The Community Cats Podcast

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 [email protected]—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 [email protected].

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 [email protected]. To learn more about Mike Keiley's organization and their work, visit mspca.org, or email Mike at [email protected].

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 [email protected]. To learn more about Mike Keiley's organization and their work, visit mspca.org, or email Mike at [email protected].

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 [email protected]. 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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected]. 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 [email protected]. 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: Education and Outreach Promote and facilite collaboration 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: Leave an outright bequest for a fund to take care of the animal - This may be where a family member would take on the burden. A pet owner could set up a fun for the person to help defray the cost of care for the animal. Frances also suggests having 2 or 3 names to make sure that if your #1 choice suddenly can't take the animal, there is a back-up. Creation of a trust for an animal - This offers more protections for the animal. This would name your animal as a beneficiary through a trustee, who will ultimately be in charge of overseeing everything for the duration of the pet's life. 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 distress A 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 [email protected] 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.