Targeted TNR Archives - The Community Cats Podcast

June 18, 2016

Interview! Laura Heffernan, Director, Lowell (MA) TNR Collation

Episode #1 – Six Years of Progress Laura talks with Stacy about the importance of patience, how to build a successful TNR organization, and why the biggest challenge you face may be educating people, not trapping cats. To find out more visit Lowell TNR Collation online. Listen to Episode #1 […]

September 15, 2016

Interview! Andi Kola, Founder Lumen LS, Broward County, Florida

“What are all the bad things that could happen to me if I were a cat?” 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 […]

September 21, 2016

Interview! Tammy King, Founder, Mayport Cats (FL)

“Fix a feral before you feed him!” 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 […]

May 27, 2018

The Silly Season- Happy Memorial Day!

Over my years in animal sheltering, I started to dread Memorial Day Weekend. What used to be a time of family get-togethers and days at the beach, now begins a season of emergency rescues and calls about emergencies with our fosters. Compared to many areas of the country, we aren’t […]

July 1, 2018

Birds and Cats-Is It Really a Big Issue to You?

I recently have been having a lot of conversations around the issue of birds and cats and how they impact one another. I have to be honest — I really didn’t think of this as that “hot” of a topic while working on TNR, adoptions and spay/neuter for owned cats […]

July 8, 2018

Foster “Failure” – The Real Story

I know it’s early in the season, but I know many of you out there are just about at the point of falling in love with one of your fosters. We have all been there. Up until now you have been strong and let those fosters kittens go up for […]

July 15, 2018

Does Return to Field Help the Big Picture?

Even though I am doing the Community Cats Podcast, Community Cats grants, and running an online conference, I still stay as involved as possible with small organizations trying to do the best that they can for community cats. Many of you know I do a lot of work with a […]

August 12, 2018

Let’s Play Trapper Bingo!

In lieu of our regular weekly blog post, join us in having a little end-of-summer fun with Trapper Bingo! We hope you’ll enjoy playing along with other trappers you know—and be sure to email stacy@communitycatspodcast.com when you get BINGO! Do you have other ideas for squares to include on our […]

September 2, 2018

Non-Surgical Sterilization – How Will It Work for Community Cats?

In early July, I had the opportunity to attend the Alliance for Contraception in Cats and Dogs (ACC&D)’s 6th International Symposium on Non-Surgical Contraceptive Methods of Pet Population Control, held this year in Boston, MA. Below are a few of my takeaways from the two days of presentations. If you […]

September 9, 2018

Community Cats Sentiment Survey- A Summary

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Community Cats Sentiment Survey. We collected data over a three-month period and I thought I would share the results with everyone here. So what does this all mean? At first glance I would think that we aren’t making much of […]

November 11, 2018

Getting to the Goal with the Michigan Pet Fund Alliance

This week’s guest blog post comes to us from Dr. Diana Newman, who serves as the clinic administrator for Companion Cats (Battle Creek, Michigan) and the Eaton County (Michigan) Humane Society. She is also a board member for the Michigan Pet Fund Alliance (MPFA), and recently attended the MPFA “Getting […]

March 25, 2019

Trapper Tips & Tricks Profile: Charlotte Fox

This week, we have the next installment in our occasional series called Trapper Tips & Tricks, which profiles folks who are involved in trapping community cats. This week we bring you tips from Charlotte Fox, Field Coordinator at Humane Rescue Alliance in Washington, DC. Charlotte has been trapping cats since […]

May 19, 2019

Trapper Tips & Tricks Profile: C5’s Keith Williams

This week, we have the next installment of our occasional series called Trapper Tips & Tricks, which will profile folks who are involved in trapping community cats. This week we bring you tips from Keith Williams, President and Founder of C5 (Community Cat Coalition of Clark County) in Las Vegas, Nevada, […]

June 15, 2019

Scott Giacoppo, Director of National Shelter Outreach, Best Friends Animal Society

“Across the board, [TNR]’s working. We have yet to find a place where it’s not working.” Listen to Episode #304 Now Scott Giacoppo (previously interviewed by Stacy on CCP Episode 25) has been involved in animal welfare since 1989. Among other roles, he has worked as an animal control […]

June 17, 2019

Trapper Tricks & Tips – Liz Pease

This week, we have the next installment of our occasional series called Trapper Tips & Tricks, which will profile folks who are involved in trapping community cats. This week we bring you tips from Liz Pease, former executive director of the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society, who has been trapping […]

October 29, 2019

Colleen Bray, Director, Boone County (KY) Animal Shelter

“We’ve really been able to look at the numbers and … show that [TNR] is working.” Listen to Episode #323 now Colleen Bray, Director of the Boone County Kentucky Animal Shelter, has seen a lot of change with regards to cats in her time in animal welfare. She has worked […]

February 18, 2020

Dr. Andy Kaplan, The Toby Project

“I’ve always been passionate about saving lives. That’s just who I am as a vet.” Listen to Episode #339 Now In this episode, Stacy speaks with Dr. Andrew Kaplan, the veterinarian behind New York City’s The Toby Project. Andrew has been an animal advocate since he was a child. […]

February 25, 2020

Britney Fox Hover, Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society

“Whenever we can try to keep cats and people together, we do.” Listen to Episode #340 Now Britney Fox Hover, the shelter director at the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society (MRFRS) in Salisbury, Massachusetts, began at MRFRS as a volunteer in 2009. In addition to now running the group’s […]

April 9, 2020

Twenty-ish More Virtual Training Ideas

It seems like folks enjoyed my listing of resources last week, so I am going to continue to share more resources for you to enjoy and share with others. Since in-person conference season is pretty much wiped out, one good way to share virtual education is to have a group of people […]

August 13, 2020

Recent Study Identifies Key Indicators in Building High-Impact Community Cat Programs

Today’s guest post comes to us from Anna Murrin of Metro Denver CAT. Cat homelessness and overpopulation are problems that face animal welfare groups and the communities they support across the country. Addressing such a widespread problem is daunting when the data is incomplete. Metro Denver CAT is a program created […]

August 20, 2020

Anyone Can Trap! How to Get Involved with Your Local TNR Program

Today’s guest post comes to us from Krista Beucler, Marketing & Communications Intern at Community Cats Podcast. Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs can be a wonderful way to deal with community cat population issues. It is important that community/feral cats get spayed/neutered and vaccinated so that their colonies don’t grow exponentially. In […]

August 27, 2020

Reasons Not to Adopt?

This week’s guest post comes to us from Liz Pease, former Executive Director of the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society, who was featured on CCP Episode #51. Last week, while putting together the CCP e-news, I was struck by the video that we shared from the new group Companions and Animals […]

September 3, 2020

Transports for Shelters and Volunteers

Today’s guest post comes to us from Krista Beucler, Marketing & Communications Intern at Community Cats Podcast. Dale’s volunteer name tag at Animal Friends Alliance (AFA) in Fort Collins, Colorado reads “Cat Chauffeur.” He is one of a dedicated group of volunteers that helps to transport animals to AFA from […]

September 10, 2020

The Ever-Changing World of Facebook Marketing: What You Need to Know

Today’s guest post comes to us from Emma Gabbert, Digital Content Specialist Intern at Whisker Media. When social media took off in the 2010s, businesses and nonprofits were excited to get their brand on social media platforms. It’s fair to say that at the time, no one could foresee the […]

January 21, 2021

We Can Do Better Than Lethal Control of Outdoor Cat Populations

Today’s guest post comes to us from Krista Beucler, Marketing & Communications Intern at Community Cats Podcast. As cat lovers, we hate seeing stories about communities employing lethal removal techniques to combat feral cat populations. But it isn’t distressing only because we hate the idea of cats being hunted and […]

January 28, 2021

The Bluegrass Cat Project

Today’s guest post comes to us from Krista Beucler, Marketing & Communications Intern at Community Cats Podcast. This week I chatted with Dr. Sara Pizano, founder of Team Shelter USA, LLC, about her work with the Bluegrass Cat Project and the recent grant they received from the Joanie Bernard Foundation. […]

February 4, 2021

Feline Fix by Five

Today’s guest post comes to us from Krista Beucler, Marketing & Communications Intern at Community Cats Podcast. Fix cats by five months? To those of you working in a shelter setting, this idea might not make a lot of sense, as you’re probably already spaying and neutering kittens by 8 weeks […]

February 18, 2021

Center for Contemporary Sciences:
Working Toward an Alternative to Animal Testing

If you read our last book review post, you’ll remember one of my favorite books was Our Symphony with Animals by Aysha Akhtar. The book came out in 2019 and since then, Dr. Akhtar has been busy advocating for animals. She founded the Center for Contemporary Sciences, a foundation that […]

June 2, 2021

The Whole Kit and Caboodle: TNR of Kittens

This week’s guest post is authored by Nancy Peterson of The National Kitten Coalition. Best TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) practices involve trapping the entire colony of cats at the same time, although there are times when this is not possible. When there are kittens to be trapped, there are additional considerations. You will be […]

June 17, 2021

Yes, you can fundraise during a global pandemic! CCP’s Group 11 grantees showed us how.

Community Cats Podcast is excited to announce another successful round of grantgiving! We recently received final reports from our Group 11 participants. Together, these organizations fundraised more than $13,000. Community Cats Podcast issued more than $10,000 in grants, which led to over 500 community cats being spayed or neutered in […]

July 1, 2021

Adventure Cats

Thought going on adventures with your pet was reserved for dog owners? Think again! “Adventure cats” are becoming more prominent on social media and are accompanying their pet parents on all kinds of adventures, from hikes to kayaking trips. This week I spoke with Hannah LeBaron, who takes her cat […]

July 15, 2021

CCP Goes to the Movies

We reviewed the film Cat Rescuers a while ago on the blog. But what other cat movies are out there? We’ve put together this roundup of cat documentaries to watch with your furry companions. Paw Project If you haven’t yet seen the Paw Project documentary from 2013, we definitely recommend […]

July 30, 2021

Summer Reading with CCP

If you’re headed to the beach, relaxing in the yard, or reading on your lunch break, make sure to take along one of CCP’s summer reading list books to learn a little more about the kitties in our lives. Animalkind: Remarkable Discoveries about Animals and Revolutionary New Ways to […]

August 12, 2021

More on Animal Laws

Back in April, we posted a blog about animal legislation around the country and a few people reached out with news from other initiatives, which we’re covering here. Want to voice your support for one of these issues? Many organizations will create a template you can borrow to contact your […]

August 26, 2021

Evictions: Should We Be Worried about Pets?

There have been a lot of stories in the news lately about how we should be worried about the upcoming eviction situation that may be happening across the country. The fear is that we are going to be inundated with requests for help with pets as their owners are displaced. […]

May 19, 2022

Feline Sterilization at 5 Months Accepted as New Normal

Written by Philip A. Bushby, DVM, MS, DACVS | Previously published on March 3, 2022, by DVM360.com Foreword & Afterword by Esther Mechler, President, and Founder of Marian’s Dream and United Spay Alliance Foreword For decades, shelters were overrun by enormous numbers of unplanned, unwanted litters of kittens. The phenomenon even […]

May 31, 2022

Special Episode! Trappers’ Tips & Tricks Part 1 with Bryan Kortis, Director of National Programs, Neighborhood Cats

“What about the ones where you do all the basics – you do the feeding pattern, you withhold the food, you use the good traps, and all that – but they just won’t go in?” Listen to Episode #458 Now This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network, Doobert, and […]

June 7, 2022

Special Episode! Trappers’ Tips & Tricks Part 2 with Bryan Kortis, Director of National Programs, Neighborhood Cats

“This is for when you’re really desperate to get the tomcat.” Listen to Episode #459 Now This episode is sponsored in part by Humane Network, Doobert, and Maddie’s Fund. Drawing from over 20 years of experience working with feral cats, the folks at Neighborhood Cats have gathered together their favorite ways […]

June 16, 2022

Computers Are Good For More Than Cat Memes

Contributed by Valerie Benka, Director of Programs at Alliance for Contraception in Cats & Dogs (ACC&D) Computers, specifically computer modeling, can save the lives of free-roaming cats (FRCs). Despite the increasing popularity of TNR, there are still limited real-world data on what makes a TNR project most successful in terms […]

September 22, 2022

How to Winterize Those Feral Cat Shelters

This week, we are taking a look at past blog posts that will give you all the tips and information you need to refresh and ready your cat colonies for winter weather: Prepare for Winter and Prep Community Cat Shelters (2016) Time to Think About Winterizing Feral Cat Shelters (2017) […]

July 27, 2023

A Feline Forward Business Model: The Community Cat Clinic in Woodstock, GA

Story submitted by Kristen Petrie, Tech Tabby, The Community Cats Podcast. When it comes to caring for our feline friends, the Community Cat Clinic in Woodstock, GA, stands out as a beacon of hope and compassion. This unique veterinary clinic has begun to make waves in the community for its […]

August 31, 2023

Unveiling the Flatbush Veterinary Clinic: Tackling Cat Overpopulation in Brooklyn, New York

Story submitted by Kristen Petrie, Tech Tabby, The Community Cats Podcast. I was delighted to visit the bustling heart of the Flatbush neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY, to check out the exciting development of the Flatbush Veterinary Clinic. The brainchild of the Flatbush Cats organization, this new vet clinic will surely […]

November 27, 2024

From Farm to Trap and Back: A Photo Essay Exploring How TNR Saved a Feline Herd in Vermont

Article and photos contributed by Kristen Petrie, Technical Tabby, for the Community Cats Podcast (and one heck of a trapper.) As the sun rose over picturesque mountains and farmhands led the cows to their stalls to be milked, a herd of cats scampered down from the hayloft and through the […]