Tune in Sunday to Animal Wise Radio, when I’ll be on with hosts Mike Fry and Beth Nelson discussing a recently published paper declaring that “predation by house cats is probably the largest human-related source of bird mortality in Canada.”
For schedule, a list of local stations, or to listen online, check out the Animal Wise Radio website.
If you missed this week’s Animal Wise Radio show, when I discussed the recent Ted Williams/Audubon incident—and how this fits into the ongoing TNR debate nationwide—with hosts Mike Fry and Beth Nelson, you can check the complete show in podcast format). An MP3 file (9.6 MB) of our conversation (approximately 21 minutes) is available here.
As always, many thanks to Mike and Beth—and everybody else who helps pull the show together—for having me on!
If you missed this week’s Animal Wise Radio show, when I discussed the Smithsonian’s recently published “killer cat study” with hosts Mike Fry and Beth Nelson, you can check the complete show in podcast format. An MP3 file (10.8 MB) of our conversation (approximately 22 minutes) is available here.
Tune in tomorrow to Animal Wise Radio, when I’ll be on with hosts Mike Fry and Beth Nelson discussing the Smithsonian’s recently published “killer cat” study.
For schedule, a list of local stations, or to listen online, check out the Animal Wise Radio website.
Did you catch this week’s Animal Wise Radio show? Hosts Mike Fry and Beth Nelson had me on to discuss the 2012 Trap Liner Awards and my November 16 Q&A with Walter Lamb.
If you missed it, you can check the complete show in podcast format. An MP3 file (12 MB) of our conversation (approximately 25 minutes) is available here.
Tune in tomorrow to Animal Wise Radio, when I’ll be on with hosts Mike Fry and Beth Nelson discussing the 2012 Trap Liner Award and other feral cat news items from last year.
As always, you can listen online—the show is live 12:00–2:00 CDT.
While you’re at it, please show your support by “Liking” their Facebook page (where you’ll read about, among other things, ongoing efforts by Animal Ark and Fix Minneapolis to reform Minneapolis Animal Care and Control).
Did you catch this week’s Animal Wise Radio show? Hosts Mike Fry and Beth Nelson invited me on to discuss the story of 76-year-old Joy Mattice, who’s currently facing misdemeanor charges for feeding cats in Minneapolis, as well as the Brevard County (FL) Commission’s decision to place a moratorium on new TNR colonies.
If you missed it, you can check the complete show in podcast format. An MP3 file (11.5 MB) of our conversation (approximately 23 minutes) is available here.
Tune in tomorrow to Animal Wise Radio, when I’ll be on with hosts Mike Fry and Beth Nelson. Though it’s only been a couple of weeks, there’s a lot to talk about! The recent move by the Brevard County (FL) Commission to place a moratorium on new TNR colonies, for example. And the story of 76-year-old Joy Mattice, who’s currently facing misdemeanor charges for feeding stray cats in Minneapolis.
As always, you can listen online—the show is live 12:00–2:00 CDT. And while you’re at it, please show your support by “Liking” their Facebook page. (And, while you’re doing that, head on over to the Animal Ark Facebook page as well…)
As co-host Beth Nelson was introducing the second hour of yesterday’s Animal Wise Radio show, she referred to me as a “feral cat nerd.” Beth tells me she meant it as a compliment, and that’s exactly how I’m taking it. Besides, as I told her and Mike Fry off the air, I’ve been called far worse by some folks familiar with my work.
If you missed it, you can check the complete show in podcast format). An MP3 file (11.3 MB) of our conversation (approximately 23 minutes) is available here.
Tune in tomorrow to Animal Wise Radio, when I’ll be catching up with hosts Mike Fry and Beth Nelson. (It’s been more than seven months!) Among the topics up for discussion: toxoplasmosis, rabies, and typhus (oh, my!).
Listen online—and while you’re at it, why not show your support by “Liking” their Facebook page.
Hundreds of animal shelters across the country have pledged to end the killing of any healthy or savable* animals, even if only for one day. And that day is here!
The Just One Day campaign, a collaborative effort of the No Kill Advocacy Center, Animal Ark, and Animal Wise Radio (all of whom have been great supporters of Vox Felina!), had a lofty goal: to “change everything for 10,411 companion animals,” making June 11th “a day that can change the world.”
“For Just One Day, ‘Euthanasia Technicians’ will put down their syringes and pick up cameras. Instead of injecting animals with lethal doses of sodium pentobarbital, they will photograph them and post them on the Internet, on Facebook, on twitter. On June 11, 2012, they will market their animals to the public, they will reach out to rescue groups, they will host adoption events with discounted rates, they will stay open for extended hours, and they will ask their communities to help them empty the shelter the good way.
Instead of going into body bags in freezers, the animals will go out the front door in the loving arms of families. At the end of the day, the shelters will be emptier than when the day started. And, no one will have had to die in order to make that happen.”
Success stories are pouring in on the Just One Day Facebook page, and Animal Wise Radio has scheduled a special live broadcast at noon CDT “to celebrate what could turn out to be the safest day for Animals in U.S. History.”
My sincere thanks to all those who’ve helped make this happen—the campaign’s promoters, the numerous shelters that have taken the pledge, the hundreds (thousands, maybe) of rescues working in concert with shelters near and far, and the community leaders who’ve made proclamations and pushed no-kill policy. And of course all those who are using the opportunity to adopt.
Today is a very good day.
* Those animals that have not been diagnosed with a terminal, incurable condition, or dogs have been determined by a credentialed behaviorist to be unmanageably aggressive, and beyond hope of rehabilitation.
Where were you two years ago today?
I was, as I am now, typing away on my laptop well into the night—compelled, as I wrote on the blog’s About page, to speak out on behalf of stray, abandoned, and feral cats. Two years—and 147 posts—later, it’s clear that people are listening.
In the past year alone, 213 additional readers have become subscribers, bringing the total to 370. And the Vox Felina Facebook page is up to 1,239 “Likes,” double what it was on the one-year anniversary.
And word continues to spread.
Over the past 12 months, Vox Felina has been mentioned in Animal People, Conservation magazine and The Washingtonian. In addition, I’ve been profiled in Best Friends magazine, interviewed on Animal Wise Radio, and invited to speak at the 2011 Animal Grantmakers conference.
And the next year is already shaping up to be at least as busy, with, for example, speaking commitments at the No Kill Conference in August and the No More Homeless Pets National Conference in October.
Although there’s already plenty on my to-do list, I’m always interested in hearing from Vox Felina readers. What can I do to help you advocate for stray, abandoned, and feral cats? Send me a note: peter[at]voxfelina.com. (Please be patient—none of my “assistants” has opposable thumbs.)
And, as always, thank you for your support—and for all that you’re doing on behalf of our community cats!
Peter
On yesterday’s Animal Wise Radio show, hosts Mike Fry and Beth Nelson and I discussed the guilty verdict handed down last week in Nico Dauphine’s attempted animal cruelty case, as well as the implications for future cat-related research at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and elsewhere.
If you missed it, you can check the complete show in podcast format. An MP3 file (6.4 MB) of our conversation (approximately 13 minutes) is available here.
Thanks once again to Animal Wise Radio hosts Mike Fry and Beth Nelson for having me back on the show Sunday.
Among the topics we discussed were The Wildlife Society’s position statement on Animal Rights Philosophy and Wildlife Conservation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s upcoming Influencing Local Scale Feral Cat Trap-Neuter-Release Decisions workshop, and the recent case of a North St. Paul, MN, man charged with failing to license—and allowing to roam freely—the unowned neighborhood cats he was sterilizing. (Charges were dismissed Friday, though the defendant is facing something like $5,000 is legal expenses.)
If you missed it, you can check the complete show in podcast format. An MP3 file (10 MB) of our conversation (approximately 20 minutes) is available here.
I thought I’d use this post—my 100th!—as an opportunity to create a (long-overdue) press page. My sincere thanks to the various writers, reporters, editors and bloggers who have helped spread the word about Vox Felina—your support is greatly appreciated!
My sincere thanks to Animal Wise Radio hosts Mike Fry and Beth Nelson for having me back on the show—this time to discuss the recent arrest of National Zoo researcher Nico Dauphine on charges of attempted animal cruelty and the Smithsonian’s subsequent reaction.
If you missed it, you can check out the complete show in podcast format at iTunes. Also, an MP3 file (22 MB) of our conversation about Nico Dauphine and the Smithsonian (approximately 22 minutes) is available here.
…though I am certainly in the “pro-cat” camp, I am not at all “anti-wildlife.” I’m far more interested in finding common ground than I am in further polarizing the parties involved. That said, I will not stand idly by while opponents of feral/free-roaming cats—and TNR in particular—mishandle, misconstrue, and misrepresent the research for PR purposes.
…effective public policy… is needed more urgently than ever. But to get there—to really tackle this incredibly complex issue—we first need to untangle some of what’s being said. This is precisely what I intend to do with Vox Felina. As Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis put it so eloquently, “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman.”
I wrote those words a year ago today, thus launching Vox Felina.
A year into this project, the vision and mission remain unchanged. As does my commitment to “illuminate” the bogus claims made by those who continue to promote the shameless witch hunt against free-roaming cats.
This commitment, I now realize, will keep me busy for a very long time. (Imagine: at one time, I actually worried about running out of material!)
Over the past twelve months, I’ve accumulated hundreds of academic papers, theses and dissertations, book chapters, reports of all kinds, and newspaper articles. (Despite the cumbersome nature of the process, I still believe in reading what I cite; this, I’ve learned, is not to be taken for granted.)
Posts frequently exceed 4,000—even 5,000 words. (At 348 words, that inaugural post was easily one of the “leanest.”) And still, the to-do list continues to grow.
But, so does the audience.
Vox Felina has attracted the attention of the San Francisco Chronicle, Best Friends Animal Society, and Animal Wise Radio, among others.
At last check, the blog has 157 subscribers and 621 “Likes” on the Vox Felina Facebook page.
Best of all—and much to my surprise and delight—the blog has attracted a team of die-hard supporters who go out of their way to provide me with news items, background information and material, and invaluable feedback. To these bright, ambitious, and generous souls—many of whom I’ve yet to meet—I am immensely grateful and deeply indebted.
As I say, the task at hand is greater than I anticipated—but so is the collective will to accomplish the task. So, a moment of celebration (e.g., a slice of cake, a toast, etc.), and then it’s back to work.
Year 2 begins…
My sincere thanks to Animal Wise Radio hosts Mike Fry and Beth Nelson for giving me the opportunity to talk about Vox Felina on Sunday’s show. I highly recommend tuning in each week, or adding the show to your list of favorite podcasts.
If you missed it, you can check the complete show in podcast format (there are two segments dated 4/10/11). An MP3 file (21 MB) of my interview (approximately 22 minutes) is available here.