The Community Cats Podcast

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680

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Aug 2026

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Our mission is to provide education, information and dialogue that will create a supportive environment empowering people to help cats in their community. *For transcripts of most shows, visit https://www.communitycatspodcast.com/podcast/.

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August 11, 2026Episode 67727 min

Ep 677: The Environment Makes the Cat: The SAFE Framework for Community Cat Adoption, with Jodi Belongié, RVT, Co-founder of Chico Cat Café, Founder & Executive Director of The CATS Foundation

"The environment we build around a cat shapes her outcome more than any single intervention we can ever make." his episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and The Community Cat Clinic. Jodi Belongié has spent more than 25 years in animal welfare and shelter medicine, driven by a question that traces back to age 14, when she talked her way into fostering an abandoned pregnant cat with no rescue to call. That instinct — that the systems cats need don't have to already exist, you can build them — led her to co-found the Chico Cat Café in 2021, which became the proving ground for what she calls the SAFE framework: an original behavioral welfare model, developed through the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program, that reframes adoption assessment around a single question — not "is this cat adoptable?" but "is this environment giving her a fair chance to show us who she is?" Jodi and Stacey dig into what that looked like in practice: the café's deliberately home-like design, hard caps on capacity (never more than 12–14 cats, nine visitors an hour), and a rescue-based intake process built to get cats settled before they ever meet an adopter. The conversation widens into Jodi's vision for community cat management's next chapter — small, replicable hubs that go beyond adoption into trap depots, spay/neuter access, and food pantries, especially in the rural and under-resourced areas philanthropy tends to overlook. That's the mission behind The CATS Foundation, launching spring 2027. Press Play Now For: The origin story behind Jodi's decades in animal welfare — and why she says "the credential has always been secondary to the question" What the SAFE framework is and how it reframes adoption assessment around environment instead of the cat Inside the design choices behind Chico Cat Café's home-like, non-industrial space The capacity-for-care numbers Jodi holds firm on, and why more cats than people is intentional How SAFE's underlying philosophy already shows up in the work of colony managers, TNR practitioners, and foster coordinators Jodi's vision for a "2.0" model of small, replicable community cat hubs — and why she believes it should start small The mission behind The CATS Foundation and its spring 2027 launch Resources & Links: Jodi's Substack, The Outpost Observer: https://pawsitiveparadigm.substack.com/ Jodi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodibelongiervt/ Editor's note: Since this conversation was recorded, Jodi has closed Chico Cat Café, paused The CATS Foundation, and consolidated her cats-centric consulting and publishing work under Nine Lives Strategies.

August 4, 2026Episode 67630 min

Ep 676: The Cat Who Came Home After Five Years: Inside a Shelter's Return-to-Home Playbook with Corinne Bourgoin, Shelter Operations Supervisor at the MSPCA Boston Adoption Center

This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and The Community Cat Clinic. Corinne Bourgoin returns to the podcast five years after her first appearance, and the numbers show what's changed: the MSPCA Boston Adoption Center's return-to-home rate for cats hit 33% in 2025, more than six times the roughly 5% national average. She draws a careful distinction between "return to owner" and "return to home" — sometimes a cat goes back to one caretaker, sometimes to a neighborhood that's been caring for it collectively — and traces the results back to a mindset shift: assume every stray has someone looking for it, and treat reunification as the shelter's job, not just the owner's. From there, Corinne gets practical. A dedicated, well-followed Facebook page puts stray photos in front of the neighborhoods cats actually came from. For microchipped cats, she doesn't stop at the manufacturer's registry — she cross-checks petmicrochiplookup.com for the most current database, then follows up with whoever implanted the chip. She also shares how anyone can do this detective work before a cat ever reaches a shelter: neighbor conversations, Nextdoor and community Facebook posts, flyers, and "paper collars" — a strip of paper taped around a friendly cat's neck asking, "Is this your cat?" Technology like AirTags helps, but she's clear it's only half the equation; the other half is neighbors staying present in their own communities. The conversation turns to ear tips and how "community cat" has shifted from a behavioral judgment call to a population-risk one — any unaltered outdoor cat, tipped or not. Corinne's years at Maui Humane Society gave that shift real stakes: during the Maui wildfires, more than 600 cats survived the burn zone, many already sterilized and ear-tipped, which meant no kitten boom compounding the recovery. She closes with Tiger, a geriatric cat who arrived at the shelter after five years missing — his microchip led her to an owner who'd long given up hope, and he walked straight to the cabinet where his food bowl used to sit. Press Play Now For: Why "return to home" is a more accurate goal than "return to owner" — and how MSPCA hit a 33% reunification rate for cats A step-by-step walkthrough of tracking down an owner through microchip databases, including why the manufacturer's registry often isn't the most current one Low-tech tools anyone can use to reunite a found cat with its family, from paper collars to Nextdoor posts How the definition of "community cat" has evolved from a behavioral call to a population-management one How more than 600 ear-tipped, sterilized cats survived the Maui wildfires without a kitten population boom The story of Tiger, reunited with his family five years after going missing Resources & Links MSPCA-Angell Pet Microchip Lookup Return-to-Home Certification Workshop (Community Cats Central) Contact Corinne: lostpet@mspca.org

July 28, 2026Episode 67526 min

Ep 675: Cats Pick Their People: Inside Florida's First Cat Cafe Franchise with Sandra Cagan Founder & CEO of the Orlando Cat Cafe

This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and The Community Cat Clinic. Sandra Cagan spent decades in property management before a milestone birthday and a brief human-interest news story about a New York cat cafe sent her in a new direction. She cold-emailed her county commissioner in Lake County, Florida — "You're gonna think I'm crazy, but this is what I want to do" — and had his support within the hour. The Orlando Cat Cafe opened in September 2016 as Florida's first cat cafe, and this year marks its 10th anniversary alongside the Community Cats Podcast's own. Sandra built it as a business first: a full-service cafe rather than packaged snacks, separate AC and filtration systems to keep the cafe and cat areas from cross-contaminating, and a "sweet spot" of about 28 cats at a time in a 1,000-square-foot play area, refreshed weekly by exclusive shelter partner SPCA Florida. All 489 adoptions facilitated last year sent 100% of the fee straight to SPCA Florida — a public-private model she credits partly to a public administration master's she earned during the pandemic. That same pandemic tested her resolve: Florida ordered the cafe closed, and she kept it shut into late July rather than reopen too soon, paying her staff the whole time. Her advice to other cat cafe owners: keep six months of reserves and treat the business like any other, rather than publicly asking for help with basics like a broken AC unit. Ten years in, Sandra has turned that playbook into the country's first cat cafe franchise: 18 months of groundwork, a 500-plus-page operations manual, a $42,750 initial fee, and total investment of roughly $450,000–$650,000 depending on location. She and her team vet franchisees closely and personally scout a shelter partner in every new market, favoring slow, strategic growth — currently focused on the Southeast — over rapid expansion. Press Play Now For: How a milestone birthday, a chance news story, and one bold email led to Florida's first cat cafe Why Sandra runs the cat side and the cafe side as two separate legal entities, with 100% of adoption fees going to her shelter partner The financial cushion and mindset that got the Orlando Cat Cafe through a months-long pandemic shutdown without laying off staff What it actually takes to become an Orlando Cat Cafe franchisee — from a 500-page operations manual to the investment range Why the cats do the matchmaking at the cafe, and how that changes the adoption experience Resources & Links Orlando Cat Cafe: https://www.orlandocatcafe.com Orlando Cat Cafe Franchise: https://www.orlandocatcafefranchise.com SPCA Florida: https://www.spcaflorida.org

July 21, 2026Episode 67422 min

Ep 674: From One Alley Cat to 700 Spay/Neuter Surgeries a Year with Debra Magaldi, Director of CatPAWS

"People have to feel like they are making a difference, not earning a buck." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and Neighborhood Cats' TNR Certification Workshop. Debra Magaldi never set out to run a nonprofit. What began as feeding a neighborhood stray in her alley turned into a chance encounter with Helen Sanders herself, and after Helen's passing in 2005, a small fund to feed her jetty cats grew into CatPAWS, a Long Beach and Orange County organization now operating with an all-volunteer board, paid veterinary contractors, and a growing spay/neuter program. Sixteen years in, Debra brings her business background and MBA to a mission she says still runs on a fundamentally different fuel than any company she's worked for. Debra and host Stacy LeBaron dig into what it actually takes to build a volunteer-run organization that lasts. Debra pushes back on the advice to "run your nonprofit like a business," arguing that while structure and strategy matter, people show up because they believe in the cause, not because of a bonus or a quota. She's candid about the cost of starting a new program: it takes far more money than founders expect, and grant and donor funding won't arrive until there's a track record to earn it. She also talks through the hard boundary-setting that comes with leadership, including learning to say no to well-meaning ideas that don't fit the organization's priorities. On the ground, CatPAWS has scaled its spay/neuter access dramatically, moving from a mobile trailer serving only community cats in 2023 to a full surgical suite that opened in 2025 and now serves owned cats as well, with almost 700 cats served since the start of the year and typical wait times of only one to two weeks. Debra also walks through CatPAWS's approach to the question every community cat organization fields constantly: what to do when someone finds a litter of kittens. Her answer starts with checking whether mom is coming back, since kittens who stay with mom have far better survival odds, and points to the organization's "Help, I Found a Cat" guide and DIY kitten kit program as tools that keep vulnerable kittens out of shelters that aren't equipped to bottle-feed around the clock.[/one_second] [one_second]Press Play Now For: How CatPAWS grew from a single alley cat colony into a 16-year-old nonprofit Why Debra treats volunteer time as equivalent to a financial donation The real difference between running a nonprofit and running a business, and where the "run it like a business" advice breaks down What it actually costs to launch a new program, and why grants and donors won't be there on day one CatPAWS's mobile trailer-to-surgical-suite spay/neuter expansion and current wait times What to actually do when you find a litter of kittens — and why waiting for mom matters Resources & Links Helen Sanders CatPAWS CatPAWS Spay/Neuter Assistance CatPAWS Who We Are & What We Do

July 14, 2026Episode 67330 min

Ep 673: The 42-Point Gap Between Loving Your Cat and Getting It to the Vet with Gina Fortunato, Executive Director of the CATalyst Council with Kristin Wuhrman

"It is not a lack of care or love. They love, love, love their cats. They would do anything to give their cat a longer life." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and Feline Infectious Disease Summit 2026. Host Stacy LeBaron talks with Gina Fortunato, Executive Director of CATalyst Council, and Kristin Wuhrman, the organization's Chair and co-founder/Chief Experience Officer of CatsOnly Veterinary Services, about a stark gap in feline care: cats now make up nearly half of U.S. household pets, yet get only a fraction of the veterinary visits dogs do. CATalyst Council, founded in 2008, exists to close that gap with data. Gina explains how a decade-old feline usage study first exposed the problem, while years of "veterinary visits are declining" headlines actually masked cat visits quietly climbing as dog visits fell. She also flags a number that matters to TNR advocates directly: over half of cats are acquired through informal channels rather than shelters, meaning they may never enter a system connected to routine care. Kristin breaks down the real barriers between cat parents and the vet — affordability, carrier stress, and the myth that adult cats need less care — and the data behind them: 93% of cat parents call wellness visits important, but only 51% follow through. She and Gina talk through what's actually working: reframing reminders around a longer life rather than a routine shot, flexible visit schedules, and mobile vet care reaching cats who'd otherwise go without. The conversation closes on Kristin's own work building CatsOnly Veterinary Services, a feline-only hospital model minimizing stress from car to exam room, and a lighter note: the "crazy cat lady" stereotype no longer holds up, with cat ownership now split evenly by gender and a rising share of millennial cat dads. Press Play Now For: Why cats now outnumber dogs in growth rate, yet get only a fraction of the veterinary visits How CATalyst Council uses data to separate the "dog visits are down" headlines from what's actually happening with cats The surprising stat that over half of cats are acquired through informal channels rather than shelters or breeders The four biggest barriers standing between cat parents and the vet — and which one might surprise you Why 93% of cat parents say wellness visits matter, but only 51% actually follow through How reframing a vet reminder around a cat's longer life can change a cat parent's behavior The growing role of mobile veterinary care in closing the access gap An inside look at CatsOnly Veterinary Services, a new feline-only hospital model built to minimize stress from car to exam room Why the "crazy cat lady" stereotype no longer matches the data — and the rise of the cat dad How the broader animal health and welfare ecosystem can better collaborate to serve every cat, from community colonies to household companions Resources & Links CATalyst Council CatsOnly Veterinary Services Mission Meow

July 7, 2026Episode 67228 min

Ep 672: How Mumbai's Feline Foundation Is Systematically Tackling a Million-Cat City with Pallavi Kamath, Executive Director of The Feline Foundation, Mumbai, India

"The more I work in this field, the more there is to learn — and there's multiple strategies that you have to implement." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and Feline Infectious Disease Summit 2026. Pallavi Kamath grew up fostering kittens in Mumbai, studied animal science at UC Davis, earned a master's in animal public policy, and returned home to lead The Feline Foundation — an NGO she describes as the first in Maharashtra to systematically address the needs of community cats. With an estimated one million cats on Mumbai's streets and no existing population data to work from, the Foundation built its entire approach around a Logical Framework Matrix: a structured problem tree that mapped every welfare challenge and converted each into a program goal, giving the organization three focused pillars — population management, healthcare, and community involvement. On the ground, that means zone-by-zone sterilization across Andheri West, Mumbai's largest suburb. The Foundation divides the area into zones, conducts exhaustive street-by-street cat censuses, organizes local feeders into "carer collectives," and sets monthly TNR targets before returning to repeat the census. Once a zone hits 80% sterilized, it moves into maintenance mode — with community members taking the lead. Six of their 12 zones have crossed that threshold. Pallavi and Stacy also dig into the logistical realities most programs never face: nearly zero access to commercial traps, a handful of expert cat catchers who learned entirely on the job, and a city so geographically dense that sterilizing one neighborhood means immediately contending with cats flowing in from the next. The conversation closes on scalability — how a cat cafe can seed community buy-in, why Mumbai's municipal government is a rare progressive funding partner, and what it would take to open additional centers across a city that still has nowhere near enough sterilization resources. Press Play Now For: How a Logical Framework Matrix turns a problem tree into an organizational blueprint The zone-by-zone census methodology: every street, every building, every shopkeeper — before TNR begins What a "carer collective" is and why organizing local feeders before you start trapping changes everything The 80% threshold: how the Foundation defines population stability and transitions to maintenance mode The reality of trap access in India — and how a visit from an international colleague transformed the team's efficiency Why Mumbai's dog sterilization history may have contributed to a massive cat population explosion How a cat cafe can function as an adoption engine and community awareness hub Why Mumbai's municipal government is one of the few in India providing grants for cat sterilization — and why it's still not enough Resources & Links The Feline Foundation The Feline Foundation on Instagram The Feline Foundation on Facebook The Feline Foundation on YouTube The Feline Foundation on LinkedIn CCC TNR Certification Workshops

June 30, 2026Episode 67131 min

Ep 671: Saving the African Wildcat: The Race Against Hybridization in South Africa with Louise Holton, President & Founder, and Debbie Holzer, Development & Fundraising Manager, Alley Cat Rescue

"The goal isn't so much a set number as the area, and 100% sterilization — which is a lofty goal. But the only thing we can do is keep going." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and Feline Infectious Disease Summit 2026. Louise Holton has been working to protect cats for decades and across continents — from TNR work with the Johannesburg SPCA in the 1970s, to helping establish TNR programs in the UK, to founding Alley Cat Rescue in 1997 as the first national organization in the US dedicated to all cats, friendly and feral alike. She's joined this episode by Debbie Holzer, who has worked alongside her since 2020 and brings a nonprofit development background to ACR's writing, programs, and day-to-day operations. Together they share how their own early connections to cats — Louise's mother's habit of rescuing strays, Debbie's childhood cat she called her best friend — set the stage for lifelong advocacy. Stacy and the team dig into how the community cat landscape itself has shifted: TNR programs built in the '90s for antisocial, "spitfire" feral cats now have to account for a growing population of social, unowned cats living outdoors without a dedicated caregiver. Debbie and Louise talk through what that means for how programs prioritize care, and why leaving a friendly, adoptable-seeming cat outdoors can still be the better outcome when shelter capacity can't absorb every cat that could technically come inside. The conversation's centerpiece is Alley Cat Rescue's African wildcat conservation work. The African wildcat — ancestor of the modern housecat — is losing genetic purity as it interbreeds with domestic and stray cats along the borders of places like Kruger National Park. ACR's strategy is a sterilization "buffer zone" along those borders: spay/neuter and rabies-vaccinate every domestic cat in town after town, closing one community at a time to stop the intermingling. To date, the program has sterilized around 6,000 cats on Kruger's borders and roughly 11,000 more in the Cape region, where a local caregiver has identified seven hybrid cats through DNA testing. Louise and Debbie are candid about the obstacles: a severe veterinary shortage in South Africa (many vets have emigrated), unreliable population data, and almost no dedicated funding for small wild cat species. They highlight mobile vets like Dr. Ina Visser, who packs her own equipment into a car — or a plane — to set up clinics in remote farming communities, including one stop at an abandoned diamond mine with 120 free-roaming cats. The episode closes with a reminder that nobody needs a veterinary degree to help build spay/neuter capacity in their own community, and an invitation for listeners' vets to join Alley Cat Rescue's Feral Fix Challenge, the annual global TNR initiative that has helped sterilize over 600,000 community cats to date.[/one_second] [one_second]Press Play Now For: The story behind Louise Holton's lifelong devotion to cats, sparked by a single sighting of an African wildcat in Kruger Park at age 14 Debbie Holzer's path from a childhood "best friend" cat to a career in cat advocacy Why today's TNR programs are dealing with more social, unowned outdoor cats than the antisocial ferals of decades past A crash course on the African wildcat: what it is, where it lives, and why it matters to every housecat's ancestry How hybridization between domestic cats and African wildcats threatens the wildcat's genetic purity — and how DNA testing confirms it Inside Alley Cat Rescue's sterilization "buffer zone" strategy along the borders of Kruger National Park The hard numbers: roughly 6,000 cats sterilized at Kruger's borders and 11,000 in the Cape region so far Why rabies vaccination is built into every TNR catch in South Africa, and the public health stakes involved The reality of practicing veterinary medicine in rural South Africa, and how mobile vets like Dr. Ina Visser reach cats that have no other access to care Why you don't need to be a veterinarian to help build spay/neuter capacity — and how to get your own vet involved in the Feral Fix Challenge Resources & Links Alley Cat Rescue The Feral Fix Challenge — sign up your veterinarian Alley Cat Rescue's African Wildcat Conservation Program Contact Debbie Holzer: debbie@saveacat.org

June 23, 2026Episode 67028 min

Ep 670: Bridging the Gap Between Vets and Community Cat Caregivers with Dr. Kevin Lynch, DVM, Veterinarian, Author, and Founder of The Moriches Hospital for Animals

"That's my own formula — passion and compassion tempered by dedication and humor." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and Drop Traps: Beginning and Advanced Certification Workshop. After more than five decades behind the exam table, Dr. Kevin Lynch has treated thousands of pets, mentored generations of veterinary staff, and built one of Long Island's longest-running animal hospitals. His new memoir, Off the Leash: Tales From a Lifetime of Healing Pets and Wonder, traces that journey from a 13-year-old kid who talked his way into a part-time job at a local animal hospital to a veterinarian whose guiding philosophy is simple: treating the animal is only half the work, and tending to the person on the other end of the leash is the rest. Dr. Lynch and Stacy dig into one of the thorniest debates in animal welfare: the divide between "indoor-only" advocates and the realities of outdoor and community cat caregiving. Drawing on his own farm-cat memories from working summers on a dairy farm before vet school, he makes the case for listening over judging, and for meeting cat caregivers where they are instead of where a textbook says they should be. From there, the conversation turns practical: how should trappers and community cat program managers actually approach a veterinarian for the first time? Dr. Lynch's answer centers on intention, relationship-building, and showing up with a plan rather than a crisis. The episode also gets personal. Dr. Lynch opens up about compassion fatigue and burnout, a topic he says is as urgent in veterinary medicine today as it's ever been, and shares the daily habits, including a deliberately disciplined relationship with his phone, that keep him from burning out after 51 years in practice. He and Stacy also revisit one of the most harrowing chapters of his career: volunteering with search-and-rescue dogs at Ground Zero after 9/11, an experience he says revealed both the depths of tragedy and the best of human nature. Rounding out the conversation, Dr. Lynch shares a few of the stories from his book, including an unforgettable lesson in slowing down before attempting a DIY tick removal. He also talks about where listeners can find his memoir, his YouTube series The Pet Mindset Show, and the dental care device he invented for dogs and cats. Press Play Now For: How a 13-year-old's unpaid job at a Long Island animal hospital turned into a 51-year veterinary career Dr. Lynch's perspective on the indoor-only versus outdoor/community cat debate, and why he believes there's no one-size-fits-all answer His honest advice for trappers and caregivers on how to approach a veterinarian for the first time Why showing up with "a plan" rather than a crisis is the fastest way to build trust with a vet The role of compassion fatigue and burnout in veterinary medicine, and the daily habits that help him stay in the game His "physical mailbox" approach to managing phone use and protecting mental bandwidth A first-hand account of volunteering with search-and-rescue dogs at Ground Zero after 9/11 The story behind a Rottweiler named Big Shot, and the unexpected humanity he witnessed during that crisis Two unforgettable cat stories from his memoir, including a lesson in patience before attempting DIY pet care Where to find his memoir, his YouTube series, and the dental device he invented for pets Resources & Links Off the Leash: Tales From a Lifetime of Healing Pets and Wonder (Amazon) Dr. Kevin Lynch's website The Pet Mindset Show (YouTube) Plaque Be Gone dental device

June 16, 2026Episode 66941 min

Ep 669: 10 Years of Community Cats Podcast: A Conversation with Stacy, Kristen, and Mike

"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

June 9, 2026Episode 66827 min

Ep 668: City Kitties: Inside New York's Bodega Cat Movement, with Dan Rimada, Founder of Bodega Cats of New York and Co-Founder of Cats About Town Tours

"You can both celebrate them and advocate for them at the same time." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and Drop Traps: Beginning and Advanced Certification Workshop. Dan Rimada didn't set out to start a movement. He just started noticing cats. During the stillness of COVID, when New York City slowed down enough to actually look around, he began noticing the cats living in the bodegas of his Fort Greene, Brooklyn neighborhood and photographing them on his iPhone. What began as a hyper-local Instagram project quickly grew into something much larger — a citywide archive, an advocacy platform, a walking tour company, and now a forthcoming book. Today, Bodega Cats of New York is the most detailed documentation of working cats in New York City corner stores ever assembled, built on four years of relationship-building across all five boroughs. At the heart of Dan's work is a real tension: bodega cats are beloved New York City cultural icons — neighborhood anchors, pest controllers, familiar faces — and they are technically illegal. Under current New York City Health Code, keeping a live animal in a food establishment can result in fines between $200 and $1,500. Dan's 14,000-signature petition changed that conversation. It led to City Council legislation that would eliminate those fines and fund spay/neuter and vaccinations for bodega cats — with Council Member Frank Morano now carrying the bill forward after Keith Powers was term-limited out. A parallel state-level bill, introduced by Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, goes further, establishing official care standards: designated cat zones, clean water, nutritious food, rest areas, and mandatory spay/neuter. The two bills are designed to work in tandem. Dan also co-founded Cats About Town Tours with cat historian Peggy Gavan, whose blog hatchingcatnyc.com and books on New York City's animal history made her the perfect partner. The tours run through Brooklyn Heights, the Lower East Side, and the Financial District, uncovering the hidden feline history of New York from the 1800s and 1900s — and every ticket sold triggers food donations to a 501(c)(3) cat rescue. His book, Bodega Cats of New York, featuring photography by Gulce Kilkis, arrives from Quarto Publishing in October 2026. Press Play Now For: How a COVID-era iPhone project in Fort Greene grew into New York City's most comprehensive bodega cat archive What a bodega actually is — and why working cats have been part of that culture for generations Why bodega cats are currently illegal under NYC Health Code, and what the legislation would change The two-pronged legislative strategy: the city council bill and the state-level Assembly bill, and how they work together How Dan's $7,400 fundraiser and 14,000-signature petition translated into real legislative action The spay/neuter and vaccination funding mechanism proposed in the city bill — and where the money could come from Why some rescue groups want an outright ban on bodega cats, and Dan's more pragmatic take The story behind Cats About Town Tours and the hidden cat history woven into New York City's streets What to expect from the Bodega Cats of New York book, coming October 2026 Resources & Links Bodega Cats of New York — Dan's archive, advocacy updates, and book waitlist at bodegacatsofnewyork.com @bodegacatsofnewyork on Instagram Cats About Town Tours — NYC's cat history walking tours, running April through November The Hatching Cat of Gotham — Peggy Gavan's blog on the history of cats (and dogs) in New York City

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