The Community Cats Podcast

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 t...

Interview! Rob Halpin, Director of Public Relations at the MSPCA   "Journalists love to help animals just like we do."    Rob Halpin is the director Public Relations at the MSPCA Angell Animal Hospital in Boston, MA. He transitioned from the corporate sector, working as a PR agent for At&T, to his current job about five years ago and found a perfect blend of two of his biggest passions: public rel...

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...

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...

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 bus...

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 Mart...

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 b...

Interview! 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 re...

Interview! Rob Leinberger, President, National Animal Care and Control Association   "The communities that I have seen do best have a network."   Rob Leinberger has been in the animal control game for 25 years—first starting as a veterinary assistant in high school, then working as an animal control officer for Chesterfield County in Virginia. He is the president of the National Animal Care and Co...

Meg 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 som...

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 cla...

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 d...

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 ass...

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...

Stacy's back with more recommendations in the second ever Book Review Show! These four books offer a wide variety for anyone in the animal welfare world: from a coffee table book of city kitties, to a birder's views  on managing free-roaming cat populations. As last time, the final book recommendation does not talk specifically about cats, but instead offers ways in which you can build your social...

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 communit...

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 th...

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 program...

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....

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...

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 sp...

Nina Wolf, Writer and Expert, Animal Nutrition and Wellness "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...

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...

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 en...

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...