The Community Cats Podcast

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 [email protected].

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.

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, he's a huge proponent of microchipping community cats so that their vaccination information can be accessed in necessary situations. He's also trying to get animal control officers more engaged in their town's TNR efforts: "they should be learning from the people in the community doing the work." For more information please visit mass.gov.

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 starting with just 150 or so cats in its first year, the program Taryn chairs has now fixed 4000 cats in just four years. The kitten population is under control, as well — down from 85 last year to only 15 in 2016. She talks about the benefits of transfer cages, of keeping your equipment in top condition, and the secret of trapping during Nebraska's stern winters: microwave your bait until it's very hot and wrap it in a towel until you get to your trapping location. For more information please visit blairanimalshelter.org.

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! 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 here and all you're going to see are eartips." She moved on to help address the Community Cats more broadly across the Jacksonville area — "I spent a lot of time in dumpsters" — and was able to impact 4600 cats over a two-year period. Her organization, Mayport Cats, helps and rehomes for cats who need extended medical care, as well as disabled and hard-to adopt cats. For more information please visit mayportcats.com.

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! 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 lives of not just pets, but community cats. She explains that, from a colony keeper's perspective, if you can microchip the members of your colony, you can identify which cats have had the vaccinations and treatments they need. This may reduce the risk of these community cats getting picked up and stuck in "the system". Making chips and scanners financially and widely accessible is part of her current role as a shelter care representative at Pet Link. For more information please visit petlink.net.

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! 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 87%. And uses a project- and statistics-based approach to his work, lauding the benefits of public/private partnerships, and focusing on the different categories of cats that require different solutions to their challenges.. He founded LumenLS with the goal of moving past the stories of individual cats and focusing on the ability to end premature death and suffering for animals. He observes, "There's a solution out there for just about everything." For more information please visit lumenls.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! 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 a number of professional roles in the animal welfare world, involved with programs, shelter operations, managing volunteers and digital marketing. He discusses the importance of "balance" to avoid burnout among staff and volunteers, the challenge of having a non-profit's board and staff aligned as to the organization's goals, and his 'fantastic looking" backyard colony of cats. For more information please visit facebook.com/almondolivemusic.

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! 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 as partner to the Felines and Friends Foundation in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. Pamela has extensive experience working with barn cat populations, a common situation in rural areas. She discusses certain challenges related to this type of cat community, including the misconception that barns are healthier places for stray or abandoned in-tact community cats than shelters. Pamela also discusses the challenge of retaining veterinarians for S/N clinics, the Spay the Mom program, and grant writing. For more information please visit vt-can.org.

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.

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 Diversion Program, implemented by Target Zero, prioritizes updating antiquated ordinances and codes through communicating with and educating elected officials. Sarah and Stacy also discuss the debate over the definition of an 'abandoned' cat, and ways to determine abandonment. Sarah's passion and commitment is clear as she shares her views and experiences. For more information please visit target-zero.org.

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 need to engage and communicate with neighbors to make the care of cats a group effort: "sometimes you find out there are 8 people all feeding a colony of 8 cats." She also stresses the impact of integrating different types of programs, such as TNR and Pets for Life, to address not just community cats, but cats who have the potential to end up outside. For more information please visit hsus.org.

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.

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 pressing need for population control among the colony living on base. This spurred her to found Cat Team 7, which she describes as a "marriage of civilian groups with Naval Station Norfolk leadership" to trap and relocate cats to other outdoor homes that may care for them. Caitlin's work truly embodies perseverance in the face of adversity, as strict governmental policies regarding the trapping and care for community cats on military sites makes it very hard for animal welfare advocates in those areas to do meaningful work for feral cat populations. To learn more about Cat Team 7's various initiatives, or to express interest in supporting their efforts to change Department of Defense policy language on community cat welfare in military spaces, email Caitlyn at [email protected].

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 newly launched grant program, Community Cat Grants, which provides funds and mentorship to grassroots organizations as well as small shelters in need of help. To find out more about Community Cats Grants or to apply, click here. If you want to know more about the benefits and drawbacks of fee-waved adoption, click here to read Stacy's blog post. For more information on TNR, visit alleycat.org or neighborhood cats.org. For resources in multiple languages, check out the Multilingual Pet Care Library. To submit a question for the next Ask Stacy episode, please go to the CCP Facebook page and post it to the wall.

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 2015. Liz outlines some of MRFRS' many services, such as low-cost veterinary care to local families in need of financial assistance, and the Catmobile program, which is a mobile spay-neuter clinic that has serviced more than 50,000 cats since its beginning in 2008. Most importantly, Liz talks about the myths surrounding FIV-positive cats and cats with feline leukemia. Find MRFRS on Facebook or at mrfrs.org, or email Liz at [email protected].

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 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.

In the field of animal welfare, "Dr. Susan" possesses a prolific resume. She opened her own veterinary-behavioral consulting service in 2000, has maintained a position as veterinary advisor for the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association since its beginning in 2008, runs a private practice, and has volunteered her veterinary service at various local shelters in her home state of Wisconsin. In 2001, Dr. Susan founded Friends of Ferals, an adoption center and spay-neuter clinic for community cats in Dane County, WI. Considering that community cat interests were not a pressing concern at the time of its inception, this organization has done groundbreaking work in its field, rescuing over 4,500 community cats and adopting out 4,300 since 2007. Dr. Susan offers insight into successful relocation of community cat colonies, and how to successfully grow your organization through community outreach, especially in the face of push-back. For more information, visit the Friends of Ferals website at daneferals.org.

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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. For more information visit SpayUSA.org.

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 [email protected].

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.