Latest / Back In The Closet - Two Crazy Cat Ladies / Adopt A Shelter Cat Month with FC3's Erin Lydy

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Adopt A Shelter Cat Month with FC3's Erin Lydy · Back In The Closet - Two Crazy Cat Ladies

0:01
I'm Jay, I'm Adrian, and together we are those two.
0:04
Crazy Cat. Ladies.
0:08
I'm gonna cut you. I.
0:09
Think I just. Peed.
0:10
Buckle up. We're back in the closet.
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Welcome to another episode of a back in the closet with the 2
0:20
Crazy Cat ladies. Guys, this week is so exciting
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because we are. This episode is all about the
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month of June, which is adopt A shelter cap month and we wanted
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to bring on someone who is die hard awesome when it comes to
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rescue so that we could so that we could bring her to you.
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And we knew from the very like from the very beginning, we
0:44
talked about this last month. It was like, oh, it's adopt A
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shelter cap month. Who can we have on?
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And we were both like Erin. So Erin Lighty, thank you so
0:52
much for joining us. You are.
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You are just like so admirable. I think a lot of people in our
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community probably already know a little bit about you.
1:00
Yeah. And.
1:01
Laura lives here already bring my behavior.
1:05
Hi Hannah, you are. You really are such an
1:08
inspiration. We were talking just a little
1:10
bit offline before we came on. We've known you since 2019.
1:13
I love our, I love our your. Your babies actually brought us
1:17
together. So yeah, I sure did.
1:19
Since then, man, you just you are just one of the most
1:23
inspiring people we know, really putting your passion into a
1:26
purpose. And so you created violence
1:29
Violence Community Cat Coalition.
1:31
You do incredible TNR work. You are you are boots on the
1:34
ground all the time. And still looking beautiful and
1:37
yes, shiny every day. And always so full of joy.
1:41
So for anyone in our community that does not know you, would
1:44
you share a little introduction and a little a little bit of
1:46
your journey here? Oh my goodness, thank you.
1:48
Thank you so much for having me. What a what a joy, what a
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pleasure. The highlight of my day.
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So thank you so much. This is wonderful.
1:57
I'm Aaron Lighty. I'm the founder of Firelands
1:59
Community Cat Coalition, FC-3 for short, located in northern
2:03
Ohio, which is Norwalk, OH, and yeah, I, I started this as a
2:08
grassroots when nobody else was doing it.
2:11
And there was a lot of kind of, you know, criticizing and
2:14
complaining, but not a lot of contributing.
2:16
So, so I, I chose to be the someone.
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I coined the hashtag be the someone and just went after it
2:23
and started started FC three Yeah, it also.
2:28
So the the job that pays the bills is I'm a leadership and
2:31
team development consultant. So that's the job that pays the
2:34
bills. So I go from many outfits like.
2:36
I've been in like. 3 outfits today based on what meeting I
2:39
have and so that's why the hair looks good.
2:44
Are you? Are you comfortable in your
2:46
outfit right now? Yes, absolutely.
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They're winning, they're winning.
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They're. Winning look at it.
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I mean, I know those listening on the podcast can't can't see
2:55
it, but those watching live show everyone your shirt.
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It's like FC-3. You designed that probably too,
3:01
didn't you? Yeah, so we we did a little
3:04
etch, a little sketch, and then we had a professional do it.
3:07
Yeah, but no, I absolutely love it.
3:09
It is. And we get so many compliments
3:12
on our logo. It's.
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Really. Awesome.
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So let's talk a little bit. Let's start off with just you're
3:18
you're awesome hashtag, right, Like this is a dot the the
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shelter cut month. There is so much.
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I mean, I, I feel like my feed, probably your feed is just
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inundated with so many, so many babies, right Shelters that I I
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watched a video the other day of 400 shelter cats that no one had
3:41
ever even seen. You know, it's like there
3:43
there's so many share a little bit about why you did decide to
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be the someone and. What you do?
3:52
Yeah. What?
3:53
What? You're yeah.
3:55
So it's really all started in Las Vegas.
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So I, I traveled from Ohio to Las Vegas to adopt 21 eyed
4:03
kitties from Nikki with my foster kittens.
4:07
And she's also with C5, which is out there in Vegas.
4:10
It's a TNR organization and cat camp was happening at the same
4:15
time. So that's where I met you guys
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and that's where I learned all about TNR and Foster and rescue
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and be the someone you can find one thing you can find one thing
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to help out a shelter, to help out a rescue, to help out a TNR
4:30
organization. And I toured C5, Nikki took me
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over to C5 and I got to tour their facility.
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It's just A2 car garage. It's just A2 car garage.
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So you can you can truly make it work.
4:44
We were still living in Columbus at the time and shortly
4:46
thereafter we moved to Norwalk, OH, which is a tiny town, a
4:50
teeny tiny town and in like between Toledo and Cleveland,
4:55
rural community. And you get, it shows up pretty
4:59
quickly on your Facebook community pages that everybody's
5:01
complaining about the community cats, the feral cats found a
5:04
cat, found kittens. And I said, I asked the
5:07
question, who's doing TNR here? Where's, where are the rescue
5:12
organizations? I pretty much got laughed at and
5:15
I said, well, guess what, we're going to start 1.
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So got a few people together and said I'd already toured C5.
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I had already connected with the founders of C5.
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They had, I, they'd kind of given me their blueprint and I
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basically, I love what is it? It'll come back to me.
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But anyway, so I basically took their blueprint and I just kind
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of duplicated it, RIP off and duplicate R&D.
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It's R&D, it's not researched and develop, it's RIP off and
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duplicate. So I, I took their blueprint and
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I said, we're just going to implement the same thing.
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We're going to implement the process.
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We're going to, you know, start asking, telling people we're
5:58
here to help them. We operate on donations only.
6:01
And Fast forward, since we started, we have fixed over 700
6:05
community cats. And yeah, when you do this, when
6:10
you do the numbers, so not every maybe knows the numbers, but one
6:14
female kitten can get pregnant at four months old, have 3
6:18
litters a year, can have up to six to seven kitties in each
6:22
litter. You have females in those
6:24
litters. Those females get pregnant at
6:25
four months old. They also have multiple litters
6:28
a year, so going back to that one Kitty not getting fixed,
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that equates to 2000 kitties after four years.
6:36
Wow. After nine years it's
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11,000,000. So Jesus.
6:44
So we fixed over 700 kitties we have.
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It's equivalent to 1.5 million kitties not being born.
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That was. Incredible, I know that a lot I
6:53
know when we first learned about TNRI remember being like what
6:58
they catch them and then they release them like what I I have
7:03
never in my life been more emotionally exhausted and just
7:10
it TNR is hard. It's hard, you know, especially
7:13
when you have such an affection for cast and it's like in and
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you, you know, it's the, the act of, of doing it can be difficult
7:23
because you, you, you, I mean, people in our community know,
7:27
right? Like a lot of times you end up
7:29
with a lot of cats because, you know, this one.
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We just like, oh, I can't drop them back off there.
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No, I can't and. The ones that follow you after
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you release them, it's just like so talk a little bit about
7:43
because you you have saved so much suffering.
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I know a lot of people think well TNR and then putting them
7:50
back or it'd be different if you could get them all adopted,
7:53
right. But a lot of cats are feral,
7:55
semi feral. Explain a little bit how you
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because that you then there are those adoptable kitties.
8:03
You know that's. Just returning, Yeah, just
8:05
explain a little bit about what TNR is and why it's so
8:08
important. Sure, sure.
8:09
TNR trap night of return is really getting to the root of
8:12
the problem. It's getting to the root of the
8:14
problem of the cat overpopulation.
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And when we, when we get those outdoor community cats fixed,
8:21
we're preventing future kittens from being born.
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And, and this is what happens, whether this has happened to you
8:27
or it's about to happen to you or you know someone it's
8:30
happened to, a cat's going to show up on your sidewalk, porch,
8:35
garage, whatever. And you're going to wonder if
8:37
does this cap belong to someone you posted on your local lost
8:40
and found and nobody claims the Kitty.
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And lo and behold, 2 weeks later you find kittens, right?
8:47
And so you're like, OK, well, I found kittens.
8:50
Now I'm going to try to find the kittens homes and this is a
8:53
cycle that is happening in our area constantly.
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And so they decided mama's going to take care of the kittens.
9:00
They let that happen. The kittens finally get old
9:02
enough to be adopted. So then they say, hey, these
9:05
kittens are ready for their homes and they're free.
9:09
So then people say, oh, I'll take a kitten, I want a kitten.
9:12
But then they decided the kitten needs to get fixed, but it's
9:14
$400.00. Well, they don't have $400 to
9:17
get the kitten fixed. And then the kitten gets out and
9:21
the kitten gets pregnant, right? And the kitten shows up with
9:24
kittens and the cycle just starts all over again.
9:29
And we're, we're, we're really good at being proactive for
9:32
things in our lives and we need to do a better job at being
9:35
proactive when it comes to getting cats fixed to prevent
9:38
kittens from being born. And this is where TNR gets to
9:42
the root of the problem. And we work with colony
9:44
caretakers. We, we do have some amazing
9:47
colony caretakers. And when a Kitty is born outside
9:50
and raised outside, we have 4 kitties that we're taking care
9:54
of outside. They want nothing to do with
9:56
humans. They hiss at us.
9:58
They love the food we give them. But boy, do they thiss at us.
10:02
And they're slowly warming up to us, but it's on their terms.
10:06
So kitties that are born outside and are not socialized and are
10:08
not around humans, they live outside.
10:10
That's their home. And if they have a colony
10:12
caretaker, they go back to their colony caretaker because forcing
10:16
them to live inside or acclimate to being inside is not fair to
10:21
them. It's not if they choose to
10:24
acclimate and eventually go inside, that's up to them.
10:27
And we let them do it on their time.
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But if they have a good colony caretaker, they have shelter,
10:32
they have food and all of that, they know their home, they know
10:36
their safe spaces, they know their food locations and that's
10:40
their home. And that's hard for us humans to
10:43
accept sometimes because we put our emotions on the kitties like
10:47
you need to, you need to sleep on my couch.
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Well, they don't want to, right? They, they don't like humans.
10:54
And we, we just have to, we just have to honor and respect that.
10:58
But then we do, obviously we're out, we're trapping, we find
11:01
kittens. If we have the ability, we'll
11:04
try to partner with a rescue who can Foster and adopt them out.
11:08
It's really hard to do that. This is a nationwide problem.
11:11
And I'm seeing this, you know, I, you guys know I have line of
11:14
sight too. Yeah, Yeah.
11:17
And I'm part of Mission Meow. So, right.
11:20
You guys are amazing supporters of Mission Meow, right?
11:24
So I'm an advisor on Mission Meow and mentor, grant
11:27
recipient, also a business partner.
11:29
So I have line of sight to all these organizations.
11:32
And it really seems like this is the first year I'm seeing
11:37
organizations have to put fixed kittens back outside because
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there aren't places for them. There aren't shelters, there
11:44
aren't rescues, There aren't people adopt.
11:47
Adoptions are down, surrenders are sky high.
11:52
It's just a really tough time. And so we just, we really need
11:56
to do a better job at going back to the root of the problem and
11:59
really focusing on getting the kitties fixed and preventing
12:01
more kitties being born. Yeah, why do you think
12:04
surrenders are so high right now?
12:06
Oh my goodness. Well, so many, so many
12:10
variables. So many variables.
12:11
Whether it's and people can't afford their homes anymore,
12:14
people can't afford their bills anymore.
12:17
So they're, they're, we see it here.
12:19
People are being evicted. They try really hard to find
12:23
homes for their pets. Well, then they they're like, it
12:26
didn't work. So guess what?
12:28
We're all on the streets now, you know, and it's just, it's
12:32
just awful. So yeah, it's it's just the
12:36
numbers are, are, are not, or they're bad this year.
12:40
So yeah, God. That is heartbreaking.
12:43
I know. I think you, you speak to
12:47
something that I didn't really realize because I'm incredibly
12:50
ignorant of so many things. But you know, you moved to
12:53
Norwalk, you realized, you know, on the community page that there
12:56
was this issue with community cats and asked who does TNR,
13:02
who's like just, I mean, I literally have always assumed
13:05
that every community gives, it gives.
13:09
Like has has a. Care in our program right like
13:12
that it's because we see so many of these beautiful
13:14
organizations, but then you think about all these small
13:17
towns, all these cities like it is an issue.
13:23
So I think that we also spend a lot of time talking with people
13:26
who have, who are community cat caretakers and may not know
13:31
about TNR or may not know. And they go out and the feed
13:34
them and they go out and they tried to, you know, hear for
13:37
them what is what is a small step.
13:39
You know how Doctor Katie Woodley always says just, it
13:42
seems overwhelming. And this does seem like a
13:45
whelming issue. What's that one?
13:46
What's that one thing? Someone in a community that does
13:49
not have these resources, what's one thing they can do?
13:53
Yeah, right. So there's a, there's a few
13:54
things you can do. And it's so funny because before
13:57
we showed up tonight, my husband and I went and grabbed a bite to
14:01
eat and I cannot. Uh oh.
14:03
Lights are flickering, we have storms coming, so we'll see what
14:09
happens. But anyways, we can we, it
14:12
doesn't seem like we can go anywhere without talking about
14:14
cats. And somehow, somehow somebody
14:17
asked the question, well, how many cats do you have?
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And I said, well, four resident 4 outdoor 1 foster, you know,
14:23
and let, and then she says, my mom has 11 and she, you know,
14:26
blah, blah, blah. And there's just more and more
14:27
kittens. I'm like, well, does she get
14:29
them fixed? You know, and somebody else
14:31
overheard the conversation. Did I hear you say you get cats
14:34
fixed in our town? Like, oh boy, here we go.
14:36
Add to the list. So, so people are asking this
14:40
question through e-mail, through text, through belling up to the
14:43
bar every day. Our list of cats that needs
14:46
fixed is over 500. We drive, we drive over an hour
14:52
to get to the closest clinic, the closest low cost clinic.
14:56
So you have, you've got to maximize your resources.
14:59
So it's, it's going online, it's researching your county with the
15:04
letters TNR, cat, TNR, your county and see what's there,
15:08
whether it's your Humane Society, a shelter, a rescue.
15:11
Now we, we have a list. You can sign up and join our
15:15
list. It might be months until we get
15:17
to you because we're very limited on our appointment times
15:21
and how many times we can get to the clinic.
15:24
And we also offer trap loaning, so we can loan you some traps.
15:29
We recommend the clinics that you can go to and if you can get
15:33
your own appointments, we can lend you traps and we can show
15:36
you what to do and show you how to trap.
15:38
And just we actually just started our YouTube channel,
15:40
Small Town TNR. Brilliant.
15:44
That's brilliant. To put that link in this, yeah.
15:47
Yeah, that'd be wonderful. Yeah.
15:49
Small town TNR. So we're trying to educate.
15:51
We're trying to educate on trap training, 'cause I just was
15:53
repeating myself on how to trap train.
15:56
And so I was like, I'll make a video and all I have to do is
15:59
send a link and how to set a trap.
16:02
So, so I, I just, I try to, I try to, you know, take the
16:06
friction away and try to make it as simple as possible.
16:09
But when it comes to the appointment times and the travel
16:12
and the transport, you know, that's that's the biggest
16:14
challenge we're up against right now is getting, getting through
16:17
our list and getting more kitties fixed on a monthly
16:20
basis. Wow.
16:23
This is a little off topic, but I'm thinking about it because
16:26
we're melting here in Las Vegas right now.
16:29
And I know for a lot of people, maybe they just listen to that.
16:32
And they said, well, I'll just keep taking care of these
16:36
kitties and. Although.
16:39
Yeah, although I do think, you know, not everyone is in that
16:42
situation where it's an hour away.
16:44
I feel like, you know, just kind of searching and seeing or, you
16:48
know, contacting someone who may be in a neighboring town that
16:51
could have resources like. Or do the, OR to be able to do
16:56
the, I forget what it's called ride sharing, basically, right?
17:00
So like if you, if you can find somebody else that is
17:04
passionate, that might live halfway between you and that,
17:08
and you could bring the cats this far and they could bring
17:10
the cats that far, then it cuts that time in half for both of
17:13
you, you know? Yeah, right.
17:17
Yeah, That's brilliant. We and we try to divide.
17:19
We try to divide up our responsibilities, right.
17:21
We try to, we try to have people who are assigned to trapping and
17:24
then have people assigned to transporting and then, you know,
17:28
people assigned to come take care of the kitties and feed
17:30
them and clean the traps, right. So everybody can play a part as
17:34
to what they choose to do or what they want to do.
17:36
And so what's really funny is we actually have some people who
17:39
sign up to do the transport because they go to Toledo and
17:42
there's a casino in Toledo and they go to, they go to the
17:45
casino. Brilliant though, right?
17:48
Like it's yeah, like, oh, I deserve some time at the casino
17:53
because I just did this act like this.
17:54
Good deed. Yeah, yeah.
17:57
I look Sissy is here I in the background.
18:00
She is dropping the link to your YouTube channel.
18:03
Thank you smelt on Facebook and on YouTube here.
18:07
So thank you for that. Thank.
18:09
You. So one thing though, so like, I
18:12
really do think that the focus on being able to get these
18:15
kitties fixed so these communities, communities don't
18:19
continue growing and overpopulating.
18:22
That is one of the most heartbreaking things.
18:24
And I think that people need to understand just how many lives
18:27
they are saving by doom. There's huge impact that it
18:32
makes for those community cats, for people that are helping
18:35
those kitties, like especially in a place like Las Vegas.
18:39
Do you have any pro tips? And you're up in Ohio, so you
18:42
have terrible winters. Do you have any pro tips on how
18:45
to help community cats stay cool in the summertime in the winter
18:50
months? Yeah, yeah.
18:52
So even our own little feral kitties, right.
18:54
So we have all seasons. So we were in -20 in the winter
18:57
and we're, we were like 85 with 100% humidity, you know, today.
19:02
So we have, we have noticed that we don't see the kitties when
19:05
it's hot. So they eat very early.
19:08
They are ready to eat at like 6:00 AM.
19:10
So putting the food out early when it's cool and they can eat
19:15
early and then they can go hunker down and find some shade
19:17
and find some cool spots and then again, a dusk, you know,
19:21
but before the raccoons and scunts come out, right, feed,
19:24
feed the kitties when it's starting to cool off.
19:27
And then your outdoor shelters that you use the Styrofoam and
19:32
the, the Styrofoam inside the totes and then the straw straws
19:35
are for strays. So make sure you're using straw
19:38
like those same totes are good for summer also 'cause they're
19:41
cooling also like the kitties can lay on the straw and also be
19:44
cooling. We just, one of our kitties, we
19:46
still have our outdoor totes out.
19:48
One of our kitties was laying on the straw just the other day.
19:51
Yeah. So, so knowing, knowing when
19:54
they're gonna hunker down and, and you know, and then giving
19:56
them in the winter, they had their outdoor shelters.
19:59
But then we also kind of propped up our.
20:02
Garage door a little bit so they could go in the garage and we
20:05
had little shelters in the garage and food was in the
20:08
garage. So it's it's trying to find ways
20:10
to help them stay cool, stay warm.
20:14
Depending on on the season, yeah.
20:16
Yeah. Wow, that's brilliant.
20:18
I I I didn't realize that those shelters, because we always talk
20:22
about that in the winter time. I didn't realize they could all.
20:24
I mean, it makes sense now. I don't know why I didn't
20:26
realize that. But like that, that can also
20:28
help regulate the the heat. I love that.
20:33
Can we talk a little bit about, you know, I think I love that,
20:35
you know, I see, Oh, adopt A shelter cat month, like so
20:39
happy, happy joy, joy. But why is this month like in
20:42
your opinion, why is this month so important for TNR, for
20:46
rescue? Yeah, so it for me it's
20:50
education and awareness and like advocacy and, and understanding.
20:54
You know, the the kitties that come into the shelter, they come
20:57
into the shelter for so many different reasons.
20:59
They come into the shelter through other rescues.
21:01
They come into the shelter because, you know, somebody
21:03
found them and they had space and they're willing to, you
21:06
know, provide space for them in the shelter.
21:09
But, you know, the shelters, rescues, any organization they
21:13
are, they're working so hard. They're working so hard.
21:16
And people expect the answer to be immediate, you know, and yet,
21:22
and you have to remember that you're 1 of many people asking
21:26
for help. And just just to be kind and
21:29
recognize that there are 100 other people that need help with
21:33
their animals and they're relying on the shelter to help
21:35
them. And if you have a way, if you
21:37
have an opportunity, a way to fill the gap, a way to fill the
21:41
gap between what the shelter is able to do or what the shelter
21:44
is not able to do, or if they're not offering TNR, there's even
21:47
shelters in our state that refuse to take in cats.
21:50
So be the rescue that takes in cats.
21:54
So it's just, it's just a matter of appreciating what shelters
21:59
are able to do, respecting and honoring their policies.
22:02
If they say no, it's not, it's not because they want to.
22:06
It's so hard to say no, but just try to find alternate resources
22:11
and maybe try to be the be the someone to fill in the gap of
22:15
where resources are missing. Yeah.
22:18
Can you can you give us some some common myths about about
22:23
shelter cats? Sure.
22:25
So it seems like sometimes people think, well, they're like
22:28
broken. They, they're, they're sick, You
22:33
know, they, there's something wrong with them.
22:35
They, they are always, you know, either peeing outside the box or
22:40
the behavior issues. And, you know, sometimes yes,
22:43
that's the case, but not, not as often as people might think.
22:46
It's not super common. I mean, your, your shelters are
22:50
providing the protection for the kitties and helping them be
22:53
socialized and helping them be adoptable and taking really good
22:57
care of them and getting all the vet care they need before going
23:01
to their forever home. So when you're looking at a free
23:04
Kitty versus a shelter Kitty, your shelter Kitty has had all
23:09
the vet routine it needs, it's been fixed, it's been
23:13
vaccinated, it's had any medicine or any disease treated
23:16
it's it's had its antibiotics if it needs them, whatever the case
23:19
may be, that Kitty has been taken care of and is ready for
23:24
your home. So it's, it's just keeping that
23:27
in mind and shelter the folks at the shelters, they, they work so
23:32
hard and they have such big hearts and spend so much time
23:36
loving these animals. So you, you definitely get a
23:39
loved animal and they, they don't want to turn you away if
23:44
they don't have space for, for what your needs are.
23:47
So just just try to try to remember that and try to just
23:50
kind of honor and respect that they're they're just getting
23:52
slammed from so many sides. Yeah, well, and a lot of them
23:55
are just are volunteers, you know like you're actually not
23:59
paid at all. You.
24:01
Know, I know. And you wonder, yeah, it's like
24:05
you wonder why do I do this if all I get is like, you know,
24:09
criticized and, you know, complaints and all of that.
24:13
So it's. Yeah.
24:14
Just remember that they're doing this out of the kindness and of
24:17
their heart and the love for the animals and basically because no
24:22
one else did. And somebody, somebody abandoned
24:25
the animal and they were, they were the ones there to take them
24:29
in. Yeah.
24:30
What, what kind of advice do you have?
24:32
I mean, I think for the broader community, maybe they don't,
24:34
they've never volunteered at a shelter.
24:36
They don't know kind of how that works.
24:38
Maybe they've never done TNR. And, and I get it.
24:42
I get it. Like I, I, it is hard work,
24:47
right? I mean, but some people have
24:50
really just never been exposed to any of that.
24:52
And maybe. We had not no when we started as
24:55
2 crazy cat ladies like we were introduced after we started 2
24:59
crazy cat ladies. One of our friends was like, oh,
25:02
I want to hook you up with Best friends Animal society.
25:06
They were here in Vegas doing courses on TNR and she's like
25:10
you need to take these courses and and like learn and help out.
25:13
And now we were like what? What?
25:15
Is that? What is that?
25:17
Yeah. We have no idea.
25:18
And we've been cat parents for years and years and years and
25:21
had no idea, you know, like, and we were always the one that,
25:24
like all of our cats came to us on the side of the road or in a
25:27
ditch or, you know, like there was always.
25:30
Yeah. Yeah.
25:32
So, yeah. So it's it's not something that
25:34
like. No, but.
25:36
But but we, I feel like this community, specifically they, we
25:39
all just have such a heart. Like we want to play a part, we
25:42
want to help in some way, shape or form.
25:45
Yeah, exactly. And that's, that's amazing.
25:47
And you absolutely can. So find out, find out what you
25:51
want to do and what your interest is.
25:53
And there's a place for you, right.
25:55
Do you, do you want to take pictures?
25:57
Do you want to do social media? Do you want to do laundry?
25:59
Do you just want to stop by, pick up a load of trap covers
26:03
and towels or whatever and do a couple loads of laundry?
26:06
Do you want to go get donations for newspapers?
26:09
Do you want to help with fundraising?
26:11
Do you want to and help find sponsors for fundraisers that
26:13
are upcoming? Do you do you just want to go
26:16
talk to the colony caretakers and help educate?
26:20
You know, we appreciate what you're doing.
26:22
We're going to give you some food for free.
26:24
Here's what we can do to help get your cats fixed so you have,
26:27
you know, less mouths in the future.
26:29
It's cheaper to fix than it is to feed because of the
26:33
duplication. So it's, it's a matter of, you
26:36
know, connecting with an organization that maybe aligns
26:40
with you and your purpose and your, your goals and how you
26:44
want to contribute and, and then find out where you might fit
26:48
best. Ask them kind of what roles are
26:51
available and where the help is needed the most.
26:54
And, and just offer some of your skill sets to, to offset the
26:58
work that that these volunteers are doing all on their own.
27:01
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, Laura Lee is here,
27:04
she said. Towel laundry is never ending.
27:08
I mean but you but like you would I?
27:10
I didn't even think of that. Like everything that you just
27:13
said are things that we all can do.
27:16
Small, small steps make the bigger picture.
27:19
Like if all of us come together and and do one small thing, it
27:25
is contributing to the lot lives being saved because another,
27:30
another part and why we started working with TNR when we when we
27:36
first started 2 crazy cat ladies was because they talked about
27:40
like, you're actually saving lives.
27:42
Like we were like, don't we want all the cats in the world?
27:44
Don't we want them to reproduce? Like wouldn't we really want the
27:48
whole world to be run, oh, run by cats?
27:51
But but they're on the streets and you know they are, they are
27:55
subject to a lot of. A lot of.
27:57
Harm and if we are and disease right that can't be recommended
28:02
without being in somebody's home you don't and not having an
28:05
actual human to take care of you.
28:07
So we are also saving their lives by doing it and.
28:10
Yeah, there's so many risks. Yeah, yeah.
28:14
And doing more healthy, yeah. Yeah, what a great idea.
28:18
Laurie left a comment here. She said two schools in the US
28:22
collaborated with local animal shelters.
28:24
The teachers had their students draw pictures of the shelter
28:27
pets and wrote a short bio about them.
28:29
Every pet got adopted. That's amazing.
28:33
That's so creative. Look at that.
28:36
That is. That is beautiful.
28:39
I want to ask because you are somebody that I'm I feel
28:43
privileged to call a friend. I love that we've known you for
28:46
a hot minute and I love following your journey and I
28:49
just I can't get over what a beast you are like from meeting
28:52
you. I thought you were I thought you
28:53
were like, talk about crazy cat lady coming from Ohio to come.
28:57
You know, my foster kittens here in Vegas with these babies, and
29:01
we got to meet your babies while they were here.
29:03
And then just watching what you do, like really turning your a
29:08
passion into results, you know, it's really inspiring.
29:14
Yeah. Thank you.
29:15
What? What kind of advice do you have
29:17
for all of us who are not necessarily boots on the ground
29:20
that are very passionate about the work that you do, very
29:24
passionate about cats rescue, TNR.
29:28
How can we support I, I how can we support you guys?
29:32
Yeah. And, and you specifically, I
29:35
mean even the emotional, the emotional stamina is what's so
29:39
inspiring to me. I guess you answer how we can
29:44
support you. What do you do to maintain that
29:47
emotional stamina? How do you do?
29:50
It's, it's tough. And what's interesting is this
29:52
has been a really tough year. And this is this is the first
29:55
year I'm I've been like extra grumpy and extra on edge.
30:00
And there's some yeah. Oh yeah.
30:04
Just ask Matt. He's like, oh, it's PNR season.
30:11
You know, he's like, he's like the best partner.
30:14
Also because date night is trapping night.
30:16
So we Oh my. God, I love him so.
30:20
Much so he's he's amazing. But so it's it's setting
30:24
boundaries. It's setting boundaries and we,
30:28
we may have opportunities to add on more clinics, but my
30:32
boundaries won't let that happen unless we have more people to
30:36
help out. We were doing 4 transports a
30:41
month. We're doing one a week.
30:42
And we had no, no margin in our lives.
30:46
So, so we have a couple things that we're trying to mitigate
30:50
pretty quickly. We've launched 3, 3 fundraisers.
30:54
We actually got a grant from United Spay Alliance for $2000.
30:59
We have to raise 2000 to get 2000.
31:02
And so we have some fundraisers going on.
31:05
We have two local fundraisers. We're having a concert in town.
31:07
It's called the British Invasion.
31:09
They are a 60s British band. They're known worldwide.
31:14
So they're coming to our area to do a concert and that's in July
31:20
and then in August we're doing pet CPR.
31:23
Now, this is something that is offered nationwide.
31:26
In fact, Hearts Alive Village in Las Vegas has one scheduled for
31:31
a pet CPR yes, so it's an opportunity.
31:35
It's an opportunity for you. It's for both dogs and cats and
31:39
it's a 3 hour course Cus are offered and they're going to
31:43
teach you how to first aid CPR for your pets.
31:47
Now we our closest 24 hour clinic is an hour away.
31:51
So if we have an opportunity to have that skill set to save one
31:55
of our furry friends, you know, it's a skill set you don't, you
31:58
hope you don't ever need, but you're, you'll be glad you have
32:01
if you do need it. So those are the 2 fundraisers.
32:04
And then we're doing, we're raising money for a transport
32:07
van. So right now we can only take 6
32:10
kitties to the clinic at a time because that's what our car can
32:13
fit. And if we get a transport van,
32:15
we can take 30. And we have clinics that are
32:18
willing to give us an entire day to get 30 cats fixed.
32:22
So that means maybe one transport a month.
32:25
And if we have a transport ban. So we have a really cute, we're
32:27
building a puzzle. We have a really cute puzzle
32:30
with a little van with a bunch of kitties in it and a, it's a
32:34
200 piece puzzle and each puzzle piece is $100.
32:38
But then, so we're gonna raise $20,000, but then we're gonna
32:41
gonna give away $5000. We're gonna have 14 winners.
32:45
We're gonna have $1000 winner, two $500 winners and 10250
32:49
dollar winners, so that's available to everyone, 'cause
32:53
you. Can.
32:55
Buy a puzzle piece. Help us get a van.
32:58
And get our link to. We need that link to you where?
33:01
Do we find the handle? That's just our website,
33:03
fc3tnr.org. Everything is listed on our
33:06
website. The band, the CPR, the, the
33:09
puzzle is all listed. It's just an opportunity.
33:12
It's a raffle. It's a reverse raffle.
33:14
You can potentially win, win money.
33:16
So so yeah, so that's those are those are ways people can help.
33:21
But there's like the simplest ways is just sharing, sharing,
33:27
sharing the message, sharing the posts that you see inviting your
33:32
friends to like other shelters and businesses and rescues so
33:36
they get a greater following. I'm always, I'm always, it
33:40
always seems like the same three people are sharing our stuff.
33:42
And it's, it's seen by the same groups.
33:45
And if we could get more people to share than it's shared with
33:48
more networks and more people. So the organic growth and all
33:53
that, you know, that that part's free, you know, and just
33:57
sharing, liking, commenting. Yeah.
34:01
That's easy. You're, you're doing that
34:02
already because we're all scrolling through social media
34:05
at some point, right? So, so, yeah.
34:08
So find that I love that. That is, we'll do better by
34:11
that. I love, yes we will.
34:12
I love Sissy. Just dropped your website to FC.
34:15
3 Thank you. Thank you.
34:16
Oh, you're amazing. I love that idea.
34:22
I don't know how you do it. I I really feel like there's
34:24
you're, you are always on the move and like you said, you wear
34:27
many hats. It's not like this is the only.
34:30
Thing and outfits. And I and outfits.
34:33
Literally, yeah. And.
34:35
I do feel like there's so many of us that, you know, maybe
34:40
we're scrolling and see something and want to help and
34:43
think that donating money is the only way.
34:46
And I feel like there is so much more you've, you've already
34:51
highlighted tonight as far as just being able to pick up a
34:53
load of laundry and take an hour and a half out of someone, you
34:57
know what I mean? Like or papers.
35:00
That is a question I have with newspapers.
35:04
Be hard. To find.
35:05
Yeah, Is it hard to get newspapers now?
35:08
Somehow I'm not where I am. I mean, yeah, yeah, I don't
35:12
know. Maybe in some, maybe in some
35:15
areas it might be. But yeah, people are dropping
35:17
off boxes of newspapers frequently.
35:21
Nice. Matt Matt Matt is Aaron's
35:25
fabulous husband that we were just talking about.
35:27
He is watching the clouds outside.
35:31
Tammy just said this tornado watch in Huron, OH, keeps.
35:34
That's where I am. So you guys, you guys give,
35:38
give, give hearts to Tammy. She's one of our colony
35:41
caretakers. Oh yes, Tammy, she is one of our
35:47
caretaker. She takes care of maybe 20-30
35:51
cats. We have spent so much time in
35:53
her area getting her cats fixed. She, oh, she's, she's an amazing
35:57
human, Yeah. Oh my God, I hope you're
36:00
somewhere safe right now. Matt will come in and let you
36:04
and and tell you if you need to go see shelter, right?
36:08
Yeah, he'll tell me. Yep, we're up to you.
36:10
No sirens yet. OK, forgot about the sirens.
36:16
I'm trying to think, yeah, the tornado got me a little off.
36:19
We don't have tornadoes here in I know we don't.
36:21
Have. Any weather other than extreme
36:24
heat. But but I grew up in or I was
36:29
born in Arkansas and grew up in Tennessee, so I I forgot about
36:34
the sirens as my daddy called him Cyrene.
36:38
Cyrene is what he calls them. I hear them.
36:40
Cyrene. That is what he calls them.
36:43
Real quick though, talking about advocacy, talking about
36:45
contacting rescue or ATNR organization in our own
36:50
communities to see what gaps we can help fill.
36:55
Can you talk to us a little bit? You are doing it right now.
36:58
I love your heart. Can you talk to us a little bit
37:00
about fostering? Because I think, you know,
37:02
that's one of those things that is that's a big commitment, but
37:08
it is also something that is maybe not as difficult or
37:12
overwhelming as someone like me may think.
37:15
What's your thoughts on on fostering since you're doing it
37:18
right now? Fostering is so desperately
37:21
needed. So desperately needed because we
37:25
are seeing, we are seeing more. This is again nationwide, we're
37:28
seeing more and more kitties old enough to get fixed, get fixed,
37:32
but then going back outside because there's no space for
37:35
them. There's no fosters available,
37:37
there's no space in shelters, rescues are full.
37:40
And I don't, I don't know if that's something that is that
37:43
we've seen before the way we're seeing it now.
37:47
So offering up a bathroom, a spare bedroom, a spare space,
37:54
you know, even like I've even provided those plastic walls
37:57
that you can just, you know, put in a corner of a room.
38:00
If the kitties are small enough, they won't jump out.
38:02
And if you have a mom and the babies, they need a clean, safe
38:06
space to grow up to avoid any diseases or anything coming into
38:10
shelters. And that's if you just need a
38:14
tiny space. And most rescues, we, we're one
38:16
of them will provide everything you need, provide everything you
38:19
need, the food, the, the, the, the litter, all the vet care.
38:26
They just need love and space. So if, if there's a way to, to
38:31
foster, definitely raise your hand and, and sign up to foster.
38:37
Ask what the requirements are. It's everybody has different
38:39
requirements. Some, some require you to pay
38:41
for the food, some provide everything.
38:44
So just find out what the requirements are and what your
38:47
responsibilities are. But if you have a spare
38:50
bathroom, a spare bedroom, it's still bigger than a little
38:53
shelter. Shelter space.
38:55
Yeah. So we're currently fostering a
38:58
Kitty. We trapped a Kitty at one of our
39:01
locations and went to the clinic to get fixed, but we were told
39:05
he was too sick to get fixed. He has jaundice and and and
39:09
mycoplasma and anemia pillowfoot and a couple other things and so
39:15
had to come back. I ended up fostering him and he
39:18
was just in one of those soft sided crates and in one of our
39:22
extra rooms and was on antibiotics and all that and
39:27
partnered with Doctor Katie Woodley and Laura Lee.
39:31
So we brought the amazing protocol together between those
39:36
two and he just got fixed a couple weeks ago.
39:41
Did a full blood panel. Anemia's gone liver panel is
39:44
perfect. So he was, we did everything
39:47
Doctor Katie recommended and his anemia cleared up and all of his
39:52
blood work looked amazing. So he's still with me.
39:56
He's still fostering Laura Lee's, helping me with a few
39:59
behavioral challenges. So we're working through that
40:03
now. But it's, it's, it's such a
40:06
blessing for the Kitty. And quite frankly, it's amazing.
40:09
It's it's unconditional love. And you know, they just, you can
40:13
just tell when a Kitty is from the streets and they've been
40:16
through trauma. The appreciation and gratitude
40:20
they have for feeling safe and feeling love and just wanting a
40:25
lap and a soft blanket and not having to sleep with one eye
40:28
open. I mean, it's just, you know, if
40:30
you if you have a way to do that, if somebody reaches out,
40:32
if you see a desperate plea on Facebook, 'cause it happens all
40:35
the time, you know, desperate plea SOS Nita Foster, you know,
40:40
please help. Just raise your hand and ask
40:43
what their bless you. Raise your hand and ask what
40:45
what you need to do and you know, figure out if you're a fit
40:49
and just try it out, try it out. But always remember though, and
40:54
it's OK to foster fail. But the goodbye is the goal.
40:57
Goodbye is the goal, because then you're preparing that Kitty
41:00
for its future family for and you're giving you're like
41:03
blessing that future family and giving joy to that future family
41:06
and then opening up a space in your home if you choose to
41:09
continue fostering. So it's it's a win, win
41:12
situation for everyone. Hi, God, you just been giving me
41:16
the chills. Like, yeah, the good.
41:18
I just heard you like everything you say.
41:19
You're so inspiring, Erin. Like seriously, I need to shave
41:23
again. Got the brickles.
41:26
I want to. I know that.
41:28
I'm really hoping that the storm is going to dodge you tonight.
41:33
Oh my God. I just think about all those
41:34
babies on the outside, too. Yeah.
41:37
But I do want to. I do want to.
41:39
I think that, you know, we live in a world where we do see a lot
41:41
of sad things. We see a lot of things that
41:44
overwhelm us. And sometimes we just feel like,
41:46
oh, the faster we can scroll past this.
41:49
I really feel like you've given us some tools tonight to really
41:51
be able to, you know, where we can help.
41:55
And I, and I think you are such a living example of the joy that
41:59
you find in actually accomplishing something that is
42:03
helpful for our communities. I know Doctor Karen Becker had a
42:06
post not long ago that just said, never walk past pain.
42:11
Like if you see, if you see suffering, don't, don't walk
42:15
past it. So I want to wrap this up with
42:19
your incredible hashtag for anyone who's on the fence.
42:24
Yeah. What helped you decide to be the
42:26
Someone? Yeah, be the someone.
42:30
So I, because I, you know, that's a good question because
42:35
I, I couldn't, I probably couldn't live with myself
42:37
knowing I, I could do something. And, and the people in my
42:41
community hear me say this all the time.
42:43
And I encourage everyone watching to steal this member
42:48
R&D RIP off and duplicate. I go to a lot of, I go to, I do
42:52
a lot of talks in our town, like we have a lot of our social
42:54
clubs like Lions and Kiwanis and all that.
42:57
And I always kick it off by saying whether you like cats or
43:00
don't like cats, we can all agree we don't need more cats.
43:04
And those of us who are doing TNR are helping to prevent more
43:08
cats being born outside. Now I have said that and I have
43:13
sold tickets to fundraisers and I've turned people around
43:16
because I have said, hey, do you want to come to our fundraiser?
43:19
Oh, is it for cats? No, I don't like cats.
43:21
Well, whether you like cats or don't like cats, we can all
43:25
agree we don't need more cats and we're making sure more
43:29
kitties aren't born outside. Well, I can get on board with
43:32
that. OK, I'll take two tickets.
43:36
I love that you're so smart. Again with the chiggle bumps.
43:40
Look at that you can meat. Is all goose bumps.
43:46
You kissed me. That's that.
43:51
That is so true. I mean, I just like, you know,
43:55
social media has a way of making people feel like it's, you know,
43:57
you're kind of on your own or whatever.
43:59
But this is such an incredible way to realize that you can make
44:04
a change whether whether or not like just don't scroll past the,
44:08
the hard stuff. Yeah, it's, there's something
44:11
beautiful that can be done. And it does take, someone said
44:14
earlier in the comments, it it takes a village, but it also
44:18
takes a visionary like you and someone who decides to begin to
44:23
start something to be the someone.
44:24
To be the someone, to be the change.
44:26
Thank you. Yeah, just I just encourage
44:29
everyone to just like the reality is you will encounter a
44:35
cat in your life outside, right. And if we, and you're going to
44:43
want help, right, and you're going to want help and you're
44:45
going to want help right then and there.
44:47
If we could be a little bit more proactive and if we could get
44:51
involved a little bit ahead of time and be proactive prior to
44:56
needing the help, you know, proactively get engaged before
45:01
the kitties are born, before Mama gets pregnant, all of that,
45:05
right? If there's if we could just just
45:08
don't wait until that cat shows up on your porch.
45:11
Just get involved, be proactive, and try to avoid that cat
45:16
showing up on your porch by helping an organization get
45:19
those kitties fixed. Yes, or start your own.
45:24
Or find the. Gap.
45:26
Find the gap, Yeah. Laura Lee who also does TNR
45:29
clinics and I like to say if you are not part of the solution,
45:33
then you are part of the problem.
45:36
True it is. It is true, potentially, yes.
45:39
So we will leave you guys with that.
45:43
Be someone. If you're not part of the
45:45
solution, you're part of the problem.
45:47
If you can't, If you can't be part of advocacy or volunteering
45:52
or fostering or TNR ING. Or donating go.
45:56
With doctor shelter cat. Yeah, or go help.
46:01
Go volunteer. Go volunteer, love on the
46:03
kitties, clean out their cages, scoop their litter.
46:06
Like, take an hour out of your day and go love on some kitties
46:10
and help out 'cause that means you're relieving somebody else
46:13
from having to do that. Yes, and at the very least share
46:18
on social media, share with other people because we have to
46:21
spread the word in order to make change.
46:23
It takes all of us. It takes a village.
46:25
And so, yeah, at the at the very least support your local
46:28
shelters or any shelter, OK? Any final thoughts from you?
46:33
Anything that we didn't cover? Anything on your mind?
46:36
Top of mind. Oh my goodness.
46:38
Oh my gosh. We covered a lot, right.
46:41
Wow. Yeah, just don't forget about
46:46
the little guys. You know, there's all these
46:47
little rescues that don't have the buildings, that don't have
46:50
the, you know, the the window facing just, you know, there's
46:55
so many of us that just operate on our own.
46:57
I I get so many people. Can I bring my kittens to you?
47:00
Like, I just don't have the space.
47:02
I'm not a shelter. So, you know, try to get
47:05
involved with the little guys, the smaller organizations, the
47:08
smaller shelters, They're they're feeling it the most.
47:11
And yeah, just go out there, be the someone, reach out, find out
47:17
where, what your skill sets are and how you can contribute.
47:20
And they will people be so grateful and try your try your
47:24
best to celebrate, celebrate the people in rescue and try your
47:30
best to contribute and not criticize or complain and show
47:35
up with some cookies and coffee if you can one day, right?
47:38
I mean, it's just amazing what it's amazing how, how far
47:42
appreciation can go because they, they don't, they don't
47:46
feel the appreciation that often.
47:48
So just just surprise them one day, you know, they they get
47:52
appreciated, they get donations, they get litter.
47:54
But, you know, take them lunch day or show up with some coffee,
47:58
you know, just say thanks for what you do in our community.
48:00
And yeah. That's right.
48:03
Celebrate. I love that.
48:05
Kind of thing that makes me cry. Yeah.
48:07
OK, so you got your you got your new channel on YouTube, small
48:10
town TNR. Where else can people follow
48:13
your journey? Yeah, our website, fc3tnr.org,
48:17
that tends to have everything there.
48:19
We're also on Facebook FC-3 TNR or FC-3 Firelands Community Cat
48:24
Coalition and then Instagram FC-3 dot TNR.
48:29
I love it. I love it.
48:31
OK, Aaron, thank you. Everybody go share, like and get
48:36
involved. Be that someone.
48:37
We love you all so much. We love you, Aaron, so much.
48:41
Yes. Thank you for.
48:42
Joining us.