The Community Cats Podcast

“My biggest challenge is making sure the welfare of these cats is taken care of. I’ll never desert these cats. Never.” - Gloria Murli This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie’s Fund and the Rescue Cleaners and Disinfectants. What happens when a prison island becomes a refuge for hundreds of community cats? In this powerful episode, host Stacy LeBaron sits down with Gloria Murli, retired Rikers Island captain, and Mike Phillips of Urban Cat League to explore the decades-long, compassionate mission to care for and manage the cat colonies of Rikers Island. Gloria shares how a promise to a fellow officer turned into a lifelong commitment to Rikers’ feral cats, evolving into one of the nation’s largest TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) initiatives inside a correctional facility. Together with Mike, they recount the logistical, emotional, and bureaucratic challenges of working within a highly secure, sprawling facility, where cats once numbered over a thousand and lived in hidden colonies across 400 acres. Now, the proje