WILLIAMSBURG— Cat enthusiasts, rejoice! Renowned cat expert Jackson Galaxy won’t just be on YouTube, he’ll be right here in the Historic Triangle at the inaugural Virginia Cat Festival on Nov. 9.
Galaxy, who got his start with animals by working in an animal shelter, originally intended to be a rockstar. He grew up surrounded by music and loved playing instruments. It was only when he needed a secondary job to pay the bills that he found himself in the midst of cats in a heavily populated animal shelter.
“I started working at an animal shelter in the early 90s and I really was just a musician who needed some money. I had no background…I grew up with dogs. I really started with a base level job at the humane society in Boulder, Colorado. Very soon after I started working there, my colleagues started to notice that the cats were drawn to me,” Galaxy said.
It was then that he earned his nickname: Cat Boy.
During that time, the US euthanasia rates were extremely high. According to Galaxy, the US was euthanizing between 8 and 10 million cats and dogs a year in shelters.
“At that time, anything that I could do to save a cat life, I was going to do it. I learned early on that if there was a cat who wasn’t probably going to make it into the adoption area of the shelter because they were too scared or too much for the shelter environment, that’s when I started learning about clicker training so that I could bring anything to these animals,” Galaxy said.
He then began traveling to homes to offer cat training around the area. Flash forward to years later, Galaxy is now a resident cat expert. From starring as the host of Animal Planet’s My Cat From Hell, creating a cat toy line, to writing two books, Galaxy has developed quite a name for himself with cat lovers of all ages.
Galaxy will be appearing at the Virginia Cat Festival, set to take place at the Kimball Theater and Williamsburg Lodge. Galaxy will be the keynote speaker on Nov. 9 where he will address attendees about the importance of nurturing the raw cat.
“My focus really is the concept of the raw cat. The raw cat is the basis of all of my teaching. The raw cat is the ancestral cat, it’s the cat that all of our cats come from, the cat who is alive and well and kicking. Every single cat, whether they are your kittens, fourteen years old, mixed breed or pure bred, every cat shares that one beginning source of the ancestral cat,” Galaxy said.
While there are no official planned meet and greets with Galaxy, he will be attending the festival and he is more than happy to talk to and take pictures with people.
Tickets for the Virginia Cat Festival are still on sale. Badges are good for both days of the festival and are $50 for adults, and $30 for children 12 and under.
A full lineup of programming and ticket information can be found on vacatfestival.com.
