foster Archives - The Community Cats Podcast

July 20, 2016

Interview! Scott Giacoppo, Chief Community Animal Welfare Officer Washington (DC) Humane Society

“Community cats are not homeless..they are loved and cared for.” When Scott accepted the challenge of joining the Washington Humane Society, their live release rate was 28%…today it is 90%. Scott outlines the various programs that have moved the dial, including improved coordination and cooperation with animal control, their Pets for […]

August 2, 2016

Interview! Susana Della Maddalena, CEO and President, Central OK Humane (Oklahoma)

“We’re in the business of saving lives.” With her ten years of at the helm of PetSmart Charities, and her current role leading Central OK Humane, Susana is in a perfect position to share her perspective both as a a funder of animal initiatives, and a recipient of grant dollars. Thanks to previous […]

August 11, 2016

Interview! Bryn Rogers – Program Manager at the MSPCA, MA

“I’m better at being a copycat than an original… With all the webinars and podcasts like these, you can learn so much from each other.” Always a lover of animals, a young Bryn Rogers thought she would take the obvious career path of veterinarian—until she shadowed at a vet office and found […]

October 12, 2016

Interview! Part 1 – Hannah Shaw, “The Kitten Lady”

“I live and breathe cat advocacy…that’s what I do.” Little did Hannah Shaw know that the day that she borrowed some shoes to climb a tree and save an orphaned kitten, she would be starting a career that would inform and engage cat lovers around the world. An expert in […]

October 13, 2016

Interview! Part 2 – Hannah Shaw, “The Kitten Lady”

November 1, 2016

Interview! Kristen Petrie, Creative Director, Mellarium and Technical Cat, Community Cats Podcast

“The brand is important and it is an asset to any organization, whether they are big or small. It’s your face to the rest of the world.” Kristen began her career in cat rescue as an adoption counselor at the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society while launching her own graphic […]

November 3, 2016

Interview! Deborah Schutt, Co-Founder Michigan Pet Fund Alliance

“Attending conferences, understanding what other people are doing, and adding to the tool kit is really important.” The co-founder of the Michigan Pet Fund Alliance, Deborah began her journey into the animal welfare field with dog fostering. Time and experience led her to TNR, feral cat welfare, and a passion […]

November 5, 2016

Interview! Audra Farrell, Community Cares Program Supervisor at the San Francisco SPCA

“I have found even the fiercest of ferals can be really great moms, so their concern is more taking care of their kittens than have to deal with us.” Through the Mama from the Streets program, San Francisco’s shelters are combining TNR for feral mothers with adoption of their kittens. […]

November 8, 2016

Interview! Dr. Margaret Slater, Senior Director of Veterinary Epidemiology Research and Development for the ASPCA

“One of the things that we’ve found really helpful in all kinds of programs and projects is to couch it as a pilot… you can succeed and the prove that it does actually work…” Author of Feral Cats: Problems, Alternatives, and Recommendations and Veterinary Epidemiology: An Evidence Based Approach, Dr. […]

November 10, 2016

Interview! Sharon Secovich, Co-founder, Spay Maine

“What I’ve found is a lot of people will feed but they don’t have the knowledge or wherewithal or the means to trap. So the only way to get our feral cat population down is with trapping help.” After her first career as an environmental geologist, Sharon pursued a public […]

November 12, 2016

Interview! Sally Williams, Founder, The Brodie Fund

“I think the thing that makes us a little different, and our goals quite lofty as well, is that we are putting the focus on quality of life and not the diagnosis.” Sally is a cat behavior consultant and the founder and director of The Brodie Fund, a non-profit organization […]

November 15, 2016

Interview! Katie Lisnik, Director of Cat Protection and Policy, The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)

“Taking an active role in legislation is the only way we’re going to move the ball forward.” In her return appearance on the Podcast, Katie plays “Around the Country Policy for Cats” with Stacy, detailing the successes and challenges in four different states: Delaware, Hawaii, Virginia and Illinois. In her […]

November 26, 2016

Interview! Karina King, Director of Operations, Dakin Humane Society, Springfield MA

“Cats that bite you, cats that pee on you, cat that you’ll never see…those are the cats we get these days.” Dakin, since cat overpopulation has become less of an issue across Massachusetts. Dakin has performed over 70,000 spay/neuter surgeries, and as a result, the cats entering her adoption center […]

December 27, 2016

Greatest Hits! Hannah Shaw, The Kitten Lady

“I live and breathe cat advocacy…that’s what I do.” Hannah Shaw was such a popular guest earlier this year that we couldn’t wait to bring back her episode for a reboot! How was she to know that saving an orphaned kitty would reboot her career, as well! Hannah, affectionately known […]

April 4, 2017

Interview! Laura Baughman, Director of Operations, National Kitten Coalition

“You’re going to get a whole lot more kittens when you start a nursery.” As we enter “kitten season,” Stacy talks to Laura about “kitten nurseries,” a new and hot concept for management of neonatal kittens. Laura recently researched and wrote a manual for organizations thinking about starting their own […]

April 8, 2017

Ask Stacy! Stacy LeBaron, Host of The Community Cats Podcast

“This is all about being a family.” As kitten season approaches, guest host Lisa Finkel talks with Stacy about creatively managing community kittens. Describing kitten fostering as a “pre-program” to the adoption process, Stacy offers insight on productive ways to set up a healthy and sustainable foster care program. Many […]

April 29, 2017

Interview! Rebecca Jewell, Executive Director of the National Kitten Coalition

“Foster programs are my first love by far.” Rebecca Jewell is the executive director of the National Kitten Coalition. Her family fostered many pregnant cats and litters when she was growing up in Ohio, which inspired in her a love of foster programs. In fact, she built her own foster […]

May 20, 2017

Interview! Rosemarie Crawford, Director of Educational Programs, National Kitten Coalition

“Having protocols in place as a starting ground is really helpful for the whole staff.” After her first experience fostering bottle babies with acute health issues, Rosemarie’s colleagues realized she was a natural and nudged her towards a career in animal welfare. She worked as a vet tech in Illinois, […]

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 […]

October 14, 2018

Adopting Out the Last Kitten of the Litter

For those of us with organizations in the northern climates, the summer kitten season is finally coming to an end. Most of our youngest kittens are long-since adopted and romping around their new homes. But what about those kittens that didn’t get snatched up right away? Maybe they were the […]

March 23, 2019

Interview! Dr. Mikel Maria Delgado, Cat Behaviorist

“I don’t think of shelter cats as…any different from pet cats, except that yesterday they were a pet and today they’re in a shelter, and their behavior may not really reflect who they were in that previous home.” Dr. Mikel Maria Delgado, a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist with a Ph.D. […]

April 6, 2019

Interview! Nikki Martinez, Trapper, Foster Mom, and Feline Welfare Activist

“Fostering absolutely saves lives, but TNR saves more.” Nikki Martinez was always a dog person. That all changed one day when a kitten ran in front of her car on her way to a post-surgical doctor appointment. Feeling down and overly focused on herself after her surgery, Nikki poured her […]

July 20, 2016