The Community Cats Podcast

Mike's been an integal part of Massachusetts' animal welfare efforts for 22 years.  He has extensive experience managing situations where community cats — and potentially their caretakers — have been exposed to rabies, and recounts several challenging situations he's faced, including one where an entire colony needed to be quarantined for six months after exposure to a rabid raccoon. As a result,...

Interview! Taryn Breuer, President, Friends of Jeannette Hunt Animal Shelter (NE)   Taryn describes how rural Blair, Nebraska needs its resident cats to help keep rodents from getting into the grain farmed there, but also needs an active TNR effort to keep the numbers of cats in check.  Participating in the MRFRS Mentoring Program was the catalyst (pun intended!) to upping Blair's TNR game: after...

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"...

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 43 rd  floor," he observes. In 1999, he got bitten by the community cats bug while helping deal with a 75 cat colony living b...

Interview! Tammy King, Founder, Mayport Cats (FL)   Mayport Village, a fishing village near Jacksonville, Florida, had become a popular place for people to "dump" cats, both healthy and sick.  Enter Tammy King, who brought her persistence and compassion to address the problem. Originally dealing with 200-250 cats, the population is now down to 30-50 and, Tammy notes, "I invite people to come out h...

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...

Interview! Cheryl Ann Fernandes, Regional Shelter Care Representative, PetLink   Drawing on Cheryl Ann's diverse, 25-year career in animal welfare, she and Stacy have a wide-ranging discussion about the challenges of being an urban animal control officer, the persistent challenge of "compassion fatigue" for all of those working in the field, and the innovative idea that microchipping can save the...

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 e...

Interview! Andi Kola, Founder Lumen LS, Broward County, Florida   Andi is a man on a mission… a mission to eliminate euthanization of cats in his home area of Broward County, Florida and beyond.  He recounts his efforts to work with local animal control officials as well as Country Commissioners to pass ordinances mandating return to field programs that have improved live release rates from 50% to...

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 e...

Interview! Ollie Davidson of Almond & Olive   Ollie has two passions:  animal welfare and music. He and his musical partner, Natalie Alms, are about to drop their debut album, and are donating a portion of its sales to the Jackson Galaxy Foundation.  Ollie met Jackson (who also plays music in his spare time) a few years ago and they've kept in touch given their shared interests.  Ollie has played...

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 he...

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 o...

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 "communi...

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...

Interview! Pamela Krausz, Founder and Executive Director of Vermont Companion Animal Neutering   Pamela is a founder and the executive director of Vermont Companion Animal Neutering (VT-CAN), a low cost, high volume spay/neuter clinic. As a stationary clinic with a mash-stlye component, VT-CAN performs approximately 3,200 spays/neuters per year in central Vermont, with an additional 2,000 per year...

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...

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...

A graduate of Cornell's College of Veterinary program, Sarah is the Program Director for Target Zero, a national initiative focused on assisting financially struggling shelters. She discusses the ways in which this program helps subsidize fixed income pet owners across the country, allowing spay and neuter opportunities that result in drastic decreases in shelter intake. The Community Cat Diversio...

An Interview with Danielle Jo Bays, Community Cats Program Manager for the Humane Society of the United States   Danielle calls on both her hands-on trapping experience and public policy work to help HSUS develop campaigns and programs that will educate and empower people who want to support cats in their community, such as webinars and tools for trappers and colony caretakers. She underscores the...

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 d...

Initially a dog person and very allergic to cats, Caitlyn Macintosh made an unlikely candidate for founder of an organization dedicated to helping community cats. Her US Marine husband's passion for cats, however, sparked her own interest in animal welfare. When her husband was stationed at the naval base in Norfolk, VA, she found a passionate civilian community of cat advocates, as well as a pres...

It's time for another Q&A session with Stacy! In this episode, Stacy takes questions posted to the CCP Facebook page. Listeners asked for advice on how to keep the peace between an area's cat colonies and its disgruntled residents, recommendations of safe and effective traps, the pros and cons of fee-waved adoption, and her favorite sources of information about TNR. Stacy also discusses the CCP's...

Liz began her work with cats in 2004, when she was feeding a local cat colony and reached out to the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society for help. Soon after, she became the MRFRS' main trapping volunteer, and quickly rose through the ranks to Feral Cat Program Manager. From there, she elevated to Director of Operations and finally became the Executive Director of the organization in the fall of...

In this episode, Stacy interviews Dr. Emily McCobb, director of the Tufts Shelter Medicine Program and clinical associate professor of anesthesiology at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine.  Having volunteered at TNR clinics as a veterinary student herself, Dr. McCobb teaches shelter medicine as an emerging specialty.   She explains how her own experience working in shelters showed her that...