March 28, 2025 • 32 mins
Join us as we sit down with Nita Hemeter, a passionate advocate for community cats, to discuss the vital work of Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR). We'll delve into the process, the benefits for both cats and communities, and how Trap Dat Cat is making a difference.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dixie (00:02):
Welcome to Animal Posse, the podcast dedicated to the
people and rescues making adifference in the lives of animals.
Today I am super excitedto welcome Nita Hemeter
. We are gonna talk about TNR andher organization Trap Dat Cat.
Nita (00:19):
Hey Dixie.
Dixie (00:20):
How are you this morning
? Nita (00:21):
I'm alright.
Dixie (00:22):
Tell me a little bit about yourself and what led you to start
trap Dat Cat
Nita (00:27):
My name is Nita.
Hemeter.
Theresa Bridges and I started TrapDat Cat a nonprofit in April of 2020
and it was, I started trapping catsin 2014 and at first it was slow going
and then I got pretty good at it.
(00:49):
Last year.
TRAP DAT CAT trapped 3,270 cats.
Dixie (00:54):
Wow.
Yeah.
That's remarkable.
Nita (00:58):
And yeah, I always say better to turn off the faucet than mop the floor.
You wanna help cats?
The best thing you can do is get 'emfixed, whether they're your pets or people
are feeding cats, but they're not fixingthem, of course, when they don't fix them.
(01:18):
Then, there's more and more kittens born.
Cats can get pregnantas early as four months.
Gestation is 62 days, give or take.
And New Orleans is a perfectenvironment for cats because we
don't get, really cold weather.
Although it did snow this year.
(01:40):
But it's, warm.
There's lots of places to hide.
So cats are just being outta control.
, Dixie (01:48):
in New Orleans too, 'cause I don't think a lot of people
understand we don't have one kittenseason like a lot of places do.
We just have a
Nita (01:55):
Exactly.
Dixie (01:55):
Continuing nonstop kitten season.
Nita (01:58):
Exactly.
And right now I think we abortedthis week, maybe 24 kittens.
And do I feel bad about that?
No, I don't.
There are no homes forthese cats that are born.
And a lot of people say, oh,I found homes for my kittens.
(02:19):
Maybe you did.
But what you did, you just took homes awayfrom other cats that are already born.
All the shelters and all the rescuesin Louisiana are filled with.
Wonderful dogs and cats that need homesand there's just not enough homes.
(02:41):
It's a major problem here, and Theresaand I realized, impact we could have,
and I believe we are having an impact.
When I first started trapping cats, Iwould go out and just about every place
I went, there'd be, six to 20 cats.
And while I still run into some,but it's gotten a whole lot better
(03:05):
than it was, five or six years ago.
Dixie (03:11):
On average, how many cats are you trapping a night?
Nita (03:16):
That can vary.
As far as weekly, we probablyaverage 50 cats a week.
Last week we trapped 68.
And it's not just me trapping becauseI tell people, call me all the time,
can you come out and trap these cats?
It's no, I can't trapevery cat in New Orleans.
(03:36):
What I can do is I can load you traps.
Show how to use them.
You trap 'em, bring 'em tome, put 'em on my porch.
I explain how to label and all that.
Put 'em on my porch and thenI'll feed them, run them back
and forth to that, get 'em fixed.
(03:57):
I'll bring 'em back.
And then you come pick up.
So that's not, say I don't trapand our volunteers don't trap
because we do, but we try to.
The only this works is ifeverybody participates.
And now, I've had so many connectionswith people that are feeding cats.
(04:18):
If a new cat shows up, they call meand they come get a trap and they
trap the cat, they know what to do.
So we're slowly educating thecommunity about the importance of t.
And how this helps thecats, saves them money.
(04:39):
'cause feeding 20 cats,that's a lot of cat food.
I know we're making a difference.
Dixie (04:45):
Yeah.
Definitely.
Nita (04:46):
Yeah, we just need people to step up.
Dixie (04:49):
I
know a couple of years ago there wasa family member of mine and they
said that they couldn't afford tofeed the kittens that they just had.
And so I'm like whydidn't you spay the mom?
Oh we couldn't afford it.
And I'm like there's low cost in, we'revery fortunate to have low cost programs
here and we've had low cost programsfor a long time, and so he was like
(05:10):
I couldn't afford to spay the mom.
That's not an excuse, because nowyou're complaining you don't
have money to feed the kittens.
And it's a lot more to feedthe kittens than it is to just
go ahead and get mom spayed.
Nita (05:23):
Absolutely.
Dixie (05:23):
And then you solve the problem.
Nita (05:25):
Yeah, absolutely.
It's like I routinely tellpeople it's $60, give or take.
To spay or neuter.
And if you can't afford it, we'll pay.
When we run outta money,we run outta money.
And so far we're still standing.
We have next to no overhead.
(05:47):
Nobody's paid.
We're all volunteers.
Nobody's paying gas.
We don't have a van.
We just have my porch
fortunately, the LouisianaSPCA, they're a huge help.
So I take a lot of catsto the Louisiana SPCA.
(06:08):
And then we also have participatingvets, like Southern Animal
Foundation, low cost animal medicalCenter on Washington Avenue.
Dr.
Wisdom out in Jefferson Parishon Jefferson Highway, Dr.
Abadie
we always need more vets to participate.
(06:30):
we've tried, but I don't know.
It's hard to get the veterinary community.
Involved
Dixie (06:37):
You said you started in 2020 during the pandemic.
Is there any specific reasonthat you started that time?
What prompted you to start then?
Nita (06:46):
Because nobody was doing anything.
There was nothing going on and we wereable to find, a couple of that would help.
And if you're out trapping,you're not really.
You are not reallybeing exposed to people.
You're outside
Dixie (07:02):
Uhhuh.
Nita (07:03):
So it ended up, that was the beginning and somehow we survived.
Dixie (07:09):
Now for anybody that's unfamiliar, can you explain the TNR process?
Nita (07:16):
Sure.
It's basically trap neuter return.
It is not trap neuter.
We take the cats.
People ask me all the time,can you take my six kittens?
And we work with variousrescues like big, easy and
Zeus,
and of course Louisiana,SPCA and Spay Mart Arno.
(07:39):
So if there is room, sometimes weare but able to get the kittens
and to foster, we foster kittenshere at my house and we have a few
fosters, but that's not our focus.
Our focus is getting all thesecats fixed because that's
the only way out of of this.
(08:00):
We are not gonna adopt our way outof this because there's just so many.
People ask me all the time, Nita, doyou know somebody that wants a cat?
And I'm like, if I knew somebodythat wanted a cat, they'd have a cat.
I don't know anybody.
So it's trap, neuter, return.
(08:21):
And a lot of people, I'd saymost people want the cats back.
They love the cats.
They're committed to the cats.
And once they're fixed, they won'thave any more cats, any more babies
being born, and it works pretty well.
Of course some people are irrational andunreasonable, but we just deal with them
(08:44):
the best we can, it's a major problem.
Dixie (08:48):
What about behavioral things with cats?
So for people who do see cats comingaround that are not spayed or neutered,
and you hear, cats fighting all thetime you might have spray marking,
you may hear the females in heat.
How does TNR address those issues?
Nita (09:06):
It eliminates it.
People call all the time,oh, my cat had his eye ripped
out, and my first question is.
Is he neutered?
No.
That's why he's getting in fights and withother cats and he's mating with females
and we just need to get him neutered.
And I've had a lot of people tell me.
(09:26):
Oh, since we got, max Neutered, he'sgotten real friendly and he is sleeping
in the bed with us and so forth.
So getting him spayed, neuteredhelps a lot of those behavior issues.
The spraying stops, it takes acouple of months for the behavior
to go, for the hormones to go away.
But, I've had a lot of people tell methat, oh, this cat was so mean, and
(09:50):
now he just, he loves me and yeah.
So that's nice to hear.
Dixie (09:55):
It is.
And I'd like to mention somethingelse too, when you spay and
neuter them and they're feralafter they're spayed or neutered,
you don't see 'em as much anymore.
They keep a really low profile.
I know there was one thatwas coming around me by my
commercial area and he was.
Going in and out of this busy parking lot.
It was making me a nervous wreck,so I trapped him right away.
(10:17):
I got 'em neutered.
And I barely see him now.
Nita (10:21):
Yeah.
It helps just all kinds of problems.
Plus, if you wanna talk aboutmoney, it costs a whole lot more
to round up impound animals.
Than it does to just get 'em fixed.
Dixie (10:36):
Absolutely.
Nita (10:37):
And I think a lot of municipalities are realizing that.
I think Facebook has been a big help,social media and putting a face to
the homeless animals, dogs and cats.
And the benefits of spaying and neutering.
I've seen just a huge change.
I've been involved in animalwork for almost 50 years.
Dixie (11:00):
I just spoke with Kelsey and she's at the Washington Parish Animal Shelter.
Now, of course, they're not as big ofan area as New Orleans, but she was
telling me they started their programin 2020 and now they get fewer CAT
calls and that's, it's remarkable
. Nita (11:15):
Yeah.
Anna Zareal told me a couple of weeksago that their cat intake is way down.
And,
I know why it's just gottabe everybody participating in
this 'cause I cannot do it all.
Dixie (11:31):
Yeah.
And it's very easy to trap too.
You just have to learnhow to work the trap.
And then other than that, you just setit up and you just watch it and you wait.
Nita (11:39):
Yeah, I love trapping.
I wish I could spend more timetrapping instead of organizing.
I can hear the sound of atrap closing a mile away.
I joke with people,
Dixie (11:50):
Uhhuh
Nita (11:50):
and it's like hunting for good
, Dixie (11:54):
what are some of the biggest misconceptions people have about
community Cats and the TNR program?
Most people are appreciativeand they get it.
I will say that.
Some people are difficult todeal with and they like to see
the little kittens, I think.
Yeah
. Nita (12:12):
It's some kinda weird thing that the older kittens are so cute.
And then they don't realize,most of these kittens born on
the street are not gonna make it.
They're gonna die
I was trying to think of the percentage,but I think it's something like
80% of kittens born on the streetend up dying within six months.
Dixie (12:31):
I know you addressed the controversial subject
of aborting the kittens.
Nita (12:37):
Yes.
Dixie (12:37):
Do you find like the vets are very willing to do that?
Is there a like kind of a limitwhen the vets will not do it?
Nita (12:46):
I know there's a couple of vets that do have limits, but the vets we work
with, they realize, there's just no homesfor these kittens and better for them to
never be born than to be born just to die.
Or, clog up the sheltering system.
For those people that don't wanna abort.
It's okay, then you take allthese kittens they don't want 'em,
Dixie (13:12):
Do you ever have cats that have kittens in the trap?
Nita (13:16):
Yes.
I think last year thathappened three times.
And if they're born inthe trap, we take them.
We'll find a foster orshelter or somebody.
Yeah.
There was one last year that I'm recallingthat the cat was taken to a vet had
kittens at the vet in the trap, and sothey ended up, holding into the mama and
(13:43):
the kittens and then getting the kittens.
Adopted out and the mama went back.
The mama cat went back to her caretakerbecause she did have a caretaker.
Now I think that happenedlast year three times.
It hasn't happened this year yet.
Dixie (13:58):
Yeah.
We're just getting into the really,
Nita (14:00):
we're
just getting into it.
Yeah, it's interesting.
The winter solstice.
What is that, December
Dixie (14:06):
21st?
Nita (14:07):
The 21st?
Yeah I was reading something andit said that's the time when,
the days are getting longer.
And it sends a messageto the cat's optic nerve.
That it's time to breed.
So that's why we start seeinglots and lots of pregnant cats.
in March.
Dixie (14:26):
Yeah.
It's that circadian rhythm
Nita (14:28):
and then just continues.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It just continues, upuntil October or something.
But right now we're in the peak of it.
Dixie (14:36):
Yeah.
I think here we get maybe one monthoff where it's like a little slow.
Nita (14:41):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And if people wanna argue with meabout it, I have so much to do, our
volunteers and I, we I just, okay.
Then you deal with it.
I'll move on to the next one.
I'm just not gonna argue with people.
Dixie (14:56):
And how many volunteers do you have?
Nita (14:59):
Kate's over here right now helping in the cat room and washing
traps and helping with the laundry.
And we have.
I think six people that foster.
And then I have a like six people thathelp me haul back and forth to the vet.
Two people that come in the morningthat help me change the newspaper in
(15:22):
the traps before we take 'em to the vet.
And then feed the ones thathave come back from the vet.
I have two ladies that live nearme, and so they'll come like Monday
through Friday to help with that.
Thank goodness.
Sometimes on my porchI'll have 21 to 30 cats.
(15:43):
That's routinely I'll have 20, 25.
It gets to be crazy.
So it takes a lot of volunteers.
And of course I always need volunteers.
They have volunteersthat will take laundry.
'cause as there's just tonsof laundry trap covers.
I have a volunteer that makes trap covers.
(16:06):
I just tell people there'salways something to do over here.
Now, and I
encourage people to go volunteer atthese other rescues and go volunteer
at the Louisiana SPCA or JeffersonParish Shelter, or Jefferson, SPCA.
There's just a millionthings that need to be done
Dixie (16:25):
How do you identify and prioritize the areas that you go trap in?
Nita (16:32):
I get calls night and day, so it is pretty much just come get a trap
your hood, talk to your neighbors.
And I have a list.
I get a request for trappingthrough Trap Dat Cat through our
organization as well as Louisiana SPCA.
(16:54):
So to be honest, Iprioritize what's near me.
I do go out to New Orleans East, butI live uptown, so that's, a long haul.
And New Orleans East is very underserved.
A lot of people, if somebody's elderly,of course, they maybe can't do it.
So we'll go out thereand just do what we can.
(17:17):
And I always tell everybody, wegotta get every cat, otherwise
we're not doing anything.
And a lot of people do call me back,oh, need this other cat showed up?
Can I come get a trap?
Yes.
They come, they sign out a trap andgo trap and then bring the cat to me.
I have a lot of problems with peoplereturning traps, so I have to really read
(17:43):
them the riot act that these traps are ahundred bucks and we need our traps back.
And I don't know what it is that.
I have to be mean to people to get'em to understand that, if we don't
have these traps, we can't help cats.
One lady stole two of our traps,and so we filed a police report, and
(18:04):
of course nothing's gonna happen,but at least it's on her record.
She just won't give them back.
And we've tried, going over there and.
There's lots of crazy cat people.
Dixie (18:16):
Yeah, I know.
I had a situation it was acouple of years ago where I was
trying to clean up an area by me.
So many cats and I was doing a reallygood job of getting them and I noticed
there was a new one over there.
This lady had contacted us in this area.
I was already familiar with it.
But she was like, oh there'skittens over here and there's cats.
And it was like, okay I'm gonnacome and I'll try to help.
(18:37):
I put the trap out and I toldher, don't touch the trap.
Leave it right where I put it.
, if the cat goes init, , just gimme a call.
And I had to go run downthe street real quick.
I come back, she moved my trap.
So then I go move my trap someplace else.
She basically told me, oh, Ican't put my trap there because
there's a lot of kids in the areaand they're gonna steal my trap.
(19:00):
And I'm like, why wouldkids steal my trap?
So I think it was her.
I think she's the onethat just had a problem.
Nita (19:06):
Yeah.
, Dixie (19:08):
why do you reach out for help though?
And then tell me you'regonna steal my trap,
Nita (19:11):
yeah.
It's unbelievable.
We had this, yeah, that'shappened to me before.
This man had hidden oneof our traps in his car.
And so we're out there trying to talk tohim, and finally his wife screams out from
the window give the ladies their trap.
It's in your car.
(19:31):
I don't get it.
I really don't.
Dixie (19:34):
How do you handle situations where a trap cat is found to be owned
or it has some kind of medical problem?
Nita (19:42):
Oh, I have a chip reader.
So you know, if the cat looksfriendly, I'll scan him for a chip.
And I think in the past couple of weekswe've had three cats that had chips.
One of the cats with a chip, theowner, who the cat was registered
to, did not want the cat back.
But a lot of people do.
We trapped one cat that hadbeen missing for 10 years.
Dixie (20:06):
Oh
wow.
Nita (20:07):
And they came right over and picked up the cat.
The cat was trapped in NewOrleans East and the people
were from, I think, Slidell.
Dixie (20:18):
Oh, wow.
Yeah, I guess he got a ride.
Nita (20:22):
He got a ride with somebody.
I don't think he swam over thelake, but yeah, we had one Mardi
Gras Indian that just refused.
All the neighbors are complaining,all these cats all over the place.
And so we're out there trapping andhe pulls up in his van and takes
two of our traps and throws them inthe street and breaks one of them.
(20:48):
And the neighbors are afraid of him.
So it can get crazy.
One lady has 41 cats in her house.
I have begged her to, and they're friendly
Dixie (21:02):
Uhhuh.
Nita (21:02):
I have begged her, bring me the cats, let me get 'em fixed.
Or she's gonna, end up with 60 or 70cats and then realize she has a problem.
I've literally begged this woman,so I just gotta let that go.
Dixie (21:18):
So none of 'em, none of them are spayed or neutered.
Nita (21:22):
Some of them are.
Dixie (21:24):
Wow.
Nita (21:25):
Yeah.
I don't know.
She's one of these that thinksshe's doing a good thing by
giving them away to people.
Dixie (21:33):
Uhhuh.
Nita (21:34):
When we run across people that, they wanna keep the
kittens, we're like, okay, great.
'cause they wanna give them away.
Just let us get 'em fixedfirst before we give them away.
Let us get 'em fixed and vaccinatedbecause, the cats get an vaccine and
a rabies, and of course a spay neuter.
(21:55):
So that gives them a better chanceof survival and we know that,
those kittens won't be, startingthe cycle again of breeding.
Dixie (22:07):
Now, recently on Facebook, I saw a post where some woman was
really, infuriated because heroutdoor cat came back with an ear tip.
So what do you think aboutsituations like that?
Nita (22:22):
Ear tip, cats are protected under the law.
It's the universal symbol thatthis cat has been spayed or
neutered and vaccinated for rades.
And it also prevents somebody like meor you going over there and trapping
the cat and the cat's already fixed.
(22:45):
And people say, oh, I wanna gothrough your program, but the cat,
I don't want my cat ear tipped.
Then you go to a private vet and you get'em fixed and microchipped and you pay.
$200 - $300 or more and youcould do that rather than pay 60.
(23:06):
The cat's ear tipped and mostpeople will go, we'll accept that.
Dixie (23:12):
So is there protection for ear tip cats in your area too, where
like the shelter won't pick those up
Nita (23:18):
Yeah, absolutely.
The shelter won't pick 'em up.
They're protected under the law.
And you can see ear tip catsin China or England or France.
It's the universal symbol.
That these cats are spayed,neutered, and protected.
So why would you not ear tip,
Dixie (23:39):
right?
Nita (23:39):
All of my cats are ear tipped, even the friendly ones,
right?
Dixie (23:43):
Yeah.
I don't mind the ear tip at all,
Nita (23:45):
Yeah, me either.
It's I don't want somebody comingover here and taking my cat.
Dixie (23:49):
What are some of the success stories that you have
had to keep your team motivated?
Nita (23:54):
We have success stories every day.
For every cat we fix, we'resaving thousands rather
than taking one kitten and.
Using up a huge amount ofresources to get that cat at home.
We're preventing, all this suffering.
(24:16):
And community problems with cats,roaming and yelling and spraying
and bothering neighbors and.
To me, every cat that we fix isjust saving so many down the road.
Dixie (24:31):
Yeah, absolutely.
What are your feelings about breeders?
Nita (24:37):
I do not understand why anybody would be breeding a dog or a cat
when all of our shelters are full.
Even purebred animals.
I think a quarter of the dogs thatend up in shelters are purebred.
And there's all these rescues thatspecialize in, poodles or Dobermans or
(25:01):
German shepherds or cocker spaniels.
There's rescue specificfor specific breeds.
Puppy mills, I don't get, I've never.
All of my animals are rescued.
And my, like my neighbors, allof their animals are rescued.
I see people walking down the street andI can tell, oh yeah, I re rescued this
(25:25):
dog from Zeus, or Big Easy, or wherever.
Dixie (25:31):
What are your future goals for Trap Dat Cat and are there any new initiatives
or projects that you're working on?
Nita (25:40):
I would like to see more of the rescues have traps to
take some of the stress off.
I would like to, see more rescues havejust even a small team of trappers
and I know Jefferson, SPCA does.
This is a big area to coverand I can't do it all.
(26:05):
I know Juliana in, on the West Bank, shetraps a lot of cats on the West Bank.
She's in Jefferson Parish andwe have a couple of trappers.
Catherine in Algiers.
She traps a lot of cats overthere, we're not there yet.
Our goal is to try to keepeducating people and just keep
(26:26):
stressing spay neuter, TNR.
Be a responsible pet owner,just get your animals fixed.
Dixie (26:35):
Do you think there's any kind of way to help to educate the public on that?
Nita (26:40):
I think just by us being out there, most people know us now.
I I'd love to see likepeople go into the schools
and the veterinary community.
I think most vets will tell youthat, like 90% of their clients'
pets are spayed, neutered.
(27:00):
I, I've asked around, andthat's the percentage I get.
So I would like to see thevets lower their prices.
Somebody called me last week,they got a price for neutering,
a cat, a ma, male, cat, $800.
. Now maybe that included, shotsand combo tests and all that.
(27:21):
I dunno.
But, so they came right over here and wentthrough our program and plopped down 65.
Dixie (27:29):
Wow.
Yeah.
I just took in a little cat she's ayear and a half and she wasn't spayed.
Now the owner did ensureto keep her inside.
So she never did go outside, which isgreat, but she wasn't from this area,
she had another one that was neutered.
And I said, why didn'tyou spay the female?
Can I ask?
And it was, the vet told her it would bebetter to wait till the female was a year.
. Nita (27:51):
Yeah.
The vets need to step up and I think alot of them are, we are fortunate here.
We have.
Like four vets that will,give us reduced prices.
We had one cat this week.
Lady brought me this straycat she picked up at Costco.
Friendly, had a broken leg,so Southern Animal Foundation
(28:15):
ended up taking that cat.
And they amputated the leg,I think Friday, Thursday.
And the cat's doing well andthey're gonna hang onto the
cat and find that cat at home.
And we are fortunate here.
We need more vets.
But we're pretty lucky outin the rest of Louisiana.
(28:38):
Most parishes don't evenhave an animal shelter.
There's a few small organizations, we'reable to help St Bernard has a trapping
group and , they're doing really good.
, but they're brand new, so we'refortunately able to help them.
And yeah there's other little groupsthat it's just gotta be everybody.
(29:01):
I know there's lots of cat lovers.
And.
They just have to understand whatthe impact is on the community when
they allow these cats to breed.
Dixie (29:15):
So what advice would you give someone who is thinking about
starting a similar organization?
Nita (29:22):
Be prepared to be overwhelmed and worn out.
As everybody in rescueis just overwhelmed.
It's
just never ending.
My phone never stops.
Just never.
And it's just gotta be everybody helpingand everybody can do something, go to
your shelter and wash laundry for 'em,or go walk dogs or go play with kittens.
(29:45):
Or if your neighbor has abreeding animal, talk to 'em.
And again, I think social mediahas put a face to all this.
When I first started.
In the eighties I was volunteeringat the Louisiana SPCA.
They were taking in 17,000 animals a year.
Dixie (30:05):
Wow.
Nita (30:08):
It was unbelievable.
Now I think they take in maybe 5,000.
That's a see change.
Yeah.
In a relatively short period of time
and.
It's, it's a national problem, obviously.
It's in, the more educated areaswhere there's lots of money for animal
(30:32):
control and shelters it's not as bad,but it's bad all over the country.
Dixie (30:37):
How was your group funded
Nita (30:40):
donations?
Strictly donations.
We're lucky to have a couple ofpeople that donate regularly.
And then, I beg people to donate anythingthey can when they bring me a cat.
And so far, we've survived.
It's a miracle.
There, I, it really is a miracle,but, we have no, no building.
(31:06):
No car, no electricity, no water bills.
Just my porch.
Dixie (31:13):
Before we end the call can you tell us, what is your biggest need and
how would people get in touch with you?
Nita (31:21):
More volunteers.
Money for spay, neuter.
Talk to your vet aboutparticipating in our program.
We have a website, www.trapdatcat.org.
You can go on there and donate.
You can send cat food.
(31:44):
There's just, a million ways to help.
Trap your neighborhood.
Just get involved.
If you don't live in New Orleans, govolunteer, for your local shelter.
Dixie (31:57):
Absolutely.
Thank you for taking the timeto speak with me this morning.
I really appreciated it andI enjoyed our conversation.
Nita (32:04):
Thank you, Dixie
thank you so much for doing this.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Dixie (32:08):
Goodbye.
Nita (32:08):
Bye bye.
And that's all the time wehave for today's episode.
If you are in animal rescue, or ifyou know someone that has a story that
should be told, please contact us.
We would love to haveyou or them on the show
. Thanks for listening, and pleasejoin us next week as we continue to
explore the world of animal rescue.
Welcome to Animal Posse, the podcast dedicated to the
people and rescues making adifference in the lives of animals.
Today I am super excitedto welcome Nita Hemeter
. We are gonna talk about TNR andher organization Trap Dat Cat.
Nita (00:19):
Hey Dixie.
Dixie (00:20):
How are you this morning
? Nita (00:21):
I'm alright.
Dixie (00:22):
Tell me a little bit about yourself and what led you to start
trap Dat Cat
Nita (00:27):
My name is Nita.
Hemeter.
Theresa Bridges and I started TrapDat Cat a nonprofit in April of 2020
and it was, I started trapping catsin 2014 and at first it was slow going
and then I got pretty good at it.
(00:49):
Last year.
TRAP DAT CAT trapped 3,270 cats.
Dixie (00:54):
Wow.
Yeah.
That's remarkable.
Nita (00:58):
And yeah, I always say better to turn off the faucet than mop the floor.
You wanna help cats?
The best thing you can do is get 'emfixed, whether they're your pets or people
are feeding cats, but they're not fixingthem, of course, when they don't fix them.
(01:18):
Then, there's more and more kittens born.
Cats can get pregnantas early as four months.
Gestation is 62 days, give or take.
And New Orleans is a perfectenvironment for cats because we
don't get, really cold weather.
Although it did snow this year.
(01:40):
But it's, warm.
There's lots of places to hide.
So cats are just being outta control.
, Dixie (01:48):
in New Orleans too, 'cause I don't think a lot of people
understand we don't have one kittenseason like a lot of places do.
We just have a
Nita (01:55):
Exactly.
Dixie (01:55):
Continuing nonstop kitten season.
Nita (01:58):
Exactly.
And right now I think we abortedthis week, maybe 24 kittens.
And do I feel bad about that?
No, I don't.
There are no homes forthese cats that are born.
And a lot of people say, oh,I found homes for my kittens.
(02:19):
Maybe you did.
But what you did, you just took homes awayfrom other cats that are already born.
All the shelters and all the rescuesin Louisiana are filled with.
Wonderful dogs and cats that need homesand there's just not enough homes.
(02:41):
It's a major problem here, and Theresaand I realized, impact we could have,
and I believe we are having an impact.
When I first started trapping cats, Iwould go out and just about every place
I went, there'd be, six to 20 cats.
And while I still run into some,but it's gotten a whole lot better
(03:05):
than it was, five or six years ago.
Dixie (03:11):
On average, how many cats are you trapping a night?
Nita (03:16):
That can vary.
As far as weekly, we probablyaverage 50 cats a week.
Last week we trapped 68.
And it's not just me trapping becauseI tell people, call me all the time,
can you come out and trap these cats?
It's no, I can't trapevery cat in New Orleans.
(03:36):
What I can do is I can load you traps.
Show how to use them.
You trap 'em, bring 'em tome, put 'em on my porch.
I explain how to label and all that.
Put 'em on my porch and thenI'll feed them, run them back
and forth to that, get 'em fixed.
(03:57):
I'll bring 'em back.
And then you come pick up.
So that's not, say I don't trapand our volunteers don't trap
because we do, but we try to.
The only this works is ifeverybody participates.
And now, I've had so many connectionswith people that are feeding cats.
(04:18):
If a new cat shows up, they call meand they come get a trap and they
trap the cat, they know what to do.
So we're slowly educating thecommunity about the importance of t.
And how this helps thecats, saves them money.
(04:39):
'cause feeding 20 cats,that's a lot of cat food.
I know we're making a difference.
Dixie (04:45):
Yeah.
Definitely.
Nita (04:46):
Yeah, we just need people to step up.
Dixie (04:49):
I
know a couple of years ago there wasa family member of mine and they
said that they couldn't afford tofeed the kittens that they just had.
And so I'm like whydidn't you spay the mom?
Oh we couldn't afford it.
And I'm like there's low cost in, we'revery fortunate to have low cost programs
here and we've had low cost programsfor a long time, and so he was like
(05:10):
I couldn't afford to spay the mom.
That's not an excuse, because nowyou're complaining you don't
have money to feed the kittens.
And it's a lot more to feedthe kittens than it is to just
go ahead and get mom spayed.
Nita (05:23):
Absolutely.
Dixie (05:23):
And then you solve the problem.
Nita (05:25):
Yeah, absolutely.
It's like I routinely tellpeople it's $60, give or take.
To spay or neuter.
And if you can't afford it, we'll pay.
When we run outta money,we run outta money.
And so far we're still standing.
We have next to no overhead.
(05:47):
Nobody's paid.
We're all volunteers.
Nobody's paying gas.
We don't have a van.
We just have my porch
fortunately, the LouisianaSPCA, they're a huge help.
So I take a lot of catsto the Louisiana SPCA.
(06:08):
And then we also have participatingvets, like Southern Animal
Foundation, low cost animal medicalCenter on Washington Avenue.
Dr.
Wisdom out in Jefferson Parishon Jefferson Highway, Dr.
Abadie
we always need more vets to participate.
(06:30):
we've tried, but I don't know.
It's hard to get the veterinary community.
Involved
Dixie (06:37):
You said you started in 2020 during the pandemic.
Is there any specific reasonthat you started that time?
What prompted you to start then?
Nita (06:46):
Because nobody was doing anything.
There was nothing going on and we wereable to find, a couple of that would help.
And if you're out trapping,you're not really.
You are not reallybeing exposed to people.
You're outside
Dixie (07:02):
Uhhuh.
Nita (07:03):
So it ended up, that was the beginning and somehow we survived.
Dixie (07:09):
Now for anybody that's unfamiliar, can you explain the TNR process?
Nita (07:16):
Sure.
It's basically trap neuter return.
It is not trap neuter.
We take the cats.
People ask me all the time,can you take my six kittens?
And we work with variousrescues like big, easy and
Zeus,
and of course Louisiana,SPCA and Spay Mart Arno.
(07:39):
So if there is room, sometimes weare but able to get the kittens
and to foster, we foster kittenshere at my house and we have a few
fosters, but that's not our focus.
Our focus is getting all thesecats fixed because that's
the only way out of of this.
(08:00):
We are not gonna adopt our way outof this because there's just so many.
People ask me all the time, Nita, doyou know somebody that wants a cat?
And I'm like, if I knew somebodythat wanted a cat, they'd have a cat.
I don't know anybody.
So it's trap, neuter, return.
(08:21):
And a lot of people, I'd saymost people want the cats back.
They love the cats.
They're committed to the cats.
And once they're fixed, they won'thave any more cats, any more babies
being born, and it works pretty well.
Of course some people are irrational andunreasonable, but we just deal with them
(08:44):
the best we can, it's a major problem.
Dixie (08:48):
What about behavioral things with cats?
So for people who do see cats comingaround that are not spayed or neutered,
and you hear, cats fighting all thetime you might have spray marking,
you may hear the females in heat.
How does TNR address those issues?
Nita (09:06):
It eliminates it.
People call all the time,oh, my cat had his eye ripped
out, and my first question is.
Is he neutered?
No.
That's why he's getting in fights and withother cats and he's mating with females
and we just need to get him neutered.
And I've had a lot of people tell me.
(09:26):
Oh, since we got, max Neutered, he'sgotten real friendly and he is sleeping
in the bed with us and so forth.
So getting him spayed, neuteredhelps a lot of those behavior issues.
The spraying stops, it takes acouple of months for the behavior
to go, for the hormones to go away.
But, I've had a lot of people tell methat, oh, this cat was so mean, and
(09:50):
now he just, he loves me and yeah.
So that's nice to hear.
Dixie (09:55):
It is.
And I'd like to mention somethingelse too, when you spay and
neuter them and they're feralafter they're spayed or neutered,
you don't see 'em as much anymore.
They keep a really low profile.
I know there was one thatwas coming around me by my
commercial area and he was.
Going in and out of this busy parking lot.
It was making me a nervous wreck,so I trapped him right away.
(10:17):
I got 'em neutered.
And I barely see him now.
Nita (10:21):
Yeah.
It helps just all kinds of problems.
Plus, if you wanna talk aboutmoney, it costs a whole lot more
to round up impound animals.
Than it does to just get 'em fixed.
Dixie (10:36):
Absolutely.
Nita (10:37):
And I think a lot of municipalities are realizing that.
I think Facebook has been a big help,social media and putting a face to
the homeless animals, dogs and cats.
And the benefits of spaying and neutering.
I've seen just a huge change.
I've been involved in animalwork for almost 50 years.
Dixie (11:00):
I just spoke with Kelsey and she's at the Washington Parish Animal Shelter.
Now, of course, they're not as big ofan area as New Orleans, but she was
telling me they started their programin 2020 and now they get fewer CAT
calls and that's, it's remarkable
. Nita (11:15):
Yeah.
Anna Zareal told me a couple of weeksago that their cat intake is way down.
And,
I know why it's just gottabe everybody participating in
this 'cause I cannot do it all.
Dixie (11:31):
Yeah.
And it's very easy to trap too.
You just have to learnhow to work the trap.
And then other than that, you just setit up and you just watch it and you wait.
Nita (11:39):
Yeah, I love trapping.
I wish I could spend more timetrapping instead of organizing.
I can hear the sound of atrap closing a mile away.
I joke with people,
Dixie (11:50):
Uhhuh
Nita (11:50):
and it's like hunting for good
, Dixie (11:54):
what are some of the biggest misconceptions people have about
community Cats and the TNR program?
Most people are appreciativeand they get it.
I will say that.
Some people are difficult todeal with and they like to see
the little kittens, I think.
Yeah
. Nita (12:12):
It's some kinda weird thing that the older kittens are so cute.
And then they don't realize,most of these kittens born on
the street are not gonna make it.
They're gonna die
I was trying to think of the percentage,but I think it's something like
80% of kittens born on the streetend up dying within six months.
Dixie (12:31):
I know you addressed the controversial subject
of aborting the kittens.
Nita (12:37):
Yes.
Dixie (12:37):
Do you find like the vets are very willing to do that?
Is there a like kind of a limitwhen the vets will not do it?
Nita (12:46):
I know there's a couple of vets that do have limits, but the vets we work
with, they realize, there's just no homesfor these kittens and better for them to
never be born than to be born just to die.
Or, clog up the sheltering system.
For those people that don't wanna abort.
It's okay, then you take allthese kittens they don't want 'em,
Dixie (13:12):
Do you ever have cats that have kittens in the trap?
Nita (13:16):
Yes.
I think last year thathappened three times.
And if they're born inthe trap, we take them.
We'll find a foster orshelter or somebody.
Yeah.
There was one last year that I'm recallingthat the cat was taken to a vet had
kittens at the vet in the trap, and sothey ended up, holding into the mama and
(13:43):
the kittens and then getting the kittens.
Adopted out and the mama went back.
The mama cat went back to her caretakerbecause she did have a caretaker.
Now I think that happenedlast year three times.
It hasn't happened this year yet.
Dixie (13:58):
Yeah.
We're just getting into the really,
Nita (14:00):
we're
just getting into it.
Yeah, it's interesting.
The winter solstice.
What is that, December
Dixie (14:06):
21st?
Nita (14:07):
The 21st?
Yeah I was reading something andit said that's the time when,
the days are getting longer.
And it sends a messageto the cat's optic nerve.
That it's time to breed.
So that's why we start seeinglots and lots of pregnant cats.
in March.
Dixie (14:26):
Yeah.
It's that circadian rhythm
Nita (14:28):
and then just continues.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It just continues, upuntil October or something.
But right now we're in the peak of it.
Dixie (14:36):
Yeah.
I think here we get maybe one monthoff where it's like a little slow.
Nita (14:41):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And if people wanna argue with meabout it, I have so much to do, our
volunteers and I, we I just, okay.
Then you deal with it.
I'll move on to the next one.
I'm just not gonna argue with people.
Dixie (14:56):
And how many volunteers do you have?
Nita (14:59):
Kate's over here right now helping in the cat room and washing
traps and helping with the laundry.
And we have.
I think six people that foster.
And then I have a like six people thathelp me haul back and forth to the vet.
Two people that come in the morningthat help me change the newspaper in
(15:22):
the traps before we take 'em to the vet.
And then feed the ones thathave come back from the vet.
I have two ladies that live nearme, and so they'll come like Monday
through Friday to help with that.
Thank goodness.
Sometimes on my porchI'll have 21 to 30 cats.
(15:43):
That's routinely I'll have 20, 25.
It gets to be crazy.
So it takes a lot of volunteers.
And of course I always need volunteers.
They have volunteersthat will take laundry.
'cause as there's just tonsof laundry trap covers.
I have a volunteer that makes trap covers.
(16:06):
I just tell people there'salways something to do over here.
Now, and I
encourage people to go volunteer atthese other rescues and go volunteer
at the Louisiana SPCA or JeffersonParish Shelter, or Jefferson, SPCA.
There's just a millionthings that need to be done
Dixie (16:25):
How do you identify and prioritize the areas that you go trap in?
Nita (16:32):
I get calls night and day, so it is pretty much just come get a trap
your hood, talk to your neighbors.
And I have a list.
I get a request for trappingthrough Trap Dat Cat through our
organization as well as Louisiana SPCA.
(16:54):
So to be honest, Iprioritize what's near me.
I do go out to New Orleans East, butI live uptown, so that's, a long haul.
And New Orleans East is very underserved.
A lot of people, if somebody's elderly,of course, they maybe can't do it.
So we'll go out thereand just do what we can.
(17:17):
And I always tell everybody, wegotta get every cat, otherwise
we're not doing anything.
And a lot of people do call me back,oh, need this other cat showed up?
Can I come get a trap?
Yes.
They come, they sign out a trap andgo trap and then bring the cat to me.
I have a lot of problems with peoplereturning traps, so I have to really read
(17:43):
them the riot act that these traps are ahundred bucks and we need our traps back.
And I don't know what it is that.
I have to be mean to people to get'em to understand that, if we don't
have these traps, we can't help cats.
One lady stole two of our traps,and so we filed a police report, and
(18:04):
of course nothing's gonna happen,but at least it's on her record.
She just won't give them back.
And we've tried, going over there and.
There's lots of crazy cat people.
Dixie (18:16):
Yeah, I know.
I had a situation it was acouple of years ago where I was
trying to clean up an area by me.
So many cats and I was doing a reallygood job of getting them and I noticed
there was a new one over there.
This lady had contacted us in this area.
I was already familiar with it.
But she was like, oh there'skittens over here and there's cats.
And it was like, okay I'm gonnacome and I'll try to help.
(18:37):
I put the trap out and I toldher, don't touch the trap.
Leave it right where I put it.
, if the cat goes init, , just gimme a call.
And I had to go run downthe street real quick.
I come back, she moved my trap.
So then I go move my trap someplace else.
She basically told me, oh, Ican't put my trap there because
there's a lot of kids in the areaand they're gonna steal my trap.
(19:00):
And I'm like, why wouldkids steal my trap?
So I think it was her.
I think she's the onethat just had a problem.
Nita (19:06):
Yeah.
, Dixie (19:08):
why do you reach out for help though?
And then tell me you'regonna steal my trap,
Nita (19:11):
yeah.
It's unbelievable.
We had this, yeah, that'shappened to me before.
This man had hidden oneof our traps in his car.
And so we're out there trying to talk tohim, and finally his wife screams out from
the window give the ladies their trap.
It's in your car.
(19:31):
I don't get it.
I really don't.
Dixie (19:34):
How do you handle situations where a trap cat is found to be owned
or it has some kind of medical problem?
Nita (19:42):
Oh, I have a chip reader.
So you know, if the cat looksfriendly, I'll scan him for a chip.
And I think in the past couple of weekswe've had three cats that had chips.
One of the cats with a chip, theowner, who the cat was registered
to, did not want the cat back.
But a lot of people do.
We trapped one cat that hadbeen missing for 10 years.
Dixie (20:06):
Oh
wow.
Nita (20:07):
And they came right over and picked up the cat.
The cat was trapped in NewOrleans East and the people
were from, I think, Slidell.
Dixie (20:18):
Oh, wow.
Yeah, I guess he got a ride.
Nita (20:22):
He got a ride with somebody.
I don't think he swam over thelake, but yeah, we had one Mardi
Gras Indian that just refused.
All the neighbors are complaining,all these cats all over the place.
And so we're out there trapping andhe pulls up in his van and takes
two of our traps and throws them inthe street and breaks one of them.
(20:48):
And the neighbors are afraid of him.
So it can get crazy.
One lady has 41 cats in her house.
I have begged her to, and they're friendly
Dixie (21:02):
Uhhuh.
Nita (21:02):
I have begged her, bring me the cats, let me get 'em fixed.
Or she's gonna, end up with 60 or 70cats and then realize she has a problem.
I've literally begged this woman,so I just gotta let that go.
Dixie (21:18):
So none of 'em, none of them are spayed or neutered.
Nita (21:22):
Some of them are.
Dixie (21:24):
Wow.
Nita (21:25):
Yeah.
I don't know.
She's one of these that thinksshe's doing a good thing by
giving them away to people.
Dixie (21:33):
Uhhuh.
Nita (21:34):
When we run across people that, they wanna keep the
kittens, we're like, okay, great.
'cause they wanna give them away.
Just let us get 'em fixedfirst before we give them away.
Let us get 'em fixed and vaccinatedbecause, the cats get an vaccine and
a rabies, and of course a spay neuter.
(21:55):
So that gives them a better chanceof survival and we know that,
those kittens won't be, startingthe cycle again of breeding.
Dixie (22:07):
Now, recently on Facebook, I saw a post where some woman was
really, infuriated because heroutdoor cat came back with an ear tip.
So what do you think aboutsituations like that?
Nita (22:22):
Ear tip, cats are protected under the law.
It's the universal symbol thatthis cat has been spayed or
neutered and vaccinated for rades.
And it also prevents somebody like meor you going over there and trapping
the cat and the cat's already fixed.
(22:45):
And people say, oh, I wanna gothrough your program, but the cat,
I don't want my cat ear tipped.
Then you go to a private vet and you get'em fixed and microchipped and you pay.
$200 - $300 or more and youcould do that rather than pay 60.
(23:06):
The cat's ear tipped and mostpeople will go, we'll accept that.
Dixie (23:12):
So is there protection for ear tip cats in your area too, where
like the shelter won't pick those up
Nita (23:18):
Yeah, absolutely.
The shelter won't pick 'em up.
They're protected under the law.
And you can see ear tip catsin China or England or France.
It's the universal symbol.
That these cats are spayed,neutered, and protected.
So why would you not ear tip,
Dixie (23:39):
right?
Nita (23:39):
All of my cats are ear tipped, even the friendly ones,
right?
Dixie (23:43):
Yeah.
I don't mind the ear tip at all,
Nita (23:45):
Yeah, me either.
It's I don't want somebody comingover here and taking my cat.
Dixie (23:49):
What are some of the success stories that you have
had to keep your team motivated?
Nita (23:54):
We have success stories every day.
For every cat we fix, we'resaving thousands rather
than taking one kitten and.
Using up a huge amount ofresources to get that cat at home.
We're preventing, all this suffering.
(24:16):
And community problems with cats,roaming and yelling and spraying
and bothering neighbors and.
To me, every cat that we fix isjust saving so many down the road.
Dixie (24:31):
Yeah, absolutely.
What are your feelings about breeders?
Nita (24:37):
I do not understand why anybody would be breeding a dog or a cat
when all of our shelters are full.
Even purebred animals.
I think a quarter of the dogs thatend up in shelters are purebred.
And there's all these rescues thatspecialize in, poodles or Dobermans or
(25:01):
German shepherds or cocker spaniels.
There's rescue specificfor specific breeds.
Puppy mills, I don't get, I've never.
All of my animals are rescued.
And my, like my neighbors, allof their animals are rescued.
I see people walking down the street andI can tell, oh yeah, I re rescued this
(25:25):
dog from Zeus, or Big Easy, or wherever.
Dixie (25:31):
What are your future goals for Trap Dat Cat and are there any new initiatives
or projects that you're working on?
Nita (25:40):
I would like to see more of the rescues have traps to
take some of the stress off.
I would like to, see more rescues havejust even a small team of trappers
and I know Jefferson, SPCA does.
This is a big area to coverand I can't do it all.
(26:05):
I know Juliana in, on the West Bank, shetraps a lot of cats on the West Bank.
She's in Jefferson Parish andwe have a couple of trappers.
Catherine in Algiers.
She traps a lot of cats overthere, we're not there yet.
Our goal is to try to keepeducating people and just keep
(26:26):
stressing spay neuter, TNR.
Be a responsible pet owner,just get your animals fixed.
Dixie (26:35):
Do you think there's any kind of way to help to educate the public on that?
Nita (26:40):
I think just by us being out there, most people know us now.
I I'd love to see likepeople go into the schools
and the veterinary community.
I think most vets will tell youthat, like 90% of their clients'
pets are spayed, neutered.
(27:00):
I, I've asked around, andthat's the percentage I get.
So I would like to see thevets lower their prices.
Somebody called me last week,they got a price for neutering,
a cat, a ma, male, cat, $800.
. Now maybe that included, shotsand combo tests and all that.
(27:21):
I dunno.
But, so they came right over here and wentthrough our program and plopped down 65.
Dixie (27:29):
Wow.
Yeah.
I just took in a little cat she's ayear and a half and she wasn't spayed.
Now the owner did ensureto keep her inside.
So she never did go outside, which isgreat, but she wasn't from this area,
she had another one that was neutered.
And I said, why didn'tyou spay the female?
Can I ask?
And it was, the vet told her it would bebetter to wait till the female was a year.
. Nita (27:51):
Yeah.
The vets need to step up and I think alot of them are, we are fortunate here.
We have.
Like four vets that will,give us reduced prices.
We had one cat this week.
Lady brought me this straycat she picked up at Costco.
Friendly, had a broken leg,so Southern Animal Foundation
(28:15):
ended up taking that cat.
And they amputated the leg,I think Friday, Thursday.
And the cat's doing well andthey're gonna hang onto the
cat and find that cat at home.
And we are fortunate here.
We need more vets.
But we're pretty lucky outin the rest of Louisiana.
(28:38):
Most parishes don't evenhave an animal shelter.
There's a few small organizations, we'reable to help St Bernard has a trapping
group and , they're doing really good.
, but they're brand new, so we'refortunately able to help them.
And yeah there's other little groupsthat it's just gotta be everybody.
(29:01):
I know there's lots of cat lovers.
And.
They just have to understand whatthe impact is on the community when
they allow these cats to breed.
Dixie (29:15):
So what advice would you give someone who is thinking about
starting a similar organization?
Nita (29:22):
Be prepared to be overwhelmed and worn out.
As everybody in rescueis just overwhelmed.
It's
just never ending.
My phone never stops.
Just never.
And it's just gotta be everybody helpingand everybody can do something, go to
your shelter and wash laundry for 'em,or go walk dogs or go play with kittens.
(29:45):
Or if your neighbor has abreeding animal, talk to 'em.
And again, I think social mediahas put a face to all this.
When I first started.
In the eighties I was volunteeringat the Louisiana SPCA.
They were taking in 17,000 animals a year.
Dixie (30:05):
Wow.
Nita (30:08):
It was unbelievable.
Now I think they take in maybe 5,000.
That's a see change.
Yeah.
In a relatively short period of time
and.
It's, it's a national problem, obviously.
It's in, the more educated areaswhere there's lots of money for animal
(30:32):
control and shelters it's not as bad,but it's bad all over the country.
Dixie (30:37):
How was your group funded
Nita (30:40):
donations?
Strictly donations.
We're lucky to have a couple ofpeople that donate regularly.
And then, I beg people to donate anythingthey can when they bring me a cat.
And so far, we've survived.
It's a miracle.
There, I, it really is a miracle,but, we have no, no building.
(31:06):
No car, no electricity, no water bills.
Just my porch.
Dixie (31:13):
Before we end the call can you tell us, what is your biggest need and
how would people get in touch with you?
Nita (31:21):
More volunteers.
Money for spay, neuter.
Talk to your vet aboutparticipating in our program.
We have a website, www.trapdatcat.org.
You can go on there and donate.
You can send cat food.
(31:44):
There's just, a million ways to help.
Trap your neighborhood.
Just get involved.
If you don't live in New Orleans, govolunteer, for your local shelter.
Dixie (31:57):
Absolutely.
Thank you for taking the timeto speak with me this morning.
I really appreciated it andI enjoyed our conversation.
Nita (32:04):
Thank you, Dixie
thank you so much for doing this.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Dixie (32:08):
Goodbye.
Nita (32:08):
Bye bye.
And that's all the time wehave for today's episode.
If you are in animal rescue, or ifyou know someone that has a story that
should be told, please contact us.
We would love to haveyou or them on the show
. Thanks for listening, and pleasejoin us next week as we continue to
explore the world of animal rescue.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com