July 29, 2025 • 26 mins
Cat lovers… have we got a show for you! Meet Deborah Cribbs, who has created this cat and kitten mission with a heartfelt, life-saving movement.
EPISODE NOTES: Cats and Kittens Now Really Have Something to Purr About!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rappaport-to-the-rescue-on-pet-life-radio-petliferadio-com--6667849/support.
EPISODE NOTES: Cats and Kittens Now Really Have Something to Purr About!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/rappaport-to-the-rescue-on-pet-life-radio-petliferadio-com--6667849/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is Pet Life Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Let's talk pets.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Wrap Aport to the Rescue with award winning animal advocate,
best selling author, journalist, and pet products creator Jill Rappaport.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Hi, Welcome to Rapoport to the Rescue. I am Jill Rapaport,
and this is going to be a very different show today.
You know, we're always celebrity based stars who have been
changed and rescued by their rescues. But now I really
want to start to get into topics that involve the
animals themselves with animal experts, and we're always talking about
(00:41):
dogs and horses, but today it's the cats that we're
going to focus on. And I'm really interested to hear
about this incredible movement. It's called the Give Them ten movement,
and it's really fascinating how we interact with our cats
and the best way who have cats in our lives.
(01:02):
And I have never had a cat or a kitten
in my life because I'm highly allergic. And I never
realized I was so allergic until I started all my
rescue work years ago. And I would spend day after
day in shelters all across the country, and of course
I would pet and cuggle up and nuzzle with cats
because I love all animals, and I remember as time
(01:25):
went on, it was harder and harder for me to breathe.
And at one point I was doing a story for
Puppy Bowl and I was surrounded by cats and I
literally felt like I couldn't breathe at all. And it
turned out that I ended up with very bad asthma
due to all of my animals in my life. And
I am, believe it or not, even slightly allergic to
(01:48):
dogs and even more allergic to horses, but cats severely allergic. Well,
thank goodness, I take this shot twice a month, and
I'm able to be around cats now, not on wood
huddle and hold them, but at least I can be
in the same room and see them and you know,
watch from afar and not begin to literally gas for air.
(02:08):
So I love cats. I've always loved them. I've just never,
because being allergic to them, been able to enjoy them
in a certain way. But I'm very excited that we
can focus on the topic of cats today. So when
we come back, we're going to meet an amazing woman
who has started this movement. She is the founder, the leader,
and I know that animals are purring all over because
(02:32):
of Deborah Cribs. Stay tuned.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
You know the expression cats have nine lives? Well, what
if you can give them one more? But give them ten?
Movement is on a mission to help give cats an
extra life. How with Spain and Neoter Spain or Nootering
your cat helps them live a longer, healthier life and
it helps control free roaming cat popular relations too. Learn
(03:01):
more about the benefits of spe and neoter and meet
Scooter the neuter pat at Give them ten dot Org.
That's give them ten dot org.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Let's talk past, Let's done, talk about life Radio Headline
Radio atline radio dot com.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Welcome back to rap Report to the Rescue.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
I'm Joe Rappeford.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
I'm laughing because as I'm about to do this interview
with our next amazing guest, Deverra Cribs, I see one
of my dogs lurking around the corner wanting to get
in the act. Scout, just be polite and don't make
too much noise. This show is focused on cats, anyway,
you heard in the intro. I'm really excited because we
(03:52):
always talk about our dogg ease and our horses, and
this is the first time that I have devoted a
whole show two cats and their well being, and we
have an incredible guest on that started one of the
most amazing movements in the country that's really catching on
to make a difference for them and to teach us
(04:15):
how to give them the most wonderful life. And would
you believe you should add one to the one you
already have. We'll give into that in a moment. But
Dborah Cribs, founder leader of this incredible movement, so excited
to have you on Rapaport to the Rescue.
Speaker 4 (04:31):
Well, I'm delighted to be here to talk about cats
for the first time.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
So great. Then you started a movement, literally a movement.
Tell us about that.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
Well, the way I like to tell the story is
that my day job is that I manage money for
wealthy people here in the Cincinnati area and one of
my favorite clients was really a lover of cats. I
persuaded her to set up a private foundation to take
care of cats in the area, and then she died
and left a whole lot of money in the care
(05:03):
of me and professionals at my bank.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Oh that's a dream for us animal lovers.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
To get absolutely and I would say, you know, I
already had cats. I already was starting to create my
own cat colony out in the back of our house,
much against my husband's wishes, I have to say. But
because this client died so young, and we had all
of this money with a very very specific purpose, which
(05:30):
was cats in the Cincinnati area, we started looking at
it like a business problem, like, Okay, how are we
gonna be good stewards of this money, and realized, well,
cats are being killed in the millions nationally.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
And much more of a problem to get adapted. I
believe it's three times more difficult. There's three times as
many kittens and cats in shelters than dogs.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
It depends on where you are in the country here locally,
as you can imagine. If we've been doing this for
a decade now, our cat population is let's say, well managed,
meaning no cat is killed in the Cincinnati area or
in about one hundred mile radius for space. We can't
say that quite yet about dogs, so we do look
(06:18):
at them differently. But we said, how is this as
a culture people who love animals, right, that's what your
interest talking about. We all love animals, and these are
companion animals. How is it that in this day and age,
we allow these animals, cats and dogs to be killed
in shelters down the street for space.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Listen, you're preaching to the choir here, and I sometimes
get beaten up over this. I don't feel that any
animals should be euthanized unless they're deeply suffering. And I'm
talking even if they have some behavioral issues. There are
dogs that we've seen and I've adopted them that have
bit have nipped, and I believe I'll never forget when
(07:02):
I worked with Buck brenhaman the original horse whisper that
the movie was based on, and he came to my
home in the Hamptons to do a horse clinic and
to teach people about horse welfare. And the first thing
he said when he greeted the guests ever, was I
treat horses with people problems, And isn't that the truth?
Like I think these animals, it's no fault of their own,
(07:24):
they've fallen into the wrong hands. And I don't believe
any animal should be euthanized unless they're truly suffering medically
and cannot be saved period. I love that.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
The way I think of it is that we humans,
we started this problem. We call them companion animals, that
means a companion to humans. We're the ones that created
the problems with the cats, dogs and horses for that matter.
But these shelters around the country, they don't have the
I'm going to say wherewithal and I don't necessarily just
(07:58):
mean funding, although they generally say they're underfunded, they don't
have They don't use the proper protocols. They don't take
advantage of resources that they could access because they often
work in a silo of their own making, so they
end up killing animals, euthanizing animals just because of space.
And I will say, Jill, this one really bugs me.
(08:21):
This statistic really really bugs me in at home. The
number of animals killed in shelters in the United States roughly,
not exactly, roughly equals the number of animals purchased in
the States. Okay, so that bugs both of us.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
What does that both are severely wrong? Do not purchase?
Do not kill?
Speaker 4 (08:43):
So adopt from a shelter? And why do people not
adopt from a shelter? This is more a dog problem
than a cat problem because of designer dogs. It's hard
for me not to be judgmental on not but I'm
trying really hard not to be judgmental. I understand people
want the kind of dog that they want, but.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
You can get whatever you want in a shelter. I
tell people all the time, you want a lab there's
labrador rescue. You want a German shepherd, there's German shepherd
rescue and labradoodle rescue.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Absolutely, and nature nurtures. Pit bulls are not by their
nature dangerous. They have been nurtured in some cases to
be dangerous, but not by their nature. And cats are
a different thing. You know the thing. Well, i'll tell
you what we're so proud of. We've been doing this
for a decade. We decided to take this vast pool
(09:31):
of money and spend about half of it on the
ground with shelters. So we have helped build locally high
volume spain Hooter centers, which is what I like to
call the low hanging fruit of solving the cat problem.
It's spain Hooter. So half our money's gone there and
half of it's gone to talking to the public. So
we've created this super amazing suite of television commercials. We
(09:53):
use some digital and social Now this is trying to
talk to the public about how we can not have
this content you to happen, and here locally we've absolutely succeeded.
And we judge it by a real specific number. It's
called the live release rate, and this goes for cats
and dogs, the percentage of animals that leave a shelter alive.
(10:16):
One way or another, they're adopted, fostering doesn't really count
because they're still in the shelter, but they're adopted out largely,
and here in the Cincinnati area, our live release rate
is in the ninety six percentile, give or take to pending.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
And for our listeners that don't understand what live release is,
explain that.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
It is just the percentage of animals that leave a
shelter alive. So we count every animal every knows to tail,
every nose that enters the shelter for whatever reason. How
do animals enter a shelter. Stray dog is found on
the street, somebody calls the pound, they get taken into
the shelter straight. Cats are taken in kind of by
(11:00):
the car load, or somebody surrenders their pet, largely because
they can't afford them anymore. So these are all very
well known things that happen in shelters, and we've got
really good protocols to try to help, especially the ones
that are surrendering. But all those animals are counted, and
(11:20):
if they are euthanized because the shelter has no other
ability to take care of them because of space they
have too many, then that counts against the live release shrait.
And I'll say that for most shelters in the United States,
this time of year is the hardest because it's kitten season.
This is when when it's warm, is when mama kittens
(11:43):
have baby kittens, and the shelters are flooded with either
kittens that people we call it kidnapping, kittenknopping. That people
think they're doing the right thing and they take little
baby kittens six seven and take them into a shelter
because mama wasn't there. Mama's she's getting food, she's exactly
she's there. Don't touch them. But shelters get overwhelmed, and
(12:06):
largely the number of cats euthanized in a well run
shelter tends to be neonate kittens. They are very very
hard to care for if mama isn't present, So all
kinds of things, but live release is how we match
your success. And again, we've been doing this a decade.
We've had a lot of success locally. We spread out
(12:28):
kind of from our own area, and this part of
the Midwest is in very good shape, except for some
rural areas which are kind of hard to control. But
now we've started allowing all of our super cool commercials
to be licensed in other parts of the country, so
we are starting to see the message spread.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
It's amazing that you said you're doing so well in
the Midwest there because it's a huge problem on the
East Coast. Huge So on the East Coast you find
it's or dogs are both that's a problem. Well, I
tell you, I'm amazed because I work with many shelters.
We have so many cats and kittens, and I'm amazed
(13:10):
at what goes into you know, caring for them and
when they are brought into the shelter. It seems to
me that they're harder to get adapted than our dogs.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
I don't know, and not part of the country what
the statistics are. That absolutely could be. There are still
millions literally of cats and dogs being euthanized nationally, So
in your part of the country, I don't know the
exact statistics, but I imagine the kitten season is rough
in the Hamptons as well, and partly because, like I said,
(13:42):
people bring kittens without mama. Now, if mama seems unstable
in some way, maybe in an unsafe place, by a road, whatever,
although that be unusual, mamas usually know where to put
their kittens. Take mama and the kitten into the shelter.
But again, the shelters get overwhelmed and they believe that
(14:03):
the only choice they have is to euthanis when in fact,
I'm going to say it again, largely a well run
shelter knows all the protocols and tools, and you've got
to get the public involved. I mean, do you think
in the Hamptons if you advertised on whatever means say,
let's say Facebook, If every other day on Facebook the
local shelter said something like, hey, we got in a
(14:25):
litter of mama and kittens and we don't have the
ability to take care of them. Who can help? I mean,
if people understood the dire straits some of these animals
are in, I think they'd reach out. And you know
what's interesting, in the ten years that we've been doing this,
and running our campaigns or advertising and marketing has changed,
hasn't it in the world. Oh yeah, it's about podcasts.
(14:49):
That's how we get our information now right, And advertising
is about digital. It's about social, so exactly, a social
campaign with whatever the theme is, or just tell the
public that you got a problem.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Or television if it's a big enough network and a
big enough reach, if it's focused on rescue with heartfelt
stories with a little celebrities thrown in. I know because
I did this for years on The Today Show, and
I had a one hundred percent adoption rate. I went
on with any dog, any animal gone, and not only that,
what at my show, my segment proved is that adoption
(15:25):
would go up all over the country because my five
animals were gone in a nanosecond. There were thousands of
phone calls. But it made people reminded them what they
have to do in their community.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
Wow, look at that dog.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
If that dog is available in New York, maybe one's
available in Ohio. But your messaging, I want to talk
about this movement because you created this and it's so
clever and interesting. Talk to me specifically about the movement
and what you're trying to teach us about cats.
Speaker 4 (15:53):
Well, the idea was to stop cats from being killed
in shelters. So we looked at it and we thought,
this is a business problem, because you know, we're bankers.
How can we look at this like a business rather
than just looking at it as a heartfelt, feel good story.
So we did decide we need to talk to the public,
(16:14):
and we decided understanding that spae Nooter is the key
to the cat problem anyway, for sure, I think it's
also the key to the dog problem. But we decided
that we needed to get the public on board all
the time, and we decided to be edgy and funny.
And so we have a spokes cat scooter, the neutered
(16:38):
cat scooter, the cat Yes scooter, the nerded cat. He
has hip spectacles and no testicles, and he speaks on
our behalf. Our movement is called give them ten get it.
Cats have nine lives, give them one more. So he
speaks on our behalf. And we have a scooter mascot
(16:58):
that actually has a person and sized scooter, and we
have a suite of commercials that actually have cats, and
Scooter is in the commercials starring in the commercials. I
love that we start going to the public and we
just tell them Spainooter is the key to taking care
of cats. And another message that we've run with is
(17:21):
a little bit counterintuitive, but this is the low hanging
fruit of the Spainooter world. Community cats. If you have
colonies of what we used to call ferrell and now
we say community cats who are thriving, alive, managing, whether
with a human feeding them or not, just get them fixed.
Spainooter them. The colony will take care of itself, or
(17:43):
it'd be great if there's a human feeding them, that's great.
But if humans feed cats outside and they're not fixed,
what happens. Mamas are healthier. What happens to healthier mamas,
They have more babies. So in a way, if you're
feeding these cats but not fixing these cats, you're perpetuating
the cycle of problems.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Well, it's amazing to me because these are things we
think we should know, but so many people don't. And
there's so many other initiatives in your movement that are
fascinating to me. Why is it important in your opinion
with this movement that if you have one cat, get another.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
Well, anybody Jill who's a cat person, especially with indoor cats.
You know, with cats taken out of their natural environment
living with us, they can get.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Bored, and bored cats can.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
Have behaviors that you may not love, including just flipping
their tail that you look in board. So we started
a campaign last year that was get a cat for
your cat, and we have some really funny videos that
just show you know, do you have a cat that
looks bored? Do you have a cat that stares at
you looking for attention, that jumps on your keyboard? Well,
if you get a cat for your cat, or adopt
(18:54):
to cats at once, you're probably going to have a
happier household because the cats will actually play with each other,
entertain each other. Not that they don't bond with their humans.
They do, you're feeding them. They will bond with you
if you feed them. But that's been actually a very
good message for the public, like, hey, a single cat
maybe the right thing. There are some cats that we
(19:15):
all understand. I have one who would really prefer to
be an only cat. She's not, but she would prefer
to be We get it. But I would say probably
most cats are probably going to be happier in your
house if they have friends.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
So yeah, you're saving another life, not only the one
that you already have, but you're going out to rescue
adopt another one which is going born. And you mentioned
your cats. How many do you have, Devor, We only
have two now, Jill.
Speaker 4 (19:43):
My husband and I went from a big house to
a condo a couple of years ago, and we had
two left in our house, one inside. And then we
had had a colony of community cats outside. I say
a colony. The biggest number I think was four. But
there was one guy left and he's there right now.
He's been converted to an inside cat. And have you
(20:03):
ever seen when we fix cats who are outdoor cats
like in a colony, we do a little ear tip,
we call it. We take off a tiny tip of
the ear that signifies that that cat has been fixed,
so that anybody trying to help in a community cat
colony will know, okay, that one's fine, that one's been fixed,
(20:24):
because then that cat won't be trapped again.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Yes, well, you know it's really interesting to me. I mean,
obviously you don't have dogs right now, right, just cats.
Did you ever have dogs? No? So you've always been
a cat household and your husband loves cats. Do obviously
support your mission of the heart learned to ye, But
I will say people that really don't like cats, and
(20:49):
I understand you have analogy. Oh I love them. I
just wish I could have them.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
Yeah, I mean, but people who say they don't love cats,
I would argue, you don't know cats that have never
lived with cats, because my husband would not have said
he was a cat guy. He is such a cat guy.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Now, so amazing, Well with this movement, you know, you're
doing so many things to educate people, and I believe
you are. How many counties are you in now throughout
the country.
Speaker 4 (21:16):
Oh gosh, in this greater area, it's got to be
more than twenty. And around the country. We've signed licensees
for our marketing materials, our campaigns. In an additional I
think it's ten or fifteen. So we're marching around the
country now. I go to national animal welfare conferences and
(21:38):
speak and I show all our super funny advertising campaigns.
And I think the participants at these conferences like my
sessions because they're funny and videos, you know, are fun
to watch.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Yeah, because when people hear oh, the numbers are so bad,
all these animals are going to get euthanized. They can't
handle it. I can't handle it. So we have the
job of educating people, giving a happy message to the plight.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
Right, And I think, you know, we chose humor, like
edgy humor, but in fact, and you know, I think today, Jill,
in today's world, aren't there so many problems that we
cannot solve? You and I cannot bring peace to the
Middle East? I know, I certainly can't. But you know
what we can solve right now in our communities in
(22:28):
the United States, this is actually a problem. Animal is
being euthanized. We can actually solve this. This isn't that hard.
We know in the animal welfare movements. We know exactly
how to do it. It's really not insurmountable. We've certainly
done it in the Cincinnati area and it sticks. I
will say, communities that solve the problem generally don't backslide
(22:51):
because they get the muscle memory of happiness and pride
that they've taken care of this problem, and more and
more people join in. And you know, like you said,
you lead with humor. When people understand that either something
is going well or that it can be fixed, they
do seem to want to jump in more than if
(23:13):
we say, oh my god, we've got a problem that's
so insurmountable, we can't solve it. We can solve this.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Well, you are doing it. And first of all, bless
that woman's heart who left you the funds so that
you could begin your mission of the heart and truly
make a difference for these cats. And the fact that
you are in already twenty something counties in eleven states
says that this is a movement that is growing. What
(23:41):
is your ultimate dream for this campaign and for this
move I love dream.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
I would love to see the live release rate in
the United States be above ninety percent in every part
of the country. I would love for Scooter the neutered
cat to be known because he is a he's a cantavist.
I'd love as a good cat to be known nationally.
And when people see Scooter on an odd somewhere, they're like, oh, yeah,
(24:11):
that's the guy that says it's cool to get snipped.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
I love this. Well, this has been so great just
to first and foremost do a show based solely on cats.
To have someone of your expertise, your knowledge, and your
passion to make such a difference for these cats ultimately
around the world, right, Deborah, I certainly hope so, and
talking to you has been quite an honor. Oh, thank you.
(24:39):
And you are showing firsthand what you have done. You
have put this woman's money where your mouth is and
literally are changing and saving lives all over your community,
in many communities. And where can people find out more?
Where can they donate? How can they help give us
that information? Deborah?
Speaker 4 (24:57):
Give them ten dot org as our webs all right,
And if you look up Scooter the neutered Cat, you'll
find our YouTube channels to watch our ads which are
really really funny. And if you want to donate, go
to your local shelter and help them.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
And also spread the word about you so that you
can be in every state.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
Absolutely, Scooter rocks. He should be in every state.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Well, so do you, Deborah Cribs. And I cannot thank
you enough for educating our audience and letting people know
how amazing these kittens and cats are and why it
is so important that we have to all do our
part to help save them as well.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
Thanks for your part. Thank you, Deborah Cribs.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
You're incredible. Your movement is moving on and doing great
work and Thank you all, and we hope you enjoyed
this fascinating podcast all about kittens and cats on wrap
Aport to the Rescue.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
Let's Talk Pets every week on demand only on petlight
radio dot com
This is Pet Life Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Let's talk pets.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Wrap Aport to the Rescue with award winning animal advocate,
best selling author, journalist, and pet products creator Jill Rappaport.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Hi, Welcome to Rapoport to the Rescue. I am Jill Rapaport,
and this is going to be a very different show today.
You know, we're always celebrity based stars who have been
changed and rescued by their rescues. But now I really
want to start to get into topics that involve the
animals themselves with animal experts, and we're always talking about
(00:41):
dogs and horses, but today it's the cats that we're
going to focus on. And I'm really interested to hear
about this incredible movement. It's called the Give Them ten movement,
and it's really fascinating how we interact with our cats
and the best way who have cats in our lives.
(01:02):
And I have never had a cat or a kitten
in my life because I'm highly allergic. And I never
realized I was so allergic until I started all my
rescue work years ago. And I would spend day after
day in shelters all across the country, and of course
I would pet and cuggle up and nuzzle with cats
because I love all animals, and I remember as time
(01:25):
went on, it was harder and harder for me to breathe.
And at one point I was doing a story for
Puppy Bowl and I was surrounded by cats and I
literally felt like I couldn't breathe at all. And it
turned out that I ended up with very bad asthma
due to all of my animals in my life. And
I am, believe it or not, even slightly allergic to
(01:48):
dogs and even more allergic to horses, but cats severely allergic. Well,
thank goodness, I take this shot twice a month, and
I'm able to be around cats now, not on wood
huddle and hold them, but at least I can be
in the same room and see them and you know,
watch from afar and not begin to literally gas for air.
(02:08):
So I love cats. I've always loved them. I've just never,
because being allergic to them, been able to enjoy them
in a certain way. But I'm very excited that we
can focus on the topic of cats today. So when
we come back, we're going to meet an amazing woman
who has started this movement. She is the founder, the leader,
and I know that animals are purring all over because
(02:32):
of Deborah Cribs. Stay tuned.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
You know the expression cats have nine lives? Well, what
if you can give them one more? But give them ten?
Movement is on a mission to help give cats an
extra life. How with Spain and Neoter Spain or Nootering
your cat helps them live a longer, healthier life and
it helps control free roaming cat popular relations too. Learn
(03:01):
more about the benefits of spe and neoter and meet
Scooter the neuter pat at Give them ten dot Org.
That's give them ten dot org.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Let's talk past, Let's done, talk about life Radio Headline
Radio atline radio dot com.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Welcome back to rap Report to the Rescue.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
I'm Joe Rappeford.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
I'm laughing because as I'm about to do this interview
with our next amazing guest, Deverra Cribs, I see one
of my dogs lurking around the corner wanting to get
in the act. Scout, just be polite and don't make
too much noise. This show is focused on cats, anyway,
you heard in the intro. I'm really excited because we
(03:52):
always talk about our dogg ease and our horses, and
this is the first time that I have devoted a
whole show two cats and their well being, and we
have an incredible guest on that started one of the
most amazing movements in the country that's really catching on
to make a difference for them and to teach us
(04:15):
how to give them the most wonderful life. And would
you believe you should add one to the one you
already have. We'll give into that in a moment. But
Dborah Cribs, founder leader of this incredible movement, so excited
to have you on Rapaport to the Rescue.
Speaker 4 (04:31):
Well, I'm delighted to be here to talk about cats
for the first time.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
So great. Then you started a movement, literally a movement.
Tell us about that.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
Well, the way I like to tell the story is
that my day job is that I manage money for
wealthy people here in the Cincinnati area and one of
my favorite clients was really a lover of cats. I
persuaded her to set up a private foundation to take
care of cats in the area, and then she died
and left a whole lot of money in the care
(05:03):
of me and professionals at my bank.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Oh that's a dream for us animal lovers.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
To get absolutely and I would say, you know, I
already had cats. I already was starting to create my
own cat colony out in the back of our house,
much against my husband's wishes, I have to say. But
because this client died so young, and we had all
of this money with a very very specific purpose, which
(05:30):
was cats in the Cincinnati area, we started looking at
it like a business problem, like, Okay, how are we
gonna be good stewards of this money, and realized, well,
cats are being killed in the millions nationally.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
And much more of a problem to get adapted. I
believe it's three times more difficult. There's three times as
many kittens and cats in shelters than dogs.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
It depends on where you are in the country here locally,
as you can imagine. If we've been doing this for
a decade now, our cat population is let's say, well managed,
meaning no cat is killed in the Cincinnati area or
in about one hundred mile radius for space. We can't
say that quite yet about dogs, so we do look
(06:18):
at them differently. But we said, how is this as
a culture people who love animals, right, that's what your
interest talking about. We all love animals, and these are
companion animals. How is it that in this day and age,
we allow these animals, cats and dogs to be killed
in shelters down the street for space.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Listen, you're preaching to the choir here, and I sometimes
get beaten up over this. I don't feel that any
animals should be euthanized unless they're deeply suffering. And I'm
talking even if they have some behavioral issues. There are
dogs that we've seen and I've adopted them that have
bit have nipped, and I believe I'll never forget when
(07:02):
I worked with Buck brenhaman the original horse whisper that
the movie was based on, and he came to my
home in the Hamptons to do a horse clinic and
to teach people about horse welfare. And the first thing
he said when he greeted the guests ever, was I
treat horses with people problems, And isn't that the truth?
Like I think these animals, it's no fault of their own,
(07:24):
they've fallen into the wrong hands. And I don't believe
any animal should be euthanized unless they're truly suffering medically
and cannot be saved period. I love that.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
The way I think of it is that we humans,
we started this problem. We call them companion animals, that
means a companion to humans. We're the ones that created
the problems with the cats, dogs and horses for that matter.
But these shelters around the country, they don't have the
I'm going to say wherewithal and I don't necessarily just
(07:58):
mean funding, although they generally say they're underfunded, they don't
have They don't use the proper protocols. They don't take
advantage of resources that they could access because they often
work in a silo of their own making, so they
end up killing animals, euthanizing animals just because of space.
And I will say, Jill, this one really bugs me.
(08:21):
This statistic really really bugs me in at home. The
number of animals killed in shelters in the United States roughly,
not exactly, roughly equals the number of animals purchased in
the States. Okay, so that bugs both of us.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
What does that both are severely wrong? Do not purchase?
Do not kill?
Speaker 4 (08:43):
So adopt from a shelter? And why do people not
adopt from a shelter? This is more a dog problem
than a cat problem because of designer dogs. It's hard
for me not to be judgmental on not but I'm
trying really hard not to be judgmental. I understand people
want the kind of dog that they want, but.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
You can get whatever you want in a shelter. I
tell people all the time, you want a lab there's
labrador rescue. You want a German shepherd, there's German shepherd
rescue and labradoodle rescue.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Absolutely, and nature nurtures. Pit bulls are not by their
nature dangerous. They have been nurtured in some cases to
be dangerous, but not by their nature. And cats are
a different thing. You know the thing. Well, i'll tell
you what we're so proud of. We've been doing this
for a decade. We decided to take this vast pool
(09:31):
of money and spend about half of it on the
ground with shelters. So we have helped build locally high
volume spain Hooter centers, which is what I like to
call the low hanging fruit of solving the cat problem.
It's spain Hooter. So half our money's gone there and
half of it's gone to talking to the public. So
we've created this super amazing suite of television commercials. We
(09:53):
use some digital and social Now this is trying to
talk to the public about how we can not have
this content you to happen, and here locally we've absolutely succeeded.
And we judge it by a real specific number. It's
called the live release rate, and this goes for cats
and dogs, the percentage of animals that leave a shelter alive.
(10:16):
One way or another, they're adopted, fostering doesn't really count
because they're still in the shelter, but they're adopted out largely,
and here in the Cincinnati area, our live release rate
is in the ninety six percentile, give or take to pending.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
And for our listeners that don't understand what live release is,
explain that.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
It is just the percentage of animals that leave a
shelter alive. So we count every animal every knows to tail,
every nose that enters the shelter for whatever reason. How
do animals enter a shelter. Stray dog is found on
the street, somebody calls the pound, they get taken into
the shelter straight. Cats are taken in kind of by
(11:00):
the car load, or somebody surrenders their pet, largely because
they can't afford them anymore. So these are all very
well known things that happen in shelters, and we've got
really good protocols to try to help, especially the ones
that are surrendering. But all those animals are counted, and
(11:20):
if they are euthanized because the shelter has no other
ability to take care of them because of space they
have too many, then that counts against the live release shrait.
And I'll say that for most shelters in the United States,
this time of year is the hardest because it's kitten season.
This is when when it's warm, is when mama kittens
(11:43):
have baby kittens, and the shelters are flooded with either
kittens that people we call it kidnapping, kittenknopping. That people
think they're doing the right thing and they take little
baby kittens six seven and take them into a shelter
because mama wasn't there. Mama's she's getting food, she's exactly
she's there. Don't touch them. But shelters get overwhelmed, and
(12:06):
largely the number of cats euthanized in a well run
shelter tends to be neonate kittens. They are very very
hard to care for if mama isn't present, So all
kinds of things, but live release is how we match
your success. And again, we've been doing this a decade.
We've had a lot of success locally. We spread out
(12:28):
kind of from our own area, and this part of
the Midwest is in very good shape, except for some
rural areas which are kind of hard to control. But
now we've started allowing all of our super cool commercials
to be licensed in other parts of the country, so
we are starting to see the message spread.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
It's amazing that you said you're doing so well in
the Midwest there because it's a huge problem on the
East Coast. Huge So on the East Coast you find
it's or dogs are both that's a problem. Well, I
tell you, I'm amazed because I work with many shelters.
We have so many cats and kittens, and I'm amazed
(13:10):
at what goes into you know, caring for them and
when they are brought into the shelter. It seems to
me that they're harder to get adapted than our dogs.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
I don't know, and not part of the country what
the statistics are. That absolutely could be. There are still
millions literally of cats and dogs being euthanized nationally, So
in your part of the country, I don't know the
exact statistics, but I imagine the kitten season is rough
in the Hamptons as well, and partly because, like I said,
(13:42):
people bring kittens without mama. Now, if mama seems unstable
in some way, maybe in an unsafe place, by a road, whatever,
although that be unusual, mamas usually know where to put
their kittens. Take mama and the kitten into the shelter.
But again, the shelters get overwhelmed and they believe that
(14:03):
the only choice they have is to euthanis when in fact,
I'm going to say it again, largely a well run
shelter knows all the protocols and tools, and you've got
to get the public involved. I mean, do you think
in the Hamptons if you advertised on whatever means say,
let's say Facebook, If every other day on Facebook the
local shelter said something like, hey, we got in a
(14:25):
litter of mama and kittens and we don't have the
ability to take care of them. Who can help? I mean,
if people understood the dire straits some of these animals
are in, I think they'd reach out. And you know
what's interesting, in the ten years that we've been doing this,
and running our campaigns or advertising and marketing has changed,
hasn't it in the world. Oh yeah, it's about podcasts.
(14:49):
That's how we get our information now right, And advertising
is about digital. It's about social, so exactly, a social
campaign with whatever the theme is, or just tell the
public that you got a problem.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Or television if it's a big enough network and a
big enough reach, if it's focused on rescue with heartfelt
stories with a little celebrities thrown in. I know because
I did this for years on The Today Show, and
I had a one hundred percent adoption rate. I went
on with any dog, any animal gone, and not only that,
what at my show, my segment proved is that adoption
(15:25):
would go up all over the country because my five
animals were gone in a nanosecond. There were thousands of
phone calls. But it made people reminded them what they
have to do in their community.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
Wow, look at that dog.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
If that dog is available in New York, maybe one's
available in Ohio. But your messaging, I want to talk
about this movement because you created this and it's so
clever and interesting. Talk to me specifically about the movement
and what you're trying to teach us about cats.
Speaker 4 (15:53):
Well, the idea was to stop cats from being killed
in shelters. So we looked at it and we thought,
this is a business problem, because you know, we're bankers.
How can we look at this like a business rather
than just looking at it as a heartfelt, feel good story.
So we did decide we need to talk to the public,
(16:14):
and we decided understanding that spae Nooter is the key
to the cat problem anyway, for sure, I think it's
also the key to the dog problem. But we decided
that we needed to get the public on board all
the time, and we decided to be edgy and funny.
And so we have a spokes cat scooter, the neutered
(16:38):
cat scooter, the cat Yes scooter, the nerded cat. He
has hip spectacles and no testicles, and he speaks on
our behalf. Our movement is called give them ten get it.
Cats have nine lives, give them one more. So he
speaks on our behalf. And we have a scooter mascot
(16:58):
that actually has a person and sized scooter, and we
have a suite of commercials that actually have cats, and
Scooter is in the commercials starring in the commercials. I
love that we start going to the public and we
just tell them Spainooter is the key to taking care
of cats. And another message that we've run with is
(17:21):
a little bit counterintuitive, but this is the low hanging
fruit of the Spainooter world. Community cats. If you have
colonies of what we used to call ferrell and now
we say community cats who are thriving, alive, managing, whether
with a human feeding them or not, just get them fixed.
Spainooter them. The colony will take care of itself, or
(17:43):
it'd be great if there's a human feeding them, that's great.
But if humans feed cats outside and they're not fixed,
what happens. Mamas are healthier. What happens to healthier mamas,
They have more babies. So in a way, if you're
feeding these cats but not fixing these cats, you're perpetuating
the cycle of problems.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Well, it's amazing to me because these are things we
think we should know, but so many people don't. And
there's so many other initiatives in your movement that are
fascinating to me. Why is it important in your opinion
with this movement that if you have one cat, get another.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
Well, anybody Jill who's a cat person, especially with indoor cats.
You know, with cats taken out of their natural environment
living with us, they can get.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Bored, and bored cats can.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
Have behaviors that you may not love, including just flipping
their tail that you look in board. So we started
a campaign last year that was get a cat for
your cat, and we have some really funny videos that
just show you know, do you have a cat that
looks bored? Do you have a cat that stares at
you looking for attention, that jumps on your keyboard? Well,
if you get a cat for your cat, or adopt
(18:54):
to cats at once, you're probably going to have a
happier household because the cats will actually play with each other,
entertain each other. Not that they don't bond with their humans.
They do, you're feeding them. They will bond with you
if you feed them. But that's been actually a very
good message for the public, like, hey, a single cat
maybe the right thing. There are some cats that we
(19:15):
all understand. I have one who would really prefer to
be an only cat. She's not, but she would prefer
to be We get it. But I would say probably
most cats are probably going to be happier in your
house if they have friends.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
So yeah, you're saving another life, not only the one
that you already have, but you're going out to rescue
adopt another one which is going born. And you mentioned
your cats. How many do you have, Devor, We only
have two now, Jill.
Speaker 4 (19:43):
My husband and I went from a big house to
a condo a couple of years ago, and we had
two left in our house, one inside. And then we
had had a colony of community cats outside. I say
a colony. The biggest number I think was four. But
there was one guy left and he's there right now.
He's been converted to an inside cat. And have you
(20:03):
ever seen when we fix cats who are outdoor cats
like in a colony, we do a little ear tip,
we call it. We take off a tiny tip of
the ear that signifies that that cat has been fixed,
so that anybody trying to help in a community cat
colony will know, okay, that one's fine, that one's been fixed,
(20:24):
because then that cat won't be trapped again.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Yes, well, you know it's really interesting to me. I mean,
obviously you don't have dogs right now, right, just cats.
Did you ever have dogs? No? So you've always been
a cat household and your husband loves cats. Do obviously
support your mission of the heart learned to ye, But
I will say people that really don't like cats, and
(20:49):
I understand you have analogy. Oh I love them. I
just wish I could have them.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
Yeah, I mean, but people who say they don't love cats,
I would argue, you don't know cats that have never
lived with cats, because my husband would not have said
he was a cat guy. He is such a cat guy.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Now, so amazing, Well with this movement, you know, you're
doing so many things to educate people, and I believe
you are. How many counties are you in now throughout
the country.
Speaker 4 (21:16):
Oh gosh, in this greater area, it's got to be
more than twenty. And around the country. We've signed licensees
for our marketing materials, our campaigns. In an additional I
think it's ten or fifteen. So we're marching around the
country now. I go to national animal welfare conferences and
(21:38):
speak and I show all our super funny advertising campaigns.
And I think the participants at these conferences like my
sessions because they're funny and videos, you know, are fun
to watch.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Yeah, because when people hear oh, the numbers are so bad,
all these animals are going to get euthanized. They can't
handle it. I can't handle it. So we have the
job of educating people, giving a happy message to the plight.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
Right, And I think, you know, we chose humor, like
edgy humor, but in fact, and you know, I think today, Jill,
in today's world, aren't there so many problems that we
cannot solve? You and I cannot bring peace to the
Middle East? I know, I certainly can't. But you know
what we can solve right now in our communities in
(22:28):
the United States, this is actually a problem. Animal is
being euthanized. We can actually solve this. This isn't that hard.
We know in the animal welfare movements. We know exactly
how to do it. It's really not insurmountable. We've certainly
done it in the Cincinnati area and it sticks. I
will say, communities that solve the problem generally don't backslide
(22:51):
because they get the muscle memory of happiness and pride
that they've taken care of this problem, and more and
more people join in. And you know, like you said,
you lead with humor. When people understand that either something
is going well or that it can be fixed, they
do seem to want to jump in more than if
(23:13):
we say, oh my god, we've got a problem that's
so insurmountable, we can't solve it. We can solve this.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Well, you are doing it. And first of all, bless
that woman's heart who left you the funds so that
you could begin your mission of the heart and truly
make a difference for these cats. And the fact that
you are in already twenty something counties in eleven states
says that this is a movement that is growing. What
(23:41):
is your ultimate dream for this campaign and for this
move I love dream.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
I would love to see the live release rate in
the United States be above ninety percent in every part
of the country. I would love for Scooter the neutered
cat to be known because he is a he's a cantavist.
I'd love as a good cat to be known nationally.
And when people see Scooter on an odd somewhere, they're like, oh, yeah,
(24:11):
that's the guy that says it's cool to get snipped.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
I love this. Well, this has been so great just
to first and foremost do a show based solely on cats.
To have someone of your expertise, your knowledge, and your
passion to make such a difference for these cats ultimately
around the world, right, Deborah, I certainly hope so, and
talking to you has been quite an honor. Oh, thank you.
(24:39):
And you are showing firsthand what you have done. You
have put this woman's money where your mouth is and
literally are changing and saving lives all over your community,
in many communities. And where can people find out more?
Where can they donate? How can they help give us
that information? Deborah?
Speaker 4 (24:57):
Give them ten dot org as our webs all right,
And if you look up Scooter the neutered Cat, you'll
find our YouTube channels to watch our ads which are
really really funny. And if you want to donate, go
to your local shelter and help them.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
And also spread the word about you so that you
can be in every state.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
Absolutely, Scooter rocks. He should be in every state.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Well, so do you, Deborah Cribs. And I cannot thank
you enough for educating our audience and letting people know
how amazing these kittens and cats are and why it
is so important that we have to all do our
part to help save them as well.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
Thanks for your part. Thank you, Deborah Cribs.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
You're incredible. Your movement is moving on and doing great
work and Thank you all, and we hope you enjoyed
this fascinating podcast all about kittens and cats on wrap
Aport to the Rescue.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
Let's Talk Pets every week on demand only on petlight
radio dot com
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