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Board of Directors

Lindsay Dadko, President

Lindsay has spearheaded hundreds of high-profile actions across the country and internationally to bring attention to the plight of animals. She has been a voice for animals in numerous media outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, The Washington Post, and more.

In addition to serving as a cat volunteer, dog volunteer, social media coordinator and volunteer mentor at Oakland Animal Services, her past community service include volunteering at a battered women’s shelter, a home for the elderly, serving as the interim political director for a successful initiative to raise the minimum wage in Florida, and participating in a campaign to provide more funding to Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, public schools.

Today Lindsay works with prominent philanthropists to help animals and the environment. Lindsay lives with her husband Andrew and four companion animals, OAS alum Grackle Baldwin (cat), Falcon Jeffers (cat), and chihuahua/chihuahua mix rescue pups Russ and Shelby

Emily Derenthal, Secretary

Emily has been an OAS volunteer since 2016, and FOAS board member since 2019. She came to the shelter after moving back to Oakland from the East Coast as a way to give back to the Oakland community and learn more about animal welfare. At the shelter she primarily works with cats and as a mentor training volunteers.

By day Emily works for the City of Oakland as a Human Services Program Analyst managing programs serving individuals and families experiencing homelessness in Oakland and Alameda County. She has worked in the field of human services and homelessness for 10 years for nonprofits, federal, and local government and has a strong background in grant management and program evaluation.

Emily grew up in Oakland and lives in the Eastlake neighborhood. While her living situation hasn’t allowed her to adopt from OAS (yet!), she enjoys spending time with her friends and family’s animals and advocates for all of them to adopt from OAS.

Kimberly Millington, Director

Kimberly has been a cat volunteer at Oakland Animal Services since 2015 and a member of the FOAS Board since late 2021. Kimberly fostered kittens (including bottle babies) for several years for OAS. She continues to work with kittens and cats at OAS as well as help train volunteers.

As a former member of the Rotary Club of Oakland, Kimberly has volunteered in Oakland schools, helped with funding for worldwide community service projects, and attended Rotary project fairs in Guatemala and Colombia.

She is originally from Southern California and grew up with cats, dogs, rats, birds, rabbits, fish, a turtle, and even ducks!

Kimberly is a trial attorney for a large insurance company. She lives with her furbabies, all of whom were OAS residents: cats Greta, Augie, Milton, and Dizzy, and dog Dottie. She cherishes visits from her grown human daughter and loves to travel.

Erin Patch, Director

Erin is a passionate and strategy oriented leader who has dedicated her career to developing and implementing solutions to social justice issues. As the President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of The Unity Council (TUC), Erin’s ultimate goal is to strengthen the organization so that it can better serve future generations in Oakland and the East Bay.

Erin is responsible for the strategic direction of the organization’s 300 dedicated staff and $42MM annual budget, providing holistic support services to over 8,000 individuals and families, including high-quality early education, pioneering youth programming, robust senior citizen services and financial and career empowerment and affordable housing.

Erin is an Oakland resident and has been for over 20yrs. She’s passionate about the welfare of Oakland’s animals and believes that the strength and health of a community can be measured by how well we care for our most vulnerable. Erin lives in Oakland’s Maxwell Park area with her OAS pup, Apple.

Ken Robinson, Director

Ken is a professional IT leader/partner with over 30 years of experience skilled at aligning strategy to implementing capability. Innovative and solution-oriented with expertise in IT development, technical solutions, and implementations. Adept at international leadership, partnership cultivation, and complex negotiations to deliver top financial results.  Ken is a Senior Manager in Human Resources Talent Development and Learning for Gap, Inc.  Previously, Ken served in a variety of IT Global Leadership roles for ISIMA, Gap Inc., American Airlines and Hewlett-Packard

Ken has resided in Oakland for over 26 years.   He lives with his partner Corey and three fur babies – Abby, Molly, Beau.   Abby and Molly have disabilities and were adopted from OAS.  Ken has a passion for all animals from small to large.

Trish Roque, Director

Trish has served on the FOAS Board since late 2019 and has been an active Oakland Animal Services volunteer since 2015. She has worked primarily with cats at OAS, helping to assess, socialize, and get them adopted into loving homes. More recently, she’s been involved with TNR (trap-neuter-return) of community cats, having personally trapped and fixed nearly 50 cats and kittens in the past three years. In 2019, Trish traveled to Ladakh, India, where her TNR experience was put to use while volunteering to help get street dogs spayed and neutered.

Trish works as a full-time web developer at UC Berkeley, building web and online resources for K-16 educators. She and her husband live in Oakland with their four adopted cats and their OAS alum dog Lucy.

Yvonne Tsang, Treasurer

Yvonne has been involved with Oakland Animal Services for over 15 years in many roles: dog volunteer, dog mentor, kitten foster, dog foster (and foster failure), and FOAS board secretary, president, and, currently, treasurer. She is a graphic designer who also enjoys spreadsheets. She and her husband spend a lot of time at local parks wearing out their two kids and two chihuahua mutts.

Staff

Tony Cruz*, Executive Director

Bio coming soon.

Victoria Guzman*, Program Coordinator / Executive Assistant

Victoria has been helping pet parents with their furry companions for the past 6 years by connecting them to the resources and information they need. She has learned the fine art of balancing excellent customer service and compassion with her experience working in various veterinary hospitals in the Bay Area.

Victoria is a Fear Free Certified veterinary professional and is bilingual fluent in Spanish. She received her BA in Liberal Studies and Spanish from San Francisco State University. Her love for animals flourished after adopting her first pet, Roger, from the San Francisco SPCA in 2012, changing her life trajectory. She lives happily with her cat-son Roger in the East Bay.

FOAS-funded Shelter Staff

• Martha Cline*, Intake to Placement Manager
• Jianna Fertado, Cat Program Associate
• Steve LaChapelle, Dog Program Associate
• Faith Levit*, Foster and Feral Cat Coordinator
• Kay Martin, Dog Foster Coordinator
• Meg McAdam*, Outcome Team Associate
• Donell Randolph, Jr*, Human Animal Support Services Coordinator
• Leanne Rinne*, Dog Foster/Transfer Coordinator

*Full-time

How OAS determines possible outcomes for cats [PDF]

OAS Policy on the Frequent Utilization of Community Cat Rescue Services [PDF]

During high kitten season in the spring and summer, it’s not unusual to discover a nest of unattended kittens or a single kitten seemingly abandoned by the mother. You want to help, right?

Before jumping to the rescue,

WAIT…

Mama Cat may be off searching for food.  She has to keep herself well fed to produce milk for the babies!  It is not unusual for a mama cat to be gone several hours.  She may also be in the process of moving the babies from one location to another (especially if you’ve found one alone).

Assess the kittens’ apparent health:

• Does their fur look healthy, full and fluffy?  OR  Are they dirty?  Sickly?  Eyes crusty?
• Are they sleeping quietly? In a heap?  OR  Are they crying?  Squalling?
• Are they dry? OR  Are they wet/soaked?

Assess the environment.  Are the kittens in IMMEDIATE danger from:

• Rain? Wet weather/flooding? Cold?
• Wild animals? Raccoons? Dogs?
• Traffic – pedestrian foot traffic? Bicycles or cars? Mean neighbors/kids?

Take a look at this guide to determine if kittens need your help or not. Remember that removing very young kittens from Mama Cat greatly reduces their chances of survival even if you provide round-the-clock care.

…AND WATCH

Unless the kittens are in immediate danger, it is best to watch to see if the Mama Cat will return. You should be at least 35 feet away (more is better).

Do NOT place food near the kittens to lure Mama Cat.  Mama Cat almost always purposely hides her litter away from food sources as she knows that food will attract other cats and even bigger predators!

You may need to leave completely and come back later (4-6 hours) to check whether the kittens are still OK (dry, sleeping/quiet, appear fed, etc.). Especially if she’s feral, Mama Cat will most likely NOT return until she no longer senses human presence.

Know that healthy kittens can survive several hours without food as long as they are warm. Neonatal kittens are much more at risk of hypothermia than they are of starvation.

During typical kitten season in the spring and summer months, waiting a longer time to see if Mama Cat will come back is usually very safe.

TAKING KITTENS IN

Remove the kittens **only** if they are in immediate, grave danger OR if they appear very sickly and ill.

First of all, if the mother cat returns…

If Mama Cat returns and the area is relatively safe, leave the kittens with Mama Cat until they are weaned. You can monitor the environment and offer a shelter and regular food to Mama Cat … but keep the food and shelter at a distance from each other. Mom will find the food but will not accept your shelter if the food is nearby, because she will not want to attract other cats or predators to food located near her nest.

Mama Cat offers her kittens the absolute best chance for survival. Never remove healthy kittens from Mama Cat before they are 4 weeks old.  5-6 weeks is the optimal age to take the kittens from a feral Mama Cat for socialization and adoption placement, and any time after 8 weeks for Trap-Neuter-Return (spay/neuter, vaccination, eartip, and return to their colony). For kittens of friendly cats, they should remain with Mama Cat until at least 8-10 weeks old.

Female cats can become pregnant with a new litter even while they are still nursing, so don’t forget to get the mother cat spayed or you will have more kittens soon!  For information or advice about trapping Mama Cats – and about local feral cat help and TNR programs, see here.

If the mother cat does not return…

The Mama Cat offers her kittens the absolute best chance for survival, so WAIT and WATCH as long as you can. The best food for kittens is their mother’s milk. She will provide them not only with properly balanced nutrition but also much-needed antibodies and immune system support!

Although there are resources to help you, it would be best if you are prepared to see the kittens through at least until getting additional help (which could be days or weeks) if you decide to intervene!

Other resources:

If you decide to raise abandoned kittens, check with Pet Food Express. They may be able to provide free starter kits that contain a small amount of specially formulated kitten milk, a bottle, and other emergency, essential supplies for raising a tiny kitten.

Check these pages for other tips and suggestions:

• East Bay SPCA feral cats and kittens resources
• How to Determine Kitten’s Age
• Kitten Care and Bottle Feeding
• Socializing Feral Kittens

This video from Itty Bitty Orphan Kitty Rescue will provide some tips and suggestions on raising an orphaned kitten:

Oakland Animal Services supports trap, neuter, return as a means of controlling the feral cat population. In order to do so, we need to have people willing to provide colony care giving to the cats in a particular area.

For information or assistance with the feral cat population in your neighborhood, please contact Full Circle Cats or ICRA at (510) 869-2584. Animal Fix Clinic can also assist with feral cats.

If you are looking to adopt a working cat, check out our Working Cats Program, ICRA, Full Circle Cats, and Tenth Life Foundation.

Problems with Trap & Remove:

Like all animals, feral cats make their homes where they can find shelter and food. Often this is within close proximity to humans. Because feral cats cannot be easily socialized, they are not good candidates for adoption. Instead, feral cats should be sterilized, vaccinated and returned to their territory.

We understand that not everyone enjoys living with cats and other wildlife in their yards. However, these simple tips will help you divert outdoor cats from specific areas. These quick solutions, coupled with TNR and ongoing management, can help you coexist with your neighborhood cats. TNR is the only effective and humane way to manage feral cat populations. Cats are humanely trapped and taken to a veterinarian, where they are spayed or neutered and vaccinated. Kittens and stray cats that are friendly to humans are placed into loving homes. Healthy, adult feral cats that are fearful of human contact are returned to their outdoor home where they are cared for by volunteers.

Trap-and-Remove doesn’t work. “Trap-and-Remove” is a euphemism for trapping and euthanizing cats. It may seem like a logical solution, but the fact is that it is not effective.

Trap-and-Remove schemes must be done on an ongoing basis and are therefore extremely costly to communities. Survivors will breed prolifically, and new cats will move in to take advantage of resources, quickly forming a new colony. Catch and euthanize is an endless, costly cycle.

Common Concerns:

You can find practical solutions to concerns about feral cats in your neighborhood here.

Find kittens?

Here’s what to do (and not do) if you find one or more newborns or kittens outdoors. (Don’t go near them for at least several hours!)

Trap, Neuter, Return (TNR): Getting started

Download and print this handy guide or view in your browser