Interview! Erika Kelly, founder of Operation Git-Meow

"The Navy has always been tied to cats, and that's how the cats got to the base in the first place."

Only a year after graduating college, Erika Kelly is already well on her way to making waves in the animal welfare community—she started Operation Git-Meow in December 2016, a non-profit designed to help community cats living on the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station. As you may remember from Stacy's conversation with naval-base resident Caitlyn Macintosh (Episode 53), TNR is strictly prohibited on naval bases. Instead, most community cats are trapped and euthanized, which is ineffective at controlling population and costly to the taxpayer. Operation Git-Meow is in the process of requesting an exception to the law, offering as an alternative an SPCA-funded TNR program that will manage the population of community cats on the base and transport them back to the U.S. at no cost to the taxpayer. Besides this large initiative, Operation Git-Meow seeks to make vaccination, vet check-ups, and microchipping accessible to residents on the naval base and surrounding communities for their pets. Operation Git-Meow is still very much in its nascency, and it needs all the help it can get! If you are interested in donating, please send a check to P.O. Box 52337, Springfield, VA, 22152. You can also help out by liking and sharing Operation Git-Meow on Facebook at facebook.com/operationgitmeow. For any other questions, please email [email protected].