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The Kitten Lady Hannah Shaw Go Big Go Home Rescuing Kittens And Cats · Arroe Collins Like It's Live

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  Speaker 1: Arrow dot net. It's more than just one podcast. It
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  Speaker 1: dot net. Enjoy your exploration. Hi, Hi, how are you doing, Hannah?
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  Speaker 2: I'm great. How are you?
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  Speaker 1: Very excited to share a conversation with you, because there's
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  Speaker 1: a lot of people here in Carolina that cannot wait
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  Speaker 1: to hear what you're going to share because they know
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  Speaker 1: who you are, and when they found out that we
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  Speaker 1: were going to share a conversation, oh, oh my god,
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  Speaker 1: they really wanted to make sure they know who you are.
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  Speaker 1: So thank you for doing what you do so that
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  Speaker 1: people around the world know who you are.
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  Speaker 3: Oh that's really nice. Thank you so.
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  Speaker 1: Much, so much dedication, loyalty, perseverance. I mean, you have
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  Speaker 1: really lived the entire path. How is it that A.
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  Speaker 1: You're strong like you are, and B I mean it
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  Speaker 1: just doesn't end this thing with our little baby fuzzy kittens.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, thank you so much.
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  Speaker 3: You know, this is the time of year where it
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  Speaker 3: is the busy season.
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  Speaker 2: For a kitten rescuer like myself, but you know it
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  Speaker 2: does take all hands on deck.
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  Speaker 3: This is kitten season.
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  Speaker 2: So right now I am fostering a number of bottle
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  Speaker 2: baby kittens, but the main work that I do centers
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  Speaker 2: around kind of supporting shelters and traveling around and helping
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  Speaker 2: animal shelters set up really strong programs so that when
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  Speaker 2: those kittens come into the shelters they have the resources
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  Speaker 2: they need and the education they need support them.
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  Speaker 1: My wife and I go to many shelters around the Carolinas.
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  Speaker 1: This is not just as Charlotte thing, and that's what
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  Speaker 1: I want listeners to understand. This is a regional thing.
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  Speaker 1: And beyond that, people need to understand there are cats
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  Speaker 1: everywhere that need to find a loving home.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's definitely true. I mean, this is the time
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  Speaker 2: of year where the biggest influx of kittens is coming in.
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  Speaker 2: We can actually look at data and see that April
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  Speaker 2: is the peak of kittens season, but last year there
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  Speaker 2: were more than one point five million kittens entering shelters.
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  Speaker 2: And you know those kittens, once they reach eight weeks,
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  Speaker 2: they're able to be adopted, but prior to that they
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  Speaker 2: are really reliant on foster parents.
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  Speaker 1: I want to be real, super honest here, only because
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  Speaker 1: I hear this all the time from so many people.
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  Speaker 1: Do kittens go through the same thing as bunny rabbits
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  Speaker 1: and all other babies, is that once you get out
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  Speaker 1: of the cute stage, just like the human goes, I
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  Speaker 1: want something cute, and all of a sudden, we've got
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  Speaker 1: problems here because now we've got to find a home
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  Speaker 1: that one because they took it back.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, you know, I wouldn't say that that's something that
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  Speaker 2: I see so much. I think that cats, you know,
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  Speaker 2: they bond so much to their people, and really when
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  Speaker 2: you adopt, I feel like you really.
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  Speaker 3: Fall in love with that cat.
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  Speaker 2: So no, I mean, that's not something that I see
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  Speaker 2: a lot. Of course, you know, returns are always a possibility,
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  Speaker 2: but we do see pretty good retention rates for adoption
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  Speaker 2: with cats. You know, I think that cat adoption is
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  Speaker 2: becoming more and more popular every year. So close to
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  Speaker 2: forty percent of US homes have a cat now, and
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  Speaker 2: I think that that number is just growing as people
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  Speaker 2: learn more about how wonderful they are.
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  Speaker 1: Can we include men in this picture? I just wish
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  Speaker 1: more men would step out and say, yeah, I'm a
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  Speaker 1: cat lover. Yes I am.
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  Speaker 2: Well, you know what, I married a cat man and
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  Speaker 2: it was a huge part of what attracted me to him.
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  Speaker 2: So I do think there are some wonderful men involved
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  Speaker 2: in cat advocacy. But you're right, you know, we need
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  Speaker 2: as many people of any walk of life to be
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  Speaker 2: involved in cat welfare.
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  Speaker 3: You know, this is the time of year where we.
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  Speaker 4: Need volunteers, We need adopters. We need people to volunteer
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  Speaker 4: their skill sets, both on site or even you know,
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  Speaker 4: remotely to the animal shelters. There are some pretty easy
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  Speaker 4: ways that you can help cat to One thing that's
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  Speaker 4: happening right now is the Cats Pride, Go Big, Go
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  Speaker 4: Home campaign. This is a nationwide effort to provide litter
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  Speaker 4: donations to shelters, and their goal is to provide one
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  Speaker 4: million pounds of litter so that's like a very easy
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  Speaker 4: way for anyone who loves cats to help.
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  Speaker 3: Literally, when you just are.
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  Speaker 2: Buying your cat litter, if you buy a container of
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  Speaker 2: cats Pride, they are going to donate one pound of
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  Speaker 2: litter to shelters. So that's a super easy way for
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  Speaker 2: anybody to help without even needing.
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  Speaker 3: To go to a shelter.
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  Speaker 1: I'm glad that you brought that up because we have
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  Speaker 1: a lot of Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts to come
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  Speaker 1: into our store to purch just the different food, and
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  Speaker 1: you saying that they need that litter is so important
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  Speaker 1: to me because I'm going to look at these these
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  Speaker 1: girl Scouts and say, have you thought about the litter,
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  Speaker 1: because Hannah says we need to put focus on that.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, it's one of those really necessary supplies. Every
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  Speaker 2: single animal shelter relies on, you know, having those supplies,
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  Speaker 2: and it costs.
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  Speaker 3: Money for them to have them.
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  Speaker 2: So that's money that could be spent on vet care,
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  Speaker 2: could be spent on you know, community education or stay neuter.
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  Speaker 2: So that's why I'm so excited about the Go Big,
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  Speaker 2: Go Home campaign because what this means is, you know,
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  Speaker 2: as I'm traveling around the country, I'm doing a lot
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  Speaker 2: of educational events in different communities, and I see those
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  Speaker 2: litter donations showing up in the shelters, and it means
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  Speaker 2: for those shelters they don't have to spend their money there.
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  Speaker 3: So anything we can do.
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  Speaker 2: To offset those costs for these shelters that are operating
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  Speaker 2: on a limited budget is a great thing.
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  Speaker 1: Please do not move. Hannah Shaw is coming back. We're
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  Speaker 1: talking cats and kittens, rescuing and doing so much more.
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  Speaker 1: We are back with Hannah Shaw. I'm going to cry
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  Speaker 1: here in the way that the next thing I want
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  Speaker 1: to talk about here is so close to my heart
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  Speaker 1: and very heavy on my heart. It's like a Casey
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  Speaker 1: case and long distance dedication. But I really want to
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  Speaker 1: adopt cats from Ukraine, Gaza in Iran because they have cats,
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  Speaker 1: but where are they. Nobody's talking about them. They've got
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  Speaker 1: to be animal Rescues to get in there and rescue
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  Speaker 1: those cats and get them into American homes where we
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  Speaker 1: can love them just like they once were.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, there are.
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  Speaker 2: Some really interesting international adoption efforts.
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  Speaker 3: I actually put.
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  Speaker 2: Out a book in two thousand and four called Cats
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  Speaker 2: of the World, in which my husband and I traveled
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  Speaker 2: to thirty different countries, including many countries throughout the Middle East,
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  Speaker 2: and we were able to connect with some incredible animal
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  Speaker 2: rescuers in that region who do a lot of work
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  Speaker 2: with transports of like flying the cats to the States
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  Speaker 2: and to other countries in the Western world to be adopted,
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  Speaker 2: because we.
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  Speaker 3: Just do have more adopters out here.
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  Speaker 2: So you know, if people are interested in that, there
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  Speaker 2: are animal shelters in the US that are flying in
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  Speaker 2: cats from other parts of the world.
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  Speaker 3: And you know, I think anything.
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  Speaker 2: That helps cats is a positive, whether that's locally helping cats,
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  Speaker 2: for flying in cats from regions of really high need.
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  Speaker 1: I love the way that you believe in unity and
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  Speaker 1: bringing people together to help out cats and kittens. And
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  Speaker 1: the reason why is because, let's be honest here, these
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  Speaker 1: are some changing times for a lot of generations, and
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  Speaker 1: one of them being the elderly generation who have cats
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  Speaker 1: in their homes and it's now a choice medication or
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  Speaker 1: cat food, and god dang that we have got to
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  Speaker 1: be able to create something here that is going to
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  Speaker 1: give these older people the opportunity to get that food
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  Speaker 1: into their homes so these cats don't suffer.
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  Speaker 2: One of the things that I really love that's happening
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  Speaker 2: in animal sheltering right now is these kind of community
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  Speaker 2: food banks, these pet retention programs that are really focused
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  Speaker 2: around not just like helping the cats in the shelters,
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  Speaker 2: but trying to help cats not have.
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  Speaker 3: To enter the shelter because, like you.
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  Speaker 2: Say, sometimes community members, you know, they don't want to
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  Speaker 2: give up their animals, but they can't afford some of
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  Speaker 2: those supplies.
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  Speaker 3: So actually, even with the Cat's Pride, Go Big.
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  Speaker 2: Go Home campaign, those litter donations, they don't just help
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  Speaker 2: the cats in the shelter. Some of those actually can
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  Speaker 2: be used in some of these pet retention programs, these
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  Speaker 2: food banks. A lot of people are able to then
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  Speaker 2: go to the shelter and access the food and the
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  Speaker 2: litter that they need to be able to keep their
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  Speaker 2: cat in the home. So I look at the animal
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  Speaker 2: shelter not as a building where cats go to be impounded,
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  Speaker 2: but really as a community resource that can help keep
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  Speaker 2: cats in home.
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  Speaker 1: I want listeners to understand that you may not get
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  Speaker 1: the perfect cat when you bring them home, but do
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  Speaker 1: not give up on them. Because my little baby, I
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  Speaker 1: could have easily said you're going back, but I said,
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  Speaker 1: you need to teach me about you so that we
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  Speaker 1: can create together. We're going to learn together because I
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  Speaker 1: may do things that my cat doesn't like or my
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  Speaker 1: dog doesn't like, but you know what, we can work
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  Speaker 1: on this together like a real family. People need to
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  Speaker 1: know that that don't stop when it doesn't go perfect.
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  Speaker 3: That's a really beautiful approach.
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  Speaker 2: And I do think that like cats are masters at
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  Speaker 2: teaching us about relationships, right because they don't just do
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  Speaker 2: exactly what you want them to do, but they require time.
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  Speaker 2: They require listening and kind of observing and getting to
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  Speaker 2: know them. And it is a beautiful thing to be
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  Speaker 2: able to bond with a cat. And you know, I
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  Speaker 2: hope that more and more people and some of your
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  Speaker 2: listeners might open their homes to cats, especially right now
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  Speaker 2: because you know this is the time of year where
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  Speaker 2: shelters need us most. So if they go to their
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  Speaker 2: local shelter and fall in love with someone, like bring
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  Speaker 2: them home and like you say, don't get up on them,
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  Speaker 2: that's just the first day of the rest of your
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  Speaker 2: life together.
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  Speaker 1: Where can they go to find out more about everything
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  Speaker 1: that you and your husband are doing. And that entire
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  Speaker 1: group of people that sacrifice their life every day in
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  Speaker 1: the name of loving cats.
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  Speaker 4: Thank you.
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  Speaker 3: Well.
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  Speaker 2: You can find my website at Kittenlady dot org. You
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  Speaker 2: can also support our nonprofit at Orphankittenclub dot org. And
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  Speaker 2: then if you want us support the Cat's Pride Go
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  Speaker 2: Big Go Home campaign, you can learn more at Catspride
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  Speaker 2: dot com.
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  Speaker 4: Slash Litter for Good.
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  Speaker 1: Please come back to this show anytime in the future.
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  Speaker 1: This is an everyday subject, not just something right before summertime.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you so much for having me and helping
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  Speaker 2: to spread the word.
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  Speaker 1: Will you be brilliant today?
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  Speaker 2: Okay, Hannah, thank you so much.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you