The Community Cats Podcast

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Ep 55 - Danielle Jo Bays Aug 31, 2016

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An Interview with Danielle Jo Bays, Community Cats Program Manager for the Humane Society of the United States Danielle calls on both her hands-on trapping experience and public policy work to help HSUS develop campaigns and programs that will educate and empower people who want to support cats in their community, such as webinars and tools for trappers and colony caretakers. She underscores the need to engage and communicate with neighbors to make the care of cats a group effort: "sometimes you find out there are 8 people all feeding a colony of 8 cats." She also stresses the impact of integrating different types of programs, such as TNR and Pets for Life, to address not just community cats, but cats who have the potential to end up outside. For more information please visit hsus.org.

Ep54 - Angela Walters Rockwell Aug 30, 2016

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An Interview with Angela Walters Rockwell, Executive Director of the Animal Shelter Assistance Program (ASAP), Santa Barbara, California

Angela shares fascinating information about ASAP's innovative programs, particularly their recognized "Tiny Lion Tamers" initiative that socializes feral kittens within the shelter environment. So far, this program has 125 "graduates" and has made a significant difference in ASAP's ability to deal with a large feral kitten population. There's even a "foster dad" cat who's available to provide a little "whupass" to kittens that need better manners! ASAP has a unique management structure, where paid staff work alongside volunteers as program managers. Angela believes that "everyone at the table should feel valued, especially volunteers." For more information please visit www.asapcats.org.

Ep 53 - Caitlyn Macintosh Aug 27, 2016

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Initially a dog person and very allergic to cats, Caitlyn Macintosh made an unlikely candidate for founder of an organization dedicated to helping community cats. Her US Marine husband's passion for cats, however, sparked her own interest in animal welfare. When her husband was stationed at the naval base in Norfolk, VA, she found a passionate civilian community of cat advocates, as well as a pressing need for population control among the colony living on base. This spurred her to found Cat Team 7, which she describes as a "marriage of civilian groups with Naval Station Norfolk leadership" to trap and relocate cats to other outdoor homes that may care for them. Caitlin's work truly embodies perseverance in the face of adversity, as strict governmental policies regarding the trapping and care for community cats on military sites makes it very hard for animal welfare advocates in those areas to do meaningful work for feral cat populations. To learn more about Cat Team 7's various initiatives, or to express interest in supporting their efforts to change Department of Defense policy language on community cat welfare in military spaces, email Caitlyn at catteam7norfolk@gmail.com.

Ep 52 - Ask Stacy! Questions and Answers for Inquiring Cats Aug 26, 2016

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It's time for another Q&A session with Stacy! In this episode, Stacy takes questions posted to the CCP Facebook page. Listeners asked for advice on how to keep the peace between an area's cat colonies and its disgruntled residents, recommendations of safe and effective traps, the pros and cons of fee-waved adoption, and her favorite sources of information about TNR. Stacy also discusses the CCP's newly launched grant program, Community Cat Grants, which provides funds and mentorship to grassroots organizations as well as small shelters in need of help. To find out more about Community Cats Grants or to apply, click here. If you want to know more about the benefits and drawbacks of fee-waved adoption, click here to read Stacy's blog post. For more information on TNR, visit alleycat.org or neighborhood cats.org. For resources in multiple languages, check out the Multilingual Pet Care Library. To submit a question for the next Ask Stacy episode, please go to the CCP Facebook page and post it to the wall.

"My hope is that there comes to be more acceptance of the idea of a community cat." Aug 25, 2016

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Liz began her work with cats in 2004, when she was feeding a local cat colony and reached out to the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society for help. Soon after, she became the MRFRS' main trapping volunteer, and quickly rose through the ranks to Feral Cat Program Manager. From there, she elevated to Director of Operations and finally became the Executive Director of the organization in the fall of 2015. Liz outlines some of MRFRS' many services, such as low-cost veterinary care to local families in need of financial assistance, and the Catmobile program, which is a mobile spay-neuter clinic that has serviced more than 50,000 cats since its beginning in 2008. Most importantly, Liz talks about the myths surrounding FIV-positive cats and cats with feline leukemia. Find MRFRS on Facebook or at mrfrs.org, or email Liz at liz@mrfrs.org.

"I would like every veterinarian to be supportive of TNR and to understand the huge difference that it's made." Aug 24, 2016

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In this episode, Stacy interviews Dr. Emily McCobb, director of the Tufts Shelter Medicine Program and clinical associate professor of anesthesiology at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. Having volunteered at TNR clinics as a veterinary student herself, Dr. McCobb teaches shelter medicine as an emerging specialty.

She explains how her own experience working in shelters showed her that TNR clinics were the perfect way to provide hands-on experience to veterinary students, while also helping underserved animal populations, such as community cats.

As a clinical associate professor at the Cummings School, she supports an on-campus spay-neuter clinic whose mission is to serve "the community and underserved animals while helping veterinary students learn clinical skills needed to become excellent vets." Staffed by students, the clinic acts as a site for hands-on learning, involving students in the entire process of TNR and endowing graduating students with the experience of multiple surgeries. By working with shelter animals Dr. McCobb believes students can see the "direct animal impact every day," and hopes that even graduates going into private practice will learn the benefits of TNR and continue to volunteer in their communities."

For more information about the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and its Tufts at Tech program, please visit tufts.edu/vet. *Please note that the audio quality of this interview is questionable due to technical difficulties. However, Dr. McCobb was so insightful we wanted you to have the opportunity to hear her interview.

"We have a better option for this subset of underrepresented cats." Aug 23, 2016

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In the field of animal welfare, "Dr. Susan" possesses a prolific resume. She opened her own veterinary-behavioral consulting service in 2000, has maintained a position as veterinary advisor for the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association since its beginning in 2008, runs a private practice, and has volunteered her veterinary service at various local shelters in her home state of Wisconsin. In 2001, Dr. Susan founded Friends of Ferals, an adoption center and spay-neuter clinic for community cats in Dane County, WI. Considering that community cat interests were not a pressing concern at the time of its inception, this organization has done groundbreaking work in its field, rescuing over 4,500 community cats and adopting out 4,300 since 2007. Dr. Susan offers insight into successful relocation of community cat colonies, and how to successfully grow your organization through community outreach, especially in the face of push-back. For more information, visit the Friends of Ferals website at daneferals.org.

"The program changed our view, philosophy, and focus and what we were saving on the cat side was helping us do better on the dog side as well." Aug 20, 2016

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John's background in wildlife management and a biology degree from George Washington University led him to become an animal control officer in 1994. Since then, he has served as the director of the National Animal Control Association and,since 2003, the City Animal Care and Services Program in San Jose, CA. John discusses the rewarding effects of switching to a TNR focus after the shelter intake's substantial increase after the 2008 recession. The use of data (including specific euthanasia rates and intake numbers) to compare catch and kill programs with TNR programs is an important component in Jon's success in convincing other communities to jump on the TNR bandwagon.

For more information, visit sanjoseanimals.com or email Jon at jon.cicirelli@sanjose.gov.

"I thought to myself, there has to be a better way…and that was what drove me, right after vet school, to go to work in a shelter." Aug 19, 2016

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From working as an animal control officer in 1989 to becoming the first person ever to complete a veterinarian residency in shelter medicine in 2001 at UC Davis, Kate's passion for saving the lives of community cat is undeniable. Within what she calls her 'big picture work,' she has incorporated treatment of infectious diseases in lowering the number of shelter cats and euthanasia. Kate discusses how the excitement of peer-to-peer networking influenced her TNR program called "Million Cat Challenge", based on initiatives to balance intake, capacity for humane care in shelters, and live outcomes for cats in shelters.

Visit millioncatchallenge.org and sheltermedicine.com for more information.

"What really keeps me and most of our team coming to work every day is the fact that we have seen such great success." Aug 18, 2016

Show notes

A national expert in animal welfare issues, Rick is an advocate for spay/neuter programs targeting low income pet owners. He founded Jacksonville, Florida's First "Coast No More Homeless Pets" in 2002. At that time, 23,000 was the annual number of deaths among shelter animals. Today, that number has decreased to 781. Rick discusses the concept of economic euthanasia and how a pet's unexpected, high cost health crisis can exacerbate the number of unnecessary deaths. Rick has continued his efforts with the 2009 and 2016 openings of two new large scale spay/neuter clinics in Florida, as well as the 2008 launching of the Feral Freedom TNR program.

For further information, visit fcnmhp.org or email Rick directly at rducharme@fcnmhp.org.

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