“We may not all be the same organization, but we all have a very similar goal, and that is a better world for cats ultimately.”

This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie’s Fund, OcuTrap, and Drop Traps: Beginning and Advanced Certification Workshop.

To celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the Community Cats Podcast, host Stacy LeBaron is joined by Kristen Petrie, Community Cats Central’s Technical Tabby, and frequent guest/guest host Mike Phillips of the Urban Cat League in New York City. Rather than a traditional interview, this episode is a candid conversation about the podcast’s journey, the evolution of the community cat movement, and what they see on the horizon.

Press Play Now For:

• How the podcast launched with a five-day-a-week release schedule — and why that was, in retrospect, wildly ambitious
• The evolution from a podcast into a broader educational platform, including the TNR certification workshops that have now certified over 6,000 community cat advocates
• The Community Cat Pyramid — why it became a turning point for the podcast and the movement, and how it reframes the conversation around owned cats as the upstream source of community cat populations
• A frank look at the veterinary access crisis: why affordable spay/neuter remains the most critical variable in population management, and what’s shifting in the private practice landscape (including the potential move away from corporate ownership back toward independent practices)
• The Community Cat Clinics in the Atlanta area as a model for independently owned, cat-focused veterinary practices — and how to connect with co-owner Rick DuCharme if you’re curious about replicating it
• The cost equation: why trap-hold-euthanize approaches are far more expensive than upstream spay/neuter investment, and how to make that case clearly to decision-makers
• Advocacy strategy — including the elevator pitch, tailoring your message to your audience (a politician needs to hear “1,000 voters”; a neighbor who dislikes cats needs to hear about the vacuum effect), and the power of consistent, simple messaging
• The Georgia Whole Cat Workshop — bringing community cat players together for a full-day hybrid strategic session
• The Summerlee Sustainable Solutions Grant Program— an eight-week course through the University of the Pacific paired with $4,000–$8,000 in seed funding for pilot projects
• What the future looks like: less hierarchy, more collaboration, and community members stepping up to answer each other’s questions

Resources & Links

• Community Cat Pyramid
• Community Cat Calculator
• Paper Collar Template
• Community Cat Clinic — email stacy@communitycatscentral.com to connect with Rick DuCharme for a virtual or in-person tour
• Previous CCP episodes with Rick DuCharme: Episode 416 on YouTube | Episode 545 on YouTube
• Urban Cat League — including the Taming Toolkit with Mike’s socializing feral cats video resources
• Voters for Animal Rights (New York)
• Summerlee Sustainable Solutions Grant Program — through United Spay Alliance
• United Spay Alliance