The Community Cats Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Ep75 - Peter Wolf Sep 28, 2016

Show notes

Peter Wolfe is a cat initiatives analyst at Best Friends Society and a blogger at Vox Felina, where he seeks to fill the void of TNR research and other issues affecting community cats. He says diving into the detail of arguments for and against community cats advocacy helps him in his work at Best Friends, such as proposing policy and giving conference presentations.

To access the Community Cats Program Handbook Peter mentions at the end of the episode, visit bestfriends.org/ccphandbook.

Ep74 - Mike Cahill Sep 27, 2016

Show notes

Mike's been an integal part of Massachusetts' animal welfare efforts for 22 years. He has extensive experience managing situations where community cats — and potentially their caretakers — have been exposed to rabies, and recounts several challenging situations he's faced, including one where an entire colony needed to be quarantined for six months after exposure to a rabid raccoon. As a result, he's a huge proponent of microchipping community cats so that their vaccination information can be accessed in necessary situations. He's also trying to get animal control officers more engaged in their town's TNR efforts: "they should be learning from the people in the community doing the work." For more information please visit mass.gov.

Ep73 - Taryn Breuer Sep 24, 2016

Show notes

Interview! Taryn Breuer, President, Friends of Jeannette Hunt Animal Shelter (NE) Taryn describes how rural Blair, Nebraska needs its resident cats to help keep rodents from getting into the grain farmed there, but also needs an active TNR effort to keep the numbers of cats in check. Participating in the MRFRS Mentoring Program was the catalyst (pun intended!) to upping Blair's TNR game: after starting with just 150 or so cats in its first year, the program Taryn chairs has now fixed 4000 cats in just four years. The kitten population is under control, as well — down from 85 last year to only 15 in 2016. She talks about the benefits of transfer cages, of keeping your equipment in top condition, and the secret of trapping during Nebraska's stern winters: microwave your bait until it's very hot and wrap it in a towel until you get to your trapping location. For more information please visit blairanimalshelter.org.

Ep72 - Diane Blankenberg Sep 23, 2016

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Interview! Diane Blankenberg, Chief Executive Officer and Principal Consultant for Humane Network

Imagine being on the ground trying to rescue owned and community cats after Hurricane Katrina, as well as the recent flooding in Louisiana. Diane Blankenberg describes her amazing experiences working with Alley Cat Allies to help reunite people and their cats, including working at a "cat rescue camp" as well as assisting with TNR following these crises. She describes how, after Katrina, some owned cats were so traumatized that they appeared initially to be ferals. Community cats, says Diane, "have amazing survival instincts; after the recent floods many of them stayed in trees until they could be returned to their colonies." For more information please visit humanenetwork.org.

Ep71 - Mike Phillips Sep 22, 2016

Show notes

Interview! Mike Phillips, President, Urban Cat League, and Community Outreach Coordinator for the New York City Feral Cat Initiative

Even though he had lived in Manhattan for decades, Mike didn't know there were street cats in New York: "I had no idea because I lived on the 43rd floor," he observes. In 1999, he got bitten by the community cats bug while helping deal with a 75 cat colony living behind the historic San Remo building on Central Park West. That colony no longer exists, proving "that 100% number proves how effective TNR can be." He then got involved with — and was President — of Neighborhood Cats, teaching TNR workshops all across New York's five boroughs. He describes some of the unique challenge cat advocates face in New York: mass trapping is hindered by the lack of large spaces for holding and recovery of cats, and the need to make multiple calls to access needed service For more information please visit urbancatleague.org.

Ep70 - Tammy King Sep 21, 2016

Show notes

Interview! Tammy King, Founder, Mayport Cats (FL) Mayport Village, a fishing village near Jacksonville, Florida, had become a popular place for people to "dump" cats, both healthy and sick. Enter Tammy King, who brought her persistence and compassion to address the problem. Originally dealing with 200-250 cats, the population is now down to 30-50 and, Tammy notes, "I invite people to come out here and all you're going to see are eartips." She moved on to help address the Community Cats more broadly across the Jacksonville area — "I spent a lot of time in dumpsters" — and was able to impact 4600 cats over a two-year period. Her organization, Mayport Cats, helps and rehomes for cats who need extended medical care, as well as disabled and hard-to adopt cats. For more information please visit mayportcats.com.

Ep69 Amanda Arrington Sep 20, 2016

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Interview! Amanda Arrington, Director, Pets for Life Program at The Humane Society of the United States

Amanda's childhood interests in both animals and in social justice have led her to a career overseeing a groundbreaking program to help not just pets, but people in underserved areas. She leads he innovative HSUS "Pets for Life" initiative, which is active in 34 communities across the US where there are high poverty rates and little to no access with services for pets. This work is done in a grass roots format, going door to door and street by street to find out what's needed for each community member. The aim is not to "educate" according to Amanda, but to share information and offer services; when you do, she says, " the majority of people make the right decisions" regarding their pets. For more information please visit humanesociety.org.

Ep68 Cheryl Ann Fernandes Sep 17, 2016

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Interview! Cheryl Ann Fernandes, Regional Shelter Care Representative, PetLink Drawing on Cheryl Ann's diverse, 25-year career in animal welfare, she and Stacy have a wide-ranging discussion about the challenges of being an urban animal control officer, the persistent challenge of "compassion fatigue" for all of those working in the field, and the innovative idea that microchipping can save the lives of not just pets, but community cats. She explains that, from a colony keeper's perspective, if you can microchip the members of your colony, you can identify which cats have had the vaccinations and treatments they need. This may reduce the risk of these community cats getting picked up and stuck in "the system". Making chips and scanners financially and widely accessible is part of her current role as a shelter care representative at Pet Link. For more information please visit petlink.net.

Ep67 Merritt Clifton Sep 16, 2016

Show notes

Interview! Merritt Clifton, Journalist and Founder, Animals 24-7 News

It would be challenging to find someone with more experience in the animal welfare field than award-winning writer Merritt Clifton. From his childhood ambition to "starting a kitty farm" to taking census of homeless cats during his family's travels, he's dedicated his life and work to humane outcomes for all animals. He was an early proponent of spay/neuter in the 70's when, he notes, "cats were basically a friendly outdoor animal or 'easily tamed wildlife." He documented the rise of high volume spay/neuter programs, which had their original start in South Africa and England and spoke at the first "no kill" conference in the mid 90's. He makes a fascinating case why he's not 100% pleased with the term "community cat." For more information please visit animals24-7.org.

Ep66 - Andi Kola Sep 15, 2016

Show notes

Interview! Andi Kola, Founder Lumen LS, Broward County, Florida Andi is a man on a mission… a mission to eliminate euthanization of cats in his home area of Broward County, Florida and beyond. He recounts his efforts to work with local animal control officials as well as Country Commissioners to pass ordinances mandating return to field programs that have improved live release rates from 50% to 87%. And uses a project- and statistics-based approach to his work, lauding the benefits of public/private partnerships, and focusing on the different categories of cats that require different solutions to their challenges.. He founded LumenLS with the goal of moving past the stories of individual cats and focusing on the ability to end premature death and suffering for animals. He observes, "There's a solution out there for just about everything." For more information please visit lumenls.org.

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