The Cat Daddy’s just doing what he does best — saving felines. In a special episode of Animal Planet’s My Cat From Hell, cat behaviorist Jackson Galaxy works with Best Friends Animal Society and his pals at Humane Society of Boulder Valley to save the lives of 50 kittens who are at risk of being euthanized.
The mission? To pack up a van with supplies and drive 50 kittens from Los Angeles to Colorado. (Watch Us Weekly’s exclusive sneak peek above!)
Galaxy, who also runs his eponymous non-profit organization to help improve the lives of animals, opened up about the life-saving operation with Us Weekly:
Us: What makes this episode so special?
JG: It’s timed for kitten season! We’ve got kittens that are ding by the thousands in L.A. alone, and apart from just supporting the organizations that I work with, what can I do? This was it! Obviously, driving for 17 hours with 50 kittens isn’t exactly easy, but it’s well worth it. This is what I love to do.
Us: How did you become involved with this operation? Did Best Friends come to you asking for help?
JG: They did! They asked for help and we filmed it! I called my best friends in Boulder, in the shelter that I worked with for 10 years and said, “You guys promised me that you need kittens. Do you still need kittens?” They go, “Yep, of course we do!” And boom! It’s done!
Us: Why was it so hard to find homes in L.A. for the kittens?
JG: There’s just too many. It’s a really complicated situation. There’s an injunction here in Los Angeles pushed through by bird advocates that absolutely ties the hands of animal welfare organizations behind their backs when it comes to TNR — Trap Neuter Return. We’re not allowed as an animal welfare organization to mention TNR. If you’re working in the city shelter, you cannot mention TNR or you are risking being shut down. … It’s crazy!
Us: What was it like driving 50 kittens to Colorado?
JG: Let me tell you something: If you’ve ever been trapped in a small room with more than three kittens, you know what it smells like. You imagine being in a van with 50, and Hannah Shaw — “The Kitten Lady” who took the trip with me — she can vouch for how incredible it is. It was a bomb! And when a bomb goes off, you gotta pull aside, you gotta then change 50 kittens’ letterboxes because you don’t know who exactly did it. And of course, now that you’ve pulled over, you’re changing litter, you’re feeding them. The trip was no joke, man!
Us: You’ve had some hard cases. How would you rank this experience in terms of difficulty?
JG: Don’t forget that along with the 50 kittens, I’m carrying a message, and it’s a loud message! We have this huge platform to share that message, my god. There’s nothing challenging about it. Animal Planet’s support in this department is absolutely amazing, to tell people that you can affect this kind of change. I’m not saying get in the car tomorrow and drive 17 hours. Support those who would do it. Support the organizations that are trying to end this. Sponsor. Adopt. Spay and neuter. Give money. Do whatever it takes. Do something! The message is do something because every something saves somebody.
This special episode of My Cat From Hell airs on Animal Planet Saturday, June 3, at 8 p.m. ET.
