Fellow cat lovers, please join me in breathing life into getting together online with other cat people in the Albany, NY, area! 

I believe that we have much to talk about. As a professional, full-time, cat sitter and cat volunteer for over 20 years, I have swapped many stories about cats with other people, discussed cat rescue, and given and received many tips and tricks for caring for our cats. I do tend to talk too much when I see people! But, people are kind and a lot of my clients have said, “You need to write a book!”

I don’t see myself writing a book, but I think I can manage a weekly newsletter. I am planning to set up each article as a blog entry on a web site so you can add your comments and questions to any article. (I might regret it, but I am going to try this and see what happens.) 

We have topics to discuss that have more questions than answers right now, but I’ve heard that is how change happens and problems get solved. I find that many people are quite interested in how cats get rescued in our region, what the sometimes-long process entails, and I plan to share more info from “behind the scenes.” There are many people out there doing what I do, and a lot more, so I will be looking to share info from them, as well. All identities and rescue locations will remain secret, to protect the cats (and the people). 

On the topic of our own cats, when faced with big medical decisions, we’ve all wondered things like, “Has anyone had procedure XYZ done on their cat to try to save their cat’s life?” I’m not a veterinarian  and I have no animal health care training, but we all share stories with each other. I have found some to be very educational, and surprising! I have had a few of those cats myself, so I’ll start with sharing some of my stories and we can expand to include others. I can think of a couple of other current subscribers with such tales to share (“Bob,” and “Murphy,” to name the cats!)

I am seeing some collaborative projects in the future that need your input. One idea I have is to compile a guide of local veterinary offices. Not the usual “who is best,” guide, but more of a guide to the buildings and the services. For example, does a human answer the phone, or a voice response unit? Is there a bathroom clients can use? Is the veterinary office open on Saturday or Sunday? Does the office take CareCredit? Is the vet practice privately owned or has it been sold to a corporation? You get the idea. 

There will be advertisements, as I am hoping to make some money, but I am planning to only run ads or have sponsors that I think would interest you (and me). I’ve gotten a couple of ad requests already, but they have nothing to do with cats or our local area, so I won’t be running those ads. I’ll keep the ads simple so that you don’t have to close them to read your articles or feel distracted by weird blinking images. 

So, welcome and thank you for checking out Capital Purrspective! I look forward to including your interests and your voice in future issues!

PS All artwork, for now, is digital downloads from WoodlandGhostArtShop on Etsy.com. Enter it as shown, as one word, in Etsy’s search to find the art. Any photos are my property. Any photos of cats that belong to clients are published only with permission. The cat logo is a work in progress!

In the past year, a few local cat rescues have quietly closed or stopped doing adoptions. You will probably hear about more in the months to come. This isn’t just a local issue, it’s a statewide issue. Why? Unfortunately, a new state law meant to help rescued cats (and dogs) is hurting grass-roots groups and small community shelters.

While some might see the details of the law as overkill, I think cat lovers would agree that we want the best for cats. A building that meets the new requirements would be a great place for cat and volunteers. Who wouldn’t love it? The problem is the lack of support or understanding from the state as to how the new law is too heavy of a lift for rescues in the timeframe that was allowed for compliance. 

The law I am talking about, the Companion Care Animal Standards Act, was passed in 2022 and went into effect December 15, 2025. What will happen to our local cat rescue groups, which are basically small armies of people running on pure love for cats?

The groups are 100% volunteer run; there is zero paid staff. It is no one’s JOB to raise money, coordinate with veterinary offices, buy supplies, work with vendors for trash removal, HVAC, plumbing, appliances, or to clean cages and a shelter, find more volunteers or manage them, much less start and run a capital campaign, build or buy a building, and outfit it to meet the new legal requirements. The fact that cat rescue happens at all, with 100% volunteer effort, is mind-boggling.

I can think of a couple of other local not-for-profits, with paid staff and executive directors, that either purchased an existing building or had a new one built from the ground-up, and in each case I would say the project timeframe was about 10 years from start to move-in. In those cases we’re not even talking about things like floor drains, water-proof floors, space requirements for living bodies, and extras that don’t go into most buildings but are required now for cat and dog shelters.

The cost for a new cat shelter (new or old building) that will meet the new state law is well over $1 million. $2 million would be a better estimate. New York State has been offering competitive grant money towards capital projects for shelters for the past several years, but 90% of the money is reserved for shelters that have municipal contracts (such as for stray dog holds). 10% of the funds are for the rest of the not-for-profit shelters across the state (cat rescues or dog rescues without municipal contracts). Home-based rescues are not eligible for any grant money.

Even with state grant money, if awarded, only small parts of a large building renovation or new construction would be covered. 

How do we get to that from what a lot of rescues have now and what happens after the end of 2026 when the “education period” of the law is over and rescues start getting fined for non-compliance? I’ll go out on a limb here, and say from my personal knowledge (and some quick IRS 990 lookups), that rescue groups in the Albany area have annual budgets from around $50,000 up to $350,000. Those budgets are consumed annually!

One local cat rescue actually purchased a building in 2025 (after a year of searching for a building in the correct zone to allow an animal shelter, fundraising, and obtaining a mortgage), but the building needs to be gutted in order to be renovated to meet the new standards.

In 2026 the rescue can expect an inspection from NYS Ag & Markets at their current building, which will not pass any of the standards. What’s the point? The new building won’t be ready by the end of 2026. Architect plans have yet to be approved. There isn’t enough money raised yet to renovate the building. Technically, starting January 1, 2027, if the old building still doesn’t pass inspection, is the rescue fined, taking money away from the cats and their to-be-completed new shelter? How does that help? 

Foster-based rescues (no shelter buildings) are also being affected by record-keeping requirements and state inspection of the record-keeping, at the coordinator’s home. 

It’s easy to see why volunteer-based rescues are giving up and are closing. 

I’m adding links to the bottom of this article, in case you want to do a deep-dive into the details of the law, what types of rescues have been awarded state grant funds, and what the grants can be used for. 

Please take a look, and lets have an ongoing discussion about the new law. There are a lot more questions than answers right now, but let’s see how things develop and share information. Talk with people in your life about this and comment below. Thank you!

Click on each link for more information.

The Actual Law (PDF download)

Best Friends Animal Society’s Summary of the Law (PDF download)

State Grants Overview

Last Year’s State Grant Request for Proposals (PDF download)

Impacts of One Shelter’s Failed Inspection

The First Shelter to Pass Inspection

Who Got Money?

I clearly remember years ago when a cat rescue volunteer told me about a local spot where there were dozens of stray cats. She told me about how she was humanely trapping them, often by herself, at night, camping out in her car, hoping to catch one cat at a time.

She would keep them somewhere safe at her home, then get appointments to have them spayed or neutered. She would foster friendly cats and find homes for them, and return the feral unfriendly cats back to their location after receiving any medical treatment they needed, vaccinations, and recovering from their spay or neuter surgery. Food, water, and winter shelters were always provided.

Things were a lot more complicated when kittens or pregnant cats were involved.

At that time I had just started volunteering at my local cat shelter one morning a week to feed cats, and clean cages, and clean the rooms I was working in. The idea of trapping cats and all of that seemed nuts. I liked her, but I thought she was kind of crazy and I knew I would never be doing that. Who even has the time or wants to spend all of that money?

Now we’ll move to the timeline of my latest 15 month cat-trapping project. How does it all start?

Someone who told me about a stray cat that was coming to his door. I tried to tell him what to do, who to contact, and that I really couldn’t help him. He made a heated shelter for the cat on his porch and fed him. He bought heated bowls for the cat’s food and water during the winter. His own cats hated the outside cat, they would go crazy at the windows, so he couldn’t take the cat in.

Then, in January 2025, he heard from a neighbor about two kittens that were trying to eat frozen vegetable scraps from a compost pile in the backyard. Knowing I was sunk, I agreed to drive over there to see if the kittens were around and figure out where they were coming from.

I was lucky to spot the kittens on my first try! I was afraid to get out of the car, thinking they would run away, and I didn’t want them to run into the street. Someone walked by with a dog, and they both raced through the yard, through a bend in the fence, and ducked under a crooked garage door, into a a seemingly abandoned garage. Step one completed: Find the kittens and find out where they hide!

This section will be a recurring feature in each issue of the newsletter!