The Community Cats Podcast

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

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

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 chall

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 ster

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 c

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 a

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

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 tr

“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, K

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 p

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/ne

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 sho

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

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

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

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.

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 (

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 m

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 p

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 e