The Community Cats Podcast Visits Meow DC

Bright and early on April 27th, I was in the nation’s capital setting up the CCP table at Meow DC.

The event, held at the trend Dock 5 space at Union Market, benefitted the Humane Rescue Alliance (HRA) of Washington, DC. That name might ring a bell. Stacy has interviewed Erin Robinson, the organization’s community cats program manager, on the podcast and HRA trapper Charlotte Fox has contributed to out Trapper Tips and Tricks series on the blog.

HRA has been helping communities in and around the DC area care for animals for 145 years. Their organization offers a lot of programs ranging from rescue and adoption, low-cost veterinary services, behavior and training, spay-neuter services to humane law enforcement, humane education, and more. The revenue generated from Meow DC helps to support those programs.

If you only had a passing interest in cats, there was something you’d be interested in at Meow DC and if you are a “cat person”, well, you were in heaven.

Friendly HRA volunteers had a crafty corner full of activities for kids. The most popular though was the “make your own cat ears” table where kids (and more than a few adults) could make a unique pair of felt ears that they could wear for the rest of the day. I was especially impressed by a gentleman who’d perfectly matched the color of his ears to the bright green print on his shirt. There was music throughout the day, raffles and an adoption event featuring lovable cats from HRA, the Maryland SPCA and Animal Welfare League of Arlington looking for homes that arrived in vehicles that had been converted to mobile adoption centers that anyone who’s worked in adoptions could geek out over.

There were tables manned by what seemed like every veterinary office in DC chatting with visitors about cat healthcare. There was a brilliant collection of feline art and artists offering posters, t-shirts, paintings and jewelry, and bespoke cat toys, and of course, catnip and catnip alternatives that any cat would appreciate getting as a souvenir from the nations capitol. (Shout out to our table neighbor, Meowy Janes, who sent me home with a sampler of farm grown catnip goodies that my kitties have been obsessed with since they realized it was in my backpack.)

If you’d shopped ’til you dropped there was still plenty more to do! There were presentations given by feline behavior experts about what makes cats tick, an in-depth talk with field technicians and HRA staff about the DC Cat Count (which you can learn more about here), and a session devoted to helping community cats that included a chance for participants to make their own feral cat shelter. All where chock full of useful information for an audience that included both cat enthusiasts and seasoned feline advocates.

For me though, the best part of Meow DC was the opportunity to meet so many podcast listeners and learning about their experiences.

So many of you are deeply involved in projects that save lives including a young woman from the middle east determined to start a TNR program in her home country and a long time listener who’d just begun working as a foster home coordinator in DC and was responsible for disaster preparedness in New Orleans as hurricane Harvey made landfall. It is breathtaking the amount of sweat, energy, and emotion our audience invests in helping cats live better lives and it is humbling to hear that the information Stacy delivers every week helps to file their passion.

Listeners who visited the booth were generous with their feedback about the show which generating a long list of requested topics which I’m hoping we can address in the not-too-distant future. I got to see pictures of the cats that were waiting for them to come home with goodies from the show. Meeting a lot of past guest on from the show in person including Daniel Bays and the ladies from Adventure Cats was a treat. I have a list of podcasts cat people are excited about and an excellent book recommendation or two which Amazon is winging my way as we speak.

Meow DC was such a well-run, fun event, it’s hard to believe this was its inaugural year. The organizers and volunteers who made Meow DC such a success have something to be proud of and I can’t wait to see what year two will bring!

Article by Kristen Petrie. Kristen is the Technical Cat at The Community Cats Podcast, Creative Director at Mellarium Creative, and part of the marketing team at The Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society. Since 2005, she’s filled a variety of roles while volunteering in animal welfare and was part of the MRFRS board of directors for the better part of a decade. Kristen currently fosters cats who need time and patience to overcome behavioral issues or recover from trauma.