I began working in animal welfare and rescue in 2014. After the traumatic experience of behavioral euthanasia for a beloved pet cat of mine, Chloe, I began volunteering at the Animal Rescue League (now Humane Animal Rescue) in cat care. I wanted to learn whatever I could about cat behavior and communication so that maybe I could help other people from going through what I went through.

From cat care, my work expanded to photographing cats, writing web profiles for them, volunteering at events, and eventually fostering. Through this work and the active network of area rescuers, I embraced the animal-welfare community here and realized what a treasure we have in it.

I started creating (or learning to create) the Pittsburgh Tails podcast in 2017. I wanted to share information about the creatures of this region and the people who care for them and about them. Any species, any situation. The people I’d met and heard about through my work were people I wanted to highlight and interview and learn from.

The aim of the podcast is to network animals, in addition to educating people. My hope is to begin a nonprofit organization and make this podcast a program of that nonprofit, along with funding opportunities for animals in need of veterinary care.