The Community Cats Podcast

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Ep146 - Rachel Geller Feb 18, 2017

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Interview! Rachel Geller, Certified Humane Education Specialist

"The moral and humane response to animal abuse begins with assisting kids in developing empathy and compassion for animals."

We are once again re-visiting an old friend of the podcast—Dr. Rachel Geller, vice president of the Gifford Cat Shelter and certified humane education specialist. As a cat behavior counselor, Rachel has been busy giving talks at various youth organizations to teach children compassion towards animals. She has worked with high-risk children and youth for a long time, teaching not only the importance of empathy towards animals, but also helping to build symbiotic relationships between youth and animals for mutual support. Rachel talks about the different types of humane education programming at Gifford, such as a program where children who lack confidence in reading or speaking aloud come to the shelter and read to a cat—the child gets a non-judgmental audience, and the cat receives some much-needed attention and company! You can listen to Rachel's first interview on the podcast here, or find out more about Rachel's upcoming lecture at the Whole Cat Workshop by visiting massanimalcoalition.com. To consult with Rachel about humane education programming for your organization, email her at rachelsg@aol.com.

Ep145 - Tamar Arslanian, Author of Shop Cats of New York Feb 16, 2017

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Interview! Tamar Arslanian, Author of Shop Cats of New York

"Isn't a life in a shop where they're loved better than a cage or being put down?"

Tamar Arslanian is the blogger behind ihavecat.com and the author of Shop Cats of New York, the coffee table book that Stacy recommended in her last book show. In the three years it took to write the book, Tamar partnered with photographer Andrew Marttila, who she calls a true "cat whisperer," and adventured all around New York meeting amazing cats in shops and the communities that form around them. In conversation with Stacy, Tamar debunks some of the myths surrounding shop cats, such as that shop cats are more neglected than their home counterparts, and shares some of her favorite stories from Shop Cats.

You can find Shop Cats on Amazon or at ihavecat.com, and you can follow the shop cats on social media by searching for "Shop Cats of New York" on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Ep144 - Christina Ha Feb 14, 2017

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Interview! Christina Ha, Co-Founder of Meow Parlour and Creator of Cat Camp NYC

"How can I bridge the gap between people who want to learn about cats and the experts who know all about cats?"

Until 3 1/2 years ago, Christina's passion was food rather than felines. But after adopting her first kitty, Mr. Socks, she decided to combine her talents as a pastry chef with a growing interest in cats by becoming the co-founder of Meow Parlour, New York City's first-ever cat cafe. "I couldn't understand why are were cat cafes all over the world and not in New York," she observes. Meow Parlour partners with Kitty Kind, an all-volunteer rescue group who provides cats for the cafe, many of whom have found forever homes in the process. Christina also details her upcoming event, Cat Camp NYC, a two day feline-focused event in March featuring speakers, shopping and interaction with cat lovers from all over. To find out more about Cat Camp NYC go to: www.catcampnyc.com

Ep143 - Shaun Sears Feb 11, 2017

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Interview! Shaun Sears, Co-Owner, Canopy Cat Rescue

"What we do is extremely dangerous…even savvy tree climbers have difficulty rescuing cats."

You don't need to call a fireman to rescue your cat from a tree when Shaun Sears is around. Shaun and his partner are certified arborists who have "branched out" (sorry!) into the specialty of rescuing cats from trees. Their firm, Canopy Cat Rescue, has recovered nearly 800 cats from trees over the last two years, and was featured on the Animal Planet program, "Tree Top Cat Rescue." They operate as a non-profit, relying solely on donations for their work, so that they can rescue any cat regardless of an owner's ability to pay. Shaun shares the knowledge he's learned about how to deal with all types of cats —friendly and scared, feral and owned — and busts the myth that a cat will simply climb down when it's hungry. To find out more about Cat Canopy Rescue go to: http://www.canopycatrescue.com

Ep142 - Rob Leinberger Feb 09, 2017

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Interview! Rob Leinberger, President, National Animal Care and Control Association "The communities that I have seen do best have a network." Rob Leinberger has been in the animal control game for 25 years—first starting as a veterinary assistant in high school, then working as an animal control officer for Chesterfield County in Virginia. He is the president of the National Animal Care and Control Association (NACA), and in January of 2016 he became the Animal Control Supervisor of Richmond Animal Care and Control, where he gives basic training to new officers. Over his extensive career, Rob notes that he has seen a sizable shift in the attitude towards and treatment of community cats, which began with small, isolated groups working to make their own programs for community cat care and colony management. He recommends finding opportunities to connect and collaborate with local entities whenever possible (police, health department, even small businesses) in order to build a strong support network for small animal welfare organizations. If enough localities successfully implement community cat programs, he says, one can affect change on a larger scale. To learn more about NACA, or to access NACA's guidelines for a "generic approach" to community cat programing, please visit nacanet.org.

Ep141 - Meg Bond Feb 07, 2017

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Meg Bond, Owner, Events by Meg

"You need to find the kingpin to what is taking up space."

Meg Bond has a "Type-A" dream job—she organizes for a living! Meg is a self-employed event coordinator and residential stager/organizer, which means that she sets up residences to be most appealing to perspective buyers. She also helps people organize their homes and office, and in this episode she shares some great tips for organizations looking for fresh ideas on planning events or rearrange their home bases. The key to re-organizing, she says, is finding the "kingpin" of what is holding everything back—and oftentimes, it's in the last place you think. You can learn more about Meg's business on her Facebook pages, Staging by Meg and Events by Meg, or you can get in touch with her by calling (978)-337-4444, or by emailing meg@eventsbymeg.com.

Ep140 - Joe Miele Feb 04, 2017

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Joe Miele, TNR project coordinator, Broken Promises SW

"A tight-knit colony is going to keep other [cats] out of the area."

Joe Miele is the TNR project coordinator for Broken Promises SW, a non-profit that seeks to address community cat overpopulation in Las Cruces, New Mexico and the surrounding county. Joe has been working with community cats since the mid 1990s, when he began teaching TNR classes with the Animal Protection League in New Jersey. He was inspired by the amount of people who wanted to help the community cat population in New Jersey, but found a very different scene when he moved to Las Cruces. Faced with extremely anti-community cat ordinances, along with the general community's overwhelming apathy towards the colonies in the area, Joe started Broken Promises SW to try and help the cats in the area. There are very few resources for his TNR group in Las Cruces, so they rely mainly on donations and are always happy to accept help. To learn more about Broken Promises, or to donate to Joe's cause, search for Broken Promises SW on Facebook. You can also get in touch with Joe by emailing brokenpromisessw@comcast.net or by calling 575-680-1955.

Ep139 - Gus Ray Feb 02, 2017

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Gus Ray, Owner of Baycom Diagnostics

"From a scientific point of view it's been one of the hardest things I've ever done, but also the most rewarding."

Gus Ray is the owner of Baycom Diagnostics, a new company that provides A1C testing for dogs and cats. The A1C test aids in the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes by reading your average glucose levels over a period of time—for cats 90 days, for dogs 120. The disparity between human blood and cat and dog blood proved quite a challenge to develop a test comparable to the "gold standard" in diabetes medicine, but as Gus is a "scientist at heart," he was determined to find the answer. After years of research and development, Gus's test is patent pending and he is working with vets to make A1C tests available in their practices. The A1C test is faster, more accurate, and more affordable than existing glucose tests, and to promote awareness and access to the test, Baycom will give away $100,000 in tests to shelters this year. Gus' next venture is to develop a mouth swab tests so that owners can manage their pet's diabetes within the home. To learn more about the A1C test, or to find out how you can receive a donation for your shelter or cause, visit baycomdiagnostics.com or search for "Gus Ray" on LinkedIn.

Ep138 - Myles Chadwick Jan 31, 2017

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Myles Chadwick, Vice President of the New School at Emancipet

"In order to reach people who haven't been [reached] before, we have to do a lot of listening, not just a lot of telling."

What do line cooks and high-volume spay-neuter vets have in common? Coming to the animal welfare world from a background in restaurants and cooking, Myles didn't know the first thing about TNR when he became the assistant manager of client services at an ASPCA hospital in New York City. However, he became fascinated with the process and eventually took over the management of the TNR clinics. He is now the director of clinic operations and training at Emancipet, an organization committed to making low-cost spay-neuter services affordable and accessible. He is also the vice president of the Emancipet New School, which provides training for animal welfare organizations in their messaging and outreach to communities that have low incidence of spay-neuter. Now a seasoned advocate, Myles talks about his slow discovery of the "underlying truths" of his field, and highlights that the "sharing of information" is the most important part of making low-cost spay-neuter accessible. He believes that pet overpopulation is the product of barriers to entry rather than irresponsibility. To learn more about Emancipet or the New School, visit emancipet.org and emancipet.org/newschool.

Ep137 - Steve Smith Jan 28, 2017

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Steve Smith, Founder of Pet Releaf

"We follow the science first and foremost."

In this episode, Stacy interviews a different kind of person interested in pet health and medication—Steve Smith, co-founder of Pet Releaf, a service that provides hemp- and CBD-infused products for pets. Pet Releaf was born of Steve's personal experience with his dog Mattie. As she aged, Mattie showed signs of serious arthritic pain when she walked, and she was clearly suffering. Although Steve was never able to find a suitable holistic cure during Mattie's life, he and his business partner were determined to find one for other dogs and cats. They began researching medical marijuana, moved to Colorado, and started Pet Releaf. Almost six years later, Pet Releaf is stocked in almost 600 stores around the US, is legal in all 50 states, and even has a presence abroad! For more information about Pet Releaf, visit petreleaf.com. Or, to get in touch with Steve, email info@petreleaf.com.

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