Gary Willoughby, the President and CEO of the SPCA Serving Erie County in West Seneca, New York, joins Stacy to talk about what's going on at the nation's second oldest humane society. A passionate life-long learner, Gary joined the SPCA in 2016, after several animal welfare roles, as well as several roles in other fields.

Among other topics, Gary talks with Stacy about the SPCA's full-service wildlife clinic, and how having that clinic alongside a more traditional animal shelter has informed both the SPCA's work with and data collection around cats and trap-neuter-vaccinate-return programs. Over the years, Gary tells us, they have been able to measure the successful impact of local TNVR programs through decreased intakes into the shelter, as well as through a decrease in the number of wild animals brought into the wildlife clinic with cat-related injuries.

The SPCA Serving Erie County is big on education, including helping folks understand why just feeding stray or feral cats is only the first step (and then helping them find a way to make that next step happen). "It's so easy to love animals and just to put out some food and water for a cat," Gary says, "but taking the next steps, there's always barriers in the way." One of the ways Gary hopes to continue removing those barriers in the future is by adding a transportation component to their partnership with a local high-quality, high-volume spay/neuter clinic. He believes that this will make spay/neuter more accessible to people in more rural parts of the county.

Above all, Gary believes that groups must collaborate to come up with a strategic plan to improve communities together. "No one person or group can do it alone," he tells us, and he recommends getting to know – and then getting together regularly with – other groups in your area to discuss what's working, and putting your heads together to come up with new solutions as well.

To learn more about the work being done at the SPCA Serving Erie County, visit yourspca.org, or check them out on Twitter or Facebook.