The Community Cats Podcast

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Ep156 - Dr. Dena Mangiamele Mar 14, 2017

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Interview! Dr. Dena Mangiamele, Author/Lecturer

"'Safety first' does not exclude cats at all."

When Dena Mangiamele started to practice veterinary medicine with the City of Los Angeles Department of Animal Control in the 1990s, animal sheltering procedures and best practices looked very different from how they do now. Dena helped to implement groundbreaking (at the time) programs like early spay-neuter, which greatly lowered the euthanasia numbers in the shelter, as well as the shelter's annual intake. Dena continues to propagate these programs in shelters across the country through her consultation service, and also teaches animal safety and handling programs for shelter volunteers and animal control officers. She is passionate about instilling the belief in these shelters that high-volume low-cost spay-neuter is possible for them, even if the results aren't immediately apparent.

To learn amore about Dena, you can visit her at www.doctordena.com or pick her brain directly by emailing contact@doctordena.com.

Ep155 - Gavin Ehringer Mar 11, 2017

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Interview! Gavin Ehringer, Author

"We are so people-focused because behind every animal that is coming into our clinic is a person."

Gavin Ehringer has been writing about companion animals for 25 years, fueled by a childhood growing up next to a game farm and spending his young adult years working on a ranch. In this unorthodox episode, he outlines the different "classes" of animals—working, companion, purebred, and show—and tells Stacy about the unintended consequences of breeding. His upcoming book, Coming to the Fire: The Unnatural History of Dogs, Cats, Cows, and Horses, explores the relationship between companion animals and humans, and how humans have used their relationship with us to advance their own survival. To find out more about Gavin's new book, please visit www.comingtothefire.com.

Ep154 - Michelle Rivera Mar 09, 2017

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Interview! Michelle Rivera, Founder, Spay-Neuter Kansas City

"We are so people-focused because behind every animal that is coming into our clinic is a person."

Michelle Rivera is the founder of Spay-Neuter Kansas City, a 501(c)3 non-profit that services the Kansas City areas in both Kansas and Missouri. Now going on its fifteenth year of operation, SNKC has increased the live release rate to 90% in the cities' shelters, and it services around 20,000 animals each year. Before the impetus of SNKC, Michelle did not see animal welfare service in her future—she used to be extremely afraid of dogs! However, in order to regain confidence after leaving an abusive relationship, a therapist encouraged her to volunteer at the local shelter. In this way she created her own redemption story by helping lost and abused pets to find theirs. Because of this background, her goal at SNKC is two-fold: to better the lives of the animals that enter the SNKC clinic, and to create an inclusive "workplace culture" for her staff. She believes that a healthy workplace is crucial to provide top-notch service to animals and pet owners, and to prevent the drama and burnout that can be so parasitic to non-profit, welfare-focused organizations.

To find out how you can create a better workplace culture in your organization, you can email Michelle with your questions at michelle@snkc.net.

Ep153 - Priscilla Ma Mar 07, 2017

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Interview! Priscilla Ma, Executive Director, US Chapter of World Animal Protection

"People don't want to know just about suffering, they want to know how they can help."

Priscilla Ma is the executive director for the US chapter of World Animal Protection. While doing humanitarian work with Smile Train, she traveled throughout the world and saw the different kinds of impacts that animals can have on humans, and the myriad of ways that the animal-human relationship can manifest itself. She joined WAP in 2015, and since then has been promoting the organization's four main tenets: animals and farming, animals and communities, animals in the wild, and animals and disaster. Priscilla goes more into detail about what those pillars are in the episode and explains that, when working in an international organization, you can make an impact on millions of people by telling the story of one animal. To learn more about the US chapter of WAP, please visit worldanimalprotection.us.org.

Ep152 - Cheryl Fernandes, Mar 04, 2017

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Interview! Cheryl Fernandes, Shelter Care Representative, PetLink

"The microchip is the silent voice for the animal."

In continuation with Microchipping Madness, Stacy invites Cheryl Ann Fernandes back to the show to discuss the importance of microchipping. Cheryl Ann explains a bit about the technology behind the microchip, what RFID is and what it stands for, and also highlights the importance of buying your microchips from a reputable company. She also reinforces some of the statistics covered in earlier Microchipping Madness episodes—less than 2% of lost cats are returned to owners, as opposed to much higher rates for dogs. Check with your local veterinarian or shelter about opportunities for microchipping your pets today! Listen to Cheryl Ann's first interview here, and to access the microchip database that Cheryl Ann mentioned, go to www.petmicrochiplookup.org. You can also get in touch with Cheryl Ann herself by calling her cellphone at (781)-281-5167, or email her at cherylann.fernandes@datamars.com.

Ep151 - Brigid Wasson Mar 02, 2017

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Interview! Brigid Wasson, Co-founder Missing Pet Partnership

"We recommend that all cats be chipped, but it isn't foolproof."

Brigid is back for another interview with Stacy, and to kick of March Microchipping Madness, Brigid talks about the importance of microchipping your pets. Microchipping is an especially important development when it comes to cats, as the Return to Owner (RTO) rate for our feline friends is between 1 and 2% in the US! Brigid also discusses the drawbacks of microchipping, such as out-of-date information. She urges owners adopting new cats to get their pet scanned as soon as possible in order to check for a microchip and, if one is present, to call the company and update their contact information right away. If you haven't yet listened to Brigid's first episode, you can do so now by clicking here. To get in touch with Brigid, or to learn more about the Missing Pet Partnership's Mission Reunite Animal Shelter Training Seminar, please email her at bwasson@missingpetpartnership.org.

Ep150 - Bruce Myers Feb 28, 2017

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Bruce Myers, Executive Director, United Spay Alliance

"The law tends to be way behind the needs on the ground… We've got to let the law catch up."

In this Spay Day episode, Stacy is joined by Bruce Myers, an animal protection lawyer and new director of the United Spay Alliance. The United Spay Alliance (USA) seeks to establish timely spay-neuter programs in each state that are easily accessible to people who need it—not just a list of clinic locations, but a state-wide database with e-resources and FAQs. Bruce is optimistic about this goal, as it has relatively light financial projections, and in his first year as director he hopes to address some of the animal welfare issues in the Southern United States. He is open to hearing from people in the animal welfare community on subjects such as messaging, education, and access! To get in touch with Bruce, email him at myers@unitedspayalliance.org.

Ep149 - Rob Halpin Feb 25, 2017

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Interview! Rob Halpin, Director of Public Relations at the MSPCA "Journalists love to help animals just like we do." Rob Halpin is the director Public Relations at the MSPCA Angell Animal Hospital in Boston, MA. He transitioned from the corporate sector, working as a PR agent for At&T, to his current job about five years ago and found a perfect blend of two of his biggest passions: public relations and animal welfare. In this episode he gives some PR tips for new organizations that might not be used to working with the media, and talks about how those organizations can create a symbiotic relationship between themselves and the media by feeding any media coverage they get into their own social media outlets. To check out some examples of press releases and media pitches, visit the newsroom at mspca.org. To get in touch with Rob himself, email rahalpin@mspca.org.

Ep148 - Katie Lisnik Feb 23, 2017

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Interview! Katie Lisnik, Director of Cat Protection and Policy at the Humane Society of the United States

"This is the thick of legislative session season."

Where in the USA is cat policy these days? Katie Lisnik can tell you! Katie is back for her third interview with Stacy, and this time she is taking us on a tour of various states who have serious bills and legislation that affect community cats on the docket for 2017. Some of these bills the HSUS itself is pushing, and some of the bills it is trying to change—in Hawaii a bill for state-funded TNR is in the making, while in WY animal welfare advocates are trying to change the language around "nuisance animals" and making sure community cats don't fall under that definition. Plus, Katie gives us a teaser of some of the programming for the upcoming HSUS Expo from May 9 to 12 in Fort Lauderdale, FL. To find out what the HSUS is doing near you, or to get more information on the Expo, please visit animalsheltering.org. You can also get in touch with Katie or Danielle Bays by emailing cats@humanesociety.org.

Ep147 - Stacy LeBaron Feb 21, 2017

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Ask Stacy! Five Tenets of Building an Organization

"We have to focus on giving people the guidance they need, but also let them take ownership a task, too."

In this Ask Stacy episode, Lisa and Stacy go through Stacy's 5 Tenets of Building an Organization to Help Community Cats, which are: Understand your community, Build a skills matrix, Delegate tasks, Communicate with donors and volunteers, and Review and evaluate goals. Stacy is more than happy to consult with organizations on working on these tenets, so please email her at stacy@communitycatspodcast.com if you have any questions! Don't forget: the Cat Stats webinar is fast approaching on February 23rd! If you still have not reserved your spot, go to the Community Cats Podcast website and search for "cat stats webinar" to fill out the participant form. Also, be sure to submit a selfie with your cat to the My Feline Valentine photo contest before February 28th for a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card and other prizes!

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