Stacy LeBaron – TNR and Community Cats Advocate
Stacy LeBaron has long been a champion of TNR (Trap Neuter Release) to help stop the growth of the feral cat population, affectionately referred to as Community Cats. But it’s not just ferals who are part of the community: people who let their cats wander outside, cats that have been cast out of their homes, and any cat, feral or domestic, that lives the majority of their lives outside can be considered part of the outside Community Cats.
Host of the Community Cats Podcast, Stacy says Community Cats are “all those cats we see outside, whether feral, stray or cats that are inside/outside cats.” It’s become her mission to educate people about the outside cat population, and why TNR is such an important component to ending the growth of the feral population and the suffering of all outdoor cats due to resource limitations. Stacy is always working to bring education to cat lovers everywhere with her blogs, classes, and continuing education.
Learn how you can help make life better for these cast away outdoor cats and for your community.
Listen to Episode #110 Now:
BIO:
Stacy LeBaron has been involved in animal welfare for over 20 years. She currently hosts a weekly podcast called the Community Cats Podcast where she interviews nationally and internationally renowned experts helping with the problem of cat overpopulation and cat welfare. In addition to the podcast, Stacy is committed to the model of virtual education by holding three weekend conferences, the Online Cat Conference, The United Spay Alliance Conference and the Online Kitten Conference. She hosts day long sessions covering specific topics around Feline Leukemia, Behavior and Fundraising. At the end of 2020, she also partnered with Neighborhood Cats to hold monthly virtually trapper training and certification workshops to better introduce individuals to best practices for trapping community cats.
Previous to starting the podcast, Stacy served for 16 years as president of the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society (MRFRS). Under her leadership, the MRFRS assisted over 105,000 cats and kittens through a variety of innovative programs. Among the MRFRS’s programs are two mobile spay/neuter clinics, known as the Catmobiles, and an adoption center in Salisbury, MA. Stacy ran the MRFRS Mentoring Program, which began in 2011 and assisted 11,000 cats through its work with 77 different animal welfare groups in 14 states.
An expert in her field, Stacy is a current member of the Shelter Medicine Committee at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, an adviser to the Massachusetts Animal Coalition (MAC), President of the Board for PAWSitive Pantry in Vermont, Board member at the Vermont Humane Federation, Treasurer for the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society, program leader for the Pet Food Task Force in MA, and program organizer for HubCats Chelsea. She is a past board member of MAC and the New England Federation of Humane Societies. She serves as the current administrative trustee for the LeBaron Foundation.
Stacy graduated from Vassar College. She now lives in Vermont with her husband and son.