February 25, 2025

Tag! You’re Home! Simplifying Successful Reunification, Featuring Nina Stively, Director of Loudon County Animal Services, and Dr. Amy Dalrymple, DVM

23 minutes

"Over 80% of the tagged cats didn’t need to come into the shelter at all. This simple tool is keeping cats in their communities where they belong." – Dr. Amy Dalrymple

This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie’s Fund and The Community Cat Clinic.

What if a simple collar could help keep community cats out of shelters and reunite them with their families? In this episode, host Stacy LeBaron chats with Nina Stively, Director of Loudoun County Animal Services, and Dr. Amy Dalrymple, veterinarian and shelter medicine specialist, about the Tag! You're Home! program—a groundbreaking approach to identifying and returning outdoor cats to their rightful homes.

With traditional shelter methods resulting in low return-to-owner rates for stray cats, Tag! You’re Home! offers a humane and data-driven alternative. Nina explains how her shelter equips found cats with collars bearing a simple question: “Am I your cat?” The results speak for themselves—over 80% of tagged cats never needed shelter intake, and 31% were confirmed to have been reunited with their owners. Dr. Dalrymple discusses the research behind this initiative, the benefits for both shelters and communities and how this concept can be applied beyond municipal programs, including TNR efforts.

Tune in to discover how a small intervention is making a huge impact on cat welfare and how you can bring this idea to your community.

Press Play Now For:

A simple and effective method to reunite lost cats with their families
How the Tag! You’re Home! program keeps community cats out of shelters
The surprising statistics behind stray cat reunifications
Why traditional shelter systems often fail lost cats
How this program bridges the gap between TNR groups and shelters
The importance of changing public perception about stray and outdoor cats
How you can implement similar initiatives in your own community

Resources & Links:

Learn more about Loudoun County Animal Services: http://loudoun.gov/animals
Contact Nina Stively: [email protected]
Journal of Shelter Medicine & Community Animal Health (https://jsmcah.org/index.php/jasv/article/view/98)
Community Cats Podcast Paper Collar Template (https://www.communitycatspodcast.com/paper-collar/)

Sponsor Links:

Maddie's Fund (https://www.communitycatspodcast.com/maddies601)
The Community Cat Clinic (https://www.communitycatspodcast.com/catclinicga)

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