Ep 678: Ctrl+Alt+Meow: How an IT Guy Built a Home for Cat Lovers, with Darein Gray, Founder of Paw-Events.com

"There's not a lot of that — you don't really hear about cat parks or cat meetups. So I wanted to try and change that." This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie's Fund, OcuTrap, and The Community Cat Clinic. Darein Gray never set out to build a pet-industry platform — he's an IT guy by trade, working in data and business analytics. But when he noticed there was no real gathering space for cat people the way there is for dog people, he taught himself the tools to build one. What started as a solo passion project has grown into Paw-Events.com, a free directory now covering 60-plus U.S. cities, connecting cat and dog lovers with adoption days, spay/neuter clinics, rescue fundraisers, cat cafés, and community meetups in one searchable place. Host Stacy LeBaron and Darein dig into how the platform actually works for TNR and community cat programs specifically — not just the bake-sale-and-fun-run events people usually picture. Organizations running mobile spay/neuter clinics, trapping events, or vaccination and microchipping days can list by city and neighborhood, filtered so people can find exactly what's happening near them. Darein talks through how smaller grassroots groups, which often don't have the advertising muscle of a PAWS or a Humane Society, can get the same visibility as the big names — and how individuals, not just organizations, are welcome to list events too, after a basic vetting process. The conversation also covers the platform's education side (ESA and service animal resources, vaccination info, cat training events), its city-hub structure and how organic communities form within bigger metro areas, and Darein's openness to expanding into new states and regions when local advocates reach out. For anyone doing outreach for a workshop, clinic, or trapping event, this episode is a look at a free tool built specifically to solve the "how do we get the word out" problem. Press Play Now For: How Paw-Events.com works as a free, searchable directory for cat and dog events across 60+ U.S. cities Why the platform is built for TNR events, spay/neuter clinics, and microchipping days — not just adoption fairs How smaller rescues and individual organizers can list events alongside big-name organizations The vetting process for individuals who want to post their own events How city "hubs" and grassroots communities naturally form on the platform What to do if you want your city or state added to the platform The educational resources available, including ESA/service animal info and cat training events Resources & Links Paw-Events.com Website Paw-Event.com's Facebook Paw-Event.com's Instagram Paw-Event.com's TikTok