About Cathy

Journalistm, Communications and Media

Cathy M. Rosenthal has worked in the animal welfare field for more than 35 years, combining expertise in communications, humane education, storytelling, outreach, and leadership development to help organizations strengthen their impact and better serve animals and communities.

She began her career as a journalist and photographer for a major daily newspaper before moving into advertising copywriting, where several of her radio campaigns received ADDY® Awards. Her background in journalism, media, and storytelling eventually led her into animal welfare, where she helped transform how organizations communicate with the public, media, donors, and communities.

As Director of Public Relations for both local and national animal welfare organizations, Cathy developed media and marketing strategies, managed crisis communications, wrote press materials, and prepared staff for media interviews involving complex animal welfare issues. Early in her career at a local humane society, her communications efforts helped increase media visibility from just a handful of stories to more than 600 media placements annually — long before the rise of social media.

Advocacy & National Animal Welfare Work

During several years working on Capitol Hill for a national animal welfare organization, Cathy coordinated national press conferences and worked with both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on animal welfare legislation, including efforts supporting pets in senior housing. The legislation helped address barriers preventing many older adults from keeping beloved companion animals in housing communities, recognizing the important role pets play in emotional well-being and quality of life for seniors.

Over the years, her work expanded into humane education, outreach, grant writing, fundraising, strategic communications, and program development. She has developed humane education and summer camp programs for children, coordinated statewide outreach initiatives, managed grant-funded projects, and served as Interim Executive Director of the San Antonio Humane Society before ultimately returning to her passion for writing, education, and communications.

Consulting, Outreach & Professional Training

Today, Cathy works with animal welfare organizations, shelters, and spay/neuter groups across the country, helping them strengthen storytelling, outreach, public engagement, humane education, and communications strategies. Her work includes grant writing, strategic communications, public relations, web and donor content, conference coordination, outreach planning, and development of humane education and community programs. She also serves as project director for several spay/neuter outreach and humane education initiatives in Texas.

Cathy is also widely recognized as a speaker and trainer within the animal welfare profession. She presents workshops nationally on storytelling, customer service, humane education, compassion fatigue, communication, leadership lanaugage, and community outreach. Her work often focuses on helping animal welfare professionals improve communication, strengthen workplace culture, and build more compassionate and resilient organizations.

She is a Certified Humane Education Specialist (CHES), Certified Neurolinguistic Programmer (NLP), and Compassion Fatigue Educator through Regent University’s Center for Trauma Studies.

Writing, Books & Humane Education

Cathy is the editor and curator of Humane Perspectives: Leadership in Animal Welfare, a collection of first-person leadership essays from 45 leaders across the animal welfare field. She is also the author of several children’s books focused on humane education and responsible pet care, including The Happy Tale of Two Cats, recipient of the 2026 Educator’s Choice Award for Best Humane Education Book for Young Children from the Association of Professional Humane Educators, and the recipient of the Nathana Gartman Heroes Award (2026) for impact in humane education.

In addition, Cathy writes My Pet World, a syndicated pet advice column that has appeared in newspapers across the United States since 2017 and the Animals Matter column in the San Antonio Express-News since 2003, which also appears in the Austin American-Statesman and Houston Chronicle.