December 23, 2025 • 31 mins
It's that time of year! Holiday time!
You know what that means.....our annual holiday episode!
Joining hosts Dan and Michelle for this year's holiday episode are Caitlin and Anne Marie Buonomo from Rescue Advocates of Long Island to discuss their 2025 Holiday Drive for Homeless Pets!
You can find Rescue Advocates of Long Island on the web, and donate at:
https://www.rescueadvocatesli.org/
Follow Michelle The Meow Maven on her personal TikTok for updates on her journey:http://bit.ly/42m1R8rWe have an all-new website!
https://www.sheltercatspod.com
Visit our shop for Shelter Cats Podcast MERCH!
Use the promo code FREESHIP50 for FREE SHIPPING on all orders $50 and above now through December 31st!The Shelter Cats Podcast is part of the Chewy Shelter and Rescue Affiliate Program!Chewy’s mission is to be the most trusted and convenient online destination for pet parents and partners everywhere. Chewy is passionate about supporting animals and making a positive impact in communities across the country. Local shelters and rescues often serve as a first home or provide continued support to pets. That is why Chewy is committed to supporting organizations that benefit the overall health, safety, and well-being of shelter and rescue animals. Please click the link below to make your Chewy purchases! You’ll not only be helping your local shelter, but you’ll also help support the podcast.Thank you, Chewy!https://www.chewy.com/g/give-back?mso...Podcast hosts:Dan The Cat Man. Michelle The Meow Maven.Editor: Jacob HaleyHave a question or comment?Send us an email!dan@tylerthecat.comsheltercatspod@gmail.comsheltercatspodcast@gmail.com
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:15):
prefer me too. Hello there, cat people.
They're the cat man here along with Michelle the Meow Maven.
So happy to have you Michelle, and please pronounce your last
name so I don't want to screw itup.
It's OK, Benomo. I would have messed it up.
I'm so sorry. And welcome to episode 71 of the
(00:37):
Shelter Cats Podcast, the podcast created by Shelter Cats
and our holiday episode. So everybody's, everybody's
festive for the holidays. I was going to stuff this here,
but it it was vetoed. So I'm not going to do that.
It just looked like you had to shave a little bit.
That's that's really what it looked like, like you had.
A little I don't have a holiday sweater.
I've never had a holiday sweaterever.
(00:59):
I. That's OK.
I grew up. Jewish.
Now though. I feel like I should get one
Michelle Michelle Design Design holiday merch for us please got.
It. Before before we get to talk to
you guys, Michelle has just a little business to take care of.
I sure do. The Shelter Cats podcast is part
(01:20):
of the Chewy Shelter and Rescue affiliate program.
Chewy's mission is to be the most trusted and convenient
online destination for pet parents and partners everywhere.
Chewy is passionate about supporting animals and making a
positive impact in communities across the country.
Local shelters and rescues oftentimes serve as a first home or
provide continued support to pets.
(01:40):
That's why Chewy is committed tosupporting organizations that
benefit the overall health, safety, and well-being of
shelter and rescue animals. Please click the link in the
podcast description. You'll not only be helping your
local shelter, you'll also be supporting our podcast.
So thank you, Chewy. We love Chewy, and you do that
so well. I screwed it up while you were
(02:01):
away. So we're here.
We are here with Rescue Advocates of Long Island, their
second appearance. Welcome back, guys.
Welcome back Anne, Marie and Caitlin, right?
Yes, yes. So we had you guys on for Season
2 back in the old days when we just had audio.
So now we get to see. You as.
Well. Right.
Looking festive, so just give usa quick recap of Rescue
(02:25):
Advocates of Long Island for we'll have the link to the
previous episode, but just give us a quick like Cliff notes of
what you guys do, of course. Yeah, so we are A5O1C3 charity
that was Co founded by my siblings and I and our parents
help us with everything basically.
We do a lot for our local shelter, our local rescues.
(02:47):
We do our annual holiday Dr. which we're going to get into I
assume we also make paintings for homeless dogs and cats.
We help out at our local shelters reading program.
We we do a lot to collect for all the the different rescues
and shelters and we've been doing it for 12 years.
(03:09):
So it's definitely been a great experience thus far and we love
helping everybody out every year.
It's such a pleasure. So it's holiday time, which
means you're in your holiday. Dr. Yes, I wanted to have you
guys on last year around the holiday time, but I messed it
(03:30):
up. So I accept responsibility for
that. It's a why I think.
It's crazy. How did the Holiday Dr. had to
come about to have a holiday Dr.And what goes into getting a
holiday Dr. done? Like how far out do you have to
start that? It must be a lot more work than
I'm thinking. So what's involved in a holiday
(03:51):
Dr. Yeah, so by now we we have our our routine, we kind of are
used to how how we do the Holiday Dr. every year.
But originally when we started up the charity, you know, we
were thinking of ways that we could get back and help out.
And a holiday Dr. is such an amazing way to help homeless
(04:12):
animals during the holidays. It's such a special time of
year, it's the perfect time of year to give back.
And so we organized our holiday Dr. as our way to give back to
homeless dogs and cats during the holidays.
And originally it was just dogs and cats, but in previous years
we've helped out horses and we help out Guinea pigs.
(04:33):
So we've, we've branched out a bit, but usually we start
discussing things around like late October, early November,
just so we can get all of our ideas in one place, who we're
going to be helping out, how we're going to make things work.
So we, you know, even before theactual holiday Dr. starts, we
(04:54):
like to discuss ideas for each year.
And this year, we're helping out12 organizations, whether it be
rescues or shelters. And we, you know, figure out who
needs what, whether it's supplies, toys, treats, or just
(05:14):
monetary donations. And we make sure to to organize
all of that. So when the Holiday Dr. does
start, we know exactly which organizations are getting what
supplies. Right.
And through Amazon, like we create that wish list, we reach
out to once the family, once we decide who are helping for the
(05:37):
year, for the holiday Dr. then we reach out to them and what do
you need? Like Caitlin was saying, whether
it's monetary or actual items. And if it's actual items, we do,
we compile it all on an Amazon wish list and, you know, with we
share the link so that, you know, people can go right to it.
(05:58):
And we do know, we keep track ofwho wants what so that we know
to give it to them once we do our deliveries, usually late
December, early January. That's great.
How do you decide those 12 organizations?
So it, it, it is challenging. So we, we do a combination I
(06:20):
think of ones we've helped sincethe start, like original ones
that, you know, we've developed relationships with that we
continue to support year after year.
And then we do try to sprinkle in some newer ones every year.
(06:40):
So it's, it's, it's very hard, though, I have to say.
There are so many rescues and shelters who do need the
support. So it's very hard to decide.
We would love to have 20-30 thatwe're helping. 12 is a lot.
It's still, you know, it's still.
A lot. That's a great number.
It you know, yes, and you know, every year, you know, thank
(07:04):
goodness for the support of, youknow, of everybody out there so
that we can help those 12. But it is very hard to narrow it
down. So many need our help on Long
Island. So many.
And is there, is there like a qualifying factor that helps you
narrow that down? Or do do you look at like what a
(07:25):
particular organization might need and see if that is, you
know, oh, we can help them the best?
Or is it like a low hanging fruit thing where OK well I I
know we can satisfy all of theirneeds?
Or how does that work? Yeah, like I, I think at least
for the rescues that we've been helping since the beginning,
like Long Island, Pit stop, get a bowl, tough tails, Those are,
(07:48):
are definitely, definitely ones that, you know, we've made those
connections and, you know, we formed the relationships with
the people who run those rescues.
So it's, it's, you know, no question that, you know, we'd
love to help them every year. And since we've been helping
them for years, we, we have an idea of kind of what they need,
what they look for. And so it's it's very important
(08:11):
for us to at least give back to the ones who have been there for
us for so long. Right.
So that yeah, no, that's definite.
And for like the newer ones or ones who are newer to us, we'll
reach out and just say, you know, would you rather have
items, would you rather have themonetary donation because so
(08:34):
many do need have medical bills,Yeah.
So a lot of times. So like to compare back in the
day 12 years ago versus now, I guess when we first started, it
was more the items, it was more we need these kinds of supplies.
Then it became over time becausethere's so many medical, you
(09:00):
know, needs of the animals that are being rescued that it, it
became more the monetary donations and it's fine.
But some like the, the shelters though, are more the items
because they're, you know, public shelters, so many dogs.
So it's more like supplies and items and toys and treats where
(09:23):
as the smaller grassroots rescues, they need more of that
the medical care support throughmore of the monetary donations.
We we found that too from all the rescues that we've spoken to
both. Hey, I see a cat.
There's a cat behind you. Who's that?
That's that's hold on. That's Sophie.
(09:49):
Is that your cat? Yes, we actually started with
fostering them the end of the summer and we adopted them a few
weeks later. So they are officially Sophie
and Milo and they came from the Town of Hempstead Animal
Shelter, not biological siblings, but they were foster
siblings in their original foster home.
(10:10):
So they were raised as siblings and yeah, and they and they get
along with our dog, our senior dog Bradley.
So all is good. So yes, Sophie made an
appearance she likes to make andshe has been in some of our
thank you videos that we make for the holiday.
Dr. All of a sudden she goes on the lap, she's checking out the
donations. So yes, you'll be seeing Sophie
(10:33):
throughout of a lot of our thankyou videos.
We, we love cameos by cats. My, we interviewed a, a floral
park advocate and my Tucker knocked over the microphone in
the middle of the recording and we we just kind of like went
with it. And I had AI had a Sophie that
passed last year. So I love that you have a
campaign. I love that very much.
(10:56):
It's never easy. It's never, it's never easy.
But hearing that there's a Sophie and this Jackson, he
passed away years ago. All right, and one of our social
media followers named his cat after this cat cuz he had a
pretty rough time with bladder issues.
So back in the social media dayshe had his own Team Jackson
(11:22):
hashtag. So hearing other cats with
names, does that matter to you? I think you know, I, I'm always
touched by that. So.
Yeah, no, definitely. I'm sorry.
And also our dog is in the background.
He's like scratching his back onthe So sorry if you hear some
holy dog sounds. Not at all.
We you're you're following our Jackson Galaxy episode.
(11:46):
Fun fact. And he got up in the middle of
the interview because his dogs were almost about to scream at a
delivery guy. So we welcome, we welcome the
intrusions. Those kind of interruptions or
oh, we was welcome. I did, I did want to ask you
guys. So I, I, you know, mother and
daughter here, though, I remember the one thing that like
(12:07):
really I was impressed with the last time that we spoke was that
this is an entire family affair.And now hearing that you guys
have been doing it for 12 years,I don't think last time it
registered to me that you were doing it for that long.
So can you talk a little bit about that?
Like how old were the kids when you guys started?
You know, it's just it. I think that's such a beautiful
thing that you guys do it as a family and I, I just love that
(12:29):
so. Thank you.
So yes, it's me. It's my my husband Brian, my
older son Brendan, who's 22 now,Caitlin, who's 19 and Brianne
who's 16. So Oh my goodness, minus minus
that. So I guess Caitlin was 7:00-ish,
(12:50):
Brendan was about 10 and Briennewas about four when we started.
So yeah, that's that's a long a long.
That's a long time. That's that's, you know, most of
their lives at this point. I think that's fantastic.
Yeah. No, definitely, and you know,
when we when we incorporated into the five O 1C3 so that in
(13:12):
the future they could carry on and if they have children, you
know, or other family members that they want to continue you
this with that, you know, we're like a legit charity that they
it's something that they can carry forward into the future.
Yeah, I think that's great. I love that.
(13:33):
But yeah, no, it's been a it's been a long time.
But like when we're saying that that this is our 12th annual
holiday Dr. Yeah. And they, they were young.
And like I said, back then, it was more, a lot more items that
were needed. So I remember pictures of them
with like our whole front of ourgarage, you know, this high
(13:54):
going across of, you know, different goodies and supplies
that were needed. Yeah.
When they when they were younger.
But like we were saying, it's more of the medical care support
now, which is so needed. Yeah.
All over Long Islands. We find that with the with the
rescues, the vet bills are just completely astronomical, right,
(14:18):
absolutely out of control vet bills.
So we completely understand thatneed a few rescues that we've
spoken to a few rescues that I've gone on recently when I've
had to reach out to rescues, they said we can't, we almost at
the point where we can't take inanymore because we're
overwhelmed with vet bills And, and any more cats that come in
(14:39):
will all almost certainly need some sort of dental work or, or
spay neuter or any kind of othermedical issues that come in.
So I, I that make that trajectory of, you know, goods
to more help with vet bills makecomplete sense to me.
So, so, so. Everybody was much younger.
Yes. What?
Where was day one? Was it like you're at you're all
(15:02):
at the table having dinner and you said what do we how, what
would you remember like the day one of when you decided to go
down this road? So there there was another group
that was doing that had posted on Facebook about a holiday Dr.
They were called Kids Adopt A Shelter.
And they, you know, they were doing that and we were looking
(15:27):
at that and, you know, we were like, oh, we can help.
We can help that way. And so for our first year, we
were, you know, we did. Oh my gosh, I think it was
gettable, Long Island, Pit stop and Tuftails.
I think a new beginning. I think those were our first
(15:49):
through them. Like we just like we knew about
the rescue. So we got to choose who we
wanted to help and we're like, oh, this is great.
And we, and, and we raised a lotof supplies and stuff and we
realized, you know, we can do this on our own and like we
said, incorporate as a 501-C3 and, and something for our own
(16:10):
family to do so we can. So after that first year that we
did it, after hearing about holiday drives and then we were
hearing more different holiday drives, different organizations
doing that. And we're like, hey, this is
something that we could do as a family.
And so we, you know, founded Rescue Advocates of Long Island.
(16:34):
I'm trying to think how we came up with the name.
I actually, I was gonna say I have a vivid memory of like,
like I don't remember exactly like coming up with the idea,
but I have a vivid memory of us coming up with the name.
I don't know where we were we. Were driving but we.
Were in the car and we were justall like throwing out ideas.
But I remember when we got Rescue Advocates of Li or
(16:55):
Raleigh, and I love the name. It's that's just one thing that
I was like, I totally can like picture it.
I remember exactly when we got the name.
And I had a good acronym with the Raleigh thing.
Yeah. Liked it?
Yeah. So 'cause we were thinking
because we're not our own, you know, obviously we're not our
own rescue where we take in dogs, cats, ourselves, but we're
(17:19):
rescue advocates. You know, we, we support
rescues, we support the shelters.
So that's yeah, that's and of course obviously the Long Island
part, but yeah. And then we like the RALI
Raleigh acronym there. So that, so that's, so that's
how we did hear about it when Kids Adopt A Shelter was doing
(17:41):
it. And we participated in it for
that first year and came up withthe own rescues and shelters
that we were going to help. And then we took it from there.
We're like, we can make this ourown and helping the rescues and
shelters that we wanted to to support and everything.
So. Yeah.
And that it's just so long ago now starting to feel old.
(18:05):
Oh, no, It's so. Yeah.
And we had, and back then also we had our own rescue cats and
we were in the beginnings of rescuing our current, you know,
our pit bulls. We had three pit bulls at one
point and all rescues and all from rescues and or the shelters
(18:30):
that we were helping. So it was all nice and
interconnected there that we were adopting from them.
And then we, as Caitlin said earlier, we were giving back for
giving us such great family members.
And just kind of Speaking of giving back, so talk a little
bit about the paintings that youguys do again.
(18:51):
So don't, I don't wanna, I don'twanna miss out on that 'cause I
think that's a really cool thing.
Yeah, so I, I don't remember exactly how it started, but I
remember doing my first painting'cause I'm more of like a, like
a digital artist, I'd say like like fine art was never really
like my super strong suit. But I remember we started doing,
(19:15):
I think I only did one, like I think the first, it wasn't even
like a batch, like I just did one.
I remember it was Ringo at Town of Hampstead and it was 2018 we
started doing. The paintings and.
Yeah, and we, we would do like every couple weeks or maybe
(19:35):
months, we would bring in new batches of paintings.
And they started getting put on the the wall in the lobby of
Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter.
And now they have this whole setup.
They have like a little paper with mine and my siblings names
on it. And, you know, surrounding it is
(19:56):
just this whole wall of all the paintings.
So it's super nice when we go tojust see like look back on all
the work I've done. And it's also a nice reminder
of, you know, who's still at theshelter, who still, you know,
needs that help to get adopted. And I've always loved the
concept of. Whoever is adopting a dog or a
(20:16):
cat, they, they get to take the painting home with them.
And I've always loved that, thataspect of it.
But yeah, no, we've been doing it for seven years now.
So it's, you know. Yeah, that's a lot.
And I'm going to say they've probably done because because
like, you know, at the public shelters, you always want to try
to like bring some color and bring some.
(20:38):
Yeah, like you know that. This aspect, so that's like why
we started. We had been and you know, going
and visiting there for a while beforehand and it's like, what
could we do to like just bring some color and some like pop to,
you know, originally the paintings were on each of the
(21:00):
dogs kennels in like a little and and and it was great because
like people. So that was like the original
concept was to like draw somebody over to a kennel cage
that they might not look in otherwise.
If they say, oh, look at this cute painting of this dog, let
me look in and see the dog. You know, that it, it brought
(21:24):
people to that, to that kennel to see that dog, unfortunately,
because of course they're alwayscleaning the kennels and then
naturally, and there's lots of water and, you know, cleaning
supplies of the towns. It, you know, the shelter staff
was like, we're not sure if thisis the safest place for the
(21:46):
paintings to be because. That makes sense.
Like. The cleaning and the water and
everything. And even though they were in
these clear pouches, water was getting in them.
So it was decided by the shelterto move it to one of the walls
in the front lobby. When people walk in and they're
waiting there in the lobby, theycan look at the paintings and
see, oh, this dog looks cute. Let maybe you know, once we go
(22:10):
into the kennels, we'll go visitthat dog.
So it, it, you know, location moved and it's great though now
'cause it's like when you walk in, as Caitlin said, it's a
whole wall of them. And while people are waiting or
filling out adoption applications, the paintings are
right there for them to look at.That's.
Cool they see the paintings before the actual dog or cat.
(22:31):
Right, right. I like that.
That's actually really, really cool.
And then they go home with they go home with that painting, that
painting once. They adopt or if a rescue pulls
a certain dog or cat, it goes with the rescue or the adopter.
Can we Commission you guys to dosome of our cats?
Yeah. We.
Can. We'll, we'll talk.
(22:53):
We'll talk, We'll talk. Yeah, it's and they've done.
I'm going to say I count. 300 but that was that was at least
like 2 years ago I was going. To say probably over 400 by now.
Yeah. Well, I mean, you've been doing
them since 2018, you said. Right, Right.
(23:14):
Yeah, there's, that's got to be a lot.
So we take a picture of each one, you know, so we have sort
of a catalog there so that, you know, before we deliver them to
the shelter and they hang them up, we have, you know, a picture
of each. And every once in a while, the
the girls will go in front of the paintings and I'll take a
picture of them in front of the current paintings on the wall.
(23:38):
When we start seeing a lot of spaces, meaning, you know, a lot
of you know, some adoptions werehappening, you know, we know
it's time to make a new batch. So you know you should do a.
Calendar. You should do a calendar with
all the like the like a photo ofthe animal and the drawing like
of. The previous year.
As animals, yeah. Yeah.
How? Long does a painting.
How long does a painting take todo?
(24:01):
It should. Say like 'cause there's the
sketching. Yeah, the sketching doesn't take
long. It's like them actually painting
like the background. The background or yeah, I'm
gonna say possibly up to 45 minutes to an hour.
A painting. It depends on also the like for
(24:24):
instance if it is like a tabby, cat or.
Like a Brindle dog. Yeah, a Brindle dog where
there's that little extra having, it's not like a solid
color. Yeah, like the patterns,
whatever the patterns are. But like it's like a solid color
or like let's say a black dog, you know, maybe that's more a 45
(24:45):
minute. But if you're adding, like you
said, a Brinzel dog or a calico or a tabby cat, that's a little
longer, let's say about an hour or so for adding those details,
those findings. We might, we might have you back
to do a painting on the show. What do you think?
Oh. Boy, Roger, right?
(25:09):
You don't have to decide now, but I think it would be an
awesome idea to have you on and I and it's and it's recorded.
So I just put you on the spot, but I find myself drawn to your,
your efforts. And I wanted to have you guys on
because this, this is a crazy world this year.
(25:32):
We don't, we don't talk politicson this show, but this is a very
crazy year, a very stressful year.
And that you guys are such a, such a tight family unit and
have done this for so long. And you, you and I have
connected on social media. Your husband and I have
connected on social media. I've even dabbled with the idea
(25:54):
of making awesome nonprofit and you guys were very helpful with
giving us information really detailed.
So appreciate the detailed information, Horse I there's
Eddie Anne. There's my little my little
troublemaker. Oh, so cute.
(26:15):
She's adorable. And the.
Biggest troublemaker ever, but Ilove her to death.
She's adorable. OK, so cute.
But you guys are are are the family values is what I wanted
to feature on on our holiday episode this year because you
guys are such a such a good family unit and and you do
(26:37):
wonderful things together. Just seeing what you do as a
family, your trips and at all just I just think it's so needed
as much as you can you other families should model what they
model a project like this, even if it's not for animal rescue,
right? I think it's something that
(26:59):
other you could you could almostgive lessons to other families.
It's such a great thing that youguys do as a family and have
done it for so long and the giving back.
I just think it's something I wanted to feature again because
this will come out literally right before Christmas.
I wanted to feature your, your efforts, your holiday Dr. How
(27:19):
can people donate to your holiday Dr. How can people reach
out to you? So please plug.
Yeah. So we have a website, it's
www.rescueadvocatesli.org. We also have Instagram,
Facebook. Is it the same handle?
So Facebook. It's rescue advocates of Long
Islands Instagram. It's at rescue advocates Li and
(27:45):
on our website www.rescueadvocatesli.org.org.
It's so long rescueli.org. We do have the links to for our
holiday drive to the Amazon wishlist to PayPal.
If you know, people are would rather donate, you know, donate.
(28:10):
So again, yeah, our website is there our, you know, we have the
links also on our Facebook and Instagram also.
We'll have all your links in ourin our episode description.
So OK, if you didn't catch all that, please go to the to the
link and this will be out beforeChristmas.
(28:30):
So it's not it won't be too lateto to donate or or make help
them make a. Difference any any support that
could be given so that we can then support and help the
rescues and shelters out there. You guys are great.
You guys are wonderful. Maybe we'll make this an annual
thing. Think, Caitlin.
(28:50):
Think about the painting. I'll let you.
Know I. Think you'll be talk about it as
a family when you do your next apple picking or whatever and
you know, and I think it'll be agreat idea.
But either way, thank you guys so much for all you do on behalf
of rescues and animals. It's just so it's heartwarming,
(29:11):
It's awesome, it's wonderful. It's so needed that the need is
overwhelming. Tremendous, tremendous when you
when you think about it and juston Long Island it's it's
tremendous. Need you.
Know and you make a dent, and that's more than anybody could
ever. We're all A-Team.
All of us, however we can, with your podcast, with holiday
(29:35):
drives, with whatever, we're allA-Team trying to, you know, make
the world's a better place for the dogs, cats of Long Island.
And getting things we're. Also helping getting things and
getting things. And getting things at horse, at
horses. Yeah, I just, you know, we're
just, we're trying to, you know,all of us, right?
We're all A-Team, just trying tomake the world better for
(29:56):
animals. That's right.
Well, the world needs more families like you guys,
especially nowadays, and it's only going to get crazier.
So the world needs more familieslike you guys and rescue
advocates of Long Island. Their links will be in the
podcast description. Please donate.
Please help them with their holiday Dr. The more you donate,
(30:16):
the more they'll be able to giveout to to the 12 finalists that
made the cut this year. So on behalf of all of us at the
Shelter Cats podcast, Michelle, myself, our producer, Steven,
who is cat behavior helping tonight with, with clients.
(30:37):
He, he's our, he's our producer and he does cat behavior help,
which is basically cat behavior therapy, OK.
For the for the humans. It's as much for the humans,
it's for the people. He's he's out.
He's out doing his work. So we couldn't be here tonight.
But he sends his love on behalf of everybody at the podcast and
rescue advocates of Long Island.Have a happy and safe and
(31:00):
wonderful Christmas. I'm putting my tinsel back on.
Have a great. Christmas, have a safe.
Happy New Year and Long live rescue advocates of Long Island,
honestly. Thank you so much for having us.
Yes, thank you. Thanks for the.
Holidays to everybody. Happy holidays and we'll see you
in the new year with the next episode.
(31:21):
I used to hate cats. Used to be dogs all the way till
a cat came along. Changed
prefer me too. Hello there, cat people.
They're the cat man here along with Michelle the Meow Maven.
So happy to have you Michelle, and please pronounce your last
name so I don't want to screw itup.
It's OK, Benomo. I would have messed it up.
I'm so sorry. And welcome to episode 71 of the
(00:37):
Shelter Cats Podcast, the podcast created by Shelter Cats
and our holiday episode. So everybody's, everybody's
festive for the holidays. I was going to stuff this here,
but it it was vetoed. So I'm not going to do that.
It just looked like you had to shave a little bit.
That's that's really what it looked like, like you had.
A little I don't have a holiday sweater.
I've never had a holiday sweaterever.
(00:59):
I. That's OK.
I grew up. Jewish.
Now though. I feel like I should get one
Michelle Michelle Design Design holiday merch for us please got.
It. Before before we get to talk to
you guys, Michelle has just a little business to take care of.
I sure do. The Shelter Cats podcast is part
(01:20):
of the Chewy Shelter and Rescue affiliate program.
Chewy's mission is to be the most trusted and convenient
online destination for pet parents and partners everywhere.
Chewy is passionate about supporting animals and making a
positive impact in communities across the country.
Local shelters and rescues oftentimes serve as a first home or
provide continued support to pets.
(01:40):
That's why Chewy is committed tosupporting organizations that
benefit the overall health, safety, and well-being of
shelter and rescue animals. Please click the link in the
podcast description. You'll not only be helping your
local shelter, you'll also be supporting our podcast.
So thank you, Chewy. We love Chewy, and you do that
so well. I screwed it up while you were
(02:01):
away. So we're here.
We are here with Rescue Advocates of Long Island, their
second appearance. Welcome back, guys.
Welcome back Anne, Marie and Caitlin, right?
Yes, yes. So we had you guys on for Season
2 back in the old days when we just had audio.
So now we get to see. You as.
Well. Right.
Looking festive, so just give usa quick recap of Rescue
(02:25):
Advocates of Long Island for we'll have the link to the
previous episode, but just give us a quick like Cliff notes of
what you guys do, of course. Yeah, so we are A5O1C3 charity
that was Co founded by my siblings and I and our parents
help us with everything basically.
We do a lot for our local shelter, our local rescues.
(02:47):
We do our annual holiday Dr. which we're going to get into I
assume we also make paintings for homeless dogs and cats.
We help out at our local shelters reading program.
We we do a lot to collect for all the the different rescues
and shelters and we've been doing it for 12 years.
(03:09):
So it's definitely been a great experience thus far and we love
helping everybody out every year.
It's such a pleasure. So it's holiday time, which
means you're in your holiday. Dr. Yes, I wanted to have you
guys on last year around the holiday time, but I messed it
(03:30):
up. So I accept responsibility for
that. It's a why I think.
It's crazy. How did the Holiday Dr. had to
come about to have a holiday Dr.And what goes into getting a
holiday Dr. done? Like how far out do you have to
start that? It must be a lot more work than
I'm thinking. So what's involved in a holiday
(03:51):
Dr. Yeah, so by now we we have our our routine, we kind of are
used to how how we do the Holiday Dr. every year.
But originally when we started up the charity, you know, we
were thinking of ways that we could get back and help out.
And a holiday Dr. is such an amazing way to help homeless
(04:12):
animals during the holidays. It's such a special time of
year, it's the perfect time of year to give back.
And so we organized our holiday Dr. as our way to give back to
homeless dogs and cats during the holidays.
And originally it was just dogs and cats, but in previous years
we've helped out horses and we help out Guinea pigs.
(04:33):
So we've, we've branched out a bit, but usually we start
discussing things around like late October, early November,
just so we can get all of our ideas in one place, who we're
going to be helping out, how we're going to make things work.
So we, you know, even before theactual holiday Dr. starts, we
(04:54):
like to discuss ideas for each year.
And this year, we're helping out12 organizations, whether it be
rescues or shelters. And we, you know, figure out who
needs what, whether it's supplies, toys, treats, or just
(05:14):
monetary donations. And we make sure to to organize
all of that. So when the Holiday Dr. does
start, we know exactly which organizations are getting what
supplies. Right.
And through Amazon, like we create that wish list, we reach
out to once the family, once we decide who are helping for the
(05:37):
year, for the holiday Dr. then we reach out to them and what do
you need? Like Caitlin was saying, whether
it's monetary or actual items. And if it's actual items, we do,
we compile it all on an Amazon wish list and, you know, with we
share the link so that, you know, people can go right to it.
(05:58):
And we do know, we keep track ofwho wants what so that we know
to give it to them once we do our deliveries, usually late
December, early January. That's great.
How do you decide those 12 organizations?
So it, it, it is challenging. So we, we do a combination I
(06:20):
think of ones we've helped sincethe start, like original ones
that, you know, we've developed relationships with that we
continue to support year after year.
And then we do try to sprinkle in some newer ones every year.
(06:40):
So it's, it's, it's very hard, though, I have to say.
There are so many rescues and shelters who do need the
support. So it's very hard to decide.
We would love to have 20-30 thatwe're helping. 12 is a lot.
It's still, you know, it's still.
A lot. That's a great number.
It you know, yes, and you know, every year, you know, thank
(07:04):
goodness for the support of, youknow, of everybody out there so
that we can help those 12. But it is very hard to narrow it
down. So many need our help on Long
Island. So many.
And is there, is there like a qualifying factor that helps you
narrow that down? Or do do you look at like what a
(07:25):
particular organization might need and see if that is, you
know, oh, we can help them the best?
Or is it like a low hanging fruit thing where OK well I I
know we can satisfy all of theirneeds?
Or how does that work? Yeah, like I, I think at least
for the rescues that we've been helping since the beginning,
like Long Island, Pit stop, get a bowl, tough tails, Those are,
(07:48):
are definitely, definitely ones that, you know, we've made those
connections and, you know, we formed the relationships with
the people who run those rescues.
So it's, it's, you know, no question that, you know, we'd
love to help them every year. And since we've been helping
them for years, we, we have an idea of kind of what they need,
what they look for. And so it's it's very important
(08:11):
for us to at least give back to the ones who have been there for
us for so long. Right.
So that yeah, no, that's definite.
And for like the newer ones or ones who are newer to us, we'll
reach out and just say, you know, would you rather have
items, would you rather have themonetary donation because so
(08:34):
many do need have medical bills,Yeah.
So a lot of times. So like to compare back in the
day 12 years ago versus now, I guess when we first started, it
was more the items, it was more we need these kinds of supplies.
Then it became over time becausethere's so many medical, you
(09:00):
know, needs of the animals that are being rescued that it, it
became more the monetary donations and it's fine.
But some like the, the shelters though, are more the items
because they're, you know, public shelters, so many dogs.
So it's more like supplies and items and toys and treats where
(09:23):
as the smaller grassroots rescues, they need more of that
the medical care support throughmore of the monetary donations.
We we found that too from all the rescues that we've spoken to
both. Hey, I see a cat.
There's a cat behind you. Who's that?
That's that's hold on. That's Sophie.
(09:49):
Is that your cat? Yes, we actually started with
fostering them the end of the summer and we adopted them a few
weeks later. So they are officially Sophie
and Milo and they came from the Town of Hempstead Animal
Shelter, not biological siblings, but they were foster
siblings in their original foster home.
(10:10):
So they were raised as siblings and yeah, and they and they get
along with our dog, our senior dog Bradley.
So all is good. So yes, Sophie made an
appearance she likes to make andshe has been in some of our
thank you videos that we make for the holiday.
Dr. All of a sudden she goes on the lap, she's checking out the
donations. So yes, you'll be seeing Sophie
(10:33):
throughout of a lot of our thankyou videos.
We, we love cameos by cats. My, we interviewed a, a floral
park advocate and my Tucker knocked over the microphone in
the middle of the recording and we we just kind of like went
with it. And I had AI had a Sophie that
passed last year. So I love that you have a
campaign. I love that very much.
(10:56):
It's never easy. It's never, it's never easy.
But hearing that there's a Sophie and this Jackson, he
passed away years ago. All right, and one of our social
media followers named his cat after this cat cuz he had a
pretty rough time with bladder issues.
So back in the social media dayshe had his own Team Jackson
(11:22):
hashtag. So hearing other cats with
names, does that matter to you? I think you know, I, I'm always
touched by that. So.
Yeah, no, definitely. I'm sorry.
And also our dog is in the background.
He's like scratching his back onthe So sorry if you hear some
holy dog sounds. Not at all.
We you're you're following our Jackson Galaxy episode.
(11:46):
Fun fact. And he got up in the middle of
the interview because his dogs were almost about to scream at a
delivery guy. So we welcome, we welcome the
intrusions. Those kind of interruptions or
oh, we was welcome. I did, I did want to ask you
guys. So I, I, you know, mother and
daughter here, though, I remember the one thing that like
(12:07):
really I was impressed with the last time that we spoke was that
this is an entire family affair.And now hearing that you guys
have been doing it for 12 years,I don't think last time it
registered to me that you were doing it for that long.
So can you talk a little bit about that?
Like how old were the kids when you guys started?
You know, it's just it. I think that's such a beautiful
thing that you guys do it as a family and I, I just love that
(12:29):
so. Thank you.
So yes, it's me. It's my my husband Brian, my
older son Brendan, who's 22 now,Caitlin, who's 19 and Brianne
who's 16. So Oh my goodness, minus minus
that. So I guess Caitlin was 7:00-ish,
(12:50):
Brendan was about 10 and Briennewas about four when we started.
So yeah, that's that's a long a long.
That's a long time. That's that's, you know, most of
their lives at this point. I think that's fantastic.
Yeah. No, definitely, and you know,
when we when we incorporated into the five O 1C3 so that in
(13:12):
the future they could carry on and if they have children, you
know, or other family members that they want to continue you
this with that, you know, we're like a legit charity that they
it's something that they can carry forward into the future.
Yeah, I think that's great. I love that.
(13:33):
But yeah, no, it's been a it's been a long time.
But like when we're saying that that this is our 12th annual
holiday Dr. Yeah. And they, they were young.
And like I said, back then, it was more, a lot more items that
were needed. So I remember pictures of them
with like our whole front of ourgarage, you know, this high
(13:54):
going across of, you know, different goodies and supplies
that were needed. Yeah.
When they when they were younger.
But like we were saying, it's more of the medical care support
now, which is so needed. Yeah.
All over Long Islands. We find that with the with the
rescues, the vet bills are just completely astronomical, right,
(14:18):
absolutely out of control vet bills.
So we completely understand thatneed a few rescues that we've
spoken to a few rescues that I've gone on recently when I've
had to reach out to rescues, they said we can't, we almost at
the point where we can't take inanymore because we're
overwhelmed with vet bills And, and any more cats that come in
(14:39):
will all almost certainly need some sort of dental work or, or
spay neuter or any kind of othermedical issues that come in.
So I, I that make that trajectory of, you know, goods
to more help with vet bills makecomplete sense to me.
So, so, so. Everybody was much younger.
Yes. What?
Where was day one? Was it like you're at you're all
(15:02):
at the table having dinner and you said what do we how, what
would you remember like the day one of when you decided to go
down this road? So there there was another group
that was doing that had posted on Facebook about a holiday Dr.
They were called Kids Adopt A Shelter.
And they, you know, they were doing that and we were looking
(15:27):
at that and, you know, we were like, oh, we can help.
We can help that way. And so for our first year, we
were, you know, we did. Oh my gosh, I think it was
gettable, Long Island, Pit stop and Tuftails.
I think a new beginning. I think those were our first
(15:49):
through them. Like we just like we knew about
the rescue. So we got to choose who we
wanted to help and we're like, oh, this is great.
And we, and, and we raised a lotof supplies and stuff and we
realized, you know, we can do this on our own and like we
said, incorporate as a 501-C3 and, and something for our own
(16:10):
family to do so we can. So after that first year that we
did it, after hearing about holiday drives and then we were
hearing more different holiday drives, different organizations
doing that. And we're like, hey, this is
something that we could do as a family.
And so we, you know, founded Rescue Advocates of Long Island.
(16:34):
I'm trying to think how we came up with the name.
I actually, I was gonna say I have a vivid memory of like,
like I don't remember exactly like coming up with the idea,
but I have a vivid memory of us coming up with the name.
I don't know where we were we. Were driving but we.
Were in the car and we were justall like throwing out ideas.
But I remember when we got Rescue Advocates of Li or
(16:55):
Raleigh, and I love the name. It's that's just one thing that
I was like, I totally can like picture it.
I remember exactly when we got the name.
And I had a good acronym with the Raleigh thing.
Yeah. Liked it?
Yeah. So 'cause we were thinking
because we're not our own, you know, obviously we're not our
own rescue where we take in dogs, cats, ourselves, but we're
(17:19):
rescue advocates. You know, we, we support
rescues, we support the shelters.
So that's yeah, that's and of course obviously the Long Island
part, but yeah. And then we like the RALI
Raleigh acronym there. So that, so that's, so that's
how we did hear about it when Kids Adopt A Shelter was doing
(17:41):
it. And we participated in it for
that first year and came up withthe own rescues and shelters
that we were going to help. And then we took it from there.
We're like, we can make this ourown and helping the rescues and
shelters that we wanted to to support and everything.
So. Yeah.
And that it's just so long ago now starting to feel old.
(18:05):
Oh, no, It's so. Yeah.
And we had, and back then also we had our own rescue cats and
we were in the beginnings of rescuing our current, you know,
our pit bulls. We had three pit bulls at one
point and all rescues and all from rescues and or the shelters
(18:30):
that we were helping. So it was all nice and
interconnected there that we were adopting from them.
And then we, as Caitlin said earlier, we were giving back for
giving us such great family members.
And just kind of Speaking of giving back, so talk a little
bit about the paintings that youguys do again.
(18:51):
So don't, I don't wanna, I don'twanna miss out on that 'cause I
think that's a really cool thing.
Yeah, so I, I don't remember exactly how it started, but I
remember doing my first painting'cause I'm more of like a, like
a digital artist, I'd say like like fine art was never really
like my super strong suit. But I remember we started doing,
(19:15):
I think I only did one, like I think the first, it wasn't even
like a batch, like I just did one.
I remember it was Ringo at Town of Hampstead and it was 2018 we
started doing. The paintings and.
Yeah, and we, we would do like every couple weeks or maybe
(19:35):
months, we would bring in new batches of paintings.
And they started getting put on the the wall in the lobby of
Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter.
And now they have this whole setup.
They have like a little paper with mine and my siblings names
on it. And, you know, surrounding it is
(19:56):
just this whole wall of all the paintings.
So it's super nice when we go tojust see like look back on all
the work I've done. And it's also a nice reminder
of, you know, who's still at theshelter, who still, you know,
needs that help to get adopted. And I've always loved the
concept of. Whoever is adopting a dog or a
(20:16):
cat, they, they get to take the painting home with them.
And I've always loved that, thataspect of it.
But yeah, no, we've been doing it for seven years now.
So it's, you know. Yeah, that's a lot.
And I'm going to say they've probably done because because
like, you know, at the public shelters, you always want to try
to like bring some color and bring some.
(20:38):
Yeah, like you know that. This aspect, so that's like why
we started. We had been and you know, going
and visiting there for a while beforehand and it's like, what
could we do to like just bring some color and some like pop to,
you know, originally the paintings were on each of the
(21:00):
dogs kennels in like a little and and and it was great because
like people. So that was like the original
concept was to like draw somebody over to a kennel cage
that they might not look in otherwise.
If they say, oh, look at this cute painting of this dog, let
me look in and see the dog. You know, that it, it brought
(21:24):
people to that, to that kennel to see that dog, unfortunately,
because of course they're alwayscleaning the kennels and then
naturally, and there's lots of water and, you know, cleaning
supplies of the towns. It, you know, the shelter staff
was like, we're not sure if thisis the safest place for the
(21:46):
paintings to be because. That makes sense.
Like. The cleaning and the water and
everything. And even though they were in
these clear pouches, water was getting in them.
So it was decided by the shelterto move it to one of the walls
in the front lobby. When people walk in and they're
waiting there in the lobby, theycan look at the paintings and
see, oh, this dog looks cute. Let maybe you know, once we go
(22:10):
into the kennels, we'll go visitthat dog.
So it, it, you know, location moved and it's great though now
'cause it's like when you walk in, as Caitlin said, it's a
whole wall of them. And while people are waiting or
filling out adoption applications, the paintings are
right there for them to look at.That's.
Cool they see the paintings before the actual dog or cat.
(22:31):
Right, right. I like that.
That's actually really, really cool.
And then they go home with they go home with that painting, that
painting once. They adopt or if a rescue pulls
a certain dog or cat, it goes with the rescue or the adopter.
Can we Commission you guys to dosome of our cats?
Yeah. We.
Can. We'll, we'll talk.
(22:53):
We'll talk, We'll talk. Yeah, it's and they've done.
I'm going to say I count. 300 but that was that was at least
like 2 years ago I was going. To say probably over 400 by now.
Yeah. Well, I mean, you've been doing
them since 2018, you said. Right, Right.
(23:14):
Yeah, there's, that's got to be a lot.
So we take a picture of each one, you know, so we have sort
of a catalog there so that, you know, before we deliver them to
the shelter and they hang them up, we have, you know, a picture
of each. And every once in a while, the
the girls will go in front of the paintings and I'll take a
picture of them in front of the current paintings on the wall.
(23:38):
When we start seeing a lot of spaces, meaning, you know, a lot
of you know, some adoptions werehappening, you know, we know
it's time to make a new batch. So you know you should do a.
Calendar. You should do a calendar with
all the like the like a photo ofthe animal and the drawing like
of. The previous year.
As animals, yeah. Yeah.
How? Long does a painting.
How long does a painting take todo?
(24:01):
It should. Say like 'cause there's the
sketching. Yeah, the sketching doesn't take
long. It's like them actually painting
like the background. The background or yeah, I'm
gonna say possibly up to 45 minutes to an hour.
A painting. It depends on also the like for
(24:24):
instance if it is like a tabby, cat or.
Like a Brindle dog. Yeah, a Brindle dog where
there's that little extra having, it's not like a solid
color. Yeah, like the patterns,
whatever the patterns are. But like it's like a solid color
or like let's say a black dog, you know, maybe that's more a 45
(24:45):
minute. But if you're adding, like you
said, a Brinzel dog or a calico or a tabby cat, that's a little
longer, let's say about an hour or so for adding those details,
those findings. We might, we might have you back
to do a painting on the show. What do you think?
Oh. Boy, Roger, right?
(25:09):
You don't have to decide now, but I think it would be an
awesome idea to have you on and I and it's and it's recorded.
So I just put you on the spot, but I find myself drawn to your,
your efforts. And I wanted to have you guys on
because this, this is a crazy world this year.
(25:32):
We don't, we don't talk politicson this show, but this is a very
crazy year, a very stressful year.
And that you guys are such a, such a tight family unit and
have done this for so long. And you, you and I have
connected on social media. Your husband and I have
connected on social media. I've even dabbled with the idea
(25:54):
of making awesome nonprofit and you guys were very helpful with
giving us information really detailed.
So appreciate the detailed information, Horse I there's
Eddie Anne. There's my little my little
troublemaker. Oh, so cute.
(26:15):
She's adorable. And the.
Biggest troublemaker ever, but Ilove her to death.
She's adorable. OK, so cute.
But you guys are are are the family values is what I wanted
to feature on on our holiday episode this year because you
guys are such a such a good family unit and and you do
(26:37):
wonderful things together. Just seeing what you do as a
family, your trips and at all just I just think it's so needed
as much as you can you other families should model what they
model a project like this, even if it's not for animal rescue,
right? I think it's something that
(26:59):
other you could you could almostgive lessons to other families.
It's such a great thing that youguys do as a family and have
done it for so long and the giving back.
I just think it's something I wanted to feature again because
this will come out literally right before Christmas.
I wanted to feature your, your efforts, your holiday Dr. How
(27:19):
can people donate to your holiday Dr. How can people reach
out to you? So please plug.
Yeah. So we have a website, it's
www.rescueadvocatesli.org. We also have Instagram,
Facebook. Is it the same handle?
So Facebook. It's rescue advocates of Long
Islands Instagram. It's at rescue advocates Li and
(27:45):
on our website www.rescueadvocatesli.org.org.
It's so long rescueli.org. We do have the links to for our
holiday drive to the Amazon wishlist to PayPal.
If you know, people are would rather donate, you know, donate.
(28:10):
So again, yeah, our website is there our, you know, we have the
links also on our Facebook and Instagram also.
We'll have all your links in ourin our episode description.
So OK, if you didn't catch all that, please go to the to the
link and this will be out beforeChristmas.
(28:30):
So it's not it won't be too lateto to donate or or make help
them make a. Difference any any support that
could be given so that we can then support and help the
rescues and shelters out there. You guys are great.
You guys are wonderful. Maybe we'll make this an annual
thing. Think, Caitlin.
(28:50):
Think about the painting. I'll let you.
Know I. Think you'll be talk about it as
a family when you do your next apple picking or whatever and
you know, and I think it'll be agreat idea.
But either way, thank you guys so much for all you do on behalf
of rescues and animals. It's just so it's heartwarming,
(29:11):
It's awesome, it's wonderful. It's so needed that the need is
overwhelming. Tremendous, tremendous when you
when you think about it and juston Long Island it's it's
tremendous. Need you.
Know and you make a dent, and that's more than anybody could
ever. We're all A-Team.
All of us, however we can, with your podcast, with holiday
(29:35):
drives, with whatever, we're allA-Team trying to, you know, make
the world's a better place for the dogs, cats of Long Island.
And getting things we're. Also helping getting things and
getting things. And getting things at horse, at
horses. Yeah, I just, you know, we're
just, we're trying to, you know,all of us, right?
We're all A-Team, just trying tomake the world better for
(29:56):
animals. That's right.
Well, the world needs more families like you guys,
especially nowadays, and it's only going to get crazier.
So the world needs more familieslike you guys and rescue
advocates of Long Island. Their links will be in the
podcast description. Please donate.
Please help them with their holiday Dr. The more you donate,
(30:16):
the more they'll be able to giveout to to the 12 finalists that
made the cut this year. So on behalf of all of us at the
Shelter Cats podcast, Michelle, myself, our producer, Steven,
who is cat behavior helping tonight with, with clients.
(30:37):
He, he's our, he's our producer and he does cat behavior help,
which is basically cat behavior therapy, OK.
For the for the humans. It's as much for the humans,
it's for the people. He's he's out.
He's out doing his work. So we couldn't be here tonight.
But he sends his love on behalf of everybody at the podcast and
rescue advocates of Long Island.Have a happy and safe and
(31:00):
wonderful Christmas. I'm putting my tinsel back on.
Have a great. Christmas, have a safe.
Happy New Year and Long live rescue advocates of Long Island,
honestly. Thank you so much for having us.
Yes, thank you. Thanks for the.
Holidays to everybody. Happy holidays and we'll see you
in the new year with the next episode.
(31:21):
I used to hate cats. Used to be dogs all the way till
a cat came along. Changed
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