"That's my own formula — passion and compassion tempered by dedication and humor."

This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and Drop Traps: Beginning and Advanced Certification Workshop.

After more than five decades behind the exam table, Dr. Kevin Lynch has treated thousands of pets, mentored generations of veterinary staff, and built one of Long Island's longest-running animal hospitals. His new memoir, Off the Leash: Tales From a Lifetime of Healing Pets and Wonder, traces that journey from a 13-year-old kid who talked his way into a part-time job at a local animal hospital to a veterinarian whose guiding philosophy is simple: treating the animal is only half the work, and tending to the person on the other end of the leash is the rest.

Dr. Lynch and Stacy dig into one of the thorniest debates in animal welfare: the divide between "indoor-only" advocates and the realities of outdoor and community cat caregiving. Drawing on his own farm-cat memories from working summers on a dairy farm before vet school, he makes the case for listening over judging, and for meeting cat caregivers where they are instead of where a textbook says they should be. From there, the conversation turns practical: how should trappers and community cat program managers actually approach a veterinarian for the first time? Dr. Lynch's answer centers on intention, relationship-building, and showing up with a plan rather than a crisis.

The episode also gets personal. Dr. Lynch opens up about compassion fatigue and burnout, a topic he says is as urgent in veterinary medicine today as it's ever been, and shares the daily habits, including a deliberately disciplined relationship with his phone, that keep him from burning out after 51 years in practice. He and Stacy also revisit one of the most harrowing chapters of his career: volunteering with search-and-rescue dogs at Ground Zero after 9/11, an experience he says revealed both the depths of tragedy and the best of human nature.

Rounding out the conversation, Dr. Lynch shares a few of the stories from his book, including an unforgettable lesson in slowing down before attempting a DIY tick removal. He also talks about where listeners can find his memoir, his YouTube series The Pet Mindset Show, and the dental care device he invented for dogs and cats.

Press Play Now For:

• How a 13-year-old's unpaid job at a Long Island animal hospital turned into a 51-year veterinary career
• Dr. Lynch's perspective on the indoor-only versus outdoor/community cat debate, and why he believes there's no one-size-fits-all answer
• His honest advice for trappers and caregivers on how to approach a veterinarian for the first time
• Why showing up with "a plan" rather than a crisis is the fastest way to build trust with a vet
• The role of compassion fatigue and burnout in veterinary medicine, and the daily habits that help him stay in the game
• His "physical mailbox" approach to managing phone use and protecting mental bandwidth
• A first-hand account of volunteering with search-and-rescue dogs at Ground Zero after 9/11
• The story behind a Rottweiler named Big Shot, and the unexpected humanity he witnessed during that crisis
• Two unforgettable cat stories from his memoir, including a lesson in patience before attempting DIY pet care
• Where to find his memoir, his YouTube series, and the dental device he invented for pets

Resources & Links

• Off the Leash: Tales From a Lifetime of Healing Pets and Wonder (Amazon)
• Dr. Kevin Lynch's website
• The Pet Mindset Show (YouTube)
• Plaque Be Gone dental device

"You can both celebrate them and advocate for them at the same time."

This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and Drop Traps: Beginning and Advanced Certification Workshop.

Dan Rimada didn't set out to start a movement. He just started noticing cats. During the stillness of COVID, when New York City slowed down enough to actually look around, he began noticing the cats living in the bodegas of his Fort Greene, Brooklyn neighborhood and photographing them on his iPhone. What began as a hyper-local Instagram project quickly grew into something much larger — a citywide archive, an advocacy platform, a walking tour company, and now a forthcoming book. Today, Bodega Cats of New York is the most detailed documentation of working cats in New York City corner stores ever assembled, built on four years of relationship-building across all five boroughs.

At the heart of Dan's work is a real tension: bodega cats are beloved New York City cultural icons — neighborhood anchors, pest controllers, familiar faces — and they are technically illegal. Under current New York City Health Code, keeping a live animal in a food establishment can result in fines between $200 and $1,500. Dan's 14,000-signature petition changed that conversation. It led to City Council legislation that would eliminate those fines and fund spay/neuter and vaccinations for bodega cats — with Council Member Frank Morano now carrying the bill forward after Keith Powers was term-limited out. A parallel state-level bill, introduced by Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, goes further, establishing official care standards: designated cat zones, clean water, nutritious food, rest areas, and mandatory spay/neuter. The two bills are designed to work in tandem.

Dan also co-founded Cats About Town Tours with cat historian Peggy Gavan, whose blog hatchingcatnyc.com and books on New York City's animal history made her the perfect partner. The tours run through Brooklyn Heights, the Lower East Side, and the Financial District, uncovering the hidden feline history of New York from the 1800s and 1900s — and every ticket sold triggers food donations to a 501(c)(3) cat rescue. His book, Bodega Cats of New York, featuring photography by Gulce Kilkis, arrives from Quarto Publishing in October 2026.

Press Play Now For:

• How a COVID-era iPhone project in Fort Greene grew into New York City's most comprehensive bodega cat archive
• What a bodega actually is — and why working cats have been part of that culture for generations
• Why bodega cats are currently illegal under NYC Health Code, and what the legislation would change
• The two-pronged legislative strategy: the city council bill and the state-level Assembly bill, and how they work together
• How Dan's $7,400 fundraiser and 14,000-signature petition translated into real legislative action
• The spay/neuter and vaccination funding mechanism proposed in the city bill — and where the money could come from
• Why some rescue groups want an outright ban on bodega cats, and Dan's more pragmatic take
• The story behind Cats About Town Tours and the hidden cat history woven into New York City's streets
• What to expect from the Bodega Cats of New York book, coming October 2026

Resources & Links

• Bodega Cats of New York — Dan's archive, advocacy updates, and book waitlist at bodegacatsofnewyork.com
• @bodegacatsofnewyork on Instagram
• Cats About Town Tours — NYC's cat history walking tours, running April through November
• The Hatching Cat of Gotham — Peggy Gavan's blog on the history of cats (and dogs) in New York City