, MA, you can visit their website at bluepearlvet.com/charlestown-ma.
Liz Illig, owner of Puff & Fluff Grooming & Pet Sitting, located in Phoenix, Arizona, joins Stacy to talk about cat grooming, and about how Puff & Fluff helps area rescue groups. Growing up on a farm in Iowa, Liz has always had a strong connection to animals. During her college years in Arizona, she began taking on pet sitting clients, and after graduation, she decided she wanted to find a business that would be complementary to that work. She purchased a grooming business from its retiring owner, and she now has four shops in the greater Phoenix area, plus she has added pet sitting to the company’s services.
Liz serves as a consultant to other area businesses, and as a board member at Gabriel’s Angels, an organization that assists local at-risk children by using therapy animals to help them work through issues they are experiencing. Liz is currently working on a large, day-long event with Puff & Fluff during which a number of area rescue organizations will be able to bring foster animals—particularly cats—in for grooming and photographs. The public will also be invited in to adopt animals that day.
When Liz first took over Puff & Fluff, they business saw only a handful of cats each year, but now, five years later, just one of her shops grooms over 30 cats each week.Most of these cats are mixed breeds, and many are elderly cats that are having trouble grooming themselves. Liz tells us that it takes a special, calm person to be able to groom a cat. Her shops offer a 50% discount for rescue and foster animals, and she encourages anyone listening to call around to area groomers to see if they offer rescue discounts as well, as foster and rescue animals can often benefit from professional grooming to improve their adoption prospects.
Liz & Stacy talk about some at-home grooming tips for those who aren’t able to bring their cat(s) in to a pet spa, including why you need both a brush and a comb to properly care for your cat’s coat. They also talk about addressing dry or oily coats, and about some of the things Liz clients do to dress up their pets around Halloween!
Liz also offers some great tips on how to tackle the often overwhelming challenge of social media promotion. Her tips and ideas are applicable to anyone working in rescue or adoption, as well as to business owners. If you have a social media presence, you’ll definitely want to listen to Liz’s thoughts on how to break the process down into a more manageable one.
To learn more about Puff & Fluff Grooming & Pet Sitting and the causes they support, follow @puffandfluffspa on Instagram, look them up on Facebook, or visit them at puffandfluffspa.com.
Gary Willoughby, the President and CEO of the SPCA Serving Erie County in West Seneca, New York, joins Stacy to talk about what’s going on at the nation’s second oldest humane society. A passionate life-long learner, Gary joined the SPCA in 2016, after several animal welfare roles, as well as several roles in other fields.
Among other topics, Gary talks with Stacy about the SPCA’s full-service wildlife clinic, and how having that clinic alongside a more traditional animal shelter has informed both the SPCA’s work with and data collection around cats and trap-neuter-vaccinate-return programs. Over the years, Gary tells us, they have been able to measure the successful impact of local TNVR programs through decreased intakes into the shelter, as well as through a decrease in the number of wild animals brought into the wildlife clinic with cat-related injuries.
The SPCA Serving Erie County is big on education, including helping folks understand why just feeding stray or feral cats is only the first step (and then helping them find a way to make that next step happen). “It’s so easy to love animals and just to put out some food and water for a cat,” Gary says, “but taking the next steps, there’s always barriers in the way.” One of the ways Gary hopes to continue removing those barriers in the future is by adding a transportation component to their partnership with a local high-quality, high-volume spay/neuter clinic. He believes that this will make spay/neuter more accessible to people in more rural parts of the county.
Above all, Gary believes that groups must collaborate to come up with a strategic plan to improve communities together. “No one person or group can do it alone,” he tells us, and he recommends getting to know – and then getting together regularly with – other groups in your area to discuss what’s working, and putting your heads together to come up with new solutions as well.
To learn more about the work being done at the SPCA Serving Erie County, visit yourspca.org, or check them out on Twitter or Facebook.
Kelly Duer, Foster Program Consultant for Maddie’s Fund, has worked with many organizations over the years, including such big names as FEMA and Best Friends Animal Society. The goal of her work is to help groups increase live outcomes for animals through the implementation of robust foster programs.
Kelly came to this role after working on foster programs for children from Eastern Europe. A life-long cat lover, she got involved in animal welfare when her daughter became interested in working with animals and they decided to volunteer at an animal shelter together. They soon began fostering animals, and before long, the shelter staff asked Kelly to coordinate a foster care study that Maddie’s Fund wanted to run on their program.
In her interview with Stacy, Kelly, who is very passionate about behavioral foster care for cats, answers Stacy’s tough foster care questions, including: How do you choose who to focus on when your foster care resources are limited?; What is your gold standard of a foster care program for cats?; and If you had all the foster care coordinators in the country in one room, what tips and advice would you give them? (Hint: the answer to the last question has a lot to do with social media!)
Kelly’s own hope is that eventually, foster care will become the standard of care for homeless pets, and that shelters will become more like waystations for marketing pets than places where pets spend long periods of time.
If you’d like to learn more about Kelly’s work, or get access to Maddie’s Fund’s collection of foster care resources (including manuals, SOPs, sample agreements, etc.), email Kelly at duer@c.maddies.fund.org. You can also find and message her on Maddie’s Pet Forum.
Those of you who have been CCP fans for a long time may remember hearing Stacy chat with Julie Jacobson before in Episodes 2and 92. Julie runs Spay Tennessee, but is also the CCP grants coordinator. If you don’t know about the CCP grant program, here’s how it works, in a nutshell: small organizations apply to the program for a matching grant. If their application is approved, they get a period of time (usually about three months) in which to conduct a new fundraiser. Once they do, CCP will match up to $1,000 raised. It’s that simple!
But what about the details? In this episode, Julie & Stacy talk about the nitty-gritty of the CCP grant program, including what size groups can apply, whether you need to have a TNR program in placebeforeapplying (yes!), what the money can be used for (hint: it starts with “spay” and ends with “neuter”), what some of the pitfalls are, and what exactly qualifies as a new fundraiser (this one’s easy: it can be anything, big or small, as long as your organization has never tried it before!).
During her time as CCP grant coordinator, Julie has seen this program make a big difference in many organizations’ confidence level around fundraising. She has seen tons of successful events get off the ground – from simple online social media campaigns to t-shirt sales and restaurant nights to bingo games and donation jar programs. The point of the grants is to help groups feel empowered around fundraising, and to be able to go on to raise even more money to assist with community cat spay/neuter after their grant experience.
During the grant period, your group will get the added benefit of learn valuable grant-writing skills, and of being part of a group of other grant recipients that meets virtually with Julie on a regular basis to discuss what’s working, what help you need, and to make connections around the country. Julie has found that people really love these group discussions and the sense of relief they bring at finding out that you’re not the only ones out there struggling to do the work of helping community cats.
To date, 76 groups have successfully gone through the CCP grants program, raising a total of $116,000, and sterilizing 4,159 cats with those funds! Could your group be part of the next round?
To find out more and fill out an application, visit communitycatspodcast.com/community-cats-grants. You can also find Julie’s webinar on grant-writing (and why she believes that you don’t need to hire a professional!), as well as other grant-related webinars, at communitycatspodcast.com/webinar-recordings. To reach out to Julie directly, email her at grants@communitycatspodcast.com.
In Part II of this two-part episode, Stacy continues her conversation with Anne Lindsay, the founder & president of the Massachusetts Animal Coalition (MAC). Anne talks about what she feels MAC’s greatest achievements – and greatest challenges – have been over the organization’s history. (It turns out they are one and the same: getting so many different people with different opinions together into one organization!)
Anne tells us about MAC’s three annual educational meetings: All About Dogs, Whole Cat Workshop, and “Hot Topics,” a meeting that covers both cat and dog issues. This year, MAC is adding a fourth meeting about the business of running an animal welfare organization as well. MAC has lots of advice available for other folks who are thinking about setting up a coalition organization in their area, and they are happy to walk other groups through the process they went through. “It’s not about making a clone of MAC,” Anne says. “It’s more about what is it that your area needs and how can we help you learn from our mistakes and from our successes.”
Anne has been focusing her work lately on compassion fatigue, something she has seen a real need for in animal welfare over her years in the field. With her advanced degree in counseling, Anne offers compassion fatigue workshops, and she has come to realize that some of the people in animal welfare who come across as “difficult,” or who don’t seem to be helping animals the way they could be, are actually suffering from compassion fatigue.
Anne encourages everyone who thinks they may have an issue with compassion fatigue to start by talking with their co-workers about it. Next, she suggests looking for someone with compassion fatigue counseling experience specific to animal welfare. She emphasizes the need for self-care, time off, and notes that it’s important to remember that while the system itself may be broken, that doesn’t mean you have to be broken as well.
Speaking about both compassion fatigue and the benefits of being part of a coalition, Anne says, “This is difficult emotional work, and working together helps the humans and the animals… working alone is isolating, it is lonely, and you can’t get as much done as an individual as you can as a group of people.”
To learn more about MAC or to reach out to Anne, visit massanimalcoalition.org.
Anne Lindsay, the founder & president of the Massachusetts Animal Coalition (MAC), has been an animal advocate for over 30 years. Founded in 2000, MAC was one of the country’s first state-wide coalitions for animal welfare professionals and volunteers. In her role at MAC, Anne works with other groups, states, and communities on setting up coalitions, and she also works with organizations on board development. In 2010, Anne earned her master’s degree in counseling psychology, and she uses that training to help people and organizations work on compassion fatigue issues.
While MAC was initially started in order to approach Maddie’s Fund for grant money (which they never did!), Anne and others involved in the group early on quickly realized how valuable the coalition could be in and of itself. The group realized that many of the animal welfare groups in Massachusetts weren’t getting along well at the time, and that in order to do the best possible work for animals, groups needed to work on getting along better and collaborating. A state-wide coalition felt like the best, most efficient way to do that. Anne feels strongly that having a coalition helps people and groups stay focused because they have an agreed upon, common goal that they know they’re going to stick with.
MAC has a number of task forces, some of which have developed into full-fledged programs over the years, including the Tufts spay/neuter clinic (now run by the school as part of its veterinary curriculum), the license plate grant program, and the Animatch program. Animatch helps move cats and dogs around the state to areas where they have a better chance of being adopted or receiving the help they need. MAC is happy to help other organization and coalitions set up a program like Animatch through a model they have developed for sharing the program, and Anne hopes that other groups will reach out to learn if a similar program could work in their area.
Stay tuned for part two of Stacy’s interview with Anne, in which they talk more about setting up a coalition, and about compassion fatigue.
Darlene Duggan, the Director of Operations at Tree House Humane Society in Chicago, holds a master’s degree in public health and epidemiology. Darlene originally planned to be a doctor, but just as she getting ready to go to medical school, she realized that the thing she enjoyed the most in her life was volunteering at an animal shelter. She decided to apply her knowledge and talents to the animal welfare field, and the rest is history—nearly fifteen years of history at various animal welfare organizations in the Chicago area.
Darlene’s current organization was founded in 1971, and at the time, it was one of just a few cat-only shelters in the country, and one of an ever fewer number of cageless ones. Tree House has always been progressive in their thinking and structure, and they are well known on a national level for the work they do. In the early 2000s, Tree House ramped up their community cat efforts when they realized that too many shelters were having to choose between euthanizing feral cats and attempting to socialize them. Tree House chose to focus on the idea of keeping community cats in the community, rather than forcing them into the shelter environment.
Since that time, their programs for community cats have expanded greatly to include a “Cats at Work” program for cats who must be relocated for safety reasons. The cats are paired up with people and businesses battling rat problems, creating a win-win for everyone (except the rats, of course!).
Darlene feels that the future of community cat programs will be dependent on partnering with other community organizations and social service agencies. She feels that there is a real opportunity for animal welfare folks to take their place at the table of social services offered in the community.
To help with this effort, Tree House is launching a major data collection project this fall in Chicago. Their goal is to go block by block through the city, knocking on doors and asking questions to get a feel for what each block and community’s cat count is, and what their community cat challenges are. Tree House will then start mapping what social service providers, churches, schools, etc. are in each neighborhood, seeing what access both people and cats in the neighborhood have to services, and also noting things like population density, types of homes, number of businesses in an area, etc. They will look at how all of those things inform what’s happening with the cat population in each area—and then use that data to think about what kind of broader solutions Tree House and other animal welfare groups can bring to the city on a larger scale.
As Darlene tells us, “This next generation of animal sheltering, specifically for cats, has to start reaching into the community cats level, and we have to start considering what services … we could bring into the field for these cats … traditional animal sheltering methods are not going to serve most of the community cats population.”
To learn more about Tree House, visit treehouseanimals.org, or pick up a copy of Community Cats: A Journey into the World of Feral Cats by Anne Beall, which talks about Tree House’s Cats at Work program.
Olivia Westley, a former teacher who discovered her true passion for helping cats when she started volunteering in a Forgotten Cats pet store adoption center, now serves as the group’s Development Director. Forgotten Cats is a nonprofit organization with the mission of preventing the birth and suffering of unwanted kittens by controlling the free-roaming cat pop through TNVR. They provide free or low-cost sterilization for pet and free-roaming cats in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, and they have sterilized over 110,000 cats since they were founded in 2003.
The organization began as a “one-woman show,” with the founder, Felicia Cross, trapping and transporting feral cats herself, and holding them in her garage until surgery spaces were available. Felicia found that her biggest challenge was the availability of surgery slots, and so she decided to start her own group to tackle the problem. Today, Forgotten Cats has three clinic facilities (two in Pennsylvania, and a new one in Delaware), as well as eleven adoption centers inside pet stores through the Pennsylvania-Delaware-Maryland-New Jersey area. Their clinics have tons of space for holding traps pre- and post-surgery (up to 100 traps at a time!). This allows the organization to trap an entire colonies at once for TNR.
Forgotten Cats is funded by the fees from their adoptions and other services, as well as by grants from various private foundations. The group has over 700 volunteers, a number that Olivia attributes to their presence in such a wide geographical area, as well as to the visibility of their adoption centers in so many pet stores.
To learn more about Forgotten Cats and the work they do, visit forgottencats.org.
Jim Tedford, President & CEO of The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement (formerly SAWA), who previously appeared on Community Cats Podcast episode #199, joins Stacy again to discuss his organization’s new name, their rebranding, and their new commitment to making educational opportunities available to even more folks in the animal welfare world.
Formerly SAWA (Society of Animal Welfare Administrators), Jim’s organization is now known as The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement or simply “The Association.” The group has been around for nearly 50 years, and as that milestone approached, they felt it was time for them to evolve—just as the animal welfare industry itself has evolved and changed over the past 50 years. As a professional association of leaders in animal welfare and animal care and control, The Association wanted their new name to reflect the fact that they have something to offer toanyonewho aspires to lead in this field—not just executives from large organizations.
The Association has long helped animal welfare groups operate in a more “business-like” manner in order to ensure successful bottom lines and advance the animal welfare movement. They have done this through educational opportunities, particularly on-site conferences, but they are now realizing that there are many folks, perhaps those from smaller groups especially, who will simply never make it to a conference. The Association wants to make sure that they are offering something for everybody, from mom-and-pop-type shops to huge, multi-million dollar budget organizations. To that end, they have now hired a Director of Professional Development and Credentialing, whose role is to develop educational content—and figure out how to deliver it to folks any and everywhere—even if they never want to leave their desks!
Jim encourages everyone to consider joining The Association in order to discover the powerful network available to members, and all the folks who are involved and willing to help you as a member. The real strength of our industry, Jim tells us, is in working together, and building our network.
To learn more about The Association forAnimal Welfare Advancementand to download past conferences, learn about new upcoming educational opportunities, and download free best practice documents, visit theaawa.org.
Karen Kraus and Bob Sallinger’s organizations, the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon and the Audubon Society of Portland, have formed what may seem to some to be a most unlikely partnership between “cat people” and “bird people.” But the truth, Karen and Bob have found, is that animal welfare and wildlife conservation have a lot more in common than people might think.
Karen’s group, the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon, is a high-volume spay/neuter program in Portland that offers TNR services for feral and stray cats and low-cost spay/neuter for owned cats. Since its founding in 1995, the group has altered over 92,000 cats. They are focused on trying reduce the numbers of stray and feral cats on the streets, but in addition to spay/neuter, they do a lot of education—part of which happens through their partnership with the Portland Audubon Society.
Portland Audubon Society (Bob’s group and the largest chapter of the National Audubon Society), has a state-wide focus on protecting birds and other wildlife and their habitat. Part of that effort includes trying to reduce predation on birds by free-roaming cats—and a big part of that effort has been collaborating w/ the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon.
The relationship between the two groups, which has been going on for two decades, formed when the groups realized that they shared common goals—reducing the numbers of outdoor cats and promoting more responsible pet ownership. “From Day One,” Karen says, “our information has said that we recognize that outdoor cats predate on wildlife and that we want to see a reduction in outdoor cats to help both wildlife and for the cats.” Working together has allowed these two groups to be much more creative and to explore a wider variety of strategies than they would have been possible if they’d taken an antagonistic approach to each other.
The result of this partnership is the Cats Safe at Home campaign, which encourages people to keep their cats indoors through such things as an annual “catio tour” in the area—as well as more academic projects like research to try to ensure that good information and solid statistics are available to inform decisions around the best ways to control outdoor cat populations and reduce predation on birds.
In their interview with Stacy, Bob and Karen go on to give some tips on how other similar groups might approach trying to work together on what is a highly polarized issue on the national level. Bob tells us that while it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the magnitude of a challenge like decreasing outdoor cat numbers and reducing cat predation on birds, the truth is that most environmental challenges are solved “from the ground up.” In other words, it’s a lot of individual actions that add up to something bigger. You can help incrementally resolve this issue over time with your own cats by keeping them indoors (and if that’s not possible with your current cat, maybe with the next one), or by decreasing the amount of time they spend outdoors. There are a lot of things people can do that help solve a problem, Bob tells us, and the way we make progress is by a lot of people participating.
To learn more about the Cats Safe at Home campaign (including information on their upcoming 6th annual catio tour!), visit catssafeathome.org. To learn more about Karen’s organization, the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon, visit feralcats.com, and to learn more about Bob’s organization, the Audubon Society of Portland, visit audubonportland.org.
Danielle Bays, the new Director of Cat Protection and Policy at the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), plays “Cat Protection and Policy Jeopardy!” with Stacy in this episode. Danielle is responsible for staying on top of cat policy issues all over the country, and she fills us in on current cat legislation and issues in various states around the nation, including Delaware, where a community cat bill is currently on the governor’s desk, awaiting his signature; Rhode Island, where a TNR bill got some not-so-useful things added to it along the way and didn’t make it through the legislature before it went on summer break; Wisconsin, where much discussion is happening among all the stakeholders involved in community cat issues; and Hawaii, always a hot-bed for TNR issues, where the idea of a pet food surcharge to help raise funds for spay/neuter has been put forth.
In spite of all the legislative action in these states, as well as other spay/neuter funding initiatives in Idaho and New Mexico) and declawing legislation (not all successful) in New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, California, and Denver, Danielle tells us that sometimes legislationisn’tactually what’s needed. She points out that “if there isn’t anything that prohibits what you’re doing, you don’t necessarily need to make a law that actually allows for it.”
To learn more about what Danielle and the HSUS are up to in their work advocating for cats and other companion animals around the country, visit animalsheltering.org. You can also email Danielle directly at dbays@humanesociety.org—she’s always happy to help if anyone needs advice about situations going on in their community!
Erin Robinson admits that once upon a time, she simply didn’t know that community cats existed, let alone what you were supposed to do about them. That all began to change when she started volunteering in a county animal services facility during college in North Carolina, and when she went on to work for a high-volume spay/neuter clinic connected to Operation Catnip in Gainsville, Florida. Erin hasn’t stopped working with community cats since, and she worked with Alley Cat Allies before landing her current role as Community Cats Program Manager at Humane Rescue Alliance in Washington, D.C.
Over the past decade, Humane Rescue Alliance’s community cat programs have gone from being a small, grassroots, volunteer-based part of the organization to becoming truly mission-critical. The program offers free TNR for cats within Washington, D.C., including spay/neuter surgery, distemper and rabies vaccinations, topical treatment for parasites, and microchipping as part of their TNR packages. Erin feels that it’s important to do as much as possible for community cats’ health in one visit, as it’s likely that this will be the only touch point the organization will have with these cats.
The program is funded by donors, and includes a relocation program called Blue Collar Cats for cats who are TNR candidates, but who don’t have a safe place to return. Through this program, which has already placed 117 cats, cats are relocated to a business or homeowner who has reached out to request a cat. The program has very careful acclimation guidelines (available on the program website), and while most adopters are looking for assistance with rodent control, Erin stresses that these folks are truly giving these cats a new lease on life by adopting them. She is tracking retention and while initial results look great, Erin looks forward to reporting back on the program’s numbers in a few years to see how it’s working. A true believer in the importance of data and metrics, Erin is eager to work on collecting statistics on this and other programs to assist folks with convincing others that TNR is the right way to handle community cat populations.
To learn more, visit humanerescuealliance.org/communitycats, where you can connect directly to the Blue Collar Cats website as well.
Pamela Merritt — better known as “Dear Pammy” through her cat advice blog — didn’t become a cat fan until she married one. At the time, she says, cats were really still second-class citizens in this country. There weren’t any no-kill shelters, and she and her first husband rescued many cats themselves. Pam learned how to be a “cat appreciator” from her first husband, and she came to realize that cats are our equals, and that our relationships with them work best if we don’t think in terms of a master-owner mindset.
Pam did cat rescue for many years, and has now written a book, The Way of Cats, subtitled “How to use their instincts to train, understand, and love them.” The book is currently available only in Kindle format, but a paperback version is in the works, as is a video channel. In the meantime, Pam also continues her cat advice blog on her website, where she tackles such topics as keeping cats off the kitchen counters. Pam feels that most “training” of cats happens naturally when we appreciate and care for cats properly. “If we do the cat a favor in terms of care,” Pam says, “then the cat owes us a favor in terms of cooperation … and we can’t make this magic happen unless we learn how to speak and read ‘cat.’”
To learn more about Pam and her cat advice, visit wayofcats.com or follow her under “Way of Cats” on the various social media channels. You can also find her book on Amazon.
John Boone’s professional track has been that of a wildlife biologist, but he also serves as a consultant with Humane Society International, Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), and several other national and international organizations. He specializes in program metrics, statistical analysis, and population biology, and he has worked on many programs around the world designed to improve the welfare of free-roaming dogs and cats. John has volunteered at his local SPCA, and has fostered many special needs animals. His professional work in population biology and his personal love for companion animals collided when Maddie’s Fund got involved in humane work in Nevada.
John has been involved in several projects trying to delve into whether TNR is an effective way to manage large numbers of cats. In looking at these issues, John believes that it is helpful to have an awareness of the bigger issues surrounding any TNR project, as well as the individual welfare issues connected to each cat that is affected. One major project in this area of research is launching in July of 2018 in Washington, D.C.
The “D.C. Cat Count” is a three-year program that will look atallof the cats inallof D.C. as one entity, whether they are indoor pets, outdoor cats, or shelter cats, and will look at how those segments flow into and interact with each other. This project is unique in that it involves an unusual array of different collaborators that don’t usually work together, including the HSUS, a local humane organization, and science collaborators. The project will look at numbers of cats, but the main goal is to develop tools, guidelines, protocols, and training materials that animal welfare groups can use to measure their own cat populations and then apply the insights from the study’s numbers to their own TNR programs, particularly at larger scales.
John tells Stacy that, “[This project is] meant to be a very inclusive approach to creating a new paradigm of how TNR can be done for those who are interested in approaching it from this population perspective, while still protecting the underlying welfare goals that are the driving force in most TNR programs.” John hopes we will all stay tuned, as this is a very active time in thinking about how we can move TNR programs to the next stage.
To learn more about the D.C. Cat Project and John’s work, feel free to email him at boone@gbbo.org.
Tune in to the second part of “The Mike and Carmine Show,” with Mike Keiley of the MSPCA and Carmine DiCenso of Dakin Humane, as they continue their conversation with Stacy. In this episode, Mike & Carmine offer their tips for people who feel like they are hitting a brick wall around their efforts at advocating for change. Carmine suggests that people begin by looking at themselves and their approach, focusing on what they can change —and that they guard against focusing solely on the desired outcome, and instead try to break the issue up into a step-by-step process. Mike notes that we sometimes tend to lose our cool in animal welfare, and that we just need to think about adjusting our approach and trying to hit the smaller, more achievable goals, rather than trying to do everything at once
Mike, Carmine & Stacy go on to discuss transport programs, including the fact that Dakin imports animals, while MSPCA generally does not. Carmine feels it’s important to continue to fulfill the traditional shelter role of in helping people find animals. Meanwhile, Mike feels that the infrastructure changes the MSPCA would have to make in order to be able to have an impactful transport program are simply not as valuable as focusing on other programs at this time. In the future, both Mike & Carmine — and Stacy! — would like to see more strategy behind importation programs. They would love to see a coordinated effort between New England groups to work together to partner with a specific area from which to bring animals, in order to make a truly big impact on that area.
In the final part of the show, Mike, Carmine & Stacy talk about what animal welfare is going to look like in the coming three to five years. Both Mike & Carmine feel that shelters and animal welfare organizations have some serious soul-searching ahead of them in terms of thinking about whether to continue doing what they’ve always been doing. One thing they both feel is going to have to change is making sure that we increase our focus on people and animals’ connection to people. They believe that if we all work together — instead of separating ourselves with divisive labels and points of view — the animal welfare world can continue to grow and change, and to help even more animals and people in the coming years.
To learn more about Carmine DiCenso’s organization and their work, visit dakinhumane.org. You can also email Carmine at cdincenso@dakinhumane.org. To learn more about Mike Keiley’s organization and their work, visit mspca.org, or email Mike at mkeiley@mspca.org.
Stacy speaks with Mike Keiley, the Director of Adoption Centers and Programs at the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA), and Carmine DiCenso, Executive Director of the Dakin Humane Society in Leverett & Springfield MA in this first part of “The Mike & Carmine Show.” You can check out Mike's first visit to Community Cats Podcast in 2016 in Episode 9
Both Mike & Carmine have been in the animal welfare field as long as Stacy has, and the two of them speak together regularly at conferences and programs. Both recognized as leaders and innovators, they discuss many topics with Stacy in this episode, including the trends and changes they have seen with community cats over the years. When Mike started in animal welfare, there was an overwhelming number of cats. In general, people felt that they were simply dealing with an unwinnable situation, with no room for strategy. In the last five years, however, the MSPCA has formulated strategies for their adoption program, their targeted spay/neuter programs, and for dealing with different populations of cats in different ways. “We are now at the point,” Mike tells us, “where, largely, in New England, we are not dealing with an overpopulation of cats any longer.” — which is something he would not have imagined when he first started in the field.
Carmine’s experience has been fairly similar to Mike’s, but he adds some words of wisdom to folks who feel they will never be able to get to where New England is, telling us that it’s good to start to look at trends in numbers. Once you do, you’ll start to see declines and patterns that will help things not seem so bleak. To the people who say that there are pockets of New England where there are still overpopulation issues and people are still overwhelmed, Carmine would challenge them by asking whether what your organization is experiencing is truly overpopulation and being overwhelmed — or whether it is a lack of ability to let go of animals in your care.
Mike & Carmine go on to talk with Stacy about their community outreach programs, and how there is a big need for more low-cost services, particularly around dental care for pets. They also answer this question from Stacy: “You each have $100. You can divide it up between low-cost spay/neuter for cats, TNR, or an adoption program. How would you divide up that $100?” Listen to find out how what they say, and why both Mike & Carmine feel that animal welfare organizations are going to morph more into helping animals where they are — vs. taking them from whatever situation they are in.
To learn more about Carmine DiCenso’s organization and their work, visit dakinhumane.org. You can also email Carmine at cdincenso@dakinhumane.org. To learn more about Mike Keiley’s organization and their work, visit mspca.org, or email Mike at mkeiley@mspca.org.
Ellen Quinlan, Executive Director of Darbster Foundation, was one of those kids who always brought home every stray animal she found, and that passion for helping animals has stayed with her as an adult. The mission of Ellen’s group is to reduce the number of adoptable cats, kittens, dogs, and puppies that are being euthanized in Palm Beach County and south Florida by partnering with shelters and rescues in Florida to transport pets to rescue partners in New Hampshire and throughout New England.
The Foundation is mostly self-funded through several businesses it runs, including a vegan restaurant in West Palm Beach, Florida, and a pet boarding facility on the Manchester, NH property. The Foundation initially funded many spay/neuter projects in Florida, but over the years, the landscape has changed, with many groups receiving major grants from large grantors, meaning there isn’t as much need for funding from groups like Darbster. So, in 2015, they turned their focus to transport. At the time, there wasn’t much interest from New Hampshire shelters, so Darbster decided to buy their own property in Manchester, NH and get licensed with the state as a shelter.
They began by doing a survey of all the shelters in NH, because they did not want to bring animals into an area that already had enough adoptable animals. Ellen is very clear that Darbster never wants to displace native or local animals. Their cat transports are generally 16-20 cats at a time, and they are flown to New England after undergoing all required veterinary care (including spay/neuter) in Florida and receiving a health certificate. After the cats arrive in New Hampshire, they are quarantined for 48 hours, and then are checked by a local vet and receive another health certificate before being released for adoption.
Ellen tells us that she has seen positive changes in Palm Beach County for animals over the years Darbster has been operating. There is a lot more Return-to-Field happening, and the live release numbers have improved dramatically, going from 29% when Darbster began its work, to 65% currently. In 2015, Darbster transported 231 cats and kittens, and that number skyrocketed to 1,163 in 2017. Darbster is continuing to work on parterning with more shelters, so their transport numbers continue to increase. They are opening a dog facility in Chichester NH this summer, and are hoping to open a small clinic with lower cost veterinary care there within the next year.
To learn more, visit one of Darbster’s websites at darbsterkitty.com, darbsterfoundation.com, or darbsterdog.com– or check out the corresponding Facebook pages.
Interview! Chad Nelson, Advocacy Director at PawsWatch Rhode Island
“Tons and tons of cat lovers have no idea … that there’s this whole population of cats that really need our help.”
Chad Nelson, a lawyer by trade, is the Advocacy Director at PawsWatch Rhode Island, an all-volunteer network for community cats. Chad came to his work in TNR and cat issues through an initial interest in the broader animal rights and vegan movement. His cat Dagney inspired him to look at the world through animals’ eyes, and once Chad started to read Nathan Winograd’s work, he realized that cats and dogs still face serious issues in this country.
As Director of Advocacy at PawsWatch, Chad’s role is to go out and educate the community, attract new people to the organization, and make people aware of what they’re doing and the issues that cats face. He takes a lot of pride in trying to convey a message that’s simple and basic, and that people who have no idea about the issues can absorb in a five-minute sound bite. The biggest challenge, Chad tells us, is helping people understand that the issues cats face are serious – not just for the cats, but for people, too.
All in all, Chad feels that cats are doing pretty well in Rhode Island, much like they are in the rest of New England, but that there’s still a ton of work to be done. The state is progressive in that groups actively practice TNR, and in that the major shelter in the state is on board with TNR and RTF (return-to-field) and the broader issues cats face — but Chad feels that in spite of all this, the policy makers at the government level don’t really get it that there’s a cat problem and that there’s a proper way to address it.
To learn more about PawsWatch and their upcoming targeted TNR project in the city of Providence, visit pawswatch.org, or look for them on Facebook or at their brand new Instagram page @pawswatchri.
Interview! Joyce Briggs, President of the Alliance for Contraception in Cats & Dogs
“I am determined it’s going to be my legacy in this field that we get the tools that we need to really reach the cats we want to be able to help.”
Joyce Briggs, President of the Alliance for Contraception in Cats & Dogs (ACC&D), told us all about how she got started in the field in Episode 157. She’s back this time to talk to Stacy about the ACC&D symposium that’s being held in Boston, July 22-24. The three-day conference kicks off with a reception – and a refresher class on dog and cat reproduction! – on Sunday evening, and then goes into two full days of content, featuring over forty speakers.
ACC&D is focused on non-surgical approaches to fertility control, and Joyce herself is particularly passionate about that in regards to community cats. She knows how difficult it can be to have enough surgical resources out there to help the number of community cats that need it, and she feels that non-surgical sterilization can be a great addition to our toolbox.
The July symposium will round up all the work that’s been done in the field, and showcase the newest work and developments as well. There will be a major focus on two particular questions: How would a product be implemented in the field? and How do we make decisions ethically? Joyce encourages cat advocates – from higher-ups in the animal welfare world to those doing “boots on the ground” work – to attend the symposium, as she feels that it’s critical for the people working on designing non-surgical sterilants to understand what’s important to those working in the field.
To learn more about ACC&D and the July symposium, you can visit acc-d.org.
Interview! Richard Angelo, Legislative Attorney for Best Friends Animal Society
“Getting those community cat programs started, where cats are not even entering the shelter… it’s so key in saving lives.”
Richard Angelo, a legislative attorney for Best Friends Animal Society, is a long-time animal welfare advocate who fell into animal law when he ran across the story of a pit bull in need of help. He simply couldn’t walk away, and with that case, his move into companion animal law began. For years, Richard had a private legal practice dealing with companion animal issues, and towards the end of that part of his career, he began to get more and more involved with community cat caretakers and the issues they were facing with ordinances that prevented or curtailed TNR efforts.
It was around that time that Richard saw an ad for a legal position at Best Friends. He got the job, and he’s been going strong ever since, working on a huge variety of animal-related issues around the country, including legislation around community cats. Richard is very proud of the work Best Friends does to make rapid, lasting changes in the cat live release rate in shelters around the country through community cat programs.
As a member of the American Bar Association (ABA), and vice-chair of its Animal Law Committee, Richard helped convince the ABA to pass a resolution in support of TNR in 2015, making them one of the first non-animal organizations to do so.
Richard advises folks who are having a hard time getting TNR programs going due to legislation in their area to open upon a dialogue with their local shelter and community leaders — and to arm themselves with good data and success stories. He and Stacy both encourage listeners in these situations not to give up. Stacy urges us not to walk away from the cats, as there is always a way to get them the help they need, even if there are ordinances in place that make it more difficult.
To learn more about Best Friends Animal Society, visit bestfriends.org. You can also sign up for legislative alerts specific to your area at bestfriends.org/action, or you can email Richard Angelo directly at richarda@bestfriends.org. To learn more about the American Bar Association’s Animal Law Committee, visit apps.americanbar.org, and you can see their TNR resolution by clicking here.
Interview! Niki Cochran, Program Manager at Alley Cat Rescue
“Just because you’re getting the [positive] combo test … that doesn’t mean ‘death sentence’. That means ‘OK, now I have to go and educate myself about what that combo test result is.’ ”
Niki Cochran, Program Manager at Alley Cat Rescue in Washington, DC, has been a cat lover her whole life. Her career in animal welfare began when she took a job as an animal control officer, and included time spent at a large, open-intake shelter. At that shelter, she worked with a team of progressive veterinarians who challenged long-held beliefs about Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) and Feline Leukemia (FeLV) — including the belief that cats who test positive for these diseases should not live with other cats.
In this episode, Niki and Stacy debunk several commonly held myths about FeLV in particular, including the idea that FeLV is extremely contagious, and that cats and kittens with it always live shortened lifespans. They also talk about the idea that FeLV and FIV+ cats can in fact co-exist with negative cats in home (and colony) environments. Niki herself has a cat with FeLV who is healthy, happy, and living safely with non-FeLV cats. Those cats are properly vaccinated and combo tested regularly, and have always remained negative.
Niki feels that changing attitudes about FIV and FeLV is all about education. She encourages people to educate themselves and others about the diseases, and to refrain from thinking that a positive test result is necessarily a death sentence. She and Stacy discuss why community cat colonies should not be combo tested, and they encourage all of our listeners involved in rescue and adoption to give the next FeLV+ cat they come across a chance!
To learn more, visit Alley Cat Rescue’s website at saveacat.org or email Niki at acr@saveacat.org.
Interview! Dr. Philip Bushby, Professor of Humane Ethics and Animal Welfare at Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine
“I long for the day when I can walk into a shelter and not find any cats in the shelter — and it’s achievable.”
Dr. Philip Bushby, a veterinarian and well-known advocate for early age spay/neuter, can’t remember a time that he didn’t want to be a veterinarian. He became interested in veterinary medicine at a very early age by helping nurse sick puppies back to health, and then, at veterinary school, he fell in love with surgery. It wasn’t until Dr. Bushby did an internship at an ASPCA (then animal control) animal hospital in New York City in the 1970s, however, that he began to learn about the staggering pet overpopulation problem this country was facing.
Today, as Professor of Humane Ethics and Animal Welfare atMississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Bushby is passing on his passion for spay/neuter – especially pediatric spay/neuter and how it can help end pet overpopulation – to students through the school’s innovative programs. Beginning in the early 1990s, Dr. Bushby began bringing veterinary students into animal shelters around Mississippi to perform spay/neuter surgeries, and today the program has grown to include two mobile surgical units. Most of the surgeries are done by the students, under proper supervision, and most students graduate having performed at least 75-85 spay/neuter surgeries through the program—far more than a typical veterinary school graduate. Dr. Bushby hopes that his students leave his program with an understanding of the issues shelters face and the issue of pet overpopulation — things Dr. Bushby himself was never exposed to as a veterinary student.
Dr. Bushby is also a very strong advocate of the Feline Fix by Five program, which encourages private practice veterinarians to spay/neuter cats by the age of five months, rather than the old standard of after six months of age. He feels that if everyone began following this program, and if everyone was supportive of TNR programs, we could fix the feline overpopulation problem.
Many groups, from professional veterinary associations to animal welfare organizations, have endorsed the concept of early-age spay/neuter, and while Dr. Bushby understands that embracing this idea means a major change in mindset for many veterinarians, he hopes that eventually, we will all realize that not only is there no harm in spaying/neutering cats by the age of five months, the benefits are enormous. If vets — or the general public — aren’t able to change their mindset, however, and get on board with helping actively solve the pet overpopulation problem, Dr. Bushby feels that the least they can do is to stop working against those whoareactively working to solve it through high-volume spay/neuter and TNR programs.
To learn more about the Feline Fix by Five program, visit felinefixbyfive.org. To learn more about Dr. Bushby’s work and his programs at Mississippi state, visit the Facebook page for Humane Ethics in Animal Welfare at facebook.com/msuethicswelfare or email Dr. Bushby at bushby@cvm.msstate.edu.
Interview! Michele Tilford, Cat-Assisted Therapy Advocate
Michele Tilford has over five years of experience as a cat-assisted therapy handler—but when she first became interested in cat-assisted therapy, the only programs she could find were for dogs. Eventually she connected up with a service dog trainer who also happened to be a Ragdoll breeder. The woman agreed to help Michele train one of her own kittens, later adopted by Michele, and the rest is history.
Michele explains that one of the biggest keys in deciding whether or not your cat might be a good therapy cat is his or her personality. A therapy cat should ideally be calm, curious and outgoing. The cat can then be trained to become comfortable with unfamiliar surroundings and with wearing a harness, being in a carrier, and traveling.
There are three different groups of therapy animals, Michele explains. One is what are called emotional support or comfort animals. These can be any kind of animal and are generally just a personal pet that receives no training. All that is needed to certify a comfort animal is generally a doctor’s note.
An animal-assisted therapy animal is one that has some basic training and works as part of a human-animal team. Cats in this category—like Michele’s cat Kokoro—need to be able to understand a couple of commands, be leash and carrier trained, and be comfortable with loud noises and being touched.
The third category is service animals. These are highly trained animals who are trained to assist people with specific tasks. Right now in the United States, only dogs and miniature horses can be registered as service animals.
Michele explains that many other countries use cat-assisted therapy far more than we do here in the United States, where cats still seem to be maligned as therapy animals. Michele and others are working hard to change that mindset, however, by bringing cats to a variety of institutions like retirement homes, schools, and even libraries, where cats assist with reading programs for kids. Michele is a firm believer that cats can bring a huge benefit to the people they visit!
If you are interested in training your cat as a therapy cat, Michele encourages people to look up Love on a Leash and Pet Partners to check out their requirements for certification. Any cat can be a therapy cat; they don’t need to be purebred or have any extraordinary characteristics. In fact, Michele states that 98% of the therapy cats she knows were rescued from shelters! Getting your cat certified does require a bit of commitment, but Michele assures those interested that you will get every bit as much from the experience as the people you and your cat visit!
To learn more, visit facebook.com/TherapyCats, or you can join the invite-only Facebook that Michele helped found at facebook.com/groups/TherapyCats.of.the.world.
“I would really like anyone who has anything to do with lost cats to realize how important it is not to give up, and not to assume anything.”
Kim Freeman turned her lifelong love for cats into a career as a professional missing cat finder. When her own cat Mr. Purr went missing in 2008, Kim realized how little support families with a missing cat receive, and what bad advice they tend to be given. She set out to change this and today has developed a very specific process to help people all over the world find their missing cats.
Kim starts by educating the cat’s owners using a downloadable online booklet and videos on her website. She then asks the owners to fill out an extensive cat profile questionnaire so that she can determine a search strategy. Kim tells us that there are eight probabilities of what could have happened to a missing cat, and her questionnaire, which asks about indoor behavior patterns, helps determine which of those probabilities is most likely. Based on the results of the questionnaire, Kim then coaches the owner on what they need to do to try to find their cat.
When Kim does in-person searches, her cat Henry sometimes accompanies her. Henry is trained to track scent, and she often uses him in cases where an indoor-only cat has escaped outside. Kim knows of only one other trained search cat out there, but she believes that it is a great way to go, as search dogs are more likely to scare off a missing cat than find it.
Kim is also passionate about the role shelters play in reuniting lost cats and their families. Nationally, the return to owner rate once a cat reaches a shelter is a dismal 2%. Kim feels shelters can help get this rate up by becoming a resource for the community around best practices for searching for a lost cat—or by directing the community to resources that can help. She believes strongly in Return to Field, and in microchipping as well. She would love to see shelters offer mobile, low-cost, in-home microchipping! Kim has a presentation on simple system that shelters can use to organize their lost and found data that she is glad to share if folks want to get in touch via her website.
Finally, Kim would like to spread the word about the “litter box myth”—the idea that if your cat goes missing, you should put out her used kitty litter box to attract her back to the area. Not only does it not work, Kim tells us, it is actually a bad idea because it can attract wildlife and predators, as well as territorial bully cats who may chase your cat farther away. As Kim puts it, “your house smells more like home than a kitty litter box!”
Learn more about Kim and her services at lostcatfinder.com. You can also stay up to date on her happy reunion stories on her Facebook page, facebook.com/LostCatFinder.
Interview! Part 2 - Dr. Sara Pizano, Veterinarian and Animal Welfare Consultant
“You don’t need millions of dollars—you need to allocate your pie of resources intelligently … that’s really the key.”
In part 2 of our two-part episode with Dr. Sara Pizano, she talks about the big picture in animal welfare these days, and about where she feels the focus should be for the future.
Dr. Pizano discusses her recent work on steering committees with Best Friends and Million Cat Challenge. Best Friends, she tells us, has the goal of making this country no kill. They focus on shelters with the highest euthanasia numbers, and then ask them what they need and how Best Friends can help them connect to the resources they need. It’s all about strategizing around support for shelters that still use euthanasia for space/population control.
Meanwhile, Million Cat Challenge has already exceeded its goal of saving one million cats. Dr. Pizano believes that this program is a phenomenal example of what we can do just by connecting people and helping/supporting them. She believes that everyone who cares about cats, whether they work in the field or not, has a role to play in helping cats.
For Dr. Pizano, the most important things we need to do as we move into the future of feline welfare are to keep cats out of shelters no matter what, and to increase access to spay/neuter, especially subsidized surgeries for community cats. She encourages people to remember that no animal ever wants to be in a shelter, and that going into a shelter is always going to have negative consequences for the animal. The goal, she feels, should be for shelters to become community animal resource centers, with sheltering only for animals that are victims of abuse, neglect, or true abandonment—in other words, animals that truly have no other place to go.
Dr. Pizano recognizes that it is hard for many people to figure out how to raise money without adoption fees, but she feels we all need to consider what making money off adoption fees says about how we are helping animals. She feels that we need to learn how to be good fundraisers and raise money in ways other than adoption fees, and that we need to help our funders come along to this perspective as well.
If your group or shelter needs help, Dr. Pizano’s consulting firm, Team Shelter USA, can likely assist you with its soup to nuts approach to animal welfare services. In addition, Dr. Pizano encourages everyone in the animal welfare world to connect with others, to become part of Million Cat Challenge, and to become a Best Friends Network partner so that everyone can get the help they need and know that there’s a better way than using euthanasia as population control.
To get in touch with Dr. Pizano, email her at drpizano@teamshelterusa.com. To learn more about Million Cat Challenge, visit millioncatchallenge.org. To learn more about Best Friends and their partner program, visit bestfriends.org.
Interview! Part 1 - Dr. Sara Pizano, Veterinarian and Animal Welfare Consultant
“Northern Kentucky will be no-kill for cats this year, absolutely, hands-down!”
Dr. Sara Pizano, who joined us previously on Episode 171, is a veterinarian who has been involved in animal welfare for over thirty years. She has extensive experience helping shelters move away from euthanasia as a means of population control and helping municipalities revise public policy to be more animal friendly. Dr. Pizano now has her own consulting company, Team Shelter USA, and she serves on steering committees for both Best Friends and the Million Cat Challenge.
In Part 1 of this two-part episode, Dr. Pizano joined us to talk about a recent project in northern Kentucky, where she worked with a district consisting of eight counties, four of which accepted cats in their municipal shelters. These shelters had a very low live outcome rate for cats when the project began, and the goal was to increase that rate dramatically through intensive spay/neuter for community cats.
The project’s spay/neuter efforts were focused on two areas, “shelter/neuter/return” and then “in-field TNR.” Dr. Pizano explains shelter/neuter/return as taking healthy cats and kittens that are brought to the shelter as “found” and instead of having them enter the shelter, they are sterilized, vaccinated, and returned to where they were found. Dr. Pizano believes that spay/neuter of this group of cats is the number one priority in decreasing euthanasia rates.
The next step is to TNR high-intake area to get to the core of the problem and end the constant flow of community cats and their offspring into the shelters. The next steps are managed intake and targeted spay/neuter. With all of these pieces in place, over time, shelters will be dealing with far fewer cats!
It is safe to say that Dr. Pizano’s Kentucky project was a success, as she reports that in 2015, the four shelters that accepted cats took in 5,200 cats and euthanized 3,400 of those—but in 2017, the first full year of the grant-funded project, those same shelters took in 4,000 cats and euthanized just 400 of those! Eight thousand cat surgeries were completed during the first year of the project! Today, three of the four shelters in the Kentucky project are at a 90% live outcome rate, and the other is at 82%!
Dr. Pizano is very excited about the progress that’s been made in Kentucky, and about the resources that are available to other shelters that need help ending euthanasia as a means of population control. Programs like Million Cat Challenge are great sources of support for those groups, and she encourages everyone to join if they haven’t already!
To get in touch with Dr. Pizano, email her at drpizano@teamshelterusa.com. To learn more about Million Cat Challenge, visit millioncatchallenge.org. To learn more about Best Friends and their partner program, visit bestfriends.org.
Interview! Christina Ha, Creator of Cat Camp
“I’m so incredibly excited for Cat Camp this year!”
Christina Ha, who originally joined us on Episode 144, is back to talk about this year’s Cat Camp—now known as Jackson Galaxy’s Cat Camp. Galaxy, who attended last year’s event, loved it so much that he wanted to expand it. Cat Camp 2017 attracted over 2,500 people from more than eight countries, and this year’s event, held in New York City on May 5-6, 2018, will be even bigger and more exciting.
Christina tells us that this year’s speakers include Jackson Galaxy (CCP Episode 175), Hannah Shaw “The Kitten Lady” (Episodes 85& 86), Sterling Davis (Episode 243), and even a speaker from Big Cats Rescue. The event will encompass two floors, including an adoption area that will be free and open to the public on the first floor. In addition, there will be all kinds of education and shopping opportunities—for you and your cat!—and information on advocacy as well.
For those who wish to attend the general event with shopping and breakout events, Christina tells us that the price is an incredible $25/day. For those wishing to attend the speaker presentations, the cost is just $50/day. Christina describes Cat Camp is a very open door event for anybody who cares about cats—not just professionals. The whole idea is to put all the information about how to help cats out there, and to have the seasoned professionals connect with the new generation of people guiding us into the future of animal welfare.
Christina wants attendees to be able to decide how they can best help as individuals by learning about what’s going on out in the world of cats. She wants people to be able to make the maximum impact they can as individuals in the way that best fits into their lives—and also for them to be able to connect with others in order to help even more.
Christina herself is a newcomer to the world of cats, having been a baker by trade and education until her first cat came into her life about five years ago. That cat changed her entire life, inspiring her to open a cat café, Meow Parlor, and a rescue/adoption group, Meow Parlor Cats—in addition to her successful bakery and pastry shop!
To learn more about Jackson Galaxy’s Cat Camp, visit catcampnyc.com
Interview! Jennifer Blough, Compassion Fatigue Expert and Author
“Self care—it’s not selfish; it’s really charging your batteries so you can go out and have the energy to do what you love to do, which is saving animals.”
Jennifer Blough, a licensed therapist, compassion fatigue expert and author of the bookTo Save a Starfish: A Compassion Fatigue Workbook for the Animal Welfare Warrior, was initially with us on Episode #78of the Community Cats Podcast. Since that time, Jennifer feels that we are starting to make some strides in awareness around compassion fatigue. Still, she thinks we have a long way to go in terms of addressing the in-fighting and “us vs. them” mentality often found between different groups of people working within animal welfare—all of which contributes to compassion fatigue.
To help with this, Jennifer started the Compassion Fatigue Podcast. One of her goals is to interview people from all different roles within animal welfare to expand understanding of the different approaches to helping animals. She wants to help people realize that we are all working toward the same goal; we just have different ways of getting there.
In spite of her work in the compassion fatigue field, Jennifer does not consider herself an expert at self-care, however. She herself tries to take baby steps (like deciding to stop checking her email right before bed), and urges others to do the same. She wants to make sure that people know that self-care is about finding what works for you, however—not about what you’re “supposed to be doing”—and that what works for you can change over time. It’s important to recognize that self-care is a process, and that you will need to manage your compassion fatigue for as long as you’re in an environment that leads to it. She recommends a combination of pro-active self-care to help you build up resiliency and reactive self-care when you find yourself stressed and triggered.
Something new that Jennifer is offering to help those struggling with compassion fatigue is the Rescue Me retreat, an idea that came to her during a retreat for business owners where they were encouraged to slow down in order to spark innovation. The idea behind the Rescue Me retreat is to get people to slow down, learn about self-care, reconnect with nature, and be with a group of people that get you and share your passion so that you can go back recharged and ready to re-engage with your work. The retreat will have a therapeutic component as well, and Jennifer hopes it will help people heal from compassion fatigue.
Jennifer wants everyone to know that compassion fatigue is very normal, and that if you’re struggling with it, it likely means you have a lot of compassion. It’s just a matter of being aware of compassion fatigue and having the strength to do something about it with a self-care plan.
To learn more about Jennifer’s work and her Rescue Me retreat, visit compassionfatiguepodcast.com.
Sterling Davis left behind a promising rap music career to begin working with cats professionally several years ago when he took a temporary job at an animal shelter in between tours. A lifelong animal lover, Sterling soon got hooked on TNR and cats.
During his training, Sterling noticed that not many men, and not many people in the black community, are involved in animal rescue, especially with cats. Sterling would like to change this, and so he brings to the table the idea that TNR-ing cats is something that everybody can do. To Sterling, it’s not about sex or age or race; he feels that “compassion is everybody’s job,” and he wants to let people know that being a man who loves cats doesn’t mean you lack masculinity.
Sterling is currently operating his own organization, Trap King Humane Cat Solutions, but he has also teamed up with Java Cats Café in Atlanta (check out Community Cats Podcast’s interview with founder Haydn Hilton in Episode #228) in order to show what he calls the “complete TNR process,” from trapping to spay/neuter/vaccination to adoption. He & Haydn Hilton are also teaming up to open a second location—a joint Java Cats/Trap King venture that Sterling says will be designed like a “man cave” in the hopes of attracting more men to visit. Sterling will be teaching TNR at the new location—something he loves to do anytime he goes into a community to trap. He wants people to know that TNR is rewarding and fun!
So what are some of Sterling’s favorite trapping tips? He tells us that while he loves to use jack mackerel and KFC chicken as bait, he once caught a cat using nothing but a red laser pointer to lure it into a trap! He prefers Tru-Catch traps, but will use whatever equipment is necessary to get the trapping done—and he will also work with as many different groups and clinics as needed in order to get the surgeries done! Sterling feels strongly that we get more done when we work together—and that working together can help reduce compassion fatigue in the animal welfare field.
Sterling’s funding so far has come solely from sales of his Trap King t-shirts and his GoFundMe campaign. When he goes out to a community to trap, he sets up a party-type environment, complete with music, in hopes of showing people that TNR can be cool. He hopes to keep the cool vibe going by eventually setting up a group he’ll call “Clowder” that he describes as “Sons of Anarchy meets TNR.” He wants it to be a way for more men and other demographics besides the usual “cat ladies” to get involved in working with cats. He sees the group as eventually expanding to have chapters (he calls them “colonies”) all over the country.
Sterling’s biggest challenge has been that some of the existing TNR and animal rescue community has been a little wary of him and his “edgier” approach. He hopes, however, that people understand that everything he’s doing is to gain more attention for TNR with different demographic groups. “It’s totally passion,” he says, and explains that there is a method to his madness with everything he does, including the language he uses to talk about cats and TNR. He just wants help for the cats, and he wants the energy to be positive and fun. In Sterling’s opinion, if we can do this work in a way that’s more fun, more people will get into it!
To learn more about Sterling Davis and Trap Humane Humane, visit him at Instagram, Facebook, and trapkinghumane.org.
Interview! Vickie Fisher - President of The International Cat Association (TICA)
“We cherish both pedigree and non-pedigree cats. We just want the world to value cats as companion animals."
Vicki Fisher had a successful career in finance & management, but in retirement, she has really been able to devote more time to her passion: CATS! She is the President of the Albuquerque Kennel Compadre, which is an affiliate of the Animal Welfare Department. She recently received the Albuquerque mayor’s Good Samaritan award for all of her great work in this arena, and she has also created two coloring books for children on how to take care of cats. You may also remember that TICA was one of the sponsors of the recent Online Cat Conference that we just held! We’re so thrilled to have her on the podcast!
Vicki has always been an animal lover and got into feeding cats outside her door ... which soon became inside the house. She has had cats for decades and has shared her love of cats all over the world. She even showed cats for many years, which helped her get involved in TICA.
TICA, which is kind of like the AKC (for dogs), is international. They register cats and sanction shows. Show cats can either be pedigreed or non-pedigreed. TICA is more interested in just getting people involved by making it fun to show your cat, no matter their breed or type. TICA is an overall registry and also does a significant amount of education and outreach, especially with children, regarding how to take care of cats as pets.
Vicki has an incredible knowledge of all the different types of cat breeds, along with their history and how many started out as alley cats. She shares some of this history with us, along with how science now gives us a lot of opportunity to make sure cats are bred properly to pass along good genes.
Finally, Vicki discusses the Winn Feline Foundation, where she is the Treasurer, which fundraises exclusively for cat research. They work on ways to focus on curing different feline diseases, particularly Feline Leukemia. They are also involved in different ringworm studies in a shelter environment.
To learn more about TICA, visit www.tica.org, and to learn more about the Winn Feline Foundation, visit www.winnfelinefoundation.org.
Interview! Ask Stacy! Online Cat Conference Review
“I’m passionate about the idea of having a dedicated annual cat conference nationally and this was a great way to work towards providing access to everyone.”
Stacy is back to discuss all of the in’s and out’s of how the first Online Cat Conference went this past January! She always wanted to do an online cat conference and it was a great way to provide access to people who wouldn’t be able to afford an in-person conference. She was determined to make it something that was extremely accessible worldwide.
When the thought began, Stacy wasn’t working with specific themes in mind, but she knew she wanted to have the ability to have international exposure. Luckily, she knew that the online component was there, with her Cat Tech Guru, Kristen, by her side.
The main challenge Stacy faced was placing her faith in the technology at hand. While she felt sure it would all work out well, she had visions of her computer melting down and was nervous about things crashing. It was more a fear of the unknown than anything specific.
There was preparation beforehand, though. All of the speakers were able to test things out with a dry-run the week before the conference and main issues were addressed before they became a bigger problem. It also allowed Kirsten to be more present during the actual conference, so she could grab pictures of people watching the webinars with their fur-babies and make it a little more entertaining.
Another highlight of the weekend were the raffles that were presented. Thanks to some fun cat trivia, the raffles turned out to be extremely successful and many prizes were contributed from different organizations.
There were 114 attendees from all over the country, as well as from Europe, Australia and Canada. Sponsors for the event were the International Cat Association and Feline Fix by Five, which Stacy can’t thank enough for taking a chance on a first year online event!
After the event, Stacy sent out a form to all of the attendees to see what could be done better next year, and to find out what the highlights of the conference were for different people. She was pleased to learn that many organizations used the webinar as a chance to highlight these different topics! For example, the San Francisco SPCA had the entire conference streaming all weekend in their community room. Snacks and drinks were provided and people could come and go as they pleased to check out the different webinars. What a great way to bring the community together within their own organization!
Hot topics that have already come up for next year: Allowing different attendees to chat with each other to give more of a sense of community, along with having a little bit more capability with videos. Overall, it was a huge success and if anyone has any ideas, thoughts or ways that we can improve for next year's conference, please don’t hesitate to email Stacy!
Also, hear about Taco’s story, which was a result of the Online Cat Conference!
Interview! Daniel Spehar, Co-Founder of the Together Initiative for Ohio’s Community Cats
“I hope all of us can focus on a shared goal of fewer community cats instead of focusing on the differences. Let’s focus on the most effective and humane ways to reach our common goal.”
Daniel works to enact animal-friendly legislation as a volunteer with the Humane Society of the United States, along with working with the Together Initiative for Ohio’s Community Cats. This specific group is committed to promoting and facilitating collaboration among community cat stakeholders of around 150 members, who work together to accomplish their goals. They run workshops and events, as well as provide other educational opportunities.
He co-authored two recent published papers about the effectiveness of TNR and how it has reduced free-roaming cat populations and has also been conducting research on community cats and their management since 2013. He will be presenting findings of a Case Study, which examined an iconic TNR Program (Newberry Port) at the 2018 HSUS Expo.
Daniel’s passion for cats began when he was a boy, and in 2003, he had a group of feral kittens move into his yard. He ended up learning how to trap them and learned specifics about TNR and how to help them, and his passion further was ignited. This led him to decide that he wanted to dedicate the rest of his career towards the wellness of animals, specifically cats.
Through his research and case study work, he has learned of so many innovations that have been implemented that have become standard practice in many TNR programs around the country. It has helped to create a kind of “toolkit” for animal welfare, that can be used as a guide. This is what was the inspiration behind the Together Initiative for Ohio’s Community Cats, which has turned into a 2-pronged mission:
Daniel can be reached through his program at communitycatsohio.org, which also has his article available.
Interview! Dr. Lynn Bahr, Feline Veterinarian and Owner of Dezi and Roo
“I like to look at life through a cat’s point of view, not my point of view, and I think that that helps me to understand them better, to communicate with them better, and to know what they need.”
How did a dog-loving legal secretary end up becoming a cat-only veterinarian and founder of a cat toy company? By meeting the right cat, of course! Dr. Lynn Bahr didn’t even know she liked cats until she met her first cat, Rudolph. Rudolph went on to change Lynn’s life, inspiring her not only to go to veterinary school, but also to become a feline-only practitioner who focuses on the unique needs of cats. Fast forward nearly forty years, and Lynn’s current cats, Dezi and Roo, have now inspired her to become an entrepreneur, starting a company called… you guessed it: Dezi & Roo. The company sells cat toys and catnip alternatives as a way to address the specific needs of today’s indoor-only cats. The move to an indoor-only lifestyle for so many cats has, in fact, been the biggest challenge of Lynn’s career. She feels that vets have done a great job promoting the health and safety benefits of an indoor-only life for cats, but not such a great job on helping owners know what to do with their cats now that they are inside. Lynn thinks of indoor-only cats almost as a new breed, and in her veterinary practice, she is seeing cats developing diseases and illnesses tied to being solely indoors. She worries about indoor-only cats lacking enrichment, getting little sunlight and fresh air, and having no ability to eat grass. As a veterinarian, Lynn has been able to talk with her individual clients about these issues, but over time, she found she wanted to be able to reach a larger audience—which is how Dezi & Roo got started. Through the company, Lynn hopes to provide not only specific tools to help with enriching the lives of indoor-only cats, but also education for cat owners. Lynn wants her clients and customers to try to see life from a cat’s point of view, and hopes that Dezi & Roo’s products—like the Hide & Sneak cat tunnel, a combination of three of cats’ favorite things: paper, boxes, and tunnels—will help. Lynn points out that toy rotation is very important in order to keep cats interested in them, as is cat owners physically playing with their cats, not just leaving out a basket of toys. She wants owners to think about bringing the outdoors in for their cats in the form of cat grass, a varied diet, and by allowing their cats to “forage” for their food in a variety of ways, including things as simple as putting food up on a table to encourage cats to jump up to it. You can follow Lynn’s blog and learn more at deziroo.com.Interview! Kaleel Sakakeeny, Founder, The Other Me Coaching
“You can’t apply a one-size-fits-all for losing a pet or animal in your life. People shouldn’t be ashamed of their feelings of grief when losing an animal.”
Kaleel Sakakeeny is back with another great episode about dealing with the grief that can come from losing a pet. Check out his first visit with Community Cats Podcast in Episode 57! Kaleel started out his career as a journalist, but felt pulled to do something that felt more important to him. Soon, he became involved in animal communication. He also began practicing Reiki for animals, and eventually became certified in it. He found that people were suffering from the loss of animals and therapy just didn’t seem to be able to handle the depth of loss they experienced. He became concerned that nobody was there for these people, and so he became a Certified Pet Loss and Bereavement Counselor. Kaleel discussed how pet grief can be different than other transitions we experience in life and how people are only now beginning to understand the animal/human bond. While we have customs and traditions around grief when a person dies, there is really nothing there for us to latch onto when a pet passes away, and many people can find that they are unequipped to deal with the loss. On average, when a pet dies, people tend to miss three to five days of work, and their productivity declines 18-22% over a three-month period. This is why specialized training is becoming more and more needed. People need to know that their grief and pain are authentic, and that they don't need to feel ashamed because it was “just an animal." Kaleel also talks about how children can have a particularly hard time with this, since a pet has more than likely been with them throughout a majority of their childhood. It can also be hard for senior citizens who may suddenly feel completely alone and unable to figure out how to move forward. Even losing a pet through divorce can be incredibly painful. For more information, please visit petgriefhelp.com.Interview! Kate Cote, Founder of Fur Love Comfort Cats
“It’s always such a wonderful time to visit a place for 5 to 6 hours, letting people pet and interact with the cats, and brightening up someone’s day." Kate Cote has worked with cats most of her life and Fur Love Comfort Cats involves outreach to nursing homes, schools, libraries and even individual homes to comfort people who can’t otherwise have a pet. It’s amazing therapy and she witnesses inspiring stories of hope and comfort everywhere she and her cats visit! Kate was only two months old when a cat saved her life by fending off a giant rat that had attacked her! Since than, her love for cats has continued to grow. She has had thirteen Fur Love cats over the years, each of which has made all the difference to a person needing a little snuggle. The idea behind the program was a natural one for Kate, as she had always taken her cats with her everywhere she went. A friend suggested that she should take the cats to a nursing home to visit with the elderly and soon, it became a reality! Kate would take her cats any place that would accept a cat for a visit! The program quickly grew and Kate trained more cats and kittens to be able to work as visiting cats!She loves how the cats bring about change in all the people that they visit -- not just the residents at a nursing home, but even the receptionists! Everyone looks forward to the visits, which are a truly positive experience that brings everyone together. Kate does need to be careful, however, when she is out and about visiting places with her cats. She never would declaw her cats, but it’s also important that nursing home residents who may be on medicine or who are on the fragile side don’t get scratched. Kate's policy is generally that the cats needs to stay in their comfort zone, and people aren’t allowed to pick them up. Kate would ultimately love to see a partnership between animal shelters and prisons, as she believes that prisoners could benefit from the type of pet therapy she brings to nursing homes as well. For more information, head over to https://furlovecomfortcats.com/.Interview! Dr. Linda Harper, Clinical Psychologist, Compassionate Heart Specialist and Author
“Feeling compassion fatigue isn’t really a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. We naturally put ourselves on the back burner over the animals we help."
Dr. Linda Harper is a lifelong animal lover advocate, Author and Clinical Psychologist in the Chicago area. She is passionate about helping people help animals. She works to ease the compassion fatigue that animal lovers face in the animal welfare world and facilities pet loss support groups, as well. She is also the author of 4 books, her latest being “The Power of Joy in Giving to Animals.” This book looks at the unique challenges people face who work with animals and contains many interviews with people involved with animals. She works to keep the joy within people who do this type of work, to make it as fulfilling as it was when they started!
When looking at burnout and compassion fatigue, there are many signs that can be present to watch for. It’s important to note that it’s not because a person is weak or has a personality deficiency, it’s simply because of the unique challenge we face in the animal world. Feeling tired, not wanting to get up in the morning, getting sick more often, and experiencing more negativity are just a few signs that someone may be experiencing compassion fatigue and burnout.
So what is the first step to improve our feelings of being overwhelmed? We want to be able to share how meaningful and joyful this work is, so we have to work on taking care of ourselves! But the main step? Find compassion for yourself! We all need to remember that we’re only human. How to find that compassion? Simple things by meditating for a few minutes every morning or turning off your phone after a certain time at night. Maybe going to bed earlier or finding an accountability partner will help. It is a matter of what YOU can commit to RIGHT NOW and you can do everyday. You know what you need, so only you can figure out what would be personally right for your lifestyle to find that compassion you need! Sometimes, the compassionate choice is simply saying no to adding on more to your plate.
We also need to watch for signs for the people we work with on a daily basis. If you’re noticing a volunteer burning out, maybe it’s a choice of not scheduling them for a bit to let them recharge? Many volunteers forget to take a “vacation” from their volunteer work. We need to remember that in order for compassion to flow naturally, it has got to come back to us!
Find out more at drlindaharper.com.
Interview! Kimberley Heeney, Vice President of Operations Active for Pets
“My goal is that anyone, anytime, anywhere, irregardless of economics or world areas, would be able to utilize Active for Pets for their pet’s well-being and health.”
With over 25 years of experience in the human healthcare industry, Kimberley Heeney brings a wealth of expertise to the Active for Pets team. She has always been passionate about helping animals who don’t have a voice and has always had a pet, even while she worked in her old human healthcare role.The goal of Active for Pets is to identify, align and achieve objectives and is the first to bring a complete suite of medicine for pet owners with mobile health technology. It brings the benefits of humantelemedicine to pets with a unique and acute understanding of affordable, accessible and flexible pet health care for shelters and pet adoption.
When working in the human healthcare industry, Kimberley noticed that people don’t always ask the right questions of their doctors. They don’t seem to have a true knowledge of what they need when it comes to new medicines or tests. That’s where the original Active Doctor came into play. People now have 24/7 access to all of their health history at all hospitals worldwide. Kimberley quickly saw the benefit of moving this to the pet world, as well. Enter Active for Pets.
Pet owners always want the best care for their “pet kids” and Active for Pets works with humane societies around the country to give vaccination, lab test results and allergy information at all times. The creation involved experts from veterinarians, animal shelters and rescues, who wanted an easy solution that gave easy access to people to be more engaged and aware of what they needed for their pets. It’s about the wellness for the lifetime of a pet!
Active for Pets is a great way to manage all pet information, vaccination history, vet notes, vet visits, etc. It’s a two-way connection where vets and others involved in a pet’s life are able to include items about their pet. All a pet owner has to do is set up an account, log-in through their computer or a mobile app, and they can easily access their pet’s information to share in case of an emergency or other needed moment.
Active for Pets also provides other support, like “Ask The Vet”. It is a comprehensive list of information that people can use if they have a simple question that may not require and entire trip to their vet. It can also provide video feeds straight to a vet, so a vet could potentially see what is going on with a pet via video before heading in.
Right now, Active for Pets requires no financial commitment to shelters and rescues, as they provide this as a complimentary service to help these not-for-profit places. The main challenge they face is getting the voice out there. Feedback, however, has been phenomenal, so much that many corporations are even adding this to their employee benefit packages, as well!
Find out more at www.activ4pets.com.
Interview! Brianna Grant, Communications Associate at Alley Cat Rescue
“We believe in protecting all cats, no matter what area they are in.”
Brianna was always involved with cats and found a particular sweet stray when she was younger that broke her heart with how bad of shape it was in. She spent the next few months taking care of this little stray and in the process, learned a lot about TNR and community cats. Because of this, her passion for animal advocacy was born!
When she went to school at Tutfts for her degree, she worked a lot with FIV+ cats and now she works with them at Alley Cat Rescue, as well. They focus on protecting domestic and free-roaming cats and are involved in animal advocacy at a local, national and international level.
A new hot topic that Alley Cat Rescue is working on in an advocacy campaign is the feral cat bounty program that has been implemented in Australia. Hunters can go out and kill cats and bring in their scars to the government for money! Clearly, there are many who are very opposed to this and find it counterproductive towards actually reducing the population. Right now, no hunters have claimed the bounty and Brianna is hoping that with the large scale media attention that is being targeted around this, it will bring the bounty to an end. Despite studies that have shown how effective TNR can be in Australia, the government still does not support it and instead is focused on funding other, more cruel ways to eradicate the cat population.
Currently, 137,000 signatures have been collected in an online petition about reversing this bounty and 16,000 of these have come from local Australians. Locals are worried about their domestic cats who may wander out and innocently get scalped for money by mistake.
For more information, head over to saveacat.org.
Interview! Ann Dunn, Founder of Cat Town, Oakland, CA
"Nobody wanted to be standing in a cafe making coffee, they wanted to be helping the cats. But now, we’re seeing how helpful it has been to forgotten kittens and see how successful it has been."
Ann Dunn founded Cat Town, which is a cat rescue organization focusing on helping the most vulnerable cats in local shelters. Cats that are too scared in that environment have a hard time showing their best selves and soon tend to be overlooked by potential adopters. After realizing this, she wanted to work with these cats that needed the most intervention and save them from being euthanized. She opened the first Cat Cafe in conjunction with Cat Town in 2014 and just opened an adoption center for the hardest to place cats.
She worked for over 20 years in public housing redevelopment in managing, funding and planning. While she didn’t grow up with cats, she did end up adopting 2 cats after college. It was in their memory that she started volunteering at the local animal shelter. She never imagined it would lead her to open her own rescue shelter and she soon became obsessed with helping cats. In this new venture, she saw opportunity to apply her professional skills to address the high euthanasia rate she saw with the higher risk cats who weren’t having luck find homes. In 2011, Oakland had a 42% euthanasia rate, but by focusing on cats most likely to be euthanized, she has helped place around 1,800 cats and reduced the euthanasia rate to 14%!
Ann brought a different perspective to the problem when looking at the variables that were in play at an animal shelter. She saw obstacles that were in place that prevented some cats from feeling safe enough to be confident, which in turn, led them to not be adopted and often times, euthanized. Instead, she wanted to find a way to help by finding a way to place these cats in something other than a cage, where people could get to see them open up more. She originally was thinking this would happen in the form of a quasi sanctuary/adoption center/ cat cafe, so people would be able to spend time with these types of cats in an easier environment for the animals. She wanted to see these troubled cats find a “safe place” where they would transform into confident cats that people would want to adopt.
She now works on the Forgotten Kitten Project, as well. She uses a different approach with kittens that come in who may not be socialized because they are a little older. She brings them in and lets them become desensitized to an active environment, where they are amazingly resilient. It helps boost their confidence and gives them the skills they need to become more adoptable cats. She received a grant from Maddie’s Fund for this, where she documents her findings in order to hopefully inspire other organizations to do the same thing and replicate this approach elsewhere.
Ann also participates in an apprenticeship program through Maddie’s Fun, where she shares innovative ideas with other organizations. Cat Town is a host organization, where they have different organizations come in and shadow them, to see how they are doing things and what they can do to implement their ideas and success in their own organizations.
Find out Ann’s thoughts on the Cat Cafe and what she would do differently if she had to do it again. Would she even open a cat cafe if she was starting all over?
Learn more at www.cattownoakland.org
Interview! Gavin Ehringer, Author of Leaving the Wild: The Unnatural History of Dogs, Cats, Cows and Horses
“It’s not enough to take care of animals after they’re born, we have to think about their circumstances before the act of breeding even takes place."
Gavin takes a critical look at breeding and how our values shape our animals for good and bad in his new book, Wild. The book actually began about 5 years ago when he got the idea about writing about how animals came to be domesticated. He decided to put his entire life into the book and went out on the road in an RV and did research all over the United States for the book.
He looks at the history of dogs, cats, cows and horses and how they willingly left the wild in exchange for our care, along with how that relates to what they deal with now in modern times. He digs into what the consequences have been to them becoming domesticated.
For instance, with cats, the invention of kitty litter I the 1940’s really changed the game for them becoming an indoor pet. A man was using a similar material to absorb oil on the floor of his garage when a neighbor came over and asked to use it for her cat. Voila, and industry was born! It completely changed the game for cats on becoming indoor pets.
Gavin also found interesting research around the millennial and their cat ownership rates. Cats have only recently surpassed dogs as America’s most popular pet, and more than likely we can than the millennials for that! Because cats are easy to care for and fit into their urban lifestyles very well, adoption rates have skyrocketed with this generation. It also gives them social credibility by adopting through shelters and off the streets.
Believe it or not, Gavin didn’t have a very positive view of community cats before he wrote the book. He viewed them as destroyers of wildlife. But after his research, he learned how TNR can be so effective and can be the long-term solution. He believes the whole community needs to get involved in these issues and there needs to be long-term discussions if they hope to decrease the amount of animals living and suffering on the streets.
To grab Gavin’s book, head over to www.leavingthewild.com.
Interview! Nell Thompson - Coordinator of National Getting To Zero Program
“I’m passionate for improving outcomes for community cats. I believe TNR would work great with cooperation and collaboration to achieve community change."
Nell has worked for over 25 years in the industry and her background is exceptional, due to her veterinary technician experience and knowledge that has heavily influenced her work every since. Her journey was heavily influenced by her parents, who volunteered in shelters when she was a kid and fostered cats and dogs as a family when she was young. The National Getting to Zero Program is in Australia and primarily focuses on homeless cats and dogs and they work to implement change in a respectful way. They work to increase responsibility for companion animals so that every community and municipality can achieve zero euthanasia of all healthy and treatable cats and dogs. Because they are in Australia, they take many methodologies and philosophies that we use here in the United Stated, and work to implement them there, since our cultures are fairly similar. However, the government been difficult to work with when it comes to community cats. For a variety of reasons, community cats are very maligned in Australia. While being aware of the environmental factors, all options for population management need to be looked at and best applied, but the government is more on board with killing the overpopulation numbers that are homeless. Community cats are persecuted in the country based on government standards. In most states in Australia, TNR is illegal. A lot of work has been done by locals to try to change the culture and work in more positive collaboration with the government, but so far, it has been a difficult road. In 2015, the government passed legislation to kill 1,000,000 cats, so the Getting to Zero program has been working in overdrive to get TNR up and running and to manage the population in a better way. What can you do to help? One of the biggest drivers of this program is communication. Just by talking to people it can help to alert them to what is happening in Australia and what the problems are. It can be hard to push through change, but sometimes you need to accept the discomfort that comes with this and push through it. For more information, head over to www.g2z.org.au.Interview! Keoni Vaughn, Executive Director of Lanai Cat Sanctuary
“My job has helped me instantly get to the heart of what I want to do, which is rescue and protect animals that can’t speak for themselves."
Keoni is the Executive Director of the Lanai Cat Sanctuary, and oversees a staff of only 6, who provide daily care for almost 600 cats! Prior to working here, he was the VP and Director of the Hawaiian Humane Society, where he worked hard to rescue animals. The Humane Society found themselves working as mediators in the midst of an abundance of free roaming cats on the islands, due to constant nice weather and a lack of natural predators. A bulk of his time there was collaborating with colony care givers and housing associations to mediate on how to best handle the overpopulation situations.
Keoni was born and raised in Oahu and has worked hard to position the sanctuary as the #1 place to visit in Lanai. He has worked with travel websites to create viral content that has increased the awareness of the sanctuary in the area. 95% of the sanctuary’s donations come from visitors and a quick commuter plane or ferry ride will bring in tourists for a great day trip to visit.
When given the opportunity to work at the sanctuary, he jumped on it. Despite only having about 3,000 people on the island and it being remote, he was determined to help solve the cat overpopulation issue, despite the limited resources. Him and his team focus attention on where endangered birds live and breed, in order to create the safe environment they need. By using trail cams, along with help from the community, they are able to watch for the colonies and take cats they find to the sanctuary when needed.
Believe it or not, 95% of the cats that come to them from the island have never seen a human before! That is why it’s also important for Keoni to work on socializing these cats, as well, which about 40% of them are doing well with at this time. Most adoptions they do make happen tend to come from off of the island, so it’s important to work with the cats’ socialization at the sanctuary on a daily basis.
He has also written an article about building sanctuaries in other parts of the country and what the tips and ideas are relevant that he would give. It can be a struggle, but he has learned how to be efficient. He discussed the many requests he gets to build sanctuaries in other parts of the country, but he is adamant about really being able to sit down and evaluate the specific scenario and to start slow!
For more information, head to lanaicatsanctuary.org.
Interview! Natalise Kalea, CEO of poundWISHES
"We want to save animals, help animals, and better the lives of animals around the world. We aim to execute on our mission through creative innovation and community."
Natalise has always been an animal lover, who always dreamed of using her business skills and put them to good use. Now that she is the CEO of poundWISHES, she is doing exactly that!
Natalise is a graduate of Stanford Graduate School of Business, who did an internship between her first and second years that encouraged her to create an environment of impact in business. When she was younger, she regularly volunteered with Best Friends in Los Angeles, which opened her eyes to how many different programs needed funding. She remembers seeing people take in 5 to 10 animals at a time, which would only put them into debt. Because of this, she wanted to move into a role where she could directly impact the future.
poundWISHES is a crowdfunding platform for animal welfare non-profits that started about 2 1/2 years ago by a little girl who suffered from Leukemia. As a young girl, her family utilized the Make-A-Wish foundation, which always stuck with her. When her family adopted a pet from a shelter when she was 5, she remembered how sad the shelters were and wanted to create a “Make-A-Wish” foundation for them! When she was 12, her and her dad created poundWISHES to help these animals in shelters and elsewhere.
poundWISHES receives crowdfunding request for animals in need who may require surgery, medication, or transport. There are also crowdfunding items for natural disasters, or even things like the creation of a dog park!
It is similar to GoFundMe, but for animals and is much more hands-on. poundWISHES helps rescues craft and optimize their campaigns and shares campaigns to their community of over 90,000 animal lovers. They also highlight campaigns on their social media platforms, which allows shelters to not have to solely depend on themselves to get the word out.
Natalise shares tips on running successful campaigns, such as focusing on the quality and content of the story. Great pictures and videos are a must, along with successfully framing the story to bring an emotional response.
poundWISHES is also working to expand into the e-Commerce industry, similar to an Amazon Wishlist. They are aiming to be a one-stop-shop for rescues so they can strictly focus on the work they have to accomplish at their facility. Donors are able to contribute through physical items, along with monetary donations, allowing rescues to worry less about how they will fundraise and bring needed products and medicine in the door.
Learn more today at poundwishes.com.
Interview! Haydn Hilton, Owner of Java Cats Cafe in Atlanta, GA
“If I would have known how much work a cat cafe was, I might have turned around, but the cats are where the magic is. They market the coffee shop all by themselves when people walk by!"
Meet 26-year-old Haydn Hilton, owner of Java Cats Cafe. This is Georgia’s first cat cafe in the heart of Atlanta and definitely wasn’t where Haydn expected to find herself! Initially going to school to be part of the film industry, she dropped everything to start this business and now enjoys giving advice and mentoring other female entrepreneurs looking to start a business in a male-dominated society. Her business also support local charities and she enjoys being a positive influencer on social media.
Because her cafe can’t cook their own food directly in the cafe, Haydn farms out the work to a local homeless charity, where the people work in a kitchen creating the food that the cafe receives on a daily basis. What a great way of giving back to the local community!
Haydn was always involved in animal rescue growing up. It’s in her blood to be very caring towards animals. When she was younger, she spent about a year doing TNR with her family at a neighbor’s abandoned barn that had a large population of barn cats left behind. The cats ended up hanging out at her family’s house after that and the 20 cats that stayed were like a dream come true to Haydn. She developed a real passion of working with feral cats to tame and nurture them.
But she didn’t expect to make a career out of it! She was a senior at Georgia State and was in a film class, where she learned about a cat cafe and was immediately drawn to the idea.She quit school, left her job, learned how to be a barista and started the long journey of opening up Atlanta’s first cat cafe!
Java Cats Cafe is heavily regulated and cats are partitioned in a completely different area. People come into the coffee shop portion, where they can purchase what they want to eat or drink, or just pay a fee to go straight into the cat area. People than can sit in a room with up to 20 cats that are all up for adoption. Who wouldn’t love that?! The fee is than used to help support the local shelters that supplies the cats in the cafe.
Haydn also discusses the entrepreneurial struggle and how hard it was being a woman to just get into renting spaces. She had a really hard time getting taken seriously, which has caused her to start awoman’s entrepreneurial group at Java Cats to make sure that other women can find the support they need. She wants people to feel safe to share the struggles of what happens trying to open the business, while potentially finding a much needed mentor.She also does special activities and events in the cafe. Woman’s clothing swap, game nights, paint class, movie night, documentary series, and many other things that brings the community and women together with a bunch of different interests to support the cause.
Haydn also discussed the pros and cons with using Kickstarter to help raise her initial equity.Because she wanted to get things open, she needed to get money on the table ASAP. She also wanted the publicity to make sure she was being taken seriously. Which worked. However, between taxes, fees and other things that get taken out, you need to make sure it’s actually worth going through the work of setting up a crowdfunding area.
She completely believes in the idea of cat cafes, though. Java Cats Cafe has already doubled the adoption rate with cats with PAWS Atlanta. People can see them right away and have a more natural exposure that happens at the cafe. It’s more of a playground for cats, rather than the sad environment many shelters tend to have. It’s a game changer for cat adoption!
Learn more about Java Cats Cafe at their website, javacatscafe.com, or on Instagram and Facebook.
Interview! Frances Carlisle, Attorney
“An important and usually neglected part of estate planning is what will happen to a client’s pets and animals. Charities which are already overburdened than have to step in, taking resources away from their other needs."
Frances Carlisle is an attorney in New York that prepares wills and trusts, along with trusts for animals. She was one of the original members of the New York City Bar Animal Law Committee and has appeared on Animal Planet to discuss the importance of estate planning for continuing care of animals, as well!
Because animals can’t be a beneficiary, but there are two different ways to provide for continuing care after something happens to a pet owner:
While working with an attorney may be too expensive for some, there is a new mypetwill.com website, where you can create these items relatively cheap.
Frances also discusses the option that pet owners may want to consider looking into sanctuaries for pets that are long-living and may outlast a pet owner’s lifespan, such as horses or other larger animals. A sanctuary or stable would be a great option to find something that is likely to be around for the lifetime of the animal.
It’s also important to think about what a pet owner would do for an extended hospitalization or was suddenly incapacitated. It’s necessary to work on an arrangement where someone can immediately feed and care for an animal. A power of attorney may be needed, in these cases. She also recommends carrying a card in your wallet that gives directions on what to do in case of emergency with pets that may be at home. In the case of community cats, a caretaker may want to make sure they give detailed locations and descriptions of where they feed and take care of a colony.
Finally, Frances discusses how to consider what to do with your pet when they die. It’s important to make sure they are properly taken care of not only in life, but in death!
Interview! Sandy Rees, Founder and Chief Encouragement Officer - Get Fully Funde
"I’ve always felt deep in my soul that I’m here to help lots of people. I have a sensitive heart and can’t stand to see anyone suffer.”
Sandy helps non-profits and charities who have been used to nickel and dime fundraising work on getting to six or seven figures on their bottom line! She shows her students how to find ideal donors and connect with them through authentic messaging.
Because one of the greatest challenges for our listeners is fundraising, Sandy has many answers that we need to do the jobs we are trying to do for our community cats!
Sandy fell into this career by accident and didn’t go to school or classes that teach non-profit management. There really weren’t any around! But she went on a tour at a local rescue mission and ended up asking lots of questions. She was soon asked to join their board and a year later, joined their resource development office.
Soon, she jumped into fundraising and never looked back! Surprisingly, she was able to apply a lot of corporate marketing from her earlier career into her new one and she soon blossomed.
In 2005 she started Get Fully Funded and was able to pick specific clients that she loved and connected with. From farm animals to dogs and cats, Get Fully Funded can cover it!
The bottom line is that people are passionate about helping animals, but don’t know how to raise money to help. So she retrains her clients to turn fundraising into something that makes people want to help. She gets donors excited!
She also believes in working by the 1/10/1000 Rule.
- Plan ONE fundraising event a year and do it really well!
- Get TEN grants a year. Stop leaving grant money on the table. These types of grants are out there so apply!
- Build your donor base up to about 1,000 donors. This will set yourself up for sustainable fundraising long-term. It’s also good because if you lose one donor, you’ll be able to weather storms through a base of stability.
Sandy also talks about ARF club, which focuses on small organizations and training opportunities for these places. They are able to work together with all animal welfare groups through private Facebook groups and other Q&A sessions where they can connect and collaborate.
Learn more at http://getfullyfunded.com/arf-club/ and arfclub.com.
Interview! Cameron Moore, Program Manager, Million Cat Challenge
“Hurricane Irma’s reach was intense for shelters across Florida, but it will only help us to plan for future incidents."
Cameron is a return guest (head to Episode 61 for information on how she got started in the business) that is here today to discuss the hurricane relief efforts in Florida.
Cameron worked with Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program to do pre and post-storm assessments for a majority of the 155 shelters in Florida. Volunteers were responsible for contacting shelters before the storm to find out what may be needed, evacuation plans and how to distribute supplies.
This also parlayed into working with shelters to get pre-storm animals out to safety so the shelter would have room for post-storm animals that would need a place to go. When it came time to moving these animals before the hurricane hit, it proved challenging because carriers were in short supply, gas was drying up because of the mass exodus out of Florida and traffic was so horrible it took hours to travel anywhere. It was a real eye-opener on how to operate things in the future.
However, they were able to get 73 animals out of a shelter and into safety before the storm even touched the ground.
Cameron stresses the importance of having a plan in place before the storm. It’s key. She also stresses how important shelters are who aren’t in the eye of the storm, because they can be in a position to take animals that need to be relocated. The key is never to be in a position where shelters have to euthanize pre-storm animals in order to make room for post-storm animals.
Overall, things went well and it caused a funding collaborative to come together in order to work smarter together for future events. Thanks to Petco and other charities, there are plans to set up a centralized website with a grant application to help post-storm shelters.
Cameron also discusses how to potentially approach hurricane season differently in the future, and how she loved seeing the increase in people being able to take their pets with them who were evacuated to other areas. It only makes it easier on a family and a shelter.
Here’s the link to the transport best practices webinar series. aspcapro.org/webinar-series-companion-animal-transport-best-practices
Interview! Jim Tedford, President and CEO for the Society of Animal Welfare Administrators, SAWA
"Our role is to make connections between people who need relief versus the members we know who can provide relief."
Jim is a returning guest who has been actively engaged in the animal welfare movement for over 30 years. He was involved in the professional association of leaders in animal welfare and control, along with the National Council of Pet Population, a subsidiary of SAWA. More specifics of Jim’s work, check out Episode 199!
Today we discussed SAWA’s experience in assisting the recent hurricane victims across the country. Their main role is to mobilize a network of professionals. Currently, there are around 1,100 members around the U.S. SAWA works to bring them together to provide the help when and where it’s needed.
Work starts before a natural disaster hits, and remains long after for hurricane relief. Another big goal is to make sure people don’t get in the way of themselves and cause more harm than good. Many times organizations offer to help and show up before any requests have been made. This can cause people to get in the way of themselves and create more work than needed.
SAWA is currently working hard to make sure that Texas and Florida are able to provide the shelter space and resources for the animals that have been displaced and have needed rescuing. Jim also discusses how it’s been moving animals from Point A to Point B, as far as paperwork, immunizations, diseases, etc.
Overall, it’s important to note that when dealing with disasters, the real strength is in the network and that is exactly where SAWA shines.
For more information, head over to sawanetwork.org.
Interview! Matt Michaelson and Calvin Bohn, Co-Founders of Smalls
"58% of cats are overweight, and 28% of those are considered obese. This is up 7% since just 2011 and something clearly needs to change.”
Matt, the Master Business Person, and Calvin, Head Chef, are taking a fresh look at feeding felines after seeing just how many cats are overweight, suffering from renal failure or urinary crystals. They realized just how big a difference real food can make for all cats and decided to start a new food company to help with these increasing issues.
Matt grew up with cats and dogs and always had a bit of a suspicion about the food he was feeding his pets. It just never quite smelled like food.
Calvin’s interest in food began with human food. One of the big lessons he hopes that people wrap their head around is that the same truths for human food hold strong for cats, as well. What you eat has a big impact on your energy, day-to-day health and wellness, along with long-term health! While humans are on the bandwagon to work towards better eating, now it’s time for our pets, too!
Feeding cats also needs to change through more specific feeding instructions, instead of just being based on weight or age. Smalls is working to revolutionize this area by receiving information about a client’s cat and creating a specific CALORIE recommendation to feed per day. It lets owners know exactly what to feed their kitty, per day, instead of allowing a cat to free feed, since it’s not really inline with a cat’s natural predatory behavior.
Cats also get most of their hydration through their food and with dry food in today’s market, that isn’t possible. Cats tend to be chronically dehydrated, which can cause renal failure, obesity, urinary crystals, etc.
All food is freshly prepared, frozen and shipped to a client on a subscription basis. They are creating their own cooking classes and teaching people how to cook their own food at home. Smalls believes in transparency and want people to see how the food is prepared and what goes into it!
For more information about Smalls, and to order, head over to www.smallsforsmalls.com.
Interview! Adam Myatt, The Cat Man of West Oakland
“These cats are street smart, tough as nails, and have definitely scene some stuff, but they are our neighborhood cats and are softies at heart.”
Cats have been taking over this amazing guy's life for the last 8 years! What started as a small photography hobby has turned into a life-changing endeavor, leading the Cat Man down a path that led to diving head first into cat rescue TNR and opening the first cat cafe in the United States.
Adam was actively playing in bands and worked in a recording studio and had a buddy who went on tour and started posting on Instagram with the hashtag #CatsOnTour. So when Adam, himself, went on tour, he kept the tradition alive and it just never stopped!
After posting photos for awhile, he had friends who were impressed and encouraged him to do something with them, but he was determined not to invest what little money had had into cat merchandise. But he decided to start a crowdfunding campaign to get things started. Before he knew it, he had people signing up for a calendar he created and it has been wildly successful in the years since!
The 2018 Calendar will be his 6th year selling through Kickstarter and he’s now even working on a book & calendar pitch for 2019 that may take it even further!
Adam has been stunned by how many people have gotten onboard and ordered calendars and also is blown away by how much the community in West Oakland wants to get involved with cat rescue efforts when a cat is trapped. He is focused on doing more TNR in the community and making an impact on that side of things, rather than running an adoption center.
In a stroke of irony, the Cat Man won’t be adopting any of his feline friends anytime soon. His roomie of over 12 years is allergic and having cats in his own home just isn’t in the cards!
So how does he get such great pictures of these sweet feral cats? He gets down to their level, even if it means kneeling and laying down in the streets to capture their sweet faces. And of course, treats and catnip always help! Believe it or not, those great pics are all taken with just an iPhone! Because who wants to carry crazy photography gear around the streets of Oakland?!
Learn more and grab your own 2018 Cat Calendar at catmanofwestoakland.com.
Interview! Dr. Mike Greenberg, Program Director for Target Zero
"We want to teach people to set goals, and then to use metrics to measure their progress towards them."
Dr. Mike Greenberg is the program director for Target Zero, a project that helps municipal shelters achieve live release rates of 90% or above for community cats. He is also the co-author of Every Nose Counts: A Guide to Using Metrics in Animal Shelters. Mike describes the book as a practical guidebook for the entire sheltering world and those who care for homeless animals, from volunteers to vets. Every Nose Counts argues for the utility of statistical metrics in predicting live release rate outcomes in shelters, and instructs on the implementation of metrics in the animal welfare world. The book is a marriage of Dr. Greenberg's professional experience in shelter medicine with his interest in data analysis and his passion for education other animal welfare professionals.
You can purchase your own copy of Every Nose Counts at sheltermetrics.org or on Amazon, where it is available in both hardcover and electronic formats.
Interview! Sarah-Jane Farrell, Multi Sensory and Forensic Medical Intuitive
“The trust process is the first step in our ability to trust that we are enough. It is as ancient as humankind.”
Sarah-Jane Farrell is a pragmatic psychologist who specializes in healing trauma through utilizing the animal relationships in our lives. Sarah-Jane grew up in Zimbabwe, where she always felt that animals understood her more than people did. She has always been struck by the animal ability to live in the present moment and only focus on necessities, whereas humans often “live from the head instead of the heart.” To counter this habit, she encourages her clients to trust themselves and their natural instincts, as well as to observe and learn from the animals in their lives. Sarah-Jane has been fortunate enough to study the lions of the Zimbabwe savannah, and has learned much about interdependence and intergenerational wisdom from these majestic wild cats.
Sarah-Jane offers online courses on how to rebuild your “trust process” and harness your innate healing abilities. You can sign up for these courses at accessurtruenature.com, as well as learn a little more about Sarah-Jane and her practice. You can also find a variety of video tutorials on her YouTube channel, or connect with her on Facebook.
Still not convinced? Here are some free demos for helping our feline companions from Sarah-Jane:
How to help yourself help animals in shelters or distressA soothing song for cats
Interview! Katie Lisnik, Director of Cat Policy and Protection, Humane Society of the United States
Ready for Round 5 of Policy Jeopardy? Katie Lisnik once again updates us on the various changes and new initiatives in community cat policy across the US. The challenges facing animal welfare advocates differ greatly across the fifty states: while New Hampshire just passed a bill that approved the adoption of FIV+ and and Felv+ cats, Kansas is the last holdover of this outdated law, and the change seems slow to come. Katie also talks about the importance of clear and public position statements from animal welfare organizations, especially concerning hot-button issues like TNR and FIV+/Felv+ adoption.
You can read the Humane Society’s position statement on TNR here. If you are interested in getting involved with animal welfare legislation in your state, you can find your state director's contact information on humanesociety.org. You can also find resources for anything related to sheltering, rescue, animal control, TNR, or community cat related at animalsheltering.org. And, as always, you can email Katie at cats@humanesociety.org if you have any questions concerning animal welfare legislation and policy.
Interview! Bryan Kortis, Director of National Programs for Neighborhood Cats
“It feels like we are starting over in Maui. We are having fascinating on-the-ground experiences!”
Stacy catches up with Bryan Kortis today to cover a wide range of topics from what is happening in Hawaii with pending legislation that would help community cats, to an update on the group’s work in Jersey City, New Jersey, where they recently spayed/neutered about 1,000 cats! Lastly, we are covering what is new with catstats.org.
Bryan has partnered with the local Maui Humane Society to build a special TNR room and has been getting involved in the community to get hands-on help. It hasn’t been easy, though! He has dealt with a lot of anti-TNR attitudes in Hawaii, which is home to the largest home of endangered bird species. Follow Bryan’s work in Hawaii with the action alert!
Bryan also makes presentations at conferences and meetings all around the country and is hosting a training online on October 17th, “Combating the Naysayers”, which you can sign up for now!
To find out more about where Bryan is presenting and what he is up to over the coming months, go to www.neighborhoodcats.org.
Interview! Cathy Unruh and Chad Thompson, Board President and Executive Director, Meow Now, Inc.
“My ultimate vision is that there really are no more community cats, because the entire United States has bought into TNVR.”
Cathy Unruh and Chad Thompson are the founding board president and executive director of Meow Now, Inc., respectively. Meow Now is the first and only non-profit organization providing TNVR services for community cats in Pinellas County, Florida. In the three years since its opening, Meow Now’s dedicated team of staff and volunteers have TNVR’d 3,300 cats and provided more than 200 kittens with foster homes!
Like most of Florida, Pinellas County boasts a warm, humid climate year-round. While great for vacation, it also creates a perfect breeding ground for both cats and disease. This makes vaccination for community cats very important, which is why Meow Now stresses the V in TNVR. And thanks to Meow Now’s efforts, TNVR is now standard protocol by law when dealing with community cats in Pinellas county!
To learn more about Meow Now, or to find out how you can support the new organization, please visit meownowfl.org, their page on Facebook, or call (727) 203 5255.
Dr. Nels Rasmussen, Animal Chiropractor and Spiritual Animal Healer
“Everyone else is saying ‘There’s just no hope anymore,’ and I’m here to say there is.”
Dr. Nels Rasmussen is a third-generation animal chiropractor who now works as a spiritual animal healer in neuroenergetic balancing. In the early days of his practice he worked with paralyzed and injured horses, restoring them to riding shape. Now, he works mostly with dogs and some cats and horses. Dr. Rasmussen believes that many injuries and behavioral problems that have veterinarians stumped can be solved by resetting the fight-or-flight response and restoring the energy balance within the animal. In his nearly forty years of practice, Dr. Rasmussen has seen incredible results in his patients and saved many animals from unnecessary euthanization due to mobility issues. For more information on Dr. Rasmussen’s work, or to schedule a thirty-minute phone consultation about an animal in your care, please visit healingministryforanimals.com.Interview! Esther Mechler, Founder of Spay USA
“What’s the tipping point? What’s the age that we could get the veterinarians to agree? The answer seemed to be, by five months.”
Esther is back for another episode of the Community Cats Podcast, in which she shares more information on the Feline Fix By Five campaign, an initiative to encourage veterinary practices to spay and neuter cats by five months of age. The campaign has been backed by extensive research into the benefits of fixing cats at what used to be considered a very early stage of development, as female cats can become pregnant by six months of age. Esther and her team are hopeful that the Fix By Five campaign will help drive down the kitten population and give some relief to overwhelmed shelters in areas with long kitten seasons. As of July 2017, the campaign has been officially endorsed by eight national veterinary associations.
To learn more about the campaign, please visit felinefixbyfive.org. You can help spread the word by sharing Feline Fix By Five on social media, or by requesting that your local veterinary practice sign up.
Interview! Britt Collins, Author and Journalist, "Strays: A Lost Cat, a Homeless Man, and Their Journey Across America"
“Being a writer can be a lonely, hard process at the best of times.”
Britt Collins is a writer, journalist, and animal activist, who has written investigative journalism on animal cruelty and has volunteered at animal rescues and sanctuaries around the world. Her most recent book, Strays: A Lost Cat, a Homeless Man, and Their Journey Across America, tells the true story of a lost cat and a homeless man who find each other in Portland, OR, and develop a life-saving friendship as they embark on an a cross-country journey together. Britt tells Stacy about the difficult process of writing and publishing Strays, as well as her current project of organizing Cat Fest London and what cat rescue organizations look like in the UK.
To learn more about Britt and her writing, please visit brittcollins.net. You can also find out more about Cat Fest London at catfestlondon.com.
Interview! Anna Skaya, CEO and Founder of Base Paws
“The bigger database, the more associations and discoveries we can make.”
Anna Skaya is the CEO and founder of Base Paws, a commercial company that conducts feline genetic testing and research. Using the results from genetic testing, we can analyze an individual cat and assess her probability of contracting certain diseases. In less than a year of work, Base Paws has determined that Feline Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM), a common (and serious) disease among cats, affects 15% of cats, using the data collected from willing pet parents and shelters.
Perhaps even more importantly, Base Paws’ work can help to predict patterns not just in the individual, but the larger population. Currently Base Paws is enlisting pet parents whose cats fit certain criteria to bring their cat in for testing. This will help Base Paws build both their genetic and behavioral database. Anna says that as the database grows, the accuracy of Base Paws’ predictions and analyses will increase, which could provide critical information about cat health and improve treatment of feline illness overall.
To learn more about Base Paws, please visit basepaws.com. If you’re interested in volunteering your cat for testing in order to improve feline genetic research, check out the Base Paws blog and see if your cat qualifies.
Interview! Maribeth Decker, Intuitive Animal Communicator, sacredgrove.com
“It’s a connection between two souls on a non-physical level.”
Maribeth Decker is an intuitive animal communicator, whose dogs first began communicating with her after she became a Reiki Master. She herself only realized her gift when she adopted Tibor, a young fear-aggressive rescue dog, who sent her images of his life before coming to live with her. After that experience, Maribeth began consciously practicing animal communication, and has been doing so since 2010.
Maribeth describes her communication with animals as “feelings, memories, and body sensations” shared between two beings. In this episode, she recounts some of her experiences, both with her own animals and with clients. Maribeth helps pet and pet owners deepen their connection, resolve behavioral problems, and even give mutual comfort as the pet begins to transition out of this life. She has also authored a book, Peace In Passing, which aims to provide comfort for grieving pet owners through her experiences in assisting transitions.
To book an appointment or to learn more about what Maribeth does, please visit sacredgrove.com. You can also join the Facebook group, Spiritual Pet People, to connect with a community of animal lovers who want to deepen their connections to their pets.
Interview! Lorrie Shaw, Owner, Professional Pet Sitting & Blogger, Animals Unfolded
“Cats’ needs for enrichment are only becoming more understood.”
Lorrie Shaw is the owner of Professional Pet Sitting and specializes in helping families care for hospice and special needs pets. Through her work, she has observed that medical issues and behavioral issues are very often linked—inappropriate elimination, for example, is the most common reason for a family to rehome a cat, yet this behavior is often indicative of an underlying medical issue the family isn’t even aware of. This is where a knowledgeable pet sitter is invaluable: by observing a cat’s behavior in their home environment, the pet sitter becomes the eyes and ears for the family when they are away, and can therefore spot problems long before the family notices. Lorrie says that with proper intervention and knowledge, and a good relationship with the local vet, she has witnessed many families keep a cat they may have otherwise surrendered.
You can find Lorrie online on Facebook, Twitter, and her website, lorrieshaw.com. You can also keep up with her pet sitting adventures and learn more about animal behavior on her blog, Animals Unfolded.
Interview! Pat Brayer, Clinic Director at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona
“The adopters that are drawn to the shy feral kittens are the ones that are going to make them blossom the most.”
Pat Brayer is the clinic director at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona. In her shelter work, she has pioneered some of the field’s most innovative programs, such as the Kitten Kindergarten program, which has successfully socialized and adopted out 82 formerly feral kittens brought into the shelter by trappers. Perhaps the most cutting edge program at HSSAZ is the FELV vaccination program, which is an initiative to lower the stigma surrounding feline leukemia and to increase adoptions of these lovable cats. HSSAZ offers free testing and vaccinations to adopters who are interested in adopting a FELV+ cat but are concerned about the risk to the cats they already own. The program has been hugely successful, with no incidences of vaccinated cats contracting the virus from their FELV+ housemates.
You can get in touch with Pat by emailing her at pbrayer@hssaz.org, or by calling (502) 321 3706. You can also learn more about recent FELV vaccine research by reading this NIH article.
Interview! Nathan Winograd, Executive Director, The No-Kill Advocacy Center, Part 2
“We had to come to the realization that just because you work at an animal shelter doesn’t mean you are passionate about cats and saving their lives.”
In Part 2 of this two-part episode, Nathan describes the current animal welfare legislation he is working on—namely the Companion Animal Protection Act (CAPA) and how it has been implemented, in whole or in part, in various cities and counties across the U.S. He also revisits some of his tougher experiences pushing legislation in more regressive areas and shelters, and warns against the naïveté inherent in the belief that all animal shelters or humane societies are truly interested in saving animals. CAPA seeks to make that ideal a reality by transforming shelters into “temporary waystations to a better life” for cats, not euthanasia sites.
To learn more about Nathan’s work, you can visit nokilladvocacycenter.org or nathanwinograd.com.
Interview! Nathan Winograd, Executive Director, The No-Kill Advocacy Center, Part 1
“It’s actually the policies and procedures of the shelter that are responsible for whether animals die in shelters.”
It’s hard to name a field of animal welfare that Nathan Winograd doesn’t have experience in: his animal advocacy work started while attending Stanford Law School, and since then he has worked in animal control, consulted for and ran animal shelters, written animal protection legislation, prosecuted in animal cruelty cases, taught at Cornell School of Veterinary Medicine, spoken internationally on animal welfare topics, and written five books! One such book, Redemption, details the “no-kill” revolution in the United States and advocates for no-kill communities, not just no-kill shelters. In Part 1 of this two-part episode, Nathan gives a detailed description of both his history in animal welfare and the evolution of the sheltering industry in general. Nathan also defines what he means by “no-kill” community, and Stacy discusses with him what that could mean for the future of community cats. To learn more about Nathan’s work, you can visit nokilladvocacycenter.org or nathanwinograd.com.Interview! Kate Benjamin, Designer, Blogger of Hauspanther, Part 2
“Not only does the design of the room at the shelter make it very functional and enjoyable, but it’s a showcase for what people can do when they get home.”
In Part 2 of this two-part episode, Kate delves into how user-centered design theory can be applied to shelters, in order to make adoptable cats’ personalities shine and therefore be adopted faster. She has great praise for the new trend of cat cafes and open-concept shelters, which, if designed correctly, can encourage and inspire people to adopt cats and catify their own homes!
Check out Kate’s blog at www.hauspanther.com.
Interview! Kate Benjamin, Designer, Blogger of Hauspanther, Part 1
“I’m not just writing about cool-looking stuff. I’m writing about stuff that’s going to make a difference in these cats’ lives.”
Kate Benjamin has combined her professional knowledge of design and product development with her love of cats to fill a unique niche—she blogs about cat products designed with the cat consumer in mind! She’s been writing her blog, House Panther, for about ten years now, which eventually led to two New York Times best-sellers, Catification and Catify to Satisfy. Co-authored with Jackson Galaxy, the books blend his behavioral knowledge and her design perspective to instruct on how best to “catify” your home in ways that are both aesthetically pleasing and most suitable for your cat’s unique behavioral needs. Kate believes that if more cat products are designed with the needs of the cat in mind—a design concept called “user-centered design theory”—pesky behavioral problems like peeing outside the litterbox and scratching on furniture can be eliminated, leading to less declawing and less shelter surrenders.
In Part 1 of this two-part episode, Kate explains how small pet stores and Etsy designers have influenced big-box pet stores to design more cat-centered products, which makes the products themselves more accessible to a pet owner on a budget. If you’re still concerned about price, though, not to worry: Kate has tips on DIY products for those of us with “a creative streak and a little bit of time.”
Check out Kate’s blog at www.hauspanther.com.
Interview! Meredith Hippert, Director of Field Operations, Animal Balance
“Through this work, I recognized my passion for serving the underserved, and working with communities to implement change for animals.”
Though largely self-educated in the field, Meredith Hippert holds an impressively broad resume in animal welfare, from admission guidelines and outreach to foster programming and TNR. Her journey started when she began caring for a colony of cats living behind the tattoo parlor where she worked in Pittsburg, PA. Using online resources such as Alleycat Allies, Meredith learned as much as she could about community cats management and care, and she now serves as the director of operations at Animal Balance in Austin, TX. Under the guidance of former CCP guests Miles Chadwick and Emma Clifford, Meredith has grown in her advocacy for animals everywhere, especially the remote islands that Animal Balance currently assists.
For more information about Animal Balance, please visit animalbalance.org. You can also get in touch with Meredith directly by emailing her at mhippert@animalbalance.org. And, for more information on veterinarian and animal behaviorist Dr. Sophia Yin, please visit her website.
Interview! Anthony Amos, Owner, HydroDog and Founder of the Bathe to Save Tour
“If you want to become a part of HydroDog, you’re not just part of a franchise; you’re committing to a long-term partnership with the animal rescue world.”
Anthony Amos is the owner of HydroDog, a mobile grooming salon in Australia that travels from house to house bathing beloved household pooches. He took the idea to the U.S. when he moved here with his wife, three children, three rabbits, and rescue puppy to start the Bathe to Save tour. Over the next twelve months, Anthony and his family will travel through all fifty states, washing dogs at shelters and holding events in an effort to raise $1,000,000 for sheltering, rescue, and adoption initiatives. Anthony talks about how ambitious the project was from the beginning, and the nine months he had to spend “re-learning” how to apply the business to an American context. If you’re interested in donating or attending an event, please visit bathetosave.com to see where Anthony and his family are headed next!Interview! Erika Kelly, founder of Operation Git-Meow
“The Navy has always been tied to cats, and that’s how the cats got to the base in the first place.”
Only a year after graduating college, Erika Kelly is already well on her way to making waves in the animal welfare community—she started Operation Git-Meow in December 2016, a non-profit designed to help community cats living on the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station. As you may remember from Stacy’s conversation with naval-base resident Caitlyn Macintosh (Episode 53), TNR is strictly prohibited on naval bases. Instead, most community cats are trapped and euthanized, which is ineffective at controlling population and costly to the taxpayer. Operation Git-Meow is in the process of requesting an exception to the law, offering as an alternative an SPCA-funded TNR program that will manage the population of community cats on the base and transport them back to the U.S. at no cost to the taxpayer. Besides this large initiative, Operation Git-Meow seeks to make vaccination, vet check-ups, and microchipping accessible to residents on the naval base and surrounding communities for their pets. Operation Git-Meow is still very much in its nascency, and it needs all the help it can get! If you are interested in donating, please send a check to P.O. Box 52337, Springfield, VA, 22152. You can also help out by liking and sharing Operation Git-Meow on Facebook at facebook.com/operationgitmeow. For any other questions, please email operationgitmeow@gmail.com.Interview! Karen Hollish, Director of Development and Marketing, Pima Animal Care Center
“The community cats project has not only helped us save outdoor community cats; it’s helped us provide a better experience for the cats inside our shelters.”
Karen Hollish is the director of development and marketing at Pima Animal Care Center. In March 2014, she started a development program for the government-run, open-admission shelter in Pima County, Arizona. The program was hugely successful: she raised millions of dollars through fundraising initiatives, and the shelter started to take in about 24,000 pets per year with a save rate of around 70%! In a state like Arizona where pet overpopulation is a big problem and kitten season lasts virtually all year round, this is a huge accomplishment.
Pima Animal Care Center has managed to raise its save rate to 90% thanks to its community cat program, and it also has a unique kitten program for people with dementia and other memory issues. While the kitten is socialized, the patients receive all the health benefits of close contact with animals, including unexpected remembrances of beloved family pets!
To learn more about Pima Animal Care Center (and to watch inspiring videos of dementia patients interacting with kittens), please visit facebook.com/pimaanimalcare.
Interview! Erin Berry, Executive of Marketing and Communication, BoardSource
"You have to think, “What is most important for this organization, not for myself?”
Erin Berry is the executive of marketing and communication at BoardSource, an organization that helps strengthen the boards of non-profits. Erin has twelve years of experience in non-profit management, and she’s no stranger to volunteering, either—by the end of her high school career, she had logged around 400 hours of community service! Erin tells Stacy about some of the exciting resources that BoardSource has to offer, including the Board Support Program, a year-round development program with almost entirely free access—perfect for smaller grassroots organizations working on the local level. Erin also gives us some of her tips on how to build a strong board and how to start a non-profit organization. For more information, please visit boardsource.org.Interview! Katie Lisnik, Director of Cat Policy and Protection, Humane Society of the United States
"TNR is not a cruel act; it is a humane population management tool, and it should be defined as such."
Katie Lisnik is back for another round of "Policy Jeopardy" on the Community Cats Podcast! This time, we get the scoop on animal welfare initiatives in Illinois, New York, Nevada, New Hampshire, and some exciting initiatives on the federal level! If you are interested in getting involved with animal welfare legislation in your state, you can find your state director's contact information on humanesociety.org. You can also find resources for anything related to sheltering, rescue, animal control, TNR, or community cat related at animalsheltering.org. And, as always, you can email Katie at cats@humanesociety.org if you have any questions concerning animal welfare legislation and policy.Interview! Jim Tedford, President and CEO of SAWA
“The strength of SAWA is in its network.”
Jim Tedford is the president and CEO of the Society of Animal Welfare Administrators (SAWA). In the early 1980s, fresh out of college with a degree in animal science, he found his first job in animal welfare at a tiny humane society that was “held together with duct tape and love.” Since then, Jim has seen the animal welfare game change drastically in the last few decades—Jim’s last job at a shelter in New York assisted 12,000 animals a year with a staff of 70 people and over 700 volunteers. We owe much of that to SAWA’s network of professionals and resources, which has grown exponentially since its inception nearly fifty years ago. According to Jim, SAWA is the only organization of big leaders in animal welfare who also work “in the trenches,” to use his parlance. Jim and Stacy discuss the many resources, programs, scholarships, and conferences that SAWA has to offer up-and-coming animal welfare organizations, as well as the online support community that has sprung up in recent years in SAWA Facebook groups. You can find all of these resources and more at sawanetwork.org—and stay tuned for the website relaunch coming in July!
Community Cats Podcast Anniversary Show, The Podcast Team
“I’m learning so much about the talents and passions it takes to make the world a better place for cats.”
Community Cats Podcast celebrates it’s first year online! In the Anniversary Show, Stacy shines the spotlight on the ‘behind the scenes’ talent that has made this past year a success. She discusses the challenges and highlights of producing episodes and working to spread education and dialogue about community cats. Stacy talks with website director Kristen Petrie, social media/writer Jamie Hovey, writer/editor Anna Domings, audio engineer Danny Ozment from Emerald City Productions, and ‘Ask Stacy’ host and writer Lisa Finkel.
Team links:
emeraldcitypro.com
mellariumcreative.com
jlhvirtualservices.com
Interview! Shawn Flynn, Author, The Kitty Who Rescued Me After I Rescued Him
“He had a huge impact on my life, and that’s why I decided to write a book about it.”
Shawn Flynn is the author of The Kitty Who Rescued Me After I Rescued Him, a current finalist in the 2017 International Book Awards. It tells the story of Shawn’s newfound best friend and support in a large orange community cat, who he met after purchasing a house with his fiancee in Enfield, CT. To the couple’s surprise, the house came with several outdoor cats who hung around the property, one of them being Kitty—and on the day Shawn moved in, he found Kitty sitting on the front porch as if waiting for him to come home! Kitty became a central fixture in Shawn’s life, helping him through some difficult personal times. The book serves as a thank-you to Kitty for his presence in Shawn’s life. You can find Shawn’s book here on Amazon, and you can reach the author himself at shawnpflynn@yahoo.com.Interview! Part Two, Monica Frenden, Cat Program Manager, Austin Pets Alive!
“This is the safest large city in the country to be a cat.”
In part two of this two-part episode, Stacy interviews Monica Frenden about the various cat programs available at Austin Pets Alive! She describes the “Fel-V fever” that spreads once people in the community start adopting feline-leukemia positive cats, as well as the wildly successful ringworm and barn cat programs. In order to design the most relevant programs, Monica and her team study the patterns of “at-risk cats” in city shelters and created specialized programs for those cats—mostly, cats with FIV, feline leukemia, and ringworm. Because of its efforts, Austin Pets Alive! has an astonishing 98% release rate, which is much further above other programs in the state with less resources. To learn more about Austin Pets Alive!, please visit their website at austinpetsalive.org. You can also keep up with APA! on Twitter and Instagram at @austinpetsalive.Interview! Part One, Monica Frenden, Cat Program Manager, Austin Pets Alive!
“We let the public decide what they want rather than assuming what they want.”
When Monica Frenden lived in rural Illinois, she didn’t expect to start a TNR program. What started as a commitment to getting her own cats spayed and neutered exploded into a community-wide support and demand for feline spay-neuter services. Monica began taking her own barn cats to be spayed and neutered in Chicago, the closest resource at a distance of just over 100 miles. Eventually word got around, and neighbors began to approach her about the possibility of taking their own cats to Chicago. Monica was astounded by the overwhelming need for this service—pretty soon she was taking about 50 cats a week! In part one of this two-part episode, Monica delves into her origin story in animal welfare services, and talks about the wildly successful barn cat program she started all of those years ago in rural Illinois. Monica basically had to teach herself how to run a TNR program—attending conferences and trainings on her own time in order to ensure the best possible care for the community felines. Stay tuned for part two, in which Stacy and Monica discuss in more detail Monica’s current work at Austin Pets Alive!Interview! Elizabeth Feldhausen, Founder of Safe Haven Pet Sanctuary, Green Bay, WI
“You would think that there would be nose prints all over the windows, but it’s actually people face prints! Everybody that walks by presses their face up against the glass, and the cats love it.”
Elizabeth Feldhausen is the founder of Safe Haven Pet Sanctuary in Green Bay, WI, a cage-free no-kill pet rescue that saves special-needs cats from euthanasia lists in the Midwest. She was inspired to start Safe Haven by an experience in her childhood with a beloved cat who had a stroke and who she nursed for five years afterwards until he died naturally. Safe Haven is only a year old, but it has seen great success since its beginnings. Located in a storefront on one of the main drags of Green Bay, Safe Haven enjoys a lot of foot traffic from the outside as people walking by press their faces against the glass. It also follows the cat cafe model, offering drinks and comfortable seating for patrons, who can choose to go into the cat rooms and interact with the cats. There are plenty of cat caves and hammocks going up and down the walls so that the cats, too, can decide when they would like to interact with people and when they would like to be left alone. Safe Haven’s design truly puts the cats’ autonomy first! To learn more about Safe Haven, please visit their website at www.safehavenpet.org. You can also connect with Safe Haven on Facebook at facebook.com/safehavengb, and on Instagram at @cat_cafe_wisconsin.Interview! Jennifer Smith, EasyPetFence.com
“With an Easy Pet Fence, cats are able to walk around the backyard safely without worrying about attacks from birds and wildlife.”
Jennifer Smith is a representative for Easy Pet Fence, an e-commerce store dedicated to the outdoor safety and wellness of animals. Easy Pet Fence has different fencing kits designed for dogs, cats, and even chickens, and their innovative design keeps cats from digging under, climbing up, or getting over the fence. Self-assembly instructions can be found on YouTube or on easypetfence.com, so you can have your kitty out and playing safely in no time! You can find customer testimonials on Easy Pet Fence’s Facebook page, or follow them on Instagram (@easypetfence)Book Review! Stacy LeBaron, Host, The Community Cats Podcast
"Get ready for the tissues..."
Stacy is back with her book review show. In today’s episode she reviews, Redemption, by Nathan Winograd; Call of the Cats, by Andrew Bloomfield; Cat Daddy, by Jackson Galaxy; and Homer, The Ninth Life of a Blind Wonder Cat by Gwen Cooper. Redemption is a book that provides us with some creative solutions to our pet overpopulation issues in the country and the other books are full of emotion and passion.
Interview! Deanna Sanvi, Spay-Neuter Coordinator, Gateway Pet Guardians Community Outreach Program
“We help people keep their pets in their homes.”
Deanna Sanvi is the spay-neuter coordinator for Gateway Pet Guardians Community Outreach Program, a 501(c)3 organization serving about 65,000 people in East St. Louis, IL. Many of these people live below the poverty line, which means that Gateway offers a variety of services besides just spay and neuter, such as pet food banks, adequate outside shelter for animals, and microchipping. Deanna says the main goal of the Guardians program is to keep pets in their homes and animal surrender numbers down—when people know they have options, they can better take care of their pets. To learn more, please visit gatewaypets.com, or search for “Gateway Pet Guardians” on Facebook.Ask Stacy! Stacy LeBaron, Host, The Community Cats Podcast
“Oftentimes, these folks are not upset about the cats in general, but the fact that they’re not being cared for.”
In this, the seventh (!) Ask Stacy episode, Lisa and Stacy leave the world of cat lovers behind for a moment to take a look at “cat opponents”—whether those be the neighbors who resent your feeding station or the touch anti-community cat legislation currently enforced in your town. Backed by years of experience, Stacy provides some insight into the many reasons that people might actually be upset about the presence of community cats—and the answers may surprise you. She shares some of her success stories in mediating tense neighborhood situations and negotiating with lawmakers, to provide some encouragement for those of us who may be discouraged by the roadblocks to a safe and equitable world for cats. Don’t forget that the Community Cats Podcast is hosting a webinar on June 17 at 11 am with none other than Hannah Shaw, the Kitten Lady! Her webinar will focus on all things kittens and bottle babies, and how to create the best possible foster home for these little kitties. Sign up now before space runs out! Also, MRFRS’ annual Strut for Strays will be held this year on June 4 at 11:30 am, at the Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm in Newbury, MA. If you’re in the area and want to show your support for community cats and local shelters, please consider going to this lively and worthwhile event!Interview! Bianca Leos, Student at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University
“Animals lives are going to depend on me one day, so I need to know all this information.”
Bianca Leos is a student at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. She intends to become a shelter veterinarian working in a high quality, high volume spay-neuter program. When Bianca first started at the Cummings School, she had intended to specialize in large animal medicine. After interning at a horse rescue, however, she changed her course towards rescue and sheltering. She highlights the many differences between the stray animal populations of the Northeast and her native Texas—working in the Cummings shelter has opened her eyes to community cats as a significant population, not just as individual strays. To learn more about the Cummings School, please visit vet.tufts.edu.Interview! Susan Rosenberg, Director of International Animal Programs at GreaterGood.org
“I am working to save everything from ants to elephants.”
One could say that Susan Rosenberg has been managing animal shelters since she was 8 years old—at that age, she was covertly caring for abandoned animals in her backyard and using her allowance to do so! She has received two “calls of a lifetime,” as she calls them—first from Paul Jolly to work for the Petco Foundation, after her tremendous success in setting up a community adoption program at her local Petco; and second from greatergood.org, who offered her the director position of International Animal Programs. Susan’s work has touched the lives of animals and people quite literally from coast to coast—while working for the Petco Foundation, she orchestrated community adoption programs at stores across the country. It is now a company-wide mandatory program for every Petco location! It doesn’t stop there. In Susan’s work for greatergood.org, she finds herself in the happy position to help not just companion animals, but wild animals as well. The organization’s highly successful funding efforts allow her to choose interesting and unique programs to assist, such as a bat sanctuary in desperate need of a well. Susan’s work is truly changing the world and making it a better place!Interview! Laura Mullen, SPORE Program Director at San Francisco SPCA
“Ringworm is nothing worth dying for.”
Laura Mullen has worked in the shelter medicine department at the San Francisco SPCA for 15 years. Her current project is the SPORE Program, or Shelters Preventing Outbreaks of Ringworm through Eductation. Ringworm is a pesky fungal infection that lives on the keratin in animal hair and nails—one could call it “cathlete’s foot!” Though it’s not a life threatening condition, it can wreak havoc on animal shelters, especially those without proper resources for treating and preventing it. Backed by the Maddie’s Fund, SPORE seeks to provide those resources through treatment and prevention education and research initiatives. SFSPCA takes in known ringworm animals from other municipal shelters and screens them using in-house cultures to determine the level of infection and, subsequently, the level of treatment required for eradicating the problem. SFSPCA then teaches those shelters best practices for quarantining and monitoring animals exposed to ringworm, as well as proper preventative measures against recurrent outbreaks. To learn more about SPORE or the 3-day SPORE apprenticeship offered later this summer, please email Laura Mullen at lmullen@sfspca.org.Interview! Tina Traster, Award-winning Filmmaker, Writer, and Documentarian of “Catnip Nation”
“There are people taking care of community cats, but it begs the question: who is taking care of those people?”
Tina Traster is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. Her written pieces have been featured in a multitude of publications, including a regular segment for the New York Post, and her films have won awards at film festivals across the globe. She has noticed a theme of rescue, caretaking, and advocacy in her last three projects—“This House Matters,” a 30 minute documentary on historic preservation in the Hudson River Valley; her award-winning memoir Rescuing Julia Twice: A Mother’s Tale of Russian Adoption and Overcoming Reactive Attachment Disorder; and her current project, “Catnip Nation,” a series of vignettes about feral colony caretakers. Tina hopes that the film will spark a movement towards better, more consistent legislation surrounding community cats. Tina is currently trying to raise $6,000 for the completion of the project. You can contribute to the cause at seedandspark.com/fund/catnip-nation. To learn more about the film itself, please visit catnipnation.com.Interview! Rosemarie Crawford, Director of Educational Programs, National Kitten Coalition
After her first experience fostering bottle babies with acute health issues, Rosemarie’s colleagues realized she was a natural and nudged her towards a career in animal welfare. She worked as a vet tech in Illinois, and subsequetly became a foster coordinator. This eventually led to her current position as the Director of Educational Programs or the National Kitten Coalition, where she facilitates outreach workshops based on specific shelter needs. In this episode, Rosemarie discusses the obstacles facing kitten care and adoption in shelters, as well as the ever-present subject of avoiding burnout for both foster coordinators and volunteers. For more information, visit kittencoalition.org or the Coalition’s Facebook page. To download their Kitten Nursery Manual, click here.Interview! Tracie Hotchner, Author, The Cat Bible and Radio Pet Lady
“The point is to reach people and influence their hearts and minds in ways that are really meaningful.”
Tracie is a premiere podcast presence, supporting the education and wellness of cats. She is the author of The Cat Bible: Everything Your Cat Expects You to Know as well as producer and host of NPR’s show “Dog Talk (and Kitties Too!)”. Tracie is currently organizing the New York Cat Film Festival, which offers short films and documentaries about cats and the people who love them. The festival will travel to select cities with a philanthropic mission to raise education and funding for local rescues and shelters. As Stacy refers to her, Tracie is ‘an outreach queen’ who greatly values the importance of story-telling to improve the landscape of animal welfare.
To explore further, visit radiopetlady.com and catfilmfestival.com.
Interview! Mike Fry, Founder and Senior Consultant at No Kill Learning
“The killing that takes place is harmful and costly and damaging.”
Mike was raised in a family of animal welfare activists who opened the first no-kill shelter in Minnesota in 1977. After working for Fortune 500 companies in the technology field, he decided to dedicate his shelter experience to end unnecessary euthanasia in local shelters. Mike hosts Just One Day every June 11th, which provides nationwide shelters and animal control organizations the educational opportunity to practice a no-kill philosophy for one trial day. Participants are invited to change their strategies by taking the no-kill pledge. Mike also discusses the negative repercussions of killing in shelters, from high volunteer turnover to questionable shelter ethics. For more information, visit nokilllearning.net and justoneday.ws.Interview! Susan Linker, Co-founder of Our Companions Animal Rescue
“We’ve come a long way with spay and neuter in our area.”
Susan is the co-founder of Our Companions Animal Rescue, a forty-three acre sanctuary in Ashford, CT. A non-profit organization with 400 volunteers, 2,500 donors and plans to double in size, Our Companions Animal Rescue prioritizes creating a low-stress environment for cats and dogs to optimize better health and behavior, hence better adoption outcomes. Susan discusses ways to do this, including using cottages as ‘real life’ spaces for cats rather than stress-inducing cages. She and Stacy also discuss similarities and differences between ‘sanctuaries’ and ‘adoption centers,’ and the belief that both are only pieces in the animal welfare puzzle that also includes TNR, education and public policy.
To explore further, visit ourcompanions.org and their Facebook page, or call 860-242-9999.
Interview! Bonney Brown, Founder and Principle Consultant of the Humane Network
“Engaging the public in our work is the key to making it sustainable.”
Stacy has once again invited Bonney Brown from the Humane Network back on the show! Bonney fills Stacy in on what the Network’s been up to in the past year, such as helping rescue groups to better their strategic planning, improve their live release rate, and ensure their sustainability, among other things. Bonney and Stacy also chat about how the ways we interact with cats outdoors have changed, due to the advent of cat harnesses, pet strollers, and catios, as well as how free adoption of adult cats during peak kitten season can actually help your shelter. In case you missed it, you can listen to Bonney’s first interview with Stacy here. And you can check out the Humane Network at humanenetwork.org, or email info@humanenetwork.org if you have any questions for Bonney herself.Interview! Jonathan Rosenberg, Founder of Tabby’s Place
“I wanted to do something for the cats nobody wanted.”
Jonathan Rosenberg wasn’t very interested in animal welfare—or even considered himself a “cat person”—until he met Tabby. When a stray cat showed up on his porch one day, begging for food and a place to sleep, Jonathan and his wife took him in and gave him a very happy life for the next sixteen years. When Tabby was diagnosed with and subsequently passed from terminal cancer, however, Jonathan’s whole life focus changed. He quit his job and started Tabby’s Place, a sanctuary for special needs cats and cats in otherwise “helpless” situations. Tabby’s place helps about 120 domestic cats a year and countless more community cats. Located in New Jersey, Tabby’s Place boasts a large, fence-in outdoor area for cats who are too sick or needy to leave the sanctuary, an in-house medical clinic, as well as a wide scope of different programs. Jonathan describes to Stacy his journey towards becoming an advocate for cats as well as the expansion of his own ideas of how and where cats should live. To learn more about Tabby’s Place, or to sponsor a cat at the sanctuary, please visit tabbysplace.org.*Correction! Jonathan Rosenberg, the subject of this interview, made us aware of an error in this episode and we’d like to make sure you know the facts! In the intro to this podcast, we said, “Tabby’s Place boasts a large, fenced-in outdoor area for cats who are too sick or needy to leave the sanctuary,” Jonathan tells us this is not so. There isn’t a large, outdoor area. Tabby’s Place has many special needs cats, mixed in with other cats, inside the sanctuary. There are multiple “sun rooms” (rooms with three walls and a forth screened-in wall), that provide cats exposure to sunlight and fresh air. Most cats have access to these rooms.
Interview! Harold Rhee, Host of This is Pawprint Podcast
“Your volunteers may have skills that you never knew about. You don’t really know unless you truly empower people to share their talents.”
Harold Rhee is the creator and host of This is Pawprint, another animal welfare podcast! With his wife Nancy, he interviews the “heroes of animal rescue,” such as Tamar Arslanian, author and photographer of Shop Cats, as well as our very own Stacy LeBaron! Stacy and Harold compare notes on creating their shows, and Harold offers encouragement to those listeners who want to start their own media endeavors to broadcast their shelters and rescues, whether it be a YouTube channel or a podcast of their own. Harold’s podcast has featured mainly dogs and cats, but he hopes to branch into other species as well. You can listen to Harold’s podcast at thisispawprint.com, and keep up with it on Facebook or Instagram. (Psst—Harold interviewed Stacy a couple weeks ago. Listen to her episode here!)Interview! Steve Lawrence, Co-Director of The Cat Rescuers, and Tara Green, TNR volunteer of Brooklyn Animal Action
“I think it’s important for viewers to understand the kind of dedication and commitment that’s required to do this work.”
When Steve Lawrence moved to Brooklyn with his wife Helen, he didn’t know the first thing about community cats. However, after individuals of a backyard colony started showing up at his backdoor begging for food, he began to investigate and uncover the world of the estimated 1,000,000 community cats roaming the streets of New York City. With co-director Rob Fruchtman, Steve has followed the work of four TNR rescuers working in Brooklyn (including co-guest Tara Green of Brooklyn Animal Action) for the past three years, filming them in action for a documentary called The Cat Rescuers. He and Helen are now also certified in TNR and hope to bring the film to wider audiences at international film festivals to raise awareness of community cats and to spread TNR as a global practice. If you are interested in learning more about the upcoming film, please visit catrescuersfilm.com. There, you can view the demo reel and sign up for the email list to be notified when the Kickstarter for finishing the film goes live!Interview! Robin Olson, Blogger at CoveredinCatHair.com and founder of Kitten Associates
“I love telling these stories because every single cat that we bring into our rescue always has something we can learn from.”
Robin Olson is the writer behind the award winning “Covered in Cathair” blog, which chronicles the stores of the 500 cats she’s rescued over the years. She also is the founder of Kitten Associates, which opened its doors in 2010. Located in Sandy Hook, CT, Kitten Associates started the Kitties for Kids program after the Newtown school shooting, which provided a space for any affected by the tragedy to come and spend time with the kittens in the shelter. Robin’s own involvement in cat and animal welfare started when she was going through a hard time in her life many years ago, so she is very familiar with the profound healing power that cats can have in our lives. Check out Robin’s blog at coveredincathair.com. You can also follow Robin’s work on Facebook at facebook.com/CoveredinCatHair.Interview! Rebecca Jewell, Executive Director of the National Kitten Coalition
“Foster programs are my first love by far.”
Rebecca Jewell is the executive director of the National Kitten Coalition. Her family fostered many pregnant cats and litters when she was growing up in Ohio, which inspired in her a love of foster programs. In fact, she built her own foster program from scratch when she first became the volunteer coordinator of a shelter in the DC area 11 years ago—just when she had started to work in the field! After only four years of operation, they had a 97% survival rate for neonatal kittens in the summer of 2010. Since then, Rebecca has been overjoyed to see foster programs become a top priority for shelters. She believes that building strong relationships within your community can make up for a great deal of the lack of monetary resources that so many shelters and rescue programs face, especially since every community has such unique needs. To learn more about the Kitten Coalition, or to download their brand-new Kitten Nursery Manual, please visit kittencoalition.org. You can also follow the happenings at the Coalition at facebook.com/kittencoalition.Interview! Jackson Galaxy, Star of Animal Planet’s My Cat from Hell, and Founder of the Jackson Galaxy Foundation
“I was used to not following rules and cats don’t follow rules for the most part.”
It’s the Cat Daddy himself in this special episode of the podcast! Stacy has a fascinating conversation with Jackson Galaxy, the once-musician whose special bond with felines catapulted (sorry!) him to fame as a champion for helping people better understand cat behavior and find creative ways to help them.
Season Eight of his show, My Cat From Hell, opens in late April with Jackson bringing 50 doomed kittens from Los Angeles on a van ride to Denver, accompanied by Kitten Lady Hannah Shaw. Jackson describes a number of the life-saving initiatives his foundation is piloting throughout the country, and gives a treasure trove of advice about what individuals can do to make a difference: “Every something that you do will save somebody."
For more information visit jacksongalaxyfoundation.org.
Photo Credits: All color photos by Andrew Martial. The black and white is Lori Fusaro.
Interview! Dr. Theo Capaldo, President and Executive Director of the New England Anti-Vivisection Society
“We really try to fight science with science.”
Dr. Theo Capaldo is the president and executive director of the New England Anti-Vivisection Society (NEAVS). NEAVS is committed to ending the use of animals as test subjects, and in fact spearheaded the successful campaign to the use of chimps in biomedical research in the United States. As a licensed psychologist, Dr. Capaldo is concerned about the impact of forced dissection in education as early as high school: she believes it works to eliminate compassion from students of the sciences. She also stresses how ineffectual animal testing is, and encourages constituents of schools and organizations, as well as consumers of animal-tested products, to start local campaigns against animal testing.To learn more about NEAVS, please visit neavs.org, or visit releasechimps.org to learn about their successful chimp project. You can also call NEAVS at (617)-523-6020 between the hours of 9 AM to and 5:30 PM, Eastern.
Interview! Carter Luke, President and CEO of the Massachusetts Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA)
“Fall in love with a cat…find a cat and try to help it."
Luke reflects on some of the changes he’s seen for cats in his 40 years in animal welfare. His approach is based on building coalitions of different groups who can jointly bring different talents to the table to affect change in the “disease of homelessness” for cats. He was one of the founders of the National Council of Pet Population Study and Policy, which did ground-breaking research on why people resist getting their pets spayed or neutered, and collected objective data on the population of animals in shelters and beyond. Luke credits a “public health approach” to the MSPCA’s success in reducing feline intakes into its three shelters, tracking intakes by neighborhood and zip code and targeting spay/neuter outreach in those areas.
Find out more by visiting mspca.org.
Interview! Sarah Pizano, Program Director for Target Zero
“You are doing this on behalf of the cats. Put the nerves on the back burner; it’s about saving cats.”
Stacy revisits with Sarah Pizano, the program director for Target Zero and the podcast’s guest of episode 56. Sarah shares with us an innovative way that Target Zero was able to move funds from a foundation in Cincinnati all the way to the shelters and communities of the Northern Area Kentucky Development District, an organization that does a lot of non-profit work in the human sector but had yet to branch into animal welfare. By partnering with private vets and humane societies in the district, Target Zero was able to provide low-cost spay-neuter to both local shelters and poor families with cats in the area, and has since expanded that project into other parts of Kentucky as well as northwest Georgia. To learn more about Target Zero, please visit target-zero.org.Interview! Brad Shear, CEO of the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society
“We are not here to be exterminators.”
When it comes to animal sheltering, Brad Shear has run the gamut of shelter needs and sizes. He started his career in the local shelter of a small city in Colorado, and since then has moved around the country to several different cities to share his knowledge and experience. For the past ten years he has been the CEO of the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society in New York state. His current shelter has a variety of unique programs, such as the option for those moving to domestic violence shelters to temporarily house their pet at Mohawk Humane, and the STAR program, a partnership between the shelter and the sheriff’s office that sends dogs and cats to local jails to be trained and socialized by the inmates. Brad shares his journey from traditional sheltering values to the superiority and ethics of TNR, and hopes that, in the near future, shelters will begin to develop sheltering plans unique to cats rather than simply using the same strategies implemented with dogs. To get in touch with Brad, please visit mohawkhumane.org or call (518) 434-8128.Interview! Merritt Clifton, Editor at Animals 24-7
“These days, shelters probably see only a fraction of the real numbers of cats in the community.”
In this episode, Stacy revisits Merritt Clifton, the editor of the Animals 24-7 news site. This time, Merritt gives an in-depth look at the use of statistics and data in animal welfare. He gives some inside tips and tricks into how one person can estimate population levels of community cats in their area and track that population over time. Merritt advocates for better data-keeping and measuring of statistics in the animal welfare world so that organizations and individual advocates can learn from one another. Listen to Merritt’s first interview with Stacy here, or visit him at animals24-7.org.Beth Clifton, Photographer and Social Media Editor for Animals 24-7
“Take Personal Responsibility with Animals in Need”
Beth Clifton is the photographer and social media editor for Animals 24-7. She is also the wife of previous CCP guest Merritt Clifton, and she cites him as one of the people who changed her thinking around TNR and community cats. Beth has had several jobs involving animals, and when she first started working as an animal control officer, her encounters with community cats were largely negative. Because of this, she didn’t think that cats should live outside at all, but when she met Merritt, she began to expand her perspective on these very misunderstood populations. She explains to Stacy her view on feeding stations for community cats and her fear that “random acts of feeding” can actually do more harm than good. She hopes that anyone who chooses to help community cats will do so in a conscious and educated way, and take personal responsibility when handling these wild animals. To learn more about Beth or Animals 24-7, please visit animals24-7.org.Ask Stacy! Stacy LeBaron, Host of The Community Cats Podcast
“This is all about being a family.”
As kitten season approaches, guest host Lisa Finkel talks with Stacy about creatively managing community kittens. Describing kitten fostering as a “pre-program” to the adoption process, Stacy offers insight on productive ways to set up a healthy and sustainable foster care program. Many elements contribute to a successful system, from the medical and administrative structure to compassion fatigue support. Lisa and Stacy also touch on the joys of socializing feral kittens, lovingly referred to as ‘tiny tigers,’ the pros of kitten nurseries, and tips for fundraising during kitten season.
Interview! Jocelyn Bouchard, Executive Director, Yavapai Humane Society
“How do we elevate the status of cats?”
Jocelyn’s work in animal welfare began as a vet tech in a spay/neuter clinic in Vancouver BC in the 1980’s, when high volume clinics were cutting edge. Twenty years’ experience living in Maui fueled her belief that managing colonies, including feral kitten socializing and the tracking and removing of tame abandoned cats, is as important as TNR for decreasing numbers. Jocelyn discusses her insights and goals for her recent work at Yavapai Humane Society in Prescott Valley, Arizona, and the differing challenges community cats face in Maui versus Arizona, two vastly different environments. She also discusses her battle against negative perceptions of feral cats through education, in hopes of bridging the gap between the cat reputations as wild versus domestic.For more information, visit yavapaihumane.org or contact Jocelyn at jbouchard@yavapai.org
Interview! Laura Baughman, Director of Operations, National Kitten Coalition
"You’re going to get a whole lot more kittens when you start a nursery.”
As we enter “kitten season,” Stacy talks to Laura about “kitten nurseries,” a new and hot concept for management of neonatal kittens. Laura recently researched and wrote a manual for organizations thinking about starting their own kitten nursery that provides a complete blueprint for approaching this challenge. She notes that before an organization considers a kitten nursery, it should have a strong and capable fostering program in place. Then, it’s important to identify the goals and realities of establishing a nursery, including budgeting, space, staff needs and access to medical care. Once you start a nursery, Laura observes, you’re going to be a “magnet for kittens” and the task may be even more challenging than expected.
For more info check out kittencoalition.org.
Interview! Sara Kent, Director of Shelter Outreach for Petfinder
“Video is a great way to let cats speak for themselves…and they don’t have to say a lot.”
Petfinder has brought the world of technology to shelters and potential adopters. Sara, who’s been there for 17 years, speaks with Stacy about the visibility it brings to hundreds of thousands of pets seeking a home, and how it seeks to improve the adoption experience by offering ongoing support once new pet parents have selected their new family member. Petfinder was one of the first sources to offer videos of shelter pets, and, as Sarah notes, “even a 15 second clip of a cat purring in a volunteer’s lap” can make a profound difference to that cat’s changes. She talks about upcomig improvements to Petfinder, including enhanced search options, and a more mobile-friendly experience.
Interview! Julie Bank, President and CEO of Pasadena Humane Society and SPCA
“I saw the animal shelter as a living museum.”
Julie Bank is the president and CEO of Pasadena Humane Society and SPCA. She approaches running an animal shelter from the unique perspective of curating a museum—in fact, she enrolled in a museum education program purely to bring the tools of alternative education used in museum programming back to the animal shelter. Julie says that for her, it’s very important that shelter messaging is holistic: the facility, uniforms, staff education, signage, all must be consistent with one another in order to communicate the appropriate message. Julie gives some advice about how to be an effective leader when in a management position at a shelter, and also tells us about Pasadena’s unique Employ-a-Cat program.To learn more about Pasadena Humane Society, please visit pasadenahumane.org.
Interview! Anna Murrin and Valerie Kajko, Project Manager and TNR Coordinator, Metro Denver CAT Project
“Having a physical location in the community builds up trust.”
Anna Murrin and Valerie Kajko are the project manager and TNR coordinator, respectively, of Metro Denver CAT Project in Denver, CO. CAT, or Cats Around Town, is a unique project in that it provides resources for all cats in a targeted area by setting up its home base in the neighborhood it serves. Still in its pilot phase, the project is currently based in the 80219 zip code, one of the many neighborhoods of Denver with a large community cat population. CAT surveys the residents of the community and the local shelters in order to identify locations of colonies and colony feeders. This project has long been in the making, as Anna and Valerie say that it is sometimes hard to get isolated animal welfare groups to work together. The results of the CAT project, however, prove to them that the slow process of putting people in contact is very worth it.For more information on the CAT project, please visit www.denvercats.org.
Interview! Part Two - Cheryl Fernandes, Shelter Care Representative, PetLink
"The microchip is the silent voice for the animal."
In part two, Stacy and Cheryl Ann dive into the complexities of microchipping once microchips have been placed—how do you scan a newly-trapped feral cat? What are best practices for animal control officers when recovering an animal afield whose microchip turns out to be a dead end? Cheryl Ann also argues for microchipping in colonies—the little chips can store information about vaccinations and other medical history, thus reducing blind precautionary measures. Don’t forget that August 15th is Check Your Chip Day! You can listen to Cheryl Ann’s first interview here, and to access the microchip database that Cheryl Ann mentioned in Part 1, go to www.petmicrochiplookup.org. You can also get in touch with Cheryl Ann herself by calling her cellphone at (781)-281-5167, or email her at cherylann.fernandes@datamars.Interview! Part One - Heather Cammisa, CEO and Tara Sannucci, Pet Retention Coordinator, St. Hubert’s
“A database is only as good as it’s maintained.”
In part one of this two-part episode, Stacy talks to Heather Cammisa and Tara Sannucci, the president of St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center and director of the Pet Retention Program, respectively. Tara and Heather detail the plethora of programs that St. Hubert’s has to offer, mostly focusing on education: humane education, training and behavior help and the pet helpline, and advocacy for correct animal welfare legislation. Tara tells a story of how she counseled a distressed cat owner when she had lost her cat in a snowstorm, advising her not to give up hope, and emphasizes to Stacy that keeping faith is one of the most important parts of recovering your lost pet.
For more information on St. Huberts’ many programs, please visit sthuberts.org, or search for St. Huberts on any form of major social media. For help with a pet or to reach Tara directly, you can visit sthuberts.org/pethelpline.
Interview! Part Two - Heather Cammisa, CEO and Tara Sannucci, Pet Retention Coordinator, St. Hubert’s
“It’s senseless to put out all this advice if you have someone who’s not willing or able to do it all.”
In part two of this two-part episode, Tara dives into details while Heather gives us the big picture. Tara has a lot of responsibilities around St. Huberts, which include handling cat behavior challenges in the shelter such as socialization of shy cats and keeping the cats happy and entertained. She also mans the Pet Helpline, and she is doing just as much rapport and trust-building with human guardians as she does with the shelter animals. Meanwhile, Heather gives us an idea of what life is like for community cats nowadays in New Jersey—the difference between now and twenty years ago, she says, is marked.
To access the trove of resources available from St. Huberts, please visit sthuberts.org, or search for St. Huberts on any form of major social media. For help with a pet or to reach Tara directly, you can visit sthuberts.org/pethelpline.
Interview! Lauren Burbridge, Coordinator, Massachusetts Animal Fund
“If every taxpayer in MA payed just one dollar… we could help over 40,000 cats and dogs every year.”
Lauren Burbridge has figured out how to help people and animals at the same time: she is a licensed social worker who started the Massachusetts Animal Fund, an organization that seeks to develop agricultural resources to end animal homelessness in the state. Lauren works directly with the public (particularly low-income communities), Animal Control officers, and local town offices to provide spay-neuter for those who need it most—the perfect marriage of her degree in social work with her passion for animal rights. Besides funds management, Lauren also created the Core Competencies Program from scratch—a brief but thorough training for animal control officers in matters such as emergency preparedness, safe handling, animal control law, and others.
The MA Animal Fund relies solely on taxpayer donations administered by the Department of Agricultural Resources, and is always in great need. If you are a Massachusetts resident and would like to donate, remember to check the box on line 32F of your income tax form!
To learn more about the MA Animal Fund, check out their website, or follow them on Twitter: @line32F. If you live outside of Massachusetts and are interested in starting a similar program in your state, feel free to contact Lauren at lauren.gilfeather@state.ma.us.
Interview! Joyce Briggs, President, Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs
“Whenever we intervene with animals in an ecosystem, there are implications for other animals.”
Joyce Briggs is the president of the Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs. With a background in public health, she is concerned with how to better manage populations of cats and dogs, as well as how to sterilize these animals using non-surgical methods. This is the mission of the ACC&D, and it poses unique challenges that Joyce discusses with Stacy: how can we develop permanent contraceptives? what would contraceptives look like for community cats? how could a trapper or animal control officer tell that a cat is receiving non-surgical contraception? Joyce also provides some information on the Michelson Prize, a large grant for establishing non-surgical sterilization programs.
To learn more about the ACC&D and the work Joyce does there, please visit www.acc-d.org.
Interview! Dr. Dena Mangiamele, Author/Lecturer
“‘Safety first’ does not exclude cats at all.”
When Dena Mangiamele started to practice veterinary medicine with the City of Los Angeles Department of Animal Control in the 1990s, animal sheltering procedures and best practices looked very different from how they do now. Dena helped to implement groundbreaking (at the time) programs like early spay-neuter, which greatly lowered the euthanasia numbers in the shelter, as well as the shelter’s annual intake. Dena continues to propagate these programs in shelters across the country through her consultation service, and also teaches animal safety and handling programs for shelter volunteers and animal control officers. She is passionate about instilling the belief in these shelters that high-volume low-cost spay-neuter is possible for them, even if the results aren’t immediately apparent.
To learn amore about Dena, you can visit her at www.doctordena.com or pick her brain directly by emailing contact@doctordena.com.
Interview! Gavin Ehringer, Author
“We are so people-focused because behind every animal that is coming into our clinic is a person.”
Gavin Ehringer has been writing about companion animals for 25 years, fueled by a childhood growing up next to a game farm and spending his young adult years working on a ranch. In this unorthodox episode, he outlines the different “classes” of animals—working, companion, purebred, and show—and tells Stacy about the unintended consequences of breeding. His upcoming book, Coming to the Fire: The Unnatural History of Dogs, Cats, Cows, and Horses, explores the relationship between companion animals and humans, and how humans have used their relationship with us to advance their own survival. To find out more about Gavin’s new book, please visit www.comingtothefire.com.Interview! Michelle Rivera, Founder, Spay-Neuter Kansas City
“We are so people-focused because behind every animal that is coming into our clinic is a person.”
Michelle Rivera is the founder of Spay-Neuter Kansas City, a 501(c)3 non-profit that services the Kansas City areas in both Kansas and Missouri. Now going on its fifteenth year of operation, SNKC has increased the live release rate to 90% in the cities’ shelters, and it services around 20,000 animals each year.Before the impetus of SNKC, Michelle did not see animal welfare service in her future—she used to be extremely afraid of dogs! However, in order to regain confidence after leaving an abusive relationship, a therapist encouraged her to volunteer at the local shelter. In this way she created her own redemption story by helping lost and abused pets to find theirs. Because of this background, her goal at SNKC is two-fold: to better the lives of the animals that enter the SNKC clinic, and to create an inclusive “workplace culture” for her staff. She believes that a healthy workplace is crucial to provide top-notch service to animals and pet owners, and to prevent the drama and burnout that can be so parasitic to non-profit, welfare-focused organizations.
To find out how you can create a better workplace culture in your organization, you can email Michelle with your questions at michelle@snkc.net.
Interview! Priscilla Ma, Executive Director, US Chapter of World Animal Protection
“People don’t want to know just about suffering, they want to know how they can help.”
Priscilla Ma is the executive director for the US chapter of World Animal Protection. While doing humanitarian work with Smile Train, she traveled throughout the world and saw the different kinds of impacts that animals can have on humans, and the myriad of ways that the animal-human relationship can manifest itself. She joined WAP in 2015, and since then has been promoting the organization's four main tenets: animals and farming, animals and communities, animals in the wild, and animals and disaster. Priscilla goes more into detail about what those pillars are in the episode and explains that, when working in an international organization, you can make an impact on millions of people by telling the story of one animal. To learn more about the US chapter of WAP, please visit worldanimalprotection.us.org.Interview! Cheryl Fernandes, Shelter Care Representative, PetLink
"The microchip is the silent voice for the animal."
In continuation with Microchipping Madness, Stacy invites Cheryl Ann Fernandes back to the show to discuss the importance of microchipping. Cheryl Ann explains a bit about the technology behind the microchip, what RFID is and what it stands for, and also highlights the importance of buying your microchips from a reputable company. She also reinforces some of the statistics covered in earlier Microchipping Madness episodes—less than 2% of lost cats are returned to owners, as opposed to much higher rates for dogs. Check with your local veterinarian or shelter about opportunities for microchipping your pets today! Listen to Cheryl Ann’s first interview here, and to access the microchip database that Cheryl Ann mentioned, go to www.petmicrochiplookup.org. You can also get in touch with Cheryl Ann herself by calling her cellphone at (781)-281-5167, or email her at cherylann.fernandes@datamars.com.Interview! Brigid Wasson, Co-founder Missing Pet Partnership
“We recommend that all cats be chipped, but it isn’t foolproof.”
Brigid is back for another interview with Stacy, and to kick of March Microchipping Madness, Brigid talks about the importance of microchipping your pets. Microchipping is an especially important development when it comes to cats, as the Return to Owner (RTO) rate for our feline friends is between 1 and 2% in the US! Brigid also discusses the drawbacks of microchipping, such as out-of-date information. She urges owners adopting new cats to get their pet scanned as soon as possible in order to check for a microchip and, if one is present, to call the company and update their contact information right away. If you haven’t yet listened to Brigid’s first episode, you can do so now by clicking here. To get in touch with Brigid, or to learn more about the Missing Pet Partnership’s Mission Reunite Animal Shelter Training Seminar, please email her at bwasson@missingpetpartnership.org.Bruce Myers, Executive Director, United Spay Alliance
“The law tends to be way behind the needs on the ground… We’ve got to let the law catch up.”
In this Spay Day episode, Stacy is joined by Bruce Myers, an animal protection lawyer and new director of the United Spay Alliance. The United Spay Alliance (USA) seeks to establish timely spay-neuter programs in each state that are easily accessible to people who need it—not just a list of clinic locations, but a state-wide database with e-resources and FAQs. Bruce is optimistic about this goal, as it has relatively light financial projections, and in his first year as director he hopes to address some of the animal welfare issues in the Southern United States. He is open to hearing from people in the animal welfare community on subjects such as messaging, education, and access! To get in touch with Bruce, email him at myers@unitedspayalliance.org.Interview! Katie Lisnik, Director of Cat Protection and Policy at the Humane Society of the United States
“This is the thick of legislative session season.”
Where in the USA is cat policy these days? Katie Lisnik can tell you! Katie is back for her third interview with Stacy, and this time she is taking us on a tour of various states who have serious bills and legislation that affect community cats on the docket for 2017. Some of these bills the HSUS itself is pushing, and some of the bills it is trying to change—in Hawaii a bill for state-funded TNR is in the making, while in WY animal welfare advocates are trying to change the language around “nuisance animals” and making sure community cats don’t fall under that definition. Plus, Katie gives us a teaser of some of the programming for the upcoming HSUS Expo from May 9 to 12 in Fort Lauderdale, FL. To find out what the HSUS is doing near you, or to get more information on the Expo, please visit animalsheltering.org. You can also get in touch with Katie or Danielle Bays by emailing cats@humanesociety.org.Ask Stacy! Five Tenets of Building an Organization
“We have to focus on giving people the guidance they need, but also let them take ownership a task, too.”
In this Ask Stacy episode, Lisa and Stacy go through Stacy’s 5 Tenets of Building an Organization to Help Community Cats, which are: Understand your community, Build a skills matrix, Delegate tasks, Communicate with donors and volunteers, and Review and evaluate goals. Stacy is more than happy to consult with organizations on working on these tenets, so please email her at stacy@communitycatspodcast.com if you have any questions! Don’t forget: the Cat Stats webinar is fast approaching on February 23rd! If you still have not reserved your spot, go to the Community Cats Podcast website and search for “cat stats webinar” to fill out the participant form. Also, be sure to submit a selfie with your cat to the My Feline Valentine photo contest before February 28th for a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card and other prizes!Interview! Rachel Geller, Certified Humane Education Specialist
“The moral and humane response to animal abuse begins with assisting kids in developing empathy and compassion for animals.”
We are once again re-visiting an old friend of the podcast—Dr. Rachel Geller, vice president of the Gifford Cat Shelter and certified humane education specialist. As a cat behavior counselor, Rachel has been busy giving talks at various youth organizations to teach children compassion towards animals. She has worked with high-risk children and youth for a long time, teaching not only the importance of empathy towards animals, but also helping to build symbiotic relationships between youth and animals for mutual support. Rachel talks about the different types of humane education programming at Gifford, such as a program where children who lack confidence in reading or speaking aloud come to the shelter and read to a cat—the child gets a non-judgmental audience, and the cat receives some much-needed attention and company! You can listen to Rachel’s first interview on the podcast here, or find out more about Rachel’s upcoming lecture at the Whole Cat Workshop by visiting massanimalcoalition.com. To consult with Rachel about humane education programming for your organization, email her at rachelsg@aol.com.Interview! Tamar Arslanian, Author of Shop Cats of New York
“Isn’t a life in a shop where they’re loved better than a cage or being put down?”
Tamar Arslanian is the blogger behind ihavecat.com and the author of Shop Cats of New York, the coffee table book that Stacy recommended in her last book show. In the three years it took to write the book, Tamar partnered with photographer Andrew Marttila, who she calls a true “cat whisperer,” and adventured all around New York meeting amazing cats in shops and the communities that form around them. In conversation with Stacy, Tamar debunks some of the myths surrounding shop cats, such as that shop cats are more neglected than their home counterparts, and shares some of her favorite stories from Shop Cats.You can find Shop Cats on Amazon or at ihavecat.com, and you can follow the shop cats on social media by searching for “Shop Cats of New York” on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Interview! Christina Ha, Co-Founder of Meow Parlour and Creator of Cat Camp NYC
“How can I bridge the gap between people who want to learn about cats and the experts who know all about cats?”
Until 3 1/2 years ago, Christina’s passion was food rather than felines. But after adopting her first kitty, Mr. Socks, she decided to combine her talents as a pastry chef with a growing interest in cats by becoming the co-founder of Meow Parlour, New York City’s first-ever cat cafe. “I couldn’t understand why are were cat cafes all over the world and not in New York,” she observes. Meow Parlour partners with Kitty Kind, an all-volunteer rescue group who provides cats for the cafe, many of whom have found forever homes in the process. Christina also details her upcoming event, Cat Camp NYC, a two day feline-focused event in March featuring speakers, shopping and interaction with cat lovers from all over. To find out more about Cat Camp NYC go to: www.catcampnyc.comInterview! Shaun Sears, Co-Owner, Canopy Cat Rescue
"What we do is extremely dangerous…even savvy tree climbers have difficulty rescuing cats."
You don’t need to call a fireman to rescue your cat from a tree when Shaun Sears is around. Shaun and his partner are certified arborists who have “branched out” (sorry!) into the specialty of rescuing cats from trees. Their firm, Canopy Cat Rescue, has recovered nearly 800 cats from trees over the last two years, and was featured on the Animal Planet program, “Tree Top Cat Rescue.” They operate as a non-profit, relying solely on donations for their work, so that they can rescue any cat regardless of an owner's ability to pay. Shaun shares the knowledge he’s learned about how to deal with all types of cats —friendly and scared, feral and owned — and busts the myth that a cat will simply climb down when it’s hungry. To find out more about Cat Canopy Rescue go to: http://www.canopycatrescue.comMeg Bond, Owner, Events by Meg
“You need to find the kingpin to what is taking up space.”
Meg Bond has a “Type-A” dream job—she organizes for a living! Meg is a self-employed event coordinator and residential stager/organizer, which means that she sets up residences to be most appealing to perspective buyers. She also helps people organize their homes and office, and in this episode she shares some great tips for organizations looking for fresh ideas on planning events or rearrange their home bases. The key to re-organizing, she says, is finding the “kingpin” of what is holding everything back—and oftentimes, it’s in the last place you think. You can learn more about Meg’s business on her Facebook pages, Staging by Meg and Events by Meg, or you can get in touch with her by calling (978)-337-4444, or by emailing meg@eventsbymeg.com.Joe Miele, TNR project coordinator, Broken Promises SW
“A tight-knit colony is going to keep other [cats] out of the area.”
Joe Miele is the TNR project coordinator for Broken Promises SW, a non-profit that seeks to address community cat overpopulation in Las Cruces, New Mexico and the surrounding county. Joe has been working with community cats since the mid 1990s, when he began teaching TNR classes with the Animal Protection League in New Jersey. He was inspired by the amount of people who wanted to help the community cat population in New Jersey, but found a very different scene when he moved to Las Cruces. Faced with extremely anti-community cat ordinances, along with the general community's overwhelming apathy towards the colonies in the area, Joe started Broken Promises SW to try and help the cats in the area. There are very few resources for his TNR group in Las Cruces, so they rely mainly on donations and are always happy to accept help. To learn more about Broken Promises, or to donate to Joe’s cause, search for Broken Promises SW on Facebook. You can also get in touch with Joe by emailing brokenpromisessw@comcast.net or by calling 575-680-1955.Gus Ray, Owner of Baycom Diagnostics
“From a scientific point of view it’s been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but also the most rewarding.”
Gus Ray is the owner of Baycom Diagnostics, a new company that provides A1C testing for dogs and cats. The A1C test aids in the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes by reading your average glucose levels over a period of time—for cats 90 days, for dogs 120. The disparity between human blood and cat and dog blood proved quite a challenge to develop a test comparable to the “gold standard” in diabetes medicine, but as Gus is a “scientist at heart,” he was determined to find the answer. After years of research and development, Gus’s test is patent pending and he is working with vets to make A1C tests available in their practices. The A1C test is faster, more accurate, and more affordable than existing glucose tests, and to promote awareness and access to the test, Baycom will give away $100,000 in tests to shelters this year. Gus’ next venture is to develop a mouth swab tests so that owners can manage their pet’s diabetes within the home. To learn more about the A1C test, or to find out how you can receive a donation for your shelter or cause, visit baycomdiagnostics.com or search for “Gus Ray” on LinkedIn.Myles Chadwick, Vice President of the New School at Emancipet
“In order to reach people who haven’t been [reached] before, we have to do a lot of listening, not just a lot of telling.”
What do line cooks and high-volume spay-neuter vets have in common? Coming to the animal welfare world from a background in restaurants and cooking, Myles didn’t know the first thing about TNR when he became the assistant manager of client services at an ASPCA hospital in New York City. However, he became fascinated with the process and eventually took over the management of the TNR clinics. He is now the director of clinic operations and training at Emancipet, an organization committed to making low-cost spay-neuter services affordable and accessible. He is also the vice president of the Emancipet New School, which provides training for animal welfare organizations in their messaging and outreach to communities that have low incidence of spay-neuter. Now a seasoned advocate, Myles talks about his slow discovery of the “underlying truths” of his field, and highlights that the “sharing of information” is the most important part of making low-cost spay-neuter accessible. He believes that pet overpopulation is the product of barriers to entry rather than irresponsibility. To learn more about Emancipet or the New School, visit emancipet.org and emancipet.org/newschool.Steve Smith, Founder of Pet Releaf
“We follow the science first and foremost.”
In this episode, Stacy interviews a different kind of person interested in pet health and medication—Steve Smith, co-founder of Pet Releaf, a service that provides hemp- and CBD-infused products for pets. Pet Releaf was born of Steve’s personal experience with his dog Mattie. As she aged, Mattie showed signs of serious arthritic pain when she walked, and she was clearly suffering. Although Steve was never able to find a suitable holistic cure during Mattie’s life, he and his business partner were determined to find one for other dogs and cats. They began researching medical marijuana, moved to Colorado, and started Pet Releaf. Almost six years later, Pet Releaf is stocked in almost 600 stores around the US, is legal in all 50 states, and even has a presence abroad! For more information about Pet Releaf, visit petreleaf.com. Or, to get in touch with Steve, email info@petreleaf.com.Emma Clifford, Founder and Executive Director of Animal Balance
“I don’t think you can put a dollar figure on humanely managing all species."
Emma is back for another interview! This time, she tells Stacy about her most recent and fascinating trip to the Galapagos Islands in early December. There she and her team at Animal Balance Galapagos worked with the local parks service to develop a community-based sterilization program for cats (TNR in CCP speak!). She talks about working in a habitat with extremely sensitive and protected flora and fauna, and the important symbolism of the success of the program in such a place. Emma also gives us a sneak peek at her upcoming project in Hawaii, a place that presents similar environmental challenges as the Galapagos. Emma hopes that the work her team is doing in the Galapagos will serve as a template for the Hawaii program, and is excited for the future of community-based TNR in other parts of the world.Click here to listen to Emma’s first interview with Stacy, or visit ABG’s website to donate and learn more about their community-based sterilization program.
Laura Moss, Founder, and Jamie Brooks, Communications, AdventureCats.org
“We [are] trying to… rebrand not just what it means to be a cat lady… [but also] what a cat is.”
Laura Moss and Jamie Brooks are partners in Adventure Cats, a website that promotes safe ways for cat owners to explore the outdoors with their cats, and seeks to dismantle negative stereotypes about cats and the people who own them. Barely two years old, the site has exploded with activity and popularity, and has brought together a community of people who do outdoor activities with their cats. Jamie and Laura believe that spending time outdoors with your cat improves their physical, mental, and emotional health, and they hope that Adventure Cats will show people that cats are just as multi-faceted as dogs and other animals! To learn more, please visit adventurecats.org, and be sure to check out the new Adventure Cats book that’s coming out in May!Interview! Mary Peng, CEO & Founder, International Center for Veterinary Services (Part 2)
“It has to be high-quality, high-volume spay-neuter, with Chinese characteristics.”'
In part two of this special two-part episode, Mary Peng continues to tell the story of ICVS, and goes into more detail about the unique challenges the hospital must face in China. She says that they have had to adapt programs and practices learned in the US to Chinese situations. For example, Mary believes that the private sector must play an important role in bringing these resources to China, as the government does not have the resources to help. ICVS is in the unique situation of offering non-profit services to the public without the benefits of non-profit status, and relies heavily on donations on their website to maintain their facility and programs.
However, there are so many opportunities for those outside of China to help out. To learn more about ICVS, donate to their cause, or contact their bilingual Chinese-English staff, please visit www.icvsasia.com, or search for ICVS Asia on any major social media site.
This episode was sponsored by www.catstats.org.
Interview! Mary Peng, CEO & Founder, International Center for Veterinary Services (Part 1)
“This is a program for China. It is going to raise the bar on humane animal welfare.”
In part one of this special two-part episode, Stacy interviews Mary Peng,CEO and founder of International Center for Veterinary Services. Based in Beijing, ICVS is the first international standard animal hospital in China.
China is a large country with very little access to veterinary care. In 1994, Mary adopted a cat in China but found it almost impossible to access basic animal healthcare for her furry friend. She decided to put her own professional business and consulting training, as well as her knowledge as a pet owner, to tap into the potential for a pet care industry in China. ICVS was founded in 2006 and offers a myriad of veterinary services as well as training. Using programs in the US as templates, Mary and her staff teach TNR best practices and train vets to spay and neuter animals on a large scale. Though there is still a lot of work to be done, Mary is hopeful about the future for animals in China.
To learn more about ICVS, donate to their cause, or contact their bilingual Chinese-English staff, please visit www.icvsasia.com, or search for ICVS Asia on any major social media site. Special thanks CatanDog for sponsoring this episode. Visit www.catandogs.net for more information.Interview! Chris Roy, Founder, Doobert.com
"The concept behind Doobert was to automate those rescue tasks that can and should be automated."
Chris Roy is a pilot, a Milwaukeean, a husband and owner of several cats and dogs, and the creator of Doobert.com, an online software platform for animal welfare volunteers and organizations. Although Doobert started as a hub to organize the transportation of rescued animals, it has grown to offer a wide variety of services, such as photography for shelters. Chris firmly believes that we can use technology to make people and organizations more efficient in order to save more animals, and he is hopeful and excited about the doors that technology will continue to open in the animal welfare world. His next step for Doobert is to design a module for community cat concerns, and is eager for any feedback or suggestions that those who work with these animals can give.
To get in touch with Chris, visit Doobert.com and click on the orange HELP/SUPPORT button.
Interview! Dr. Caitlyn Neal, HVHQSN Veterinarian, Washington D.C. and Maryland
“We have enormous community support through our foster network and feeders who really want to go the distance for their cats”
Just two years out of veterinary school, Dr. Neal has been drawn to shelter medicine for quite some time. This spay/neuter “dynamo” has been involved with a number of high quality, high volume spay/neuter programs and today leads the medical efforts at CATNIPP, the Cat Neighborhood Partnership program in Washington, DC, which supports local efforts to reduce overpopulation, and keep free-roaming cats healthy, as well asi improve relationships between community cats and the people who coexist with them. Dr. Neal notes that community felines are living longer, and now just as subject to geriatric diseases as environmental challenges. She also discusses ways for veterinary students to start making a difference before they’re even in practice.
“Think about our kids who are cuddling animals and sticking their faces down into their fur."
Nina is a passionate advocate for keeping animals safe and healthy through use of natural, non-toxic foods and treatment alternatives. She catalogs the many health issues posed to cats and dogs through use of topical flea and tick treatments (as well as their dangers to humans), and introduces Stacy to a new alternative that repels pests via electromagnetic waves. By simply adding the Catandog tag to your pet’s collar, you can protect it from all flying parasites. Sound too good to be true? Nina explains the tag creates a electromagnetic field when it interacts with your pet’s skin, which repels bugs and makes them “just go away.” Nina also describes the benefits of diatomaceous earth for reducing pest populations around community cat colonies.
Learn more at www.catandogs.net
Interview! Aimee St. Arnaud-Relaunch- Director at Humane Alliance a Program of the ASPCA
“We need to focus on stopping the problem at the root… that’s why we focus on prevention.”
In today’s episode we are relaunching Aimee St. Arnaud’s super podcast, as we had a technical glitch. Since the episode was only live for a short period of time, we want to make sure you have a chance to listen to this awesome interview! Enjoy.
Aimee St. Arnaud works for the Humane Alliance training vets and community advocates who want to open spay-neuter clinics. She first got the idea to open her own spay-neuter clinic when volunteering with the Toledo Area Humane Society and their Operation Felix, a monthly MASH clinic. After seeing the dearth of resources for cats and the invisibility of the problem even within the animal welfare world, she started the Humane Ohio Spay/Neuter Clinic, which performs 15,000 spay/neuter surgeries a year, 70% of which are cats. She is a big advocate of “spaying it forward,” which involves creating supportive community environments in which clinics can grow, making education resources accessible to advocates at any level, and respecting private vets in the area by referring clients of her clinic for most wellness cases. Find her as well as a multitude of free resources at humanealliance.org.Interview! Bryan Kortis, Director of National Programs, Neighborhood Cats
“We’ve been able to return cats to colonies that otherwise would have been lost in the system.”
In his return to the Podcast, Bryan tells Stacy about his recent move to Maui (we’re a little jealous!), which is in crisis when it comes to stray and feral cat populations. He and his wife moved there to bring “progressive and enlightened” thinking to how this community deals with these cats, as well as advocating for the spay/neuter and resources needed to make an impact. He and Stacy also discuss Bryan’s newly available “Cat Stats” database, which is a free TNR program management tool that he built to assist caretakers, trappers, and TNR programs. It facilitates communication among participants, helps map and organize data, and professionalizes a TNR program.
Find out more at www.catstats.org
Justin Zimmerman, Director of the Film, “SMART: Specialized Mobile Animal Rescue Team.”
“We fell in love with their drive and passion, and what they’re doing so visual, we thought there was something cool there.”
In this fascinating interview, Justin talks about his award-winning documentary that follows the exploits of the Los Angeles-based SMART team, which rescues animals in Southern California from all kinds of dire situations. He and his film crew followed the team for three years, watching as they saved cats and kittens, mountain lions, horses... even a deer trapped in a clothesline in Pee Wee Herman’s backyard! Justin was inspired by the passion and dedication of this group, composed of animal control officers, who felt a heightened personal responsibility for rescuing animals in danger. Justin also describes how he is making the film available for non-profits to screen as part of a fundraiser. Don’t miss this amazing conversation! Learn more at http://www.smartmoviedoc.com/Greatest Hits! Susanna Della Maddalena, CEO and President, Central OK Humane
“We’re in the business of saving lives."
Susanna was a fan favorite and we can definitely see why! She spent ten years heading up PetSmart Charities and now leads Central OK Humane. She has seen it all when it comes to fundraising and has been on both sides of the coin! She discusses implementing game-changing programs that have brought live release rates to an all-time high, as well as how they have handled the high volume for community animals in Oklahoma. Don't miss the knowledge that Susanna shares!
To find out more, please go to www.okhumane.org.Greatest Hits! Brianna Lovell, Outreach and Events Manager, Alley Cat Allies
“No action is too big or too small.”
We couldn't have asked for a better guest on National Feral Cat Day than Brianna Lovell! If you are still unaware of what this great day entails, this is the podcast that you've been waiting for! Brianna discusses how the day began, but more importantly, what National Feral Cat Day has turned into! Groups use this day as a wonderful platform for taking on the projects and education that the community around them needs, regarding cats! Get involved in 2017 and make the change happen that Brianna so wonderfully discusses!
To find out more, please go to www.nationalferalcatday.org.Greatest Hits! Hannah Shaw, The Kitten Lady
“I live and breathe cat advocacy…that’s what I do.”
Hannah Shaw was such a popular guest earlier this year that we couldn't wait to bring back her episode for a reboot! How was she to know that saving an orphaned kitty would reboot her career, as well! Hannah, affectionately known as The Kitten Lady, is now an expert in saving and raising kittens. She holds workshops and has an amazing social media presence, so it was a match made in heaven when her and Stacy started chatting! She discusses the link between abandoned cats and the need for spay/neuter for Community Cats and also is one of the most inspiring guests we had all year! Enjoy!
To find out more, please go to www.kittenlady.org.Interview! Kathy Downey, Journalist and Animal Rights Advocate, Plus "Mickey’s Story"
“These cats are citizens of our community just like you are and I am.”
Kathy was one of the earliest volunteers for the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society when she moved to Newburyport, Massachusetts in 1992. She and Stacy reminisce about the feral cat colony on the Merrimack River and how she developed a special place in her heart for Mickey, a waterfront cat she calls “a personable cat with a purr.” She details her relationship with this “Boss of the Boatyard,” who ended up living out his retirement years in the home of another MRFRS volunteer, as Kathy points out the different challenges facing cat caretakers as the colony membership changes and ages. “We all love the cats and want what’s best.” She still feeds feral cats one day a week, as well as advocating for a wide variety of animal protection legislation. Plus, Stacy reads “Mickey’s Story,” a short story written by Kathy Downey about one of the feral cats on the Newburyport waterfront who touched her heart. Told by Mickey himself, you’ll hear what life is like as a community cat, how appreciative Mickey is of the food and shelter provided by his colony managers, and learn about his many feline friends, including Clarence, Precious, Patches and Cremora..the “unseen feline ambassadors of the boatyard.” Is there a Mickey in your life? Tell us your story on our Facebook page. Happy holidays from your friends at the Community Cats Podcast! To find out more about Mickey and the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society please go to www.mrfrs.org.Interview! Dr. Marty Becker, “America’s Veterinarian” and Founder of the Fear Free Initiative
"To finally realize we were causing psychological damage to animals…once you know it, you can’t not know it.”
After being a renowned veterinarian, including being the resident vet on Good Morning America for 17 years, Dr. Becker says, “I’m not retiring…I’m refiring!” His latest initiative is an innovative program that helps animal care professionals reduce the stress we put on our companion animals when we bring them for their annual vet visit. It’s called “The Fear Free Initiative” and includes eight online modules that train people how to make a vet visit a positive experience…really! Dr. Becker observes that when the initiative was launched, they expected only 1000 people to take the course, but it’s exceeded expectations with nearly 6,000 people completing the certification. Dr. Becker believes we can work make all experiences “fear free” for our animals by thinking about their emotional wellbeing, as well as their physical health. For more information go to: www.drmartybecker.comInterview! Diane Kelly and Sarah Dellea, Founder and General Manager of the Purr Cat Cafe, Boston, MA
“We want Purr to be an opportunity to give back to the community.”
After working for thirty years in the medical field, Diane Kelly’s plans for opening her own business coincided with her love of cats after experiencing cat cafes in Georgetown and New York on a cross country road trip. Boston’s first ever cat café, Purr Boston Cat Café, is scheduled to open this winter, offering an array of events including movie nights, yoga, speed dating, and, of course, coffee, all while facilitating a safe home and adoption opportunities for homeless cats. Diane has paired with Boston’s Forgotten Felines, an organization providing TNR for feral cats and foster care for abandoned cats. She and Purr’s general manager Sarah Dellea chat with Stacy about the Flutter fundraiser, the challenges faced with opening a cat café, and all Purr has to offer.
For more information, visit them on Facebook and at purrbostoncatcafe.com and experienceflutter.com.
Interview! Dr. Sara White, Founder Spay ASAP Inc.- VT
“We haven’t really been taught… how to take care of [our bodies as] this instrument that we have.”
Dr. Sara White is a mixed-animal veterinarian with experience both in private and shelter medicine, and the operator of Spay ASAP Inc., a mobile MASH clinic. Since 2006, Dr. White has spayed and neutered a staggering 40,000 animals herself. She also concerns herself with the issue of health ergonomics among veterinary surgeons and staff, and gives tips on how these individuals can take care of their own bodies and health in order to do the most for their patients.
For more information visit their ergovet.com.
Interview! Aly Miller and Paul Castro, Jr., Creator of Aeris, A Short Film- NYC
“Our responsibility as filmmakers is to tell the most vulnerable truth.”
When Paul Castro Jr. entered a pet store on a whim almost two years ago, he didn’t expect to find a new passion for animal advocacy that would fuel one of his many film and acting projects. There he met Aeris, a sickly little kitten with whom he made an instant connection and felt he had to go to any lengths to save. Together with Aly Miller, he embarked on a journey that opened his eyes to the sad reality of many animals in pet shops, and sparked the production of a short film based on the story. The film seeks to open a dialogue about adopting vs. buying pets, and raise awareness about FIP(feline infectious peritonitis).
To help fund Paul and Aly’s project, visit their Kickstarter page.
Interview! Christie Keith, Communications Strategist, MI
“For me, it’s all about persuasion."
Christie Keith is a journalist and communications consultant for animal welfare and veterinary medicine. Although she is based in Michigan, she has clients all over the country, including the Million Cat Challenge and Maddie’s Fund. Christie is passionate about effective communication, and she works with organizations in message crafting, communicating, and persuading on the micro and macro level. In conversation with Stacy she outlines some of the tactics she uses for effective communication—she says the key is knowing your audience—and cautions against turning a blind eye to the potential “unintended consequences” of your messaging.
To find out more, please visit christiekeith.com
Interview! Elizabeth Putsche, Founder, For All Animals
“It’s all about data and supporting information. That’s what really speaks to government officials.”
Elizabeth Putsche is the founder and executive director of For All Animals, a 501(c)3 organization that “identifies and fills voids in the animal protection field.” The organization is based in Baltimore, which in 2007 was one of the first major cities to implement TNR as the official policy for the treatment of community animals. For All Animals is committed to providing resources for those organizations who still have a lot of work to do in their communities regarding TNR, legislative blocks, overpopulation and negative views of local shelters. Some of the services For All Animals offers are Photographers for Animals, a pro-bono collection of photographers and videographers who donate their time to professionally photograph shelter animals and therefore increase their chances of adoption, and Attorney at Paws, in which Elizabeth Holt, director of legislative affairs, offers assistance to grassroots advocates trying to change, improve, or add community ordinances that affect companion animals.
To find out more, please visit forallanimals.org
Interview! Will Allen, New Sales Business Manager, Frontstream
“BiddingForGood helps you expand your reach and raise more money.”
In this unique episode, Stacy talks to Will Allen, self-professed cat lover and fundraising consultant at Fronstream, a software company that helps non-profits develop fundraising strategies. Stacy, a user herself, helps Will explain to listeners some of the services offered by Frontstream, and also offer some some concrete tips on how to implement the services in new and creative ways. Frontstream hosts platforms such as Bidding for Good, which walks users through the process of creating an online auction, and First giving, a “peer-to-peer” software where supporters can create their own fundraising pages to help spread the word about runs, walkathons, and similar events. With a community of close to half a million supporters, Frontstream connects non-profit organizations with donors both inside and outside of the organization’s own network. To find out more, please visit go.frontstream.com/community-cats-podcastInterview! Dr. Julie Levy, Maddie’s Professor of Shelter Medicine at University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine
“Our goal is to enculturation these life-saving key initiatives into animal sheltering… so that this becomes [the norm.]”
Dr. Julie Levy is a professor of shelter medicine at the University of Florida, as well as a prolific publisher of scientific articles on small animal medicine. She began her work with community cats in the 1980s while attending veterinary school at UC Davis, where there was a large population of unsterilized cats. She describes how difficult it was to trap cats back in the days when TNR was not yet a widespread phenomenon—she and her peers used to chase the cats around with nets! Dr. Levy also worked with Dr. Kate Hurley to found the Million Cat Challenge, who you may be familiar with from her own interview on the Community Cats Podcast. Dr. Levy describes the birth of the Milion Cat Challenge as a “spontaneous eruption of enthusiasm,” and indeed that enthusiasm has not faltered: the Challenge has recently partnered with the ASPCA and accepts shelters into its program on a rolling basis.
For more information visit www.millioncatchallenge.org.
Interview! Dr. Christine Wilford, Founder, The Feral Cat Project
“Sometimes helping means us having to not do something, and us realizing that, for this cat, bringing it inside means it’s going to be scared everyday of its life. Would that be what you would want?”
Dr. Wilford, founder of Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Project in Lynnwood, Washington returns to Community Cats Podcast to discuss geriatric cats with Stacy. Clearly stating her belief that “age is not a disease,” Dr. Wilford lists the most common medical concerns facing aging cats, both owned and feral, including kidney and thyroid issues. Proper diet to support kidney and liver function means an adequate amount of digestible animal proteins. Dr. Wilford explains what this means in regards to dry food versus wet food, how vegetable content is potentially dangerous in marketed foods, and options for providing health winter sustenance for community cats. She then shares her beliefs in choosing options for retiring geriatric cats from colonies, encouraging caretakers to make empowered choices based on their individual circumstances.
For more information visit www.feralcatproject.org.
Interview! Karen Little, Executive Director, Alley Cat Advocates
“Urban cats are accustomed to urban living. Rural cats are accustomed to rural living… Keeping those colonies in tact, adjacent to where their habitat might have been destroyed, is in the best interest of the cats.”
In her second interview with Stacy, Karen explores the issue of relocation in the Louisville, Kentucky area where she works with Alley Cat Advocates. A firm believer that colony relocation is only an option when the current habitat is targeted for destruction, she talks with Stacy about pursuing alternative avenues like educating residents on ways to deter unwanted colony behavior and examining food sources. With such alternatives, the Kentucky Humane Society cites an 80 percent success rate in keeping community cats in original habitats while practicing TNR to lower populations over time. Karen and Stacy also discuss the effect of terminology use on both public perception and municipal perception of community cats and their future.
For more information visit alleycatadvocates.org.
Interview! Andy Kola, Founder, LumenLS
“To fix the problems that are facing cats, all center around increasing the perceived importance, the perceived value, and the perceived acceptance of cats to humans.”
In his second interview with Stacy, Andy discusses his organization’s approach to challenges facing community cats in Broward County, Florida. With a mission of eliminating unnecessary suffering and euthanasia for all community cats in the area, Andy’s shelter, Lumen LS, has been specifically tackling euthanasia reduction. With this focus, about three hundred cats’ lives have been spared in under three months. Andy discusses the innovative implementation of community cat signs. Like duck crossing signs, these signs portray ear-tipped cat silhouettes representing cat-friendly areas where TNR colonies exist. Qualified trappers work with homeowners’ associations and property management personnel to not only perform TNR, but educate residents on the long-term effects of the program and how they can contribute.
For more information visit www.lumenls.org.
Dakin, since cat overpopulation has become less of an issue across Massachusetts. Dakin has performed over 70,000 spay/neuter surgeries, and as a result, the cats entering her adoption center are much more complex to rehome.
She notes, “we wouldn’t have had the time or space to help these cats in the past, but now we’re able to successfully place them.” She describes the innovative and successful feral kitten adoption program Dakin has piloted, where these “tiny tigers” are placed directly in homes, rather than fostered, with very positive results. Also touching on re-evaluating the needs of the community before determining what services they truly need.
For more information visit www.dakinhumane.org.
Interview! Suzanne Kogut, Executive Director of the Petco Foundation
“Everyone wants the same thing, to do right by the cats. There’s just a disagreement often about how we get there. But I thought we could all work together to get there.”
After her first career as a corporate finance and securities attorney, Suzanne took the road less travelled and became involved in the Charlottsville/Albemarle SPCA. As the executive director from 2005-2012, Suzanne gained priceless experience facing new challenges with a fresh perspective and ‘outside of the box’ thinking. These challenges taught her the importance of research and of recognizing potential resources. In 2013, she became the executive director of the Petco Foundation, which partners with local animal welfare communities across the country. Suzanne and Stacy discuss the various organizations Petco works with, how each is prioritized, and what the evaluation process for grant funding entails. For more information, visit petcofoundation.org as well as the Petco Foundation’s facebook page.It's an Ask Stacy episode!
“You could feel the energy busting through the wires”
Stacy reflects what all that she’s learned since launching the Community Cats Podcast, having completed more than 100 episodes speaking with experts all over the US and beyond. She recommends a number of her favorite interviews, with individuals like Emma Clifford, Hannah Shaw (the “Kitten Lady”), Dr. Kate Hurley and Dr. Christine Wilford — all of whom have different areas of expertise, but embody enthusiasm and energy in their work to improve the lives of cats. Additionally, she talks about the topic of how cats control rat populations (it’s not quite how you think!) and gives recommendations for making winter in the northern climates more comfortable and healthy for community cats.
Interview! Diego Alves, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Pet and Tie
“We want to be the premium app for pet parents and pets.”
Ever have trouble finding a pet sitter? Diego did, and that experience was the impetus to his envisioning an virtual community where pet owners could connect to all of the services they need. His new app, “Pet and Tie,” available on Apple and Android, aims to help pet owners save time and money and be responsible parents to their pets whether they’re seeking play dates, grooming services or vet appointments. Funding the development of the app himself, Diego talks about the challenges of being a digital entrepreneur, building an easy-to-use interface, and getting the recognition and membership that will make the app a success: “Pet and Tie will only be effective if people use it." For more information, visit petandtie.com.Interview! Katie Lisnik, Director of Cat Protection and Policy, The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)
“Taking an active role in legislation is the only way we’re going to move the ball forward.”
In her return appearance on the Podcast, Katie plays “Around the Country Policy for Cats” with Stacy, detailing the successes and challenges in four different states: Delaware, Hawaii, Virginia and Illinois. In her role at HSUS, Katie's on the front line of legislative and public policy efforts that can impact positive change for Community Cats. She calls Hawaii “a cauldron of challenges” due to its indigenous species vulnerable to cats, and calls Delaware a “great pilot area to test new ideas.” Not surprisingly, progress only comes when disparate groups come together to work out their differences. She stresses how important policy can be in outcomes for cats: "In many cases we need to make some changes at the state and ordinance level in order to do the life-saving work we want to do.” For more information, visit humanesociety.org.Interview! Sally Williams, Founder, The Brodie Fund
“I think the thing that makes us a little different, and our goals quite lofty as well, is that we are putting the focus on quality of life and not the diagnosis.”
Sally is a cat behavior consultant and the founder and director of The Brodie Fund, a non-profit organization offering financial assistance to pet owners dealing with a pet’s cancer diagnosis. Sally’s beloved cat Brodie, a shelter rescue with a large and loving personality, battled cancer at the age of twelve. Through conversations with the oncologist and fellow pet owners about the overwhelming financial hurdles, The Brodie Fund was born. Sally discusses what makes this program stand out from others, including availability for senior pets and adoptable shelter pets to qualify for assistance. She shares success stories and promotes The Brodie Fund Movie, a short video on YouTube. For more information, visit thebrodiefund.org and Team Brodie on Facebook.Interview! Sharon Secovich, Co-founder, Spay Maine
“What I’ve found is a lot of people will feed but they don’t have the knowledge or wherewithal or the means to trap. So the only way to get our feral cat population down is with trapping help.”
After her first career as an environmental geologist, Sharon pursued a public policy career that led to work as a legislative advocate and community cat program manager for the Animal Welfare Society shelter in West Kennebunk Maine. As a volunteer for the government-run spay/neuter program Help Fix Me, she speaks candidly with Stacy about the frustration she has experienced while defending funding through legislation and policy, particularly against pet food lobbyists. Sharon also discusses her work with The Cleo Fund, Maine’s very first spay/neuter program that offers free spay/neuter for feral cats and low cost health care for dogs and cats across the state.
For more information, email Sharon at sjsecovich@gmail.com or visit spaymaine.org and their Facebook page.
Interview! Dr. Margaret Slater, Senior Director of Veterinary Epidemiology Research and Development for the ASPCA
“One of the things that we’ve found really helpful in all kinds of programs and projects is to couch it as a pilot… you can succeed and the prove that it does actually work…”
Author of Feral Cats: Problems, Alternatives, and Recommendations and Veterinary Epidemiology: An Evidence Based Approach, Dr. Slater’s tireless efforts have educated both the animal welfare and general communities since she began studying epidemiology in the early nineties. Her first experience starting a TNR program was inspired by a student at Texas A & M University campus, where she taught for over fifteen years. In her discussion with Stacy, she offers ways to tackle management of college campus cat colonies. Dr. Slater also discusses the importance of data-tracking for TNR techniques, colony lifestyles, and grant-funding. Dr. Slater’s work involving population dynamics modeling with the Alliance for Contraception for Cats and Dogs has been key element in promoting and cultivating new TNR techniques. For more information, contact Dr. Slater at margaret.slater@aspca.org.Interview! Audra Farrell, Community Cares Program Supervisor at the San Francisco SPCA
“I have found even the fiercest of ferals can be really great moms, so their concern is more taking care of their kittens than have to deal with us.”
Through the Mama from the Streets program, San Francisco’s shelters are combining TNR for feral mothers with adoption of their kittens. As San Francisco’s SPCA’s Community Cares Program Supervisor, Audra advocates strongly for this humane way of gradually decreasing numbers in cat colonies. She discusses the correlation between TNR numbers and shelter intake as a positive gauge for TNR effectiveness, and believes spay/neuter education is key to winning the battle against overpopulation.
To learn more, visit sfspca.org or call the Community Cares line in San Francisco at 414-522-3539.
Interview! Deborah Schutt, Co-Founder Michigan Pet Fund Alliance
“Attending conferences, understanding what other people are doing, and adding to the tool kit is really important.”
The co-founder of the Michigan Pet Fund Alliance, Deborah began her journey into the animal welfare field with dog fostering. Time and experience led her to TNR, feral cat welfare, and a passion for exploring different tactics to improve shelters and rescues. She and Stacy discuss no-kill philosophies and goals, as well as the process of uniting home-based rescues and shelters through education and data analysis. With approximately 185 shelters in Michigan, the Pet Fund Alliance produced data-based performance reports that created a deeper understanding of both impacts and needs of shelters across the state. Michigan boasts over 100 no-kill shelters, with fifty four out of eighty counties being no-kill. Deborah’s understanding of the many different approaches to the homeless animal dilemma has no doubt influenced these statistics. To learn more, visit michiganpetfund.org as well as the Michigan Pet Fund Alliance’s Facebook page.Interview! Kristen Petrie, Creative Director, Mellarium and Technical Cat, Community Cats Podcast
“The brand is important and it is an asset to any organization, whether they are big or small. It’s your face to the rest of the world.”
Kristen began her career in cat rescue as an adoption counselor at the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society while launching her own graphic design business. She subsequently became involved in both the branding and production components of both MRFRS and Community Cats Podcast, bringing her enthusiasm, experience, and love of cats to the world of non-profits. Stacy and Kristen discuss challenges and rewards to non-profit branding, and what to look for in a brand manager as well as support volunteers. Known for her penchant for fostering the more challenging sick and feral cats, Kristen remains active on the frontlines as well as behind the scenes.
To learn more, contact Kristen at kp@mellarium.com or visit mellariumcreative.com.
Interview! Sheila Massey, Neighborhood Activist - NYC
“I found that I spent half my time explaining TNR and working with the community so that they would buy in and accept the cats.”
Sheila dove into the world of community cats after retiring from work as a forensic accountant and corporate fraud auditor. She became certified in TNR in 2008, now volunteers at the Brooklyn Cat Café, and is a diligent advocate for New York City’s feral cat communities. From the city’s 600 or so community gardens to various church and prison grounds, cat colonies have the potential to provide a significant solution to the city’s overwhelming rat population and subsequent health issues. She discusses her struggles and goals to involve the Department of Health and the ASPCA in community education on the process and benefits of TNR. With this goal in mind, Sheila is highly active in NYC’s Neighborhood Relations Workshops.
To learn more, visit morrisjumelcats.tumblr.com and catcafebk.com. You can email Sheila at morrisjumelcats@gmail.com.
Interview! Martha Smith-Blackmore, DVM, Founder of Forensic Veterinary Investigations, LLC
"Don’t worry about things you can’t change…take that passion and make it action and see what you can do."
*Please note, while not graphic, this episode deals with topics related to animal cruelty that some listeners may find disturbing. If you need to skip it, might we suggest listening to this gem from an earlier episode?
During her work as a shelter veterinarian, Martha became curious about a field that barely existed: applying medical forensics to injured and deceased animals. With a group of like-minded thinkers, Martha helped found the International Veterinary Forensic Sciences Association. In her role as an forensic investigator, Martha says one must "take what you see and what you know. and craft a story about what happened.” She is a skilled witness during court cases involving animal abuse, neglect and cruelty, with a goal of being “a voice for the animal”. She gives advice for cat colony caretakers to help them figure out how to get help when a member of their colony is injured or killed.
For more information visit vetinvestigator.com.
Interview! Emma Clifford, Founder and Executive Director of Animal Balance
“Islands are helping islands, which is exactly what we wanted to happen.”
Don’t miss this fascinating look at how community cats are being helped around the world by Animal Balance, the brainchild of its founder, Emma Clifford. Beginning with a program in 2004 to assist the Galapagos Islands in managing cats and dogs, which were being poisoned to control their population, Emma describes how Animal Balance put together a “humane animal management plan”, despite the fact that there wasn’t even a veterinarian in the Galapagos at the time! The program she developed with the support and engagement of the local community has been adapted and brought to 10 other countries, including the Dominican Republic and American Samoa. A plan for Cuba is now in the works. A must listen!
To volunteer: http://animalbalance.net/volunteer/
To donate: http://animalbalance.net/donate/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnimalBalance/
Interview! Jill O’Connell, Executive Director and Crystal Arnott, Communications and Fundraising Manager, Lowell Humane Society (MA)
“No matter how we operate, we all have the same goals which is to help community cats.”
In another episode extolling the benefits of collaboration, Jill and Crystal describe how their relationships with other organizations have benefitted the cats and lower-income residents of Lowell. By bringing low-cost spay/neuter to the community through several different providers, the number of kittens they see is down 75% over 5 years, allowing them the time and space to help place older or medically-challenged cats who come through their doors. They also advocate for rescues to be willing to try new programs, like paper collars that have helped keep local owned cats in their own neighborhoods, and enabled LHS them to discuss responsible pet care with their owners. Finally, they touch on the ongoing challenge and need for a diverse fundraising calendar.
To learn more, visit lowellhumanesociety.org.
Interview! Stacey Carver, President and Executive Director of Berkshire Animal DREAMS (MA)
“Collaboration is a wonderful thing for all of us trying to do animal rescue work."
Stacey tells Stacy about the positive impact that forging “harmonious” partnerships has had on the number of community cats in Berkshire County, especially its “big city” of Pittsfield, MA. With Animal DREAMS providing TNR services, and the Berkshire Humane Society offering physical and administrative space, the two organizations have seen reduced surrenders, fewer free-roaming cats entering the shelter and a sharp reduction in calls complaining about community cats. She also describes another partnership with the state that helped clean up a troublesome situation in North Adams, where discovery of a rabid cat necessitated coordinated efforts to gain the trust of local resident to get their pets vaccinated and subsequently spayed or neutered.
To learn more, visit berkshireanimaldreams.org.
Interview! Aimee St. Arnaud, Director at Humane Alliance a Program of the ASPCA
“We need to focus on stopping the problem at the root… that’s why we focus on prevention.”
Aimee St. Arnaud works for the Humane Alliance training vets and community advocates who want to open spay-neuter clinics. She first got the idea to open her own spay-neuter clinic when volunteering with the Toledo Area Humane Society and their Operation Felix, a monthly MASH clinic. After seeing the dearth of resources for cats and the invisibility of the problem even within the animal welfare world, she started the Humane Ohio Spay/Neuter Clinic, which performs 15,000 spay/neuter surgeries a year, 70% of which are cats. She is a big advocate of “spaying it forward,” which involves creating supportive community environments in which clinics can grow, making education resources accessible to advocates at any level, and respecting private vets in the area by referring clients of her clinic for most wellness cases. Find her as well as a multitude of free resources at humanealliance.org. Aimee is kind enough to share this great document that will help you decide "Does this cat need to be rescued?" Click here to check it out!Interview! Julie Jacobson, Director of Spay Tennessee
“When writing grants, you have to come in prepared, you have to know your mission, you have to know your community.”
Julie’s back for another interview on CCP! This time, Stacy checks about how things are going for Spay Tennessee, and Julie gives tips on managing grant money, methods to “take the fear out of grant writing,” and the pitfalls that can occur with animal transports from shelter to shelter. If you haven’t heard Julie’s first episode and want to learn a little more about her and how she got started in animal welfare, listen to it here. If you want to get in touch with Julie, email her at spayzilla@yahoo.com.Interview! Dr. Peggy Larson, Founder of Cat Spay and Neuter Clinic, Colchester, VT
“You have to balance, to make sure that that cat’s going to be alright going back to where he came from."
Peggy Larson, founder of National Spay/Neuter Coalition, holds degrees from Ohio State Vet School, UC Davis, and Vermont Law School. She has used her education to support fellow vets trying to start their own spay-neuter clinics, investigate animal cruelty in the state of Vermont, and rewrite the policy surrounding spay-neuter with Peter Marsh, friend and lawyer. She first became involved in TNR when she started a makeshift spay/neuter clinic and rescue for community cats out of her home many years ago. In 23 years, the clinic managed to spay a staggering 78,000 cats in Chittenden County Vermont. In conversation with Stacy she talks about the dangers community cats can face depending on the environment they live in, and how shelters with small budgets can start affordable mobile clinics through MASH. To get in touch with Peggy, email her at meowvet1@gmail.com.Interview! Juan Martinez, Founder and President, JMart Strategies
“Pick one platform, become really good at that platform, before you expand into a second one.”
With his 20 years of experience in the legislative and non-profit communications world, Juan has keen insight into the importance of storytelling in the world of social media. He notes that social media has made communicating with your audiences much easier, but that it’s critical to understand the various social media platforms, their demographics, and how and when users engage with each one. Juan cautions against feeling the pressure to try to do too much and counsels organizations to master one platform before moving on. He also discusses the "power of numbers" when trying to influence law-makiong….whether you use email or snail mail, if you can put multiple communications in your legislator, someone will take notice.
For more information visit www.jmartstrategies.com
Interview! Amy Sandler, Executive Coach, and Certified Breathwork Meditation Teacher
“Usually our minds are somewhere in the past or somewhere in the future.”
In this “out of the box” interview, Stacy speaks with Amy Sandler about how mindfulness and meditation can help decrease the stress and manage the challenges often faced by those in the animal welfare field. Research has shown that mindfulness can increase our focus, resilience, creativity, and performance. It’s important, Amy notes, that we have compassion for ourselves, or what she calls, “filing up the well.” She walks Stacy through a simple meditative breathing exercise, and talks about the importance to taking a few breaths and setting an “intention” before addressing a specific situation or challenge. "47% of time, our mind is wandering..that’s just what the mind does.” For more information please visit amysandler.com.Interview! Hannah Shaw, “The Kitten Lady”
“I live and breathe cat advocacy…that’s what I do.”
Little did Hannah Shaw know that the day that she borrowed some shoes to climb a tree and save an orphaned kitten, she would be starting a career that would inform and engage cat lovers around the world. An expert in saving and raising kittens, Hannah teaches workshops, develops programs, and shares compelling (and adorable!) content through her significant social media and web presence. In this two part episode, Hannah and Stacy discuss the link between abandoned kittens and the need for spay/neuter for Community cats, how to tell stories that will inspire others to take action, and the difficult and challenging side of caring for the most vulnerable of felines. As she puts it, “there are so many lives out there that need us."
For more information please visit kittenlady.org.
Interview! Hannah Shaw, “The Kitten Lady”
“I live and breathe cat advocacy…that’s what I do.”
Little did Hannah Shaw know that the day that she borrowed some shoes to climb a tree and save an orphaned kitten, she would be starting a career that would inform and engage cat lovers around the world. An expert in saving and raising kittens, Hannah teaches workshops, develops programs, and shares compelling (and adorable!) content through her significant social media and web presence. In this two part episode, Hannah and Stacy discuss the link between abandoned kittens and the need for spay/neuter for Community cats, how to tell stories that will inspire others to take action, and the difficult and challenging side of caring for the most vulnerable of felines. As she puts it, “there are so many lives out there that need us."
For more information please visit kittenlady.org.
Interview! Blake and Adrienne Kuhre, Founders of the Furry Foundation
Blake and Adrienne are the founders of the Furry Foundation, a non-profit, foster care organization in Los Angeles focused on TNR, cat socialization, and educating the community on proper colony cat care and prevention. After visiting Buenos Aires, Argentina, curiosity led them to an investigation of health and adoption techniques at the Recoleta Cemetery, where a famous large, healthy and friendly cat colony attracts tourists from around the world. This curiosity led Blake and Adrienne to create the documentary “Guardians of Recoleta.” They discuss with Stacy the circumstances revolving around the making of the film, including cultural differences that have inspired them to pursue the Furry Foundation. Visit furryfoundation.org and The Furry Foudation’s facebook page for more information. Watch the “Guardians of Recoleta” trailer here.Stacy LeBaron, podcast host and president emeritus of MRFRS answers your questions.
As Community Cats Podcast celebrates its eightieth episode, Stacy and guest host Lisa Finkel discuss how bird lovers and cat lovers can work together to decrease both the number of free roaming colony cats and, subsequently, bird deaths. The financial and social causes of cat abandonment are also points of interest in today’s episode, as well as upcoming events and opportunities to support the podcast and the community cats cause. Feel free to contact Stacy for questions or consulting inquiries atstacy@communitycatspodcast.com.
Interview! Christie Kamiya, Chief of Shelter Medicine, Humane Society Silicon Valley
At nine years old, Dr. Kamiya’s first experience adopting a dog sparked a lifelong passion for battling animal welfare issues. A graduate of the University of California’s School of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Kamiya’s focus lies specifically in shelter medicine. She shares her experiences as Chief of Shelter Medicine at the Humane Society Silicon Valley, including her fight against infectious diseases among shelter cats through the non-traditional process of portalizing cages. Clearly an advocate for ‘thinking outside the box,’ Dr. Kamiya also discusses the freedom and importance of pilate projects for the betterment of community cats.
For more information visit www.hssv.org
Interview! Jennifer Blough, Psychotherapist in Compassion Fatigue and Author
With experiences ranging from animal care attendant to animal control officer, Jennifer choose to passionately pursue the subject of compassion fatigue as a psychotherapist after struggling with it herself over the years. She focuses on how compassion fatigue effects those specifically in animal welfare, and has written To Save a Starfish: A Compassion Fatigue Workbook for the Animal Welfare Warrior. She discusses with Stacy the variety of symptoms as well as tools to manage it, find balance, and recognize the importance of refueling.
For more information visit deepwatermichigan.com.
Interview! Valerie Ingram and Alistair Schroff, Founders of The Lakes Animal Friendship Society
The combination of Valerie’s nineteen years’ experience in elementary education and Alistair’s passion and business experience has led to inspiring changes for animal welfare in their rural British Columbia community. Co-authors of children’s books Nobody’s Cats and Out of the Cold, Valerie and Alistair discuss their belief that humane education is a key factor in changing the landscape for community cats. They founded The Lakes Animal Friendship Society, a program offering care and compassion education, bite-safety, spay/neuter options, and affordable dog and cat houses and flat packs. Valerie and Alistair discusses mentoring and the challenges of proposal writing as well.
For more information visit lakesanimalfriendship.ca.
Interview! Holly Putnam, Faculty Clinician, Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program, Cornell University
Dr. Holly Putnam graduated veterinary school in 2003, and initially went into private practice for small animals in Albany, NY. After moving to Austin, TX, in 2008, however, she began working at a high-volume, high-quality spay/neuter clinic for low-income neighborhoods and area shelters. Seeing the large number of community cats in these “veterinary deserts” (places with no easy access to veterinary care) sparked a new passion in her for shelter medicine.
Now residing once again in NY, she is the faculty clinician for the Maddie's® Shelter Medicine Program at Cornell University, where she gives courses on Companion Animal Welfare and Shelter Medicine. These courses expose students to issues affecting community cats, as well as teach them how to complete a spay/neuter surgery and observe practices at the local TNR shelter. Though she acknowledges that we still have a long way to go in community cat welfare, she is pleased to see the change in mindset around these animals since graduating thirteen years ago, and is optimistic that more private practice veterinarians will be willing to join the effort.
Peter Wolfe is a cat initiatives analyst at Best Friends Society and a blogger at Vox Felina, where he seeks to fill the void of TNR research and other issues affecting community cats. He says diving into the detail of arguments for and against community cats advocacy helps him in his work at Best Friends, such as proposing policy and giving conference presentations.
To access the Community Cats Program Handbook Peter mentions at the end of the episode, visit bestfriends.org/ccphandbook.Interview! Diane Blankenberg, Chief Executive Officer and Principal Consultant for Humane Network
Imagine being on the ground trying to rescue owned and community cats after Hurricane Katrina, as well as the recent flooding in Louisiana. Diane Blankenberg describes her amazing experiences working with Alley Cat Allies to help reunite people and their cats, including working at a “cat rescue camp” as well as assisting with TNR following these crises. She describes how, after Katrina, some owned cats were so traumatized that they appeared initially to be ferals. Community cats, says Diane, “have amazing survival instincts; after the recent floods many of them stayed in trees until they could be returned to their colonies." For more information please visit humanenetwork.org.Interview! Mike Phillips, President, Urban Cat League, and Community Outreach Coordinator for the New York City Feral Cat Initiative
Even though he had lived in Manhattan for decades, Mike didn’t know there were street cats in New York: "I had no idea because I lived on the 43rd floor,” he observes. In 1999, he got bitten by the community cats bug while helping deal with a 75 cat colony living behind the historic San Remo building on Central Park West. That colony no longer exists, proving “that 100% number proves how effective TNR can be.” He then got involved with — and was President — of Neighborhood Cats, teaching TNR workshops all across New York’s five boroughs. He describes some of the unique challenge cat advocates face in New York: mass trapping is hindered by the lack of large spaces for holding and recovery of cats, and the need to make multiple calls to access needed service For more information please visit urbancatleague.org.Interview! Amanda Arrington, Director, Pets for Life Program at The Humane Society of the United States
Amanda’s childhood interests in both animals and in social justice have led her to a career overseeing a groundbreaking program to help not just pets, but people in underserved areas. She leads he innovative HSUS “Pets for Life” initiative, which is active in 34 communities across the US where there are high poverty rates and little to no access with services for pets. This work is done in a grass roots format, going door to door and street by street to find out what’s needed for each community member. The aim is not to “educate” according to Amanda, but to share information and offer services; when you do, she says, “ the majority of people make the right decisions” regarding their pets. For more information please visit humanesociety.org.Interview! Merritt Clifton, Journalist and Founder, Animals 24-7 News
It would be challenging to find someone with more experience in the animal welfare field than award-winning writer Merritt Clifton. From his childhood ambition to “starting a kitty farm” to taking census of homeless cats during his family’s travels, he’s dedicated his life and work to humane outcomes for all animals. He was an early proponent of spay/neuter in the 70’s when, he notes, “cats were basically a friendly outdoor animal or ‘easily tamed wildlife.” He documented the rise of high volume spay/neuter programs, which had their original start in South Africa and England and spoke at the first “no kill” conference in the mid 90’s. He makes a fascinating case why he’s not 100% pleased with the term “community cat." For more information please visit animals24-7.org.Interview! Linda Gage, No More Homeless Pets Network Specialist, Best Friends Animal Society
Linda outlines the myriad resources that the No More Homeless Pets Network offers to small organizations around the country: ideas on how to get a Community Cats program started, marketing tool kits, grants and financial aid and the opportunity for sharing ideas and connecting with other groups currently engaged in the same activities. “There’s no need to reinvent the wheel,” she observes. “A lot of groups are doing this really well.” She works with both urban and rural groups, each of whom have their own challenges. “People have a pre-conceived notion about what’s best for a cat they see outdoors. When I see that mindset change, I get excited.” For more information please visit fcnmhp.org.Interview! Kelley Bollen, Owner and Director of Animal Alliances Consulting Firm
Kelley earned a Master’s in Animal Behavior, has taught at Cornell Veterinary School, and now consults with both pet owners and shelters to improve life and outcomes for companion animals. She and Stacy talk all things behavior, and how to make life for cats happier and healthier. Kelley offers some useful tips to help Stacy’s rotund cat slim down, a number of great ideas for providing more enjoyment and enrichment for a kitty [play some bird song CD’s!] and tackles the always-problematic issue of litter box avoidance. She notes that she frequently feels like a detective when trying to narrow down the reasons why a cat is eliminating inappropriately. About covered boxes, she notes, "How do you feel when you have to go into a Porta-potty? That’s what a covered box can be for a cat.” For more information please visit animalalliances.com.Interview! Bonnie Geisler, President and Founder, Felines and Friends Foundation (VT)
Bonnie’s utilized partnerships with many different organizations to contribute to the success of the Feline and Friends Foundation, which has helped 2000 cats in just three years, in one of Vermont’s poorest countries. She borrowed her game plan from NY’s renowned Neighborhood Cats, built a relationship with an open admission shelter to handle the friendly cats and kittens her group finds, and partnered with a supportive veterinary practice to provide surgeries and health care. She proposes that TNR is not just for cats but for the community: both the caretakers who love the cats, and the “non-cat” people who want to see the local feline population reduced. “We’re making our communities more livable for everyone.” For more information please visit fffvt.org.Interview! Cameron Moore, Project Manager, Target Zero
Given Cameron’s contribution to a diverse number of game-changing initiatives, she and Stacy have a wide-ranging conversation about a number of topics related to TNR, abandonment and adoption programs, and helping communities get the support they need to get to the goal of zero euthanasias for healthy dogs and cats. Cameron discusses “community cat diversion”: the retraining of people to stop bringing outdoor cats to shelters and, rather, to spay/neuter/vaccinate them and return them to their outdoor homes. She also stresses the importance of removing barriers for cat owners to get their pets fixed: “it’s on their to-do list, but things get in the way.” “Cats are part of our landscape...we need to do what we can to help them and the people who take care of them.” For more information please visit target-zero.org.Interview! Sherri Gustafson, Spay/Neuter Community Liaison for the Massachusetts Animal Fund
Sherri serves as the Spay/Neuter Community Liaison for the Massachusetts Animal Fund, which provides a voucher program for low income pet owners. This program focuses on three main priorities: S/N support for municipal shelters, providing vouchers for low income pet owners, and providing TNR opportunities for community cats. She and Stacy also discuss Animal Control Officer training, rabies control within feral colonies, and emergency funding for issues such as animal hoarding.
For more information please visit massanimalfund.com.Interview! Heidi Colonna, Curriculum Development Manager for the Humane Society of the United States and Board Member with Association of Professional Humane Educators
Heidi was volunteering at a local shelter in 1994, which compelled her to choose animal science and public policy over a potential business degree. She discusses her focus on ‘preventable people problems’ and believes education and awareness are key to changing attitudes about all aspects of animal welfare. She and Stacy discuss an array of subjects including past mentors, community cat education through literature, relationships with schools, and the importance of providing engaging activities for school age children. Heidi also outlines an array of education opportunities the Humane Society Academy has to offer, including online trainings and the Certified Humane Education Specialist program. For more information please visit humanesociety.org.Interview! Kaleel Sakakeeny, Founder, The Other Me Coaching
After experiencing the passing of a companion cat, Kaleel’s initial interest in animal communication led him to a deeper study of this intuitive practice. In his discussion with Stacy, he explains the premise of animal communication, including the quieting of the mind to facilitate a connection with the animal client. A relationship coach as well as animal communicator, Kaleel volunteers at Gifford Animal Shelter and is a strong advocate of using interspecies communication to create stress-free environments for shelter cats, community cats, and all animal companions. For more information please visit theothermecoaching.com.
An Interview with Angela Walters Rockwell, Executive Director of the Animal Shelter Assistance Program (ASAP), Santa Barbara, California
Angela shares fascinating information about ASAP’s innovative programs, particularly their recognized “Tiny Lion Tamers” initiative that socializes feral kittens within the shelter environment. So far, this program has 125 “graduates" and has made a significant difference in ASAP’s ability to deal with a large feral kitten population. There’s even a “foster dad” cat who’s available to provide a little “whupass” to kittens that need better manners! ASAP has a unique management structure, where paid staff work alongside volunteers as program managers. Angela believes that “everyone at the table should feel valued, especially volunteers." For more information please visit www.asapcats.org.
She explains how her own experience working in shelters showed her that TNR clinics were the perfect way to provide hands-on experience to veterinary students, while also helping underserved animal populations, such as community cats.
As a clinical associate professor at the Cummings School, she supports an on-campus spay-neuter clinic whose mission is to serve “the community and underserved animals while helping veterinary students learn clinical skills needed to become excellent vets.” Staffed by students, the clinic acts as a site for hands-on learning, involving students in the entire process of TNR and endowing graduating students with the experience of multiple surgeries. By working with shelter animals Dr. McCobb believes students can see the “direct animal impact every day,” and hopes that even graduates going into private practice will learn the benefits of TNR and continue to volunteer in their communities.”
For more information about the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and its Tufts at Tech program, please visit tufts.edu/vet. *Please note that the audio quality of this interview is questionable due to technical difficulties. However, Dr. McCobb was so insightful we wanted you to have the opportunity to hear her interview.
John’s background in wildlife management and a biology degree from George Washington University led him to become an animal control officer in 1994. Since then, he has served as the director of the National Animal Control Association and,since 2003, the City Animal Care and Services Program in San Jose, CA. John discusses the rewarding effects of switching to a TNR focus after the shelter intake’s substantial increase after the 2008 recession. The use of data (including specific euthanasia rates and intake numbers) to compare catch and kill programs with TNR programs is an important component in Jon’s success in convincing other communities to jump on the TNR bandwagon.
For more information, visit sanjoseanimals.com or email Jon at jon.cicirelli@sanjose.gov.
From working as an animal control officer in 1989 to becoming the first person ever to complete a veterinarian residency in shelter medicine in 2001 at UC Davis, Kate’s passion for saving the lives of community cat is undeniable. Within what she calls her ‘big picture work,’ she has incorporated treatment of infectious diseases in lowering the number of shelter cats and euthanasia. Kate discusses how the excitement of peer-to-peer networking influenced her TNR program called "Million Cat Challenge", based on initiatives to balance intake, capacity for humane care in shelters, and live outcomes for cats in shelters.
Visit millioncatchallenge.org and sheltermedicine.com for more information.
A national expert in animal welfare issues, Rick is an advocate for spay/neuter programs targeting low income pet owners. He founded Jacksonville, Florida’s First "Coast No More Homeless Pets" in 2002. At that time, 23,000 was the annual number of deaths among shelter animals. Today, that number has decreased to 781. Rick discusses the concept of economic euthanasia and how a pet’s unexpected, high cost health crisis can exacerbate the number of unnecessary deaths. Rick has continued his efforts with the 2009 and 2016 openings of two new large scale spay/neuter clinics in Florida, as well as the 2008 launching of the Feral Freedom TNR program.
For further information, visit fcnmhp.org or email Rick directly at rducharme@fcnmhp.org.
After her first experience losing a beloved stray to overpopulation in a Bridgeport, CT shelter, Esther’s passion for improving the quality of life for community cats across the country was ignited. Her grassroots efforts began with soliciting spay/neuter discounts among nationwide veterinarians while chartering her toll-free hotline in 1990. By 1993, she was fielding twenty-three thousand calls a month, leading to expansion programs including United Say Alliance and Spay USA. Esther discusses how her campaign, “Fixed Felines by Five”, educates the public on the positive impact that pediatric spaying and neutering has on not only feline overpopulation, but health and behavioral issues as well. Programs in countries including Panama, Costa Rica, and Australia have been modeled after Esther’s programs.
In her 8th grade research paper, Dr. Christine reported that up to twenty-two million cats were killed annually in shelters at the time. Almost thirty years after pursuing her DVM, those numbers have dropped to four million. Christine discusses the impact both mash-style and free-standing clinics have had on these statistics, as well as the challenges and triumphs she faced after launching the Feral Cat Spay and Neuter Project in Seattle in 1997. She and Stacy also discuss differing philosophies and approaches towards animal welfare and how education can convert donators from focusing on individual case causes to larger scale spay/neuter causes.
For further related resources, visit Operation Catnip at ocgainsville.org.
With 33 years of experience as a veterinarian in Cincinnati, Ohio, Dr. Zeke founded United Pet Fund in 2010 and United Pet Resource Center in 2015. An advocate for the integration of corporate assistance within the non-profit world, he discusses the positive impact large companies could offer smaller “mom & pop” organizations with significantly lower resources. He also speaks candidly about bridging the gap between private practice and non-profit animal welfare programs, as well as fundraising challenges and potential solutions. While TNR techniques have come a long way since he started in the 1980’s, with his generation of veterinarians as “the McGyvers of the medical field,” he believes feral cats have the potential to live successfully among properly managed, gender neutral colonies.
To find out more, visit unitedpetfund.org or email him at unitedpetfund@fuse.net.
A computer consultant with Microsoft by day, Amber channeled both her passion for cats and her business-sense into launching Michigan’s All About Animals Rescue in 2005. Since then, she has raised over $1 million in grants, has grown the program’s original annual budget from $80,000 to over $3 million, launched a high volume spay/neuter clinic in 2008, and founded the Spay Michigan hotline. Amber cites consistent trap availability as a critical component in TNR programs. She challenges every spay and neuter clinic to provide 100% trap accessibility for every case. She discusses the importance of collaborative relationships, networking, patience, and an open mind for fulfilling successful goals for community cats everywhere.
To find out more, visit allaboutanimalsrescue.org and spaymichigan.org.
Always a lover of animals, a young Bryn Rogers thought she would take the obvious career path of veterinarian—until she shadowed at a vet office and found herself unable to stomach the reality of surgery. She didn’t let her squeamishness stop her from helping animals, however, and found meaningful work in shelters. She is now the program manager at the MSPCA adoption center in Boston, Massachusetts, overseeing the shelter’s adoption and spay-neuter events, as well as volunteer and foster care programs. Learning from her volunteers, coworkers, and the communities of other shelters is a reoccurring theme in her work, combining the knowledge and experience of the people in these spheres to more effectively achieve common goals. In conversation with Stacy, Bryn provides insightful tips for how shelters can provide high amounts of spay-neuter procedures at low cost, exposing shier cats to the public for adoption, and growing a foster care program and training volunteers—and utilizing the more seasoned among them to help new recruits and build a stronger community.
To learn more visit the MSPCA online.
Dr. Marvin Mackie began his lifelong work with animals from an early age. Raised on a farm around cows and horses, he entered veterinary school with the intent of becoming a large animal veterinarian. After seeing the dire need for more spay-neuter services while working at a 24-hour emergency clinic in Chicago, however, he eventually transitioned into pediatric small-animal medicine. With over 30 years of veterinary experience and having performed approximately 250,000 spay-neuter surgeries, Dr. Mackie provides a first-hand perspective on the evolution of spay-neuter practices in the United States from the 70s to today, describing his own Quick Spay Technique and how he has implemented it in recent years by teaching it to eager veterinarians in Mexico. He highlights the benefits of neutering from an early age and expounds upon his hopes that help from private practice will reinforce shelter work in sterilization for community cats.
Ellen Carozza is a veterinary technician with a passion for rescuing and raising neonatal kittens. She lovingly brings the kittens she raises everywhere with her, and implements innovative ways to care for them, including electrolytes, probiotics and plasma. With Stacy, she discusses the risks involved in raising kittens this young, and emphasizes that this is a task for rescuers who already have experience.
To find out more visit NOVA Cat Clinic online.
Dr. David Haworth, DVM, PhD has impact on his mind. He discusses how he works to help PetSmart Charities save 1,400 lives a day, through grantmaking, adoption centers, supporting spay/neuter and other initiatives.
To find out more visit PetSmart Charities online.
Michael tells Stacy about all things animal welfare in Arizona, from a ten-month kitten season to roaming packs of chihuahuas. In addition, he emphasizes the importance of working with other animal welfare groups and discusses other strategies for handling an influx of kittens, including promotions and foster networks.
To find out more visit Arizona Animal Welfare League & SPCA online.
Former animal control officer Alice Burton has transformed her beliefs about trap-neuter-release. Alice tells Stacy about synergistic relationships between animal control departments and TNR organizations, resources for communities that hope to introduce TNR, and her own reluctant transition to believing in trap-neuter-release. Now working with Alley Cat Allies, Alice discusses other initiatives, like National Feral Cat Day. For more information, visit alleycat.org or call Alley Cat Allies’ national help desk at 240-482-1980.
To find out more visit Ally Cat Allies online.
CAT is the largest feline-only shelter in the Pacific Northwest, and Karen outlines their focus on taking in cats from other shelters and rescue groups for necessary medical care and rehoming. One secret to their success is that they are committed to “give each cat the housing and support and care they need to be successful in the shelter and then successful in their adoptive homes.” The Portland area is a pretty great place to be a community cat, she observes, given shelters like CAT as well as the local Feral Cat Coalition, which has provided 80,000 (!) free and low cost surgeries for cats. (Photo taken by Kathi Lamm of Lamm Photography).
To find out more visit Cat Adoption Team online.
With her ten years of at the helm of PetSmart Charities, and her current role leading Central OK Humane, Susana is in a perfect position to share her perspective both as a a funder of animal initiatives, and a recipient of grant dollars. Thanks to previous support from the ASPCA, Central OK Humane has implemented a raft of programs that have brought live release rates to an all-time high. Their high volume, high quality spay/neuter clinic has treated 11,000 community animals since its inception in 2008, and they also have a robust community cats presence, including TNR and a bottle baby program.
To find out more visit Central OK Humane Society online.
Julia says that earning her Masters in Animals and Public Policy at Tufts gave her a perfect “launching pad” for what she wanted to do with her life. It also led her to take an active role at the Massachusetts Animal Coalition, which connects volunteers, animal welfare professionals and community members. She details their new program, “AniMatch for Cats,” which facilitates cooperation amongdifferent constituencies to improve outcomes for cats seeking homes. She believes such a program could work anywhere you have people committed to cats and are looking to build additional resources to help them.
To find out more visit The MSPCA online.
A veteran advocate for animals, Kara talks about her involvement in several game-changing initiatives — a license plate program and tax check-off — that created funding sources in Massachusetts for spay/neuter programs that have impacted thousands of animals. She also talks about the importance of getting to know your local legislators, and educating them before you need them, rather than after. “Legislators want to hear directly from their constituents,” she notes. While she says a law degree is not essential to playing her role, it helped her develop analytical reasoning that has helped her frame the issues she supports.
To find out more visit The MSPCA online.
Have a diabetic cat, or know someone who does? JaneA describes her experience with her own cat plus the work she does as a member of the “virtual” team that runs Diabetic Cats in Need. (DCIN). DCIN assists cat owners with education and financial assistance to better support their cat’s needs. Since its founding, DCIN has assisted over 700 cats — and loving cat owners. JaneA also discusses how medication and diet can go a long way to assuring that cats have long and happy lives after their diagnosis. She also talks about her blog (written by her cats!) that helps cat owners understand behavior and medical issues.
To find out more visit the paws-and-effect.com online.
After reminiscing about their early work together, Bonney and Stacy discuss fundraising strategies and the importance of focusing your message on successes and future opportunities. It can be overwhelming to think about thousands of animals in need, but inspiring to tell the story of an individual cat or situation. Bonney also talks about how to put together an effective non-profit Board of Directors, which she sees as essential to meeting a group’s mission. It’s important, she notes, to make sure Board members have a clear understanding what is expected of them, and to use their time wisely during meetings.
To find out more visit the Humane Network online.
Marlan leads a “boots on the ground” initiative to go into Kansas City's underserved communities to provide education, wellness and other resources to keep families and pets together. These efforts include a pet food pantry that distributes more than 40,000 pounds of dog and cat food a year, a MASH-style high volume spay/neuter clinic that aims to treat 10,000 pets a year, and other ways to “make cats better neighbors for us.” He is a big believer in making sure 100% of every feral colony is fixed and describes the feeling of getting that last cat trapped: “you feel like a superhero!”
To find out more visit the Spay and Neuter Kansas City online.
The State of Delaware has legislation in effect establishing a spay/neuter program for non-profits and low-income individuals, which is funded by a $3 surcharge on rabies vaccines. Shauna talks about how those funds are put to work through with participating veterinarians and local shelters. She notes that all types of individuals are necessary to create change for cats: “there are a lot of people do the really hard work on the ground for animal welfare…trapping, foster, feeding” but that she felt her journalism and legislative skills could be put to work to help make these individuals’ jobs easier.
To find out more visit the The State of Delaware Office of Animal Welfare online.
Shelby describes the challenges of helping community cats in the rural South, where 40% of residents have no access to the internet. So, she reaches out to local social services organizations to get information to individuals who don’t even know what spay/neuter is: “you have to assume that people don’t know and start there.” Her “street team” also distributes flyers at laundromats and supermarkets, noting that you need to reach out to the public in places they normally go. Shelby also talks about her “stray-dar” for finding outdoor cats and the persistent problem of feral dogs in Mississippi.
To find out more visit the Mississippi Spay Neuter online.
After TNR’ing 43 cats and fostering multiple litters of kittens, Ashley became “addicted” to trapping and decided that a career in animal welfare was inevitable for her. She speaks about her communications efforts to educate individual neighborhoods about the importance of spay/neuter and the resources available to help them with community cats.. Her staff at Scituate Animal Shelter plays the role of “hotline” for callers concerned about cats, going through a checklist to help them arrive at the right solutions. She also shares her “top tips” for trapping moms and kittens.
To find out more visit the Scituate Animal Shelter online.
When Scott accepted the challenge of joining the Washington Humane Society, their live release rate was 28%…today it is 90%. Scott outlines the various programs that have moved the dial, including improved coordination and cooperation with animal control, their Pets for Life program, and targeted TNR that fixed over 2500 cats last year alone. Today, he’s working with local authorities on helping more low income individuals keep their cats to reduce abandonment with a “Pets in Housing” program. Plus, he lovingly shares his passion for socializing feral kittens, and his foster failures, the “Gang of Four."
To find out more visit the Washington Humane Society online.
Kit reflects on the “bad old days” 30 years ago when “cats were third class citizens, who came in and went out the back door” and there was no formal way for rescues or shelters to share information and build community regarding programs to help them. She describes the kitty she met who changed her mind about cats living outdoors: "When I met his eyes, I realized he was a cat who had his own world and his own way of surviving." She stresses the importance of organizations celebrating every small change they make and building on them.
To find out more visit the PetSmart Charities online.
Rachael started her career as an academic scientist and brings disciplined thinking to her cageless cat shelter and TNR efforts. She and her mother founded Here Today, Adopted Tomorrow after attending a Best Friends workshop. She describes how the cats in her care stay healthier because their stress levels are lower and notes that it’s important to have an optimal number of cats: “people get overwhelmed if there are too many cats and they can’t choose and walk out without a cat.” TNR wasn’t her initial interest, but she but began becausel "I saw that it needed to be done.” She’s a big believer in asking questions and learning from others: "Don’t reinvent the wheel…look at what others are doing and do exactly the same thing."
**Please excuse the sound quality of this interview. The information is so valuable it's worth sticking with it!
To find out more visit the Here Today, Adopted Tomorrow online.
Nancy, who has been involved in the start-up of community cat TNR programs in Florida and now in Delaware, identifies several of the critical factors for building a successful effort: educating and developing working partnerships with community entities, concentrating on cats in a small area first, and keeping detailed records of the number of cats affected. “Numbers, numbers, numbers…getting grants is all about the numbers.” She also shares her experience mentoring different size groups seeking to build their TNR capabilities, and the different challenges they face.
To find out more visit the Brandywine SPCA online.
In this episode, Stacy’s in the interview chair and speaks about her motivation for launching the Community Cats Podcast, the wide array of volunteers, services and skills necessary to support cats, and her four biggest priorities for making big picture difference. Among those priorities is fundraising, which Stacy calls “an everlasting challenge” for supporting spay/neuter initiatives: “we’re at the point where we need to offer free spay/neuter, a 20 pound bag of food, and transportation” to get some cats into a clinic…and that requires financial support.” She also introduces us to the concept of the “kitten free zone” that was achieved by the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society with its efforts on the Newburyport, MA waterfront.
To find out more visit the The Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society online.
Jessica has had broad exposure to many different functions necessary to helping community cats: TNR, high volume spay/neuter clinics, and even managing a pet food pantry. When she joined Indy Humane, there were nearly 800 cats on the waiting list for spay/neuter services and describes her efforts to shorten these waiting times. She also talks about the “trapper’s rush” she experienced watching three kittens walk into a trap together: “trapping requires a lot of strategy...it’s a game of you against the cat.” She also detail her efforts to provide services and support to community cat caretakers, and the amazing increase in live release rates for cats in her area.
To find out more visit the Indy Humane online.
Julie applied her for-profit experience and strategic mindset to the issues facing Community Cats in her years at PetSmart Charities and Executive Director of the Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Program in Washington State. She points out how important it is for all groups — no matter their size — to figure out what they do best, and focus on those skills to build sustainability. Rather than try to “do it all,” she recommends that every organization find like-minded partners who complement their expertise. She also shares great ideas about how to personalize fundraising for spay/neuter initiatives.
To find out more visit the PetSmart Charities online.
Volunteering at the Gifford Shelter, and helping socialize fearful, shy and semi-feral cats launched Rachel into her role today as a certified cat behaviorist. She describes the cat behavior and retention program she founded at Gifford, and has shared with other organizations as well as the Humane Society of the United States. Her passion for helping those in need extends beyond cats to developing a program for shelters to bring developmentally challenged children in as volunteers, and advocacy for nursing homes to embrace allowing seniors the therapeutic benefit of owning cats. Finally, she counsels Stacy on how to keep her cat Hooch from waking her up every night!
To find out more visit the Gifford Cat Shelter online and click here to check out the presentation Rachel mentions in the episode!
In this episode, Karen describes how she went about determining what type of efforts and program might best solve the community cat problem in Louisville. She’s a big believer in planning and patience; when founding Alley Cat Advocates, she spent a whole year developing organizational infrastructure so that its future activities would have a sound base to build on. She also talks about coalition building with both public and non-profit animal control and rescues, volunteer engagement, and the importance of partnering not only with community cat caretakers, but respecting and assisting those who prefer to have cats out of their yards and neighborhoods. “We must have a culture of caring,” she notes.
To find out more visit the Alley Cat Advocates online.
In this episode, Katie chronicles her wide-ranging activities as a proponent for improving outcomes for cats and communities. She details her work helping improve public policies relating to cats, advocating for coalitions to join together in a community to address their cat issues, and the many resources HSUS makes available to interested individuals and groups who want to work on behalf of change. “The HSUS works to protect all animals,” notes Katie, and then talks about the ways that the cat community and wildlife community need to listen to each other, rather than fight it out. Ultimately, she says, “if you keep the population of free-roaming cats down, you have fewer issues with the birding community."
To find out more visit the The Humane Society of the United States online.
Stacy interviews Bridget about some of the thorniest questions surrounding community cats: how do you assess whether a cat is owned, feral or a community cat, when should you intervene with a cat versus letting it be, and how to help rescues and shelters make smart choices about which cats to take in. She describes the unique mission of the Missing Pet Partnership: educating owners on prevention and recovery of lost pets. As she puts it, “losing your pet is a once in a lifetime event…no wonder owners freak out and have no idea what to do.” MPP’s Operation Rescue is a program that seeks to help shelters do a better job reuniting pets and people.
To find out more visit the The Missing Pet Partnership or Path Ahead Animal Shelter Consulting online.
Christy and Stacy have a wide-ranging discussion about low cost spay/neuter, developing a successful TNR effort by building community coalitions, and Christy’s experience with the Pets for Life program, which she states changed her mind completely about the pets of the underprivileged: “everyone deserves to have love in their lives.” She also describes the inspiring work she’s involved with at the Jackson Galaxy Foundation, where clicker training for cats (yes, you read that right!) is changing the game for shy and fearful shelter cats.
To find out more visit the The Jackson Galaxy Foundation online.
Nationally recognized expert Bryan Kortis talks with Stacy about all things TNR: his beginnings trapping a colony of cats on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, the founding of Neighborhood Cats.org to help teach TNR to others in New York and around the country, the critical importance of targeting one area until you’ve reached 100% sterilization and what the future looks like for community cats. Learn about CatStats.org, a new online tool for tracking the impact of TNR programs on cat populations, and where Bryan and his wife are headed for their next challenge.
To find out more visit the Neighborhood Cats online.
Stacy talks with veteran trapper Laura Burns about her experiences, advice and resources for those seeking to make a difference for cats. Laura discusses the use of box traps versus drop traps, her approach to feral kittens and relocating colonies, and her “Hail Mary Pass” trap bait. She underscores the importance of training motivated individuals how to successfully trap cats, as opposed to relying on others, and the importance of having caretakers invested in taking care of their colonies: "as soon as you turn your back, the clock is ticking and other cat is going to show up."
To find out more visit the Habitat for Cats online.
Formerly a “true blue dog person,” Betsy tells about the kitten on a woodpile outside her house that fueled her interest in assisting community cats. She also addresses the challenges found on the human side of the equation in animal welfare and rescues: small organizations often lack the infrastructure that would allow them to best benefit from their volunteers’ capabilities, rely too much on their founders, and overworked volunteers frequently “burn out”. A better solution, she says, is match peoples’ ability, skills and passion in a way that will best help the organization’s mission and the cause.
To find out more visit the The Human Society of the United States online.
Dr. Newman describes how the Barry County Animal Shelter implemented a TNR program — with the help of the MRFRS Mentoring Program and PetSmart Charities — that has resulted in a drastic reduction in unwanted litters among unowned cats. She describes her humble beginnings as a spay/neuter advocate — “fixing 12 cats a month wasn’t going to cut it” — and how she sought advice and then, the cooperation of local officials and volunteer vets to help address the problem. Her advice to those facing similar challenges? “Just do it.”
To find out more visit the Barry County online.
In this episode, Mike describes the profound improvements and progress for cats he has seen in his 20+ year career at the MSPCA. By implementing programs to reduce the stress of cats in the shelter, aggressively targeting communities with low cost spay/neuter services, and implementing creative adoption promotions, Mike’s adoption center has achieved a 92% live release rate, and can now focus on the challenge of finding homes for “hard to place” cats. He also discusses his views on pediatric spay/neuter, and how barn cat programs can be a winning solution for cats with aggression or house soiling issues.
To find out more visit the MSPCA Nevins Farm Adoption Center online.
Marnie tells Stacy about her commitment to increasing the survival rates for neonatal kittens through education, information sharing, cooperation and hands on learning. Her organization, the National Kitten Coalition, specializes in helping shelters, rescue organizations, the veterinary community and individuals, better understand how to manage these tiny felines through a critical part of their life. Marnie talks about the critical need for more foster homes equipped to handle “bottle babies” and how rewarding that work can be.
To find out more visit the The National Kitten Coalition online.
Kit, the founder of the largest TNR group in the greater Boston area, provides insights on how to develop an effective TNR program. Because 50% of the cats found by Charles River Alley Cats are “friendlies,” the group sha developed important relationships with local shelters to serve as adoption partners. In terms of building TNR capabilities, Kit cautions that it’s important to put resources — equipment, transportation, veterinarians and space — into place before starting to trap. She shares her group’s astonishing impact on shelter intakes and euthanasia, and also how she brought her passion for helping animals to her vacation home in Mexico, where 90% of cats are unowned and a local veterinarian takes braided bracelets and fish in exchange for fixing local animals.
To find out more go to www.charlesriveralleycats.org.
Sandy reflects on her long career in animal welfare, why working with people might be more effective than hands-on work with animals, and the Jackson Galaxy Foundation’s current initiative to improve conditions and adoptability for shelter cats.
To find out more go to www.jacksongalaxyfoundation.org.
To find out more visit Lowell TNR Collation online.
Get to know Stacy LeBaron, hear a bit about her life’s work with cats and non-profit organizations, and learn more about the show and it's mission.
