Member Spotlight
Meet Caitlin Mendoza-Price — founder of Glasgow Pet Collective and lifelong animal lover. She’s rethinking pet rescue in the UK, building community, and finding inspiration along the way—including on our Small, Powerful Groups trip to India.
Q1: What inspired you to start your Glasgow Pet Collective, and what keeps you motivated?
I’m an animal lover through and through. It’s in my bones. As such, I have dedicated much of my career to rescuing and caring for animals (primarily homeless cats). I have 10 years of experience in feline lifesaving in L.A., where we have a massive street cat population.
Now, wherever I go, I need to know what’s going on with the cats! When I moved to Glasgow in 2021, one of my first priorities was to understand the animal welfare landscape in the UK.
To be honest, the landscape is so different from the US that I didn’t understand it at first. In the US we have a public shelter system funded by the government. We also have a homelessness and euthanasia crisis. Around 600,000 cats and dogs are euthanised in American shelters annually. And that’s down drastically since the advent of the no kill movement, led by my former employer, Best Friends Animal Society.
In the UK, private rescues are the safety net for homeless pets (funded by the local council for only 6 or so days). In Glasgow, I didn’t see a single feral cat and there was no talk of shelters euthanising healthy pets. I wondered: What is the problem here? I couldn’t place it.
After visiting the association of dog and cat homes conference in 2023, I heard it first hand from animal welfare professionals serving pets across Britain. Shelters and rescues are full to the brim. Whilst they do not seem to resort to euthanasia, the people who have dedicated their lives to care for pets and people are having to turn them away by the hundreds every day. There are not enough adoptions to keep up with the relinquishment requests.
Thankfully, I fully believe there is a viable solution to the supply and demand issue in the animal welfare sector as it exists in the UK right now. We have to welcome more people in.
Animal rescues in the UK have an enviable approach to human animal support services. They champion pet owners from all backgrounds by providing pet food free of charge, scaling a movement for free vet care for the pets of those living on the street, building a network of neighbours helping neighbours by volunteering to care for the pets of those with disabilities and so many more amazing initiatives.
The heart, the non judgement, the bottomless empathy is there. It just isn’t a norm in pet rehoming operations. A leader of one of the conference sessions at the ADCH said “we’re looking for perfect homes. What if we found really good homes?” I think he hit the nail on the head.
In our ferocious drive to serve the pets we rehome, we’ve excluded people instead of bringing them in. Glasgow pet collective is built on the philosophy that people are the solution to pet homelessness, not the problem.
I was inspired to start GPC because I believe the UK animal welfare movement is at the precipice of an exciting moment of quiet revolution. And I wanted to be a part of bringing it to Glasgow.
Q2. Every journey has its challenges. What’s been your biggest hurdle, and how did you push through it?
It’s all been a challenge. And more challenging than I expected. It’s hard to pinpoint what the biggest hurdle is but, at this moment, it’s marketing. In order to help animals, we need people. As a brand new, tiny rescue, very few people know of us. For the most part, we’ve built it.. but Foster carers have not come.
For every foster family that signs up, we get to open our doors to a pet and a family in desperate need. Interested? Visit glasgowpetcollective.org.
Q3: If you could share one piece of advice with women who are just starting out on their entrepreneurial journey, what would it be?
Do it. Forge ahead. I believe that in the UK, people feel they have to do things perfectly. And prove themselves at every turn. The amount of red tape and discouragement surprised me. We’ve had funders imply that GPC is unneeded. That we’ve duplicated services - pointing to organisations in the south of England as proof. Since when have you heard of too many charity services? Is there too much food being given out at food pantries? Do we really need to spend weeks doing research, gathering statistics and writing up business plans to prove that there are hundreds of pets who needs us now. Who needed us yesterday.
My advice is: other people may put up obstacles. Don’t put them up for yourself. You’re needed. So do it.
As a disclaimer I’d just say also protect yourself. In the for profit sector you can go broke on your dreams. Do adequate due diligence to protect yourself. But don’t be discouraged by the red tape and people implying that only behemoths can make something beautiful.
Q4: How have Small Powerful Groups and the WEvolution community supported you?
My small powerful group is made up of entrepreneurs. One is a charity founder. She brought me tips and tricks she’d learned through WEVo meetings and the summit. My group members also support and motivate each other.
Q5: What drew you to the India trip, and what were you hoping to get out of the experience?
The biggest draw for me was getting to learn from women creating change in their communities because that’s what I want to do! In the west, we have an individualist culture. I think that has led to a strong hierarchy in our charities as well as a paternalistic approach toward interactions and marketing concerning beneficiaries. Of course this is a generalisation, and there’s a strong movement for a democratic, collectivist approach.
Whilst I admittedly have limited knowledge of the greater charity context in India, the self help movement is decidedly different from a traditional western charity. I wanted to learn more about their approach. Getting to visit Asia for the first time sweetened the deal.
Q6: How was your trip to India, and what was the most impactful lesson or experience you took away from it?
Two words: do it. The women we learned from took a leap of faith to start their initiatives. They had to do something that might not have ever been done in their communities before and, from what I could tell, they didn’t do a whole lot of “humming and hawing” to start. Of course they were being supported by a well established organisation with a proven model. I guess that’s the “take care of yourself” bit. Taking the leap requires you to be thoughtful AND take decisive action.
The experience was more difficult in some ways and less difficult in others than I expected. As someone who focuses on animals, I was worried I’d see things that would hit me hard. Very rarely did I. In the cities, the dogs are in quite good health. Having worked with feral cats, I’m keenly aware that an animal living a worthy life on the street does not look like your cat or dog inside. Vet care is not going to happen on a regular basis - though there are amazing veterinary care charities in the cities I visited (did a little research). And their food isn’t going to be “backed by science”. As long as people are empathetic towards them, which people were, they’re doing okay.
On another note: I was especially surprised by the size and vigour of the dogs in Jaipur. A vet would have put most of them on a diet!
Other aspects of the trip were quite difficult. I traveled alone for two weeks after the WEVo portion of the trip was completed. The amount of trash and pollution is disheartening. As with any other social issue, the waste management crisis in India has a systemic origin. Just as in the US and UK, the government in India does not always do its best to serve the greater population.
Also, the high sensory environment characteristic of Indian cities and villages can be exhausting. Whenever you go somewhere completely different from home, there’s an adjustment. The greater the difference, the bigger the adjustment. But the rewards are also great. Your world view is expanded.
Follow ’s journey and support Glasgow Pet Collective on Instagram, Facebook, or their website. Let’s give Caitlin a big shoutout for all the amazing work she’s doing for pets and people in the community!
Got a dream? Let’s make it real. Inside our new online community space called Circle, you’ll find the accountability, guidance, and tools to help you turn ideas into action. Join us and over 137 members for free here.
