Celebrating International Homeless Animals Day and Black Cat Appreciation Day with Maria Soroski of VOKRA

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August 17th is both International Homeless Animals Day and Black Cat Appreciation Day! To celebrate, today’s show is focused primarily on animal rescue, particularly cat rescue.

Hidden Depths: The Dark Side of Commercial Fishing

August is also National Fishing Month, so we begin by sharing a series of informative clips on the destructiveness of the fishing industry. Commercial fishing accounts for millions of unintended deaths of marine animals each year (known as “bycatch“), and is the primary contributor to plastic waste in our oceans.

Maria Soroski, Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association

Our feature interview is with Maria Soroski, co-founder and director of the Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association, or VOKRA. Maria has been rescuing animals for decades, and she co-founded VOKRA nearly 20 years ago. Since then, VOKRA’s rescue efforts have expanded throughout the Lower Mainland and the organization has grown into a network of around 350 foster homes. In this interview, Maria tells us all about the work VOKRA does rescuing abandoned cats and kittens, and how listeners can help. We also chat about why Black Cat Appreciation Day is important, and how wonderful black cats can be.