The Community Cats Podcast

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 wo...

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 over...

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 gra...

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...

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 t...

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...

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...

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...

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 chan...

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 preventio...

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...

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....

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 rel...

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 th...

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 cooperatio...

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 t...

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...

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 — e...

Sarah Hess, Founding Member of United Coalition for Animals (OH), Grant Manager at  TwoMauds.org   Sarah describes the "aha" moment when she realized that aggressive spay/neuter efforts were a necessary partner for rescue activities. She also discusses how cooperation and inclusiveness among organizations is essential to reducing animal homelessness and how mentoring can benefit new organizations...

Learn how Jen determined that pet food was missing from local food banks and started an all-volunteer effort to get dog and cat food to families in need.  She recommends a "simple, scalable model", shares some resources and software that have helped her grow her efforts, and discusses her goals for growing PAWSitive Pantry to support food shelves across all of Vermont.   Learn more about PAWSitive...

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 .

Frank describes how one outdoor kitty named Blackie motivated him and his wife to found the Animal Coalition of Tampa, whose spay/neuter efforts have transformed feline welfare in one of Florida's most populous regions, and how others can learn from his experience.   To learn more visit  actampa.org .

Julie explains the challenge of overcoming entrenched attitudes about animals and lack of resources in rural Tennessee, and the county-by-county approach that's helped make spay/neuter services available and affordable for the state's residents.   To find out more about Spay Tennessee go to  www.spaytennessee.org .

Laura talks with Stacy about the importance of patience, how to build a successful TNR organization, and why the biggest challenge you face may be educating people, not trapping cats. 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.